Standards and Progression Points
The progression points are part of a package of resource materials designed to assist teachers in implementing the VELS, assessing student progress and reporting to parents.
The purpose of the progression points is to assist teachers in making on-balance, holistic judgments about student progress towards the standards. Students follow different pathways as they progress through the domains. Despite this, it is often possible to identify the pathway that students typically follow as they learn. This means that teachers use their professional judgment about how to use the progression points in relation to their classroom programs. They are illustrative of student progress and therefore have not been written for every element of a standard. Progression points are not intended to be used as a ‘syllabus’.
The progression points are represented on a scale as developmental points along an underlying continuum between the standards. Students will be working across a range of levels of the VELS at any given time.
The progression points follow a scale with three points between each standard. The progression points scale ranges from 0.5 to 6.75, depending on the levels for which standards are defined for each domain. For example, in Science standards are described from Level 3 and progression points are described from 2.25. Where standards are described from Level 1, there is one progression point 0.5 at Level 1 and three progression points for Levels 2 to 6. Beyond Level 6 progression points are set at 6.25, 6.5 and 6.75.
Progression points at 3.25, 3.5 and 3.75, for example, represent students’ progress beyond the Level 3 standard towards the Level 4 standard.
For each reporting period, teachers make on-balance judgments about student progress in relation to the standards. The progression points together with assessment maps assist teachers in making this judgment. Teacher judgment is based on evidence gained from the range of formal and informal assessment tasks and learning experiences undertaken over the semester. Teachers then make overall, on-balance judgments about student progress on the continuum.
