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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello Paula</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As you say 'The VELS clearly encourages schools to
determine the most appropriate ways of delivering the standards', however its
intent is being distorted, at least at secondary (esp I suspect upper secondary)
by the reporting process. I know VCAA doesn't have anthing to do with this but
judging by the tone of the docs from the people that do, they don't seem to want
to know (in fact they appear to argue that it is our programs that are
distorting the reports!). It seems to me that if VCAA wants to see certain
educational principles upheld then it ought to get involved in the
debate.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robert T-A</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=christophersen.paula.p@edumail.vic.gov.au
href="mailto:christophersen.paula.p@edumail.vic.gov.au">Christophersen, Paula
P</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=itapps@edulists.com.au
href="mailto:itapps@edulists.com.au">Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing
List</A> ; <A title=yr7-10it@edulists.com.au
href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au">Year 7 - 10 Information Technology
Teachers' Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, June 18, 2007 3:51 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Year 12 IT Apps] VELS and
progression points</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Dear colleagues</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Apologies for crossing into the IT
apps territory, but this has been the venue for some VELS discussion. I’m a
little late in joining in on this discussion, but I would like to clarify some
points that have been made.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Progression points represent
markers of student progress at several points towards the standards. VCAA has
published examples that accompany each progression point and the purpose of
these examples is to:</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 18pt; TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0cm"><FONT
face=Symbol size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol">·<FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=1><SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Support teachers to determine if a
student is achieving as expected at a particular time of
schooling</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 18pt; TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0cm"><FONT
face=Symbol size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol">·<FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=1><SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Assist teachers to make on-balance
judgments about progress towards the standards for the purpose of reporting to
parents.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">examples at each
progression point are <I><SPAN
style="FONT-STYLE: italic">illustrative</SPAN></I> of student progress rather
than prescriptive, and they have <B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">not</SPAN></B> been written for every element of a
standard. This is deliberate because it means they cannot be used as a
syllabus. The VELS clearly encourages schools to determine the most
appropriate ways of delivering the standards. The VCAA examples for each
progression point should not determine how schools design their curriculum. As
from the discussion, some schools run intense semester-based programs; others
run totally integrated programs over a 2-year period to coincide with a VELS
level; and the options between are plenty.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Schools are encouraged to develop
their <B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">own</SPAN></B> examples of student
progress for each progression point, to match their courses of study. The
standards are the benchmarks, however, schools have the flexibility to
determine how students will progress from one level to another. It is
therefore important that schools determine the specific evidence or
characteristics that must be demonstrated in student work at each progression
point and at each level.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I would strongly urge schools to
use the VCAA progression point examples as a starting point for discussion –
on what basis is student progress being measured? Breadth/depth of coverage?
Level of precision? Level of cognition? Etc It is important that your school
identifies the evidence or characteristics expected to be seen in student work
during a reporting period so that you can make an on-balance judgment as to
whether the student is progressing as expected. Documenting this evidence in
examples of progress is an effective way of establishing the stepping stones
between each standard.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">For further reading visit <A
href="http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/whatsnew.html#1">http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/whatsnew.html#1</A>
and download the PowerPoint file.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">VCAA is not responsible for the
reporting side of things, so if you have any queries, I suggest you contact
Denise Jacobsson (<A
href="mailto:jacobsson.denise.k@edumail.vic.gov.au">jacobsson.denise.k@edumail.vic.gov.au</A>)
or Maurie Sheehan (<A
href="mailto:sheehan.maurice.j@edumail.vic.gov.au">sheehan.maurice.j@edumail.vic.gov.au</A>)
for expert answers.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Regards</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Paula</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Paula Christophersen</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">ICT </SPAN></FONT>Curriculum Manager</P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Victorian </SPAN></FONT>Curriculum and Assessment</P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Authority</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">41 St Andrews Place</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">EAST MELBOURNE</SPAN></FONT> 3002</P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Phone: 03 9651 4378</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Fax: 03 9651 4324</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P></DIV>
<P></P>
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