Data!

I am fast becoming a lover of data! This week, I have been engaged in on-entry assessment in areas of literacy and numeracy for Pre-Primary levels.  Today's numeracy assessment addressed counting, partitioning and subitising.   
In addition to the value to the classroom teacher in terms of differentiating teaching and learning, for a novice like me, conducting assessment was an incredibly useful experience.  It allowed me to observe the limitations or areas of error common across this stage level; it illuminated the 'big ideas' of mathematics and their logical centrality to curriculum and planning; and it allowed me to see the natural progression of skills and knowledge as children progress in their learning.
Conducting these assessments inspired me to do some more research into data-driven teaching. Using the APST as a scaffold, I intend to make data-informed teaching a cornerstone of my practice.

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