Australian education systems have long recognised that the most valuable outcomes of schooling extend well beyond narrow measures of achievement. The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Declaration reinforces this by emphasising the development of confident, creative, and actively engaged learners who can think critically, collaborate effectively, and contribute positively to their communities. Yet attributes such as reasoning, creativity, collaboration, conceptual understanding, engagement, are often the very ones teachers find hardest to assess, monitor, and communicate with confidence.
This professional learning course responds directly to that challenge. It supports teachers and leaders to foreground the attributes that matter most for students’ long‑term success and wellbeing, and to build assessment practices that honour the full breadth of the curriculum.
This course will deepen your understanding of the attributes emphasised in the Alice Springs Declaration; offering practical ways to capture growth in complex attributes without reducing them to simplistic checklists or proxies; strengthening task and rubric design, and considering how assessments can be used to reinforce the learning schools (and school communities) value. During this course you will reflect on curriculum intent, and provide students with clear pathways for improvement.
You will be empowered to take ownership of assessment, shifting the narrative from compliance to professional agency and build your confidence in communicating the importance of broader learning outcomes to colleagues, leaders, parents, students, and policymakers.
This course aims to promote values‑aligned assessment practices that reduce over‑reliance on narrow, high‑stakes measures and support fairer, more holistic judgments for all learners, and reinforces teacher professionalism, enhances school‑level decision‑making, and ensures that assessment serves as a tool for growth rather than a constraint on meaningful learning.
Prof Jim Tognolini
Professor Jim Tognolini is Director of The Centre for Educational Measurement and Assessment (CEMA) which is situated within the University of Sydney School of Education and Social Work. The work of the Centre is focused on the broad areas of teaching, research, consulting and professional learning for teachers.
The Centre is currently providing consultancy support to a number of schools. These projects include developing a methodology for measuring creativity; measuring 21st Century Skills; developing school-wide practice in formative assessment. We have a number of experts in the field: most notably, Professor Jim Tognolini, who in addition to conducting research offers practical and school-focused support.
20 August 2026 at NSW Teachers Federation, Surry Hills
$220