I recently attended a meeting along with approximately 150 concerned parents and teachers on assessment methods in Queensland Schools. It was abundantly clear that the following three changes need to be made to our current assessment system:

1.     Long written assessment pieces should be greatly reduced and / or dropped in physics, chemistry and  maths (and other subjects);

2.     Teachers should be able to use numerical marks when determining a student’s final grade for a subject instead of only being allowed to use criteria matrices/ standards grids. It should be mandatory to add marks in assessment and towards grading;

3.     External exams should be introduced for at least some fraction of the total assessment, (as is already the case in other states).

I am writing to you as I need your help in urgently getting this action taken. Why the urgency? Because the longer it takes for these changes to occur, the more students we are subjecting to undue stress in an inequitable overall ranking system. The more disillusioned teachers, resigning due to the strain of large workloads and/or having had letters of complaints to QSA (Qld Studies Authority) fall on deaf ears. Parents know there is a problem but are unsure about what exactly that problem is and what needs to change. The push for change has been going on for far too long.

Please see the attachment which includes important links and my personal experience of teaching Maths for 16 years in QLD.

Thankyou in advance for any assistance you are able to offer.