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Unpacking assessment in Maths Trek
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Unpacking assessment in Maths Trek
Maths Trek 20/1/26
Maths Trek helps teachers evaluate student achievement and build results portfolios with ease. The program not only includes a suite of ready-made assessments, but also provides accompanying resources such as marking guides, observation rubrics and topic results spreadsheets to help with reporting.
In this article we’ll give an overview of how assessment works using Year 3* to illustrate the assessment tools embedded in the program. We’ll also provide a brief overview of the Foundation assessment schedule and resources, which differ from other year levels.
Tip: If you already have access to Maths Trek, we recommend you log in and navigate to your year level. Select the Assessment/Assessment Resources link on the right-hand side menu and navigate through the assessment items for more detail and direct links to resources specific to your year level.
*Features differ slightly across Years 1 to 6.
Overview and schedule
Regular assessment is embedded throughout the year to help inform your teaching and to determine student achievement.
The assessment schedule provides an overview of when the Readiness Tests, summative topic assessments and investigations should be conducted.
Use the assessments in conjunction with your observations and teacher judgement to inform overall student achievement in mathematics.
View the Year 3 Assessment Schedule to see how the Readiness Test, topic assessments and investigations fit into the year.
Readiness Tests
The Readiness Test includes 25 ‘at level’ questions from the previous year.
Conduct the test at the start of the year to identify any areas of collective weakness across the class.
The Readiness Test is also a handy resource to use when a new student joins the class to identify any gaps in their understanding.
Topic assessments
Watch our topic assessment information video for an overview of how the topic assessments are structured, how they should be conducted and how you can use the results for reporting.
There are four topic assessments embedded in the Yearly Plan. These summative assessments are conducted in week 5 or 6 of each term and assess a student’s understanding of the preceding topics.
Each topic assessment contains graded questions:
- C-level questions are ‘at level’
- B-level questions are ‘above level’
- A-level questions are ‘well above level’
In Years 3–6, students complete the assessment independently in a single 45-minute session. It is expected that every student will complete all C-level questions in this time. However, it is not expected that every student will complete all of the more difficult B- and A-level questions.
In Years 1–2, the topic assessments should be conducted over two sessions so students can attempt all questions. You may need to read each question instruction to the class, group or individual students as required, depending on students’ literacy ability.
When marking the test, use the answer sheet and Marking Guide to allocate marks. You can also use the suggested total mark ranges to assign an overall grade from A to E.
In addition, you can use the Topic Assessment Results Spreadsheet to record and analyse results for your class. This handy tool summarises results by semester and by strand to help with reporting.
Investigations
Investigations are embedded in the Yearly Plan. In Year 3, for example, there are eight investigations (two per term). Each investigation provides students with opportunities to apply maths concepts learned in previous weeks to unfamiliar, extended mathematical problems.
Every investigation includes a Teacher observation rubric. Print one rubric for each student at the start of an investigation. As students complete each step of the investigation, highlight the rubric to record your observations of each student’s ability to:
- apply their understanding of key maths concepts learned in topics to the context of the investigation
- demonstrate skills by carrying out procedures
- communicate mathematical thinking
- construct well-reasoned responses to the critical thinking statements.
The critical thinking step enables students to demonstrate their ability to work mathematically. Conference with individuals or small groups to discuss the critical thinking statements, using the instructions on the investigation Cover sheet (Years 3–6) or -Investigation report (Years 1–2). Use this teacher-led discussion to record on the rubric how well each student is able to reflect, reason and communicate their understanding.
You can use investigations as formative or summative assessment, depending on your reporting needs. Use the results on the rubric to inform your teaching and provide remediation to students as required. Or for reporting purposes, use the results as part of an overall teacher judgement of mathematical achievement.
Example Cover sheet and Teacher observation rubric from Year 3 investigation: What’s in a thousand words?
What about Foundation?
While Foundation assessment differs from other year levels, it still includes topic assessments and investigations to help you understand each student’s proficiency in mathematics.
To help with the specialised nature of instruction in the first year of school, Foundation includes fewer assessments and the assessments themselves are structured differently. There are two topic assessments (one per semester) and four investigations (one per term).*
It’s important to note that the semester topic assessments are designed to be conducted over several sessions as required. Each test includes ‘at level’ and ‘above level’ questions, with details on how to allocate marks in the Marking Guide.
In addition to the topic assessments and investigations, Foundation also includes termly Progress Checklists to help you monitor student progress and achievement in mathematics.
* For schools that still want to conduct a termly summative assessment in Foundation, refer to the assessment information in the right-hand menu for a downloadable spreadsheet which demonstrates how the topic assessment questions could be split across the four terms.
If you have further questions about Maths Trek assessment, be sure to contact your local Firefly Education Consultant. You can also sign up for a free trial or book your school in for a free professional learning workshop to find out more about the Maths Trek program as a whole.