Most assessments are informal and "of the moment" 

Most assessment occurs naturally through your everyday classroom interactions. Observe, gather, analyse, and interpret information to adjust teaching and learning accordingly. This is not always a conscious reaction but occurs spontaneously as a result of discussion, feedback, and learner needs. 

There is also a place for formal assessment  

Formal assessment can ensure consistency in the interpretation of progress and achievement. It helps to ensure that other teachers and stakeholders (including syndicates, departments, school management, Boards of Trustees, parents and whānau, and the Ministry of Education) have the necessary information to support teaching and learning. Formal assessment can be conducted across individuals, small groups, classes, cohorts, or the whole school. 

Formal assessment tools need to provide the most valid and reliable information  

Choose formal assessment tools that provide the most valid and reliable information about learning. Effective formal assessment provides information on what ākonga have learned, what they need to learn, and, where appropriate, how they measure against expectations for their cohort. 

Assessment is done "with the learner", not "to the learner"  

Assessment is a collaborative endeavour between you and your learners – where you both determine what has been learnt and what might be learnt next. Your key role is to manage the learning culture to maximise motivation and engagement and adapt assessment to the diverse learning needs of ākonga.  

Always involve ākonga in assessment  

Ākonga should be involved in decision-making about assessment so they can see themselves as co-constructors, with equal ownership of the results. Discuss how and when you will share the data with learners. They are the prime owners of their results and need the information to determine where they are with their learning. Support ākonga to see how the assessment results provide valuable information about what they know and what they might choose to learn next to increase student agency.  

Consider the time and place of the assessment  

The best time is when ākonga are fresh – usually in the morning. The optimum place is one that the learners are familiar with and where they feel comfortable. 

Read the instruction manual  

Formal assessment tools come with instructions or an administration manual. Everyone involved should read these carefully. The instructions contain important information to ensure consistency of administration across classes and cohorts so that valid information is gained, particularly if the assessment is standardised. You may need to seek professional development in the administration of a particular assessment. 

Make the administration of the assessment consistent  

Discuss the details of administration beforehand to ensure consistency across classes and cohorts. Some of these issues will be covered in the instruction manual, others will be decided within the school. For example, time given for the test, information for learners, activities used to engage ākonga in the process, and the level of assistance given during the test.  

Organise moderation of the marking  

Effective moderation processes are important, especially where there is scope for widely differing judgements about results – this is most often seen in the marking of writing assessments. 

Is it of New Zealand origin?  

Assessment tools created in Aotearoa New Zealand have been designed for New Zealand learners, and can be more effectively aligned to the curriculum.

Is it standardised?  

In a standardised assessment, the content is set, the administration directions are prescribed, and the scoring procedure is specified. Standardised assessment tools enable the result for any learner to be compared with the results for a normal sample of students.  

Is it designed to be administered with a group or an individual?  

Most assessment tools designed to be administered with individual learners will not be easily used with a whole group at once. 

What does it assess, and does it meet your purpose?  

You need to know that an assessment tool is suitable for your particular purpose/s. 

Is it a valid assessment?  

Validity refers to the extent an assessment tool measures what it sets out to measure.  

Is it a reliable assessment?  

Reliability is the extent an assessment task is consistent in measuring what it sets out to measure; for example, results from the same assessment can be repeated across time and situations, statistically expressed.  

What measures does it give?  

Assessment tools use different measures to describe levels of achievement and progress, for example, curriculum levels, reading ages, standardised scores such as stanines, or as scale scores. 

How long does it take to administer?  

Consider the length an assessment takes, as this affects the suitability of the tool and the range of ākonga with whom it can be administered. 

How much training is needed?  

Assessment tools are only as effective as the people using them. Proper training is essential, and some tools require more expertise than others. 

Is it culturally sustaining?  

Assessment tools that reflect the identities, languages, and cultures of all ākonga help to reduce barriers to achievement.  

Is it simple to score and analyse data?  

Some assessments need time and training to score, particularly those involving the assessment of writing. Some tools produce analyses of data and reports once results have been entered into a database, and others require data analysis by the teacher or the school. 

Does it provide formative information?  

Some assessment tools provide resources, or access to resources, for teachers and learners to use after they have determined next steps from the assessment. 

Is there a cost?  

The Ministry of Education provides some free assessment tools. Other tools are supplied by publishers at varying costs. It is always advisable to check costs with the supplier. 

Author, date of publication, and publisher?  

Consider who created and published the assessment tool, and when it was published. 

The assessment resources maps describe a range of assessment tools that you can use as part of the assessment process. Note that: 

• the map is not intended to limit a school's choice of tools 
• inclusion of a tool does not indicate endorsement by the Ministry of Education. 

See Materials that come with this resource to download: 

• Assessment Resources Map - Reading - English medium (.pdf)
• Assessment Resources Map - Writing - English medium (.pdf)
• Assessment Resources Map - Mathematics (.pdf)
• Assessment Resources Map - Māori-medium literacy and numeracy (.pdf)
• Assessment Process Map - Reading using Phonics Plus (.pdf)

The Alphabet Test, GKR Phonemic Awareness Test, and Bryant Test will identify what children know and any gaps they may have in their letter-sound knowledge. The assessment process map provides guidance for using these tests and gives an entry point along the scope and sequence framework. 

The Curriculum Progress Tools include:  

• Learning Progression Frameworks (LPFs)
• Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT)

Together, they support progress in reading, writing, and mathematics in years 1-10.

The LPFs illustrate the significant steps ākonga take as they develop expertise in reading, writing, and mathematics from years 1–10, spanning levels 1–5 of The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. It builds on The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum and underpins PaCT, creating a powerful toolbox for planning and assessing progress. 

You can use the frameworks to plan programmes and learning opportunities to enable ākonga to succeed from the primary years through secondary school and beyond. The inclusion of curriculum level 5 means it can bridge the gap between primary and secondary schools to support a learner's pathway more effectively. Teachers of years 9 and 10 ākonga can use the frameworks to identify learners’ reading, writing, and mathematics knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

The frameworks: 

• prompt you to notice what ākonga know and can do across the breadth of mathematics and as they use reading and writing to support learning across the curriculum 
• support you to understand expertise development in reading, writing, and mathematics 
• clarify the reading, writing, and mathematics competencies ākonga require to be successful in a technology- and information-rich society 
• illustrate rich teaching and learning activities in everyday classroom programmes 
• support planning coherent learning pathways for transition across school contexts. 
• The LPFs provide examples of students' work to illustrate the steps needed to develop their knowledge and skills.  

To learn more about the CPTs, visit the Curriculum Progress Tools website 

Progress and Consistency Tool demo site 

PaCT is a tool designed to help teachers make dependable judgements about students' achievement that can be used to track progress in the frameworks. 

PaCT guides teachers to make best-fit decisions about their students' achievement in each of the aspects of the frameworks. Once teachers have made aspects judgments for an individual, PaCT generates an overall best-fit judgement, which allows teachers to compare progress to the levels of The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum.  

The PaCT demo site provides a reproduction of the live version of PaCT with mock student information. The demo site allows parents, schools, kura, Kāhui Ako, and those that work with schools to see how the tool works. 

e-asTTle is a New Zealand developed standardised assessment tool. e-asTTle assesses the progress and achievement of ākonga against the levels of the 2007 curriculum in: 

• reading: curriculum levels 2-6 
• mathematics: curriculum levels 2–6 
• writing: curriculum levels 1–6 
• pānui: Taumata 2-6 
• pāngarau: Taumata 2-6 
• tuhituhi: Taumata 2–6 

When do you use it?  

It can be used with a wide range of learners and administered to individuals or groups. The writing assessment can be used with younger students if they can write a couple of sentences. Tests can be teacher-created for specific purposes at specific times throughout the year. 

What does it give you?  

You can access a variety of reports, from a whole cohort to an individual learner. Ākonga are given an e-asTTle scale score and an equivalent curriculum sub-level score, which can be compared against national norms. This information can be exported via e-asTTle generated CSV files and uploaded into a school’s SMS. The progress of individuals and groups can be tracked longitudinally. 

What can you do with the information?  

Information from e-asTTle can be used for a wide variety of purposes – from highlighting individual strengths and weaknesses to inform further learning to tracking progress over time and comparing various groups at the school and national level. You can use e-asTTle results to: 

• inform learning programmes and apply teaching practices that maximise individual student learning 
• determine what students know, what they don’t know, and what their next learning steps might be 
• Share with ākonga and their whānau to help them understand their progress and achievement 
• monitor and celebrate progress and achievement at an individual and/or group level. 
• produce reports that will provide valuable information for your school's leadership and trustees to inform their decisions about how they can best support further learning. 

Points to consider  

e-asTTle relies on a robust ICT infrastructure and moderation practices. Training is needed for those who create, administer, mark, and moderate the tests. This is particularly the case for e-asTTle writing, as all marking must be done by the school. Reading and mathematics multi-choice questions are marked online. 

An overview of the components  

Reading and mathematics: These tests are in multi-choice and open-question form, aligned to the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum, and can be tailored to the needs of individuals or groups of ākonga. Tests can either be administered online or in a paper-based format. The creator of the test chooses the length, focus, and difficulty. Multi-choice and closed-ended questions are marked automatically by the tool, and open-ended questions require teachers to mark them manually by drawing from prompts provided by the tool.

Writing: The tool allows the selection of a writing prompt to assess deep and surface features of writing aligned to the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. Writing tests can only be administered in a paper-based format. Prompts are available for six writing purposes and are chosen by the test creator according to classroom, group, or learner needs and interests. You can use the e-asTTle writing rubric to assess each piece of writing. You must then enter these aspect scores into the tool so that it can interpret the scores and align them to the appropriate curriculum level and sublevel. e-asTTle writing is the only standardised and normed writing tool designed for use in Aotearoa New Zealand schools. 

Access to e-asTTle  

All schools can access e-asTTle. If your school does not already have access and wants to be registered, contact the Education Service Desk.

Facilitated training and support

e-asTTle training and support opportunities are available through the Ministry of Education at no cost. Training is offered through regional workshops and in-school support, and online support is provided for schools already using e-asTTle. The e-asTTle website provides details of facilitated training.

Progressive achievement tests (PATs) are standardised assessments, developed for use in New Zealand schools by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER). They assess mathematics, listening comprehension (years 3–10), reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, and punctuation and grammar (years 4–10). Each PAT is a 40–50 minute test that is easy to administer, mark, and score. The questions are all multi-choice. Some PATs can be done online. 

When do you use them?  

Although PATs can be administered individually, it is common practice to test a group of learners at the same time to gain group comparison data as well as individual progress information. There is flexibility on when to test. Be clear about the purpose for choosing the assessment and define the use of the data for learning. This will inform the time of the year most appropriate to test ākonga. 

What do they give you?  

Each PAT has an achievement scale that shows a learner’s level of knowledge and skills and can be used to track individual, class, and year group progress over time. Using scale scores to measure increases in knowledge and skills can indicate teachers’ and learners’ strengths and needs. Scale descriptions at the back of the teacher manuals support teacher judgements around achievement, describe increasing knowledge and skills, and offer possible next steps. Ākonga can be compared to a nationally representative sample by converting test scores to stanines. 

There is an online marking and analysis service available by subscription that provides a range of reports at the individual, class, question, and cohort levels.

Points to consider  

If you wish to use stanines to make comparisons, these will be most valid if the test is carried out in term one, as the PAT tests were normed in March. If testing is done in term four, stanine information for the following year should be used, and if testing takes place during terms two or three, the stanine information will be less valid as there is no obvious comparison group. Scale scores can be used at any time of the year to identify achievement and track progress between time points. There is an ongoing material cost associated with using PATs. 

An overview of the different PATs  

Mathematics PATs: 

• are designed for assessment of ākonga in years 3–10 in the areas of number knowledge, number strategies, algebra, geometry and measurement, and statistics 
• come as reusable booklets with separate answer sheets 
• can be done online. 

Listening comprehension PATs: 

• use short stories, extracts from novels, poems, and non-fiction texts to assess comprehension of texts read to them, providing information about meaning, making independent of text-decoding skills 
• help teachers detect learners who need support with listening skills and ākonga whose listening comprehension differs significantly from their reading comprehension 
• are aimed at years 3–10.  

Reading comprehension PATs: 

• assess how learners make meaning across a range of texts, including narrative, instructional, persuasive, and poetic 
• reflect developments in the teaching and learning of reading comprehension and are designed to help teachers determine achievement levels and next steps in reading comprehension 
• are aimed at years 4–10. 

Reading vocabulary PATs: 

• assess how learners understand the words they read, using a range of vocabulary in context 
• can be completed online 
• are aimed at years 4–10. 

Punctuation and grammar PATs: 

• Assess how learners use the grammatical conventions of standard New Zealand English, including punctuation, in context 
• give an overall indication of level of achievement and help pinpoint specific aspects of punctuation and grammar for further teaching and learning 
• are aimed at years 4–10.  

STAR reading tests are standardised assessment tools designed to supplement the assessments that you already use to track learners' progress and achievement in reading. 

When do you use it?  

The ten tests, arranged in order of difficulty and labelled with the recommended year level, are for ākonga from the beginning of year 3 to the beginning of year 9. They are commonly administered in groups and can be used more than once during a year and at year levels other than those for which they were initially designed. 

What does it give you?  

The 30- to 40-minute tests are easy to administer, although a thorough read of the manual is necessary before administration. You can map the performance of ākonga against national norms and develop future learning strategies. There is an online reporting and analysis service, available by subscription, that provides a range of reports at the individual, class, test, sub-test, and cohort levels.

Points to consider

The tests are designed as supplementary tests of achievement in reading to add to other assessments to determine progress. If you wish to use stanines to make comparisons, these will be most valid if the test is carried out in term one, as the STAR tests were normed in March. If testing is in term four, stanine information for the following year should be used, and if testing is in terms two or three, the stanine information will be less valid as there is no obvious comparison group. There is an ongoing material cost associated with using STAR.

The standardised Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement is also commonly known as the six-year net. The creator, Marie Clay, envisaged this assessment being used after one year of school instruction (generally age six) to determine a learner’s grasp of basic reading and writing concepts and skills and to identify any gaps in understanding. 

When do you use it?  

Administered one-on-one, this observational test, or set of tasks, checks an individual’s basic reading and writing concepts so that early intervention can be put in place if necessary – often, but not exclusively, Reading Recovery. 

What does it give you?  

A properly trained teacher administering the test will gain detailed knowledge about a learner’s approaches towards unlocking the code of reading, something that is beneficial in cases where incorrect assumptions or practices may have developed. This knowledge is a helpful starting point for discussing progress with whānau. 

Points to consider

The one-on-one administration of the test takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. The person who administers the test must be properly trained, and there is a cost for the initial materials used. 

An overview of the components  

The Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement includes six assessment tasks: 

• Concepts about print to discover what the learner understands about the way spoken language is represented in print. 
• Letter identification to find out which alphabetic symbols the learner recognises.
• Word reading to indicate how well the learner is accumulating a reading vocabulary of frequently used words. 
• Writing vocabulary to determine if the learner is building a personal resource of known words that can be written. 
• Hearing and recording sounds in words to assess phonemic awareness and spelling knowledge through hearing and recording sounds in English spelling. 
• Running records provide evidence of how well the learner is learning to use knowledge of letters, sounds, and words to understand the messages in text. 

When children first start school, it is important to find out what they already know. This helps you pinpoint where to start a child along the scope and sequence framework for the Ready to Read Phonics Plus books. 

When do you use it?  

If you are taking a structured literacy approach, the assessment process map provides guidance for testing and gives an entry point for ākonga along the scope and sequence framework. 

What does it give you?  

Monitoring and assessment provide instructions and these three downloadable tests to identify what ākonga know and any gaps they may have in their letter-sound knowledge.  

• The Alphabet Test 
• GKR Phonemic Awareness Test 
• Bryant Test   

Four tools have been developed, in English and Te Reo Māori, to help you determine the mathematical knowledge, understanding, and skills of ākonga with particular emphasis on number knowledge and strategies. 

When do you use it?

These tools can be used as needed at any time of the year within the context of your mathematics programme. There is flexibility built into their use in terms of:

• suitability of the tool for various math stages
• amount of test material to use.  

Administration with individuals is the common approach for NumPA and Gloss, but there is scope for group assessment. IKAN and JAM are usually administered in groups.

What does it give you?  

A strategy stage / curriculum level is identified, along with an indication of strengths or areas for concern. The individual nature of these tests enables you to observe a learner’s approach to completing the various tasks, which creates a rich source of material to inform your professional judgement regarding mathematics knowledge, understanding, and skills. 

Points to consider  

Time can be a factor in administering these tests and needs to be considered in terms of the entire mathematics programme. Sufficient training in using these tools is important. 

An overview of the components  

Diagnostic Interview (NumPA – Numeracy Project Assessment) 

• This is an individual interview used to assess a learner’s knowledge in all five knowledge domains and strategy in all three strategy domains. 
• The interview is not intended to be used with every member of a class on a regular basis. 
• Individual record sheets provide a comprehensive record of development in both knowledge and strategy. 

JAM (Junior assessment of mathematics) 

• JAM assesses the achievement of a learner in relation to levels one and two of the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. 
• There are 11 modules, which can be used separately or combined as a broader assessment.   

GloSS (Global strategy stage) 

• This assessment identifies the strategy stage that learners are operating at across all three strategy domains, known as the global strategy stage. 
• The strategy questions can be administered to individual ākonga in a few minutes. 
• There are multiple forms of the interview available, so learners do not become familiar with the questions. 
• A student record sheet tracks progress longitudinally, and a document of expected levels of achievement enables an assessment of whether ākonga are at risk, a cause for concern, achieving at or above expectations, or are high achievers. 

IKAN (Individual knowledge assessment of number) 

• This assessment identifies the knowledge stages that learners are operating at across all five knowledge domains, known as the global knowledge stage. 
• The interview is for ākonga at the counting stages of the number framework and can be carried out with individuals or small groups. 
• The written test is for learners at the part-whole stages of the number framework.  
• An individual record sheet highlights key learning areas for each learner. 

The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) have developed four tools to support teaching and learning in science: 

Science: Thinking with Evidence (STwE)

• This assessment requires a subscription to NZCER Assist to access. 
• The standardised tests are designed to be used formatively. 
• There are four tests for years 7–10. 
• The tests can be completed on paper or online. 
• The multi-choice questions focus on learners’ ability to use provided stimulus materials to demonstrate aspects of thinking related to the Nature of Science (NOS) strand.       

Junior Science: Thinking with evidence

• This assessment requires a subscription to NZCER Assist to access. 
• The standardised tests are designed to be used formatively.  
• The assessment is for use with learners in years 4–6. 
• The tests can only be completed online. 
• There are a range of short-response question types (drag and drop, sorting, hot spots, as well as some multiple-choice questions). 
• The questions focus on learners’ ability to use provided stimulus materials to demonstrate aspects of their science capabilities, which model ways to weave the NOS strand into the curriculum. 

Science engagement survey

• This survey is free to access but requires a NZCER Assist subscription. 
• There are two online surveys, one for years 0–4 and one for years 5–10. 
• The survey focuses on the learner’s perceptions about their opportunities to learn science. 
• The results provide a starting point for designing a science programme responsive to learners’ interests and needs. 
• Teachers can read the survey items aloud to help ākonga access the content. 
• There are pictures included in the year 0–4 survey to support the meaning of items. 

NMSAA science toolkit

• This online test-based assessment for years 7–8 is free (requires an ARBs login). 
• The assessment enables teachers to understand and support learning in science. 
• There are two assessments: a pre-test (Assessment 1) and a post-test (Assessment 2) with 36 questions each. 
• There are selected response and short answer questions. 
• Assessment 2 requires ākonga to use an online drawing tool, a skill that may need to be taught to ensure it isn’t a barrier to the assessment focus of the task. 

Using the assessment tools  

STwE and junior science 

You can administer these assessments to individuals or groups. If ākonga complete the test online, reports are automatically generated. Report formats include group comparison data and individual progress information. There is flexibility about when to test.  

NMSAA science toolkit 
The assessments are administered online. While there is no time limit, it is suggested that learners have 45 to 50 minutes to complete each test. Mark the open questions online and review the automatically generated reports to identify any gaps in scientific understanding. Following Assessment 1, use the suggested teaching and learning activities to support learning. Administer Assessment 2 and compare results to identify changes in learners’ understandings. 

Science engagement survey 

To administer the survey, schools need an NZCER Marking account or sign up to NZCER Assist. Accessing the science engagement survey has more information from NZCER. 

The Assessment Resource Banks (ARBs) contain over 2800 formative assessment resources in English, mathematics, and science at levels 1–5 of the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. Over 1500 of the assessment resources can be completed online, and half of these have an auto-marking function. The resources are free for New Zealand schools. The learner tasks and teacher information are based on New Zealand and international research and informed by trials in schools. 

When do you use them?

The principles of formative assessment underpin the design of ARBs resources. The assessment tasks are designed to be carried out as part of normal classroom activities. They can be used:

• as a diagnostic assessment at the start of an enquiry 
• as a targeted exploration to find the learning needs of ākonga within a unit 
• to find future learning needs at the end of a unit. 

You can use ARBs resources at any time to reveal learners’ knowledge and understandings. Tasks can be worked on individually, in pairs or groups, or as a whole class. Most tasks can be printed. 

What do they give you?  

The tasks are designed to reveal thinking strategies used by ākonga, and barriers to learning. They can be used to help ākonga reflect on their learning. The Teacher Information pages provide support for making sense of learners’ responses, providing feedback, and making decisions about what to do next. Tasks can be further adapted when designing your own tasks. 

How to get started  

Teachers can set up an account on the ARBs website, allowing them to save and organise collections of resources. They can share interactive online resources and view results online. A login is required.  

There are a range of national and international studies undertaken in New Zealand to provide knowledge about achievement and attitudes across our education system.  

National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA) is a collaboration between NZCER, the Educational Assessment Research Unit (EARU) of the University of Otago, and the Ministry of Education. NMSSA monitors nationally representative samples of year 4 and 8 learners in English-medium schools using a combination of survey assessments and in-depth assessments. The assessments cover all learning areas and the key competencies over a four-year cycle.  

Annual Report on NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship Data and Statistics is produced by NZQA to summarise the results of New Zealand's senior secondary students achieving the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and New Zealand Scholarship.   

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is a global study on children’s reading literacy achievement. Administered every five years, the study measures trends in the achievement of middle primary students as well as provides countries with a snapshot of achievement at each cycle. The study involves New Zealand’s year 5 learners. PIRLS also collects background information from the students, their parents/caregivers, their reading teachers, and school principals. 

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) is a global study on achievement in mathematics and science. It measures and interprets differences in national education systems to help improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science worldwide. In 1994, TIMSS began the first study in a regular cycle of studies at four-year intervals. TIMSS assesses achievement in mathematics and science at the middle primary (year 5) and lower secondary (year 9) levels and collects background information on student, classroom, and school contexts through questionnaires. 

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international study that is administered on a three-year basis. The study assesses how well 15-year-olds are prepared to meet the challenges of today’s society. PISA assesses three key areas of knowledge and skills: reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy. PISA focuses on whether young adults can use their knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges than whether they have mastered a curriculum.  

International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) investigates the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in a world where contexts of democracy and civic participation continue to change.