RT Article
T1 Standards Setting in Religious Education: Addressing the Quality of Teaching and Assessment Practices
JF Religions
VO 14
IS 3
A1 Poncini, Antonella
LA English
PB MDPI
YR 2023
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1837652430
AB This paper describes a set of educational initiatives in Religious Education (RE). The paper addresses RE as an academic learning area and reserved for Kindergarten to Year 10 classrooms in Catholic schools. The initiatives described in the paper are evidence-based; they are guided by research and student achievement data addressing contemporary assessment reforms within the Australian educational context and considering the implications that the reforms have on the quality of student learning in RE. The reforms include quality assurance measures such as large-scale, standardised assessments (LSAs) and social moderation tools. The purpose of the measures is to establish standards that support the alignment of teaching and assessment practices. Such an alignment in the RE learning area has the potential to strengthen and improve student, as well as teacher, knowledge and understanding of the Catholic Faith Tradition. The paper draws from the Catholic RE school curriculum in Western Australia (WA), assessment principles outlined for schools in WA, an Australian Research Council Linkage project and local research about teacher perceptions of an LSA in RE. The paper supports local and national policy expectations recommending a review of the quality of RE as a learning area. Furthermore, given the prominence of the Catholic Church’s mission of evangelisation and the nature and role of RE in Catholic schools as part of that mission, the paper endorses the Church’s current stance on thoughtful dialogue and renewed efforts to bring a better understanding about Catholic culture and education to the world.
K1 kindergarten to year 10
K1 whole-system approach
K1 Reporting
K1 student achievement
K1 judging standards
K1 Moderation
K1 Quality assurance
K1 Measurement
K1 Assessment
K1 curriculum pedagogy
K1 Religious Education
DO 10.3390/rel14030315