New Assessment Journal

It is great to see a new peer reviewed journal out from NZCER - New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

It is simply named Assessment Matters and looks like a 'must have' for anyone interested in assessment and education.

Along with some other great articles about school assessment there is one from Margaret Carr on the early childhood exemplars-

Kei tua o te pae: Assessing learning that reaches beyond the self and beyond the horizon
Margaret Carr

"This paper outlines the development and the conceptual design of an assessment for learning resource of 177 exemplars from early childhood contexts. Two metaphors provide the foundation for the resource: Te Whäriki and Kei Tua o te Pae. These metaphors underpin a discussion about assessment of learner outcomes that reach “beyond the self” and “beyond the horizon”, using the resource as an example. The resource that is built on these two metaphors includes three themes: principles that frame up the assessment; practices that are based on narrative; and a view of progression that aligns with the principles. The assessment practice exemplified is sited in stories and portfolios, and the paper concludes with an argument for the consequential validity of narrative assessments."

The first years journal is online

The First Years Journal is now available online. What a great resource this has been for our team as professional development facilitators. Along with Early Education this is the most often referred to Journal in our work.

Although specifically targeting those who are interested in the education and care of Infants and Toddlers, many of the articles are alsorelevant across all ages.

We often refer to articles on planning that were published here, written by such luminaries as Diti Hill, Kingston and Wright, Robyn Lawrence and Ann Hatherly amongst others.