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About PAT Early Years Maths
PAT Early Years Maths is an assessment covering the early development of mathematical skills with a strong focus on number. A range of measurement, space, and statistics skills are also assessed, with limited coverage of algebra and probability. The assessment has been specifically designed for the first two years of formal schooling (Foundation and Year 1), a time when students are building their foundational mathematical skills.
There are four PAT Early Years Maths tests, which increase in difficulty and are accessible across the two-year period. The Start Foundation and Mid-Foundation tests are designed for the first year of school and the Mid-Year 1 and End Year 1 tests for the second year of school. The number of tests provided allows educators to monitor progress of a variety of mathematical skills throughout the year.
As with all PAT assessments, each PAT Early Years Maths test is made up of items – or questions – that cover a spread of difficulty and allow for some overlap in the skills assessed between the previous test and the next test. There is no common content; each test has a unique set of items.
The PAT Early Years Mathematics Framework covers six strands of early mathematics and aligns to the Australian Curriculum.
The six strands are:
- Number
- Algebra
- Measurement
- Space
- Statistics
- Probability
The PAT Early Years assessment data is reported on the same scale as the PAT Maths 4th Edition assessment, enabling longitudinal tracking of students from the early years of school through to Year 10. The PAT Early Years strands are the same as those reported in PAT Maths.
The PAT Early Years tests were developed exclusively for online administration and contain audio support as students in the first two years of school are still learning to read. Most questions and instructions are delivered via audio as well as text. Students can listen to each question or instruction multiple times. The only reading required is where mathematical knowledge is being assessed (for example, recognition of the words for numbers). Students are able to independently navigate the assessment at their own pace.
PAT Early Years Maths is designed to be administered on a tablet where young students can touch the screen to respond, rather than having to operate the ‘moving and clicking’ of a mouse. If only desktop computers are available, teachers should monitor and support young students to record their responses using a mouse. There are two ways to respond to a test item – by ‘touching’ (or ‘clicking’) on an image or text or by ‘dragging and dropping’ objects or digits. Items can be standalone or part of a unit of items having a common stimulus. It is crucial that all students complete the practice program to understand how to navigate and interact with these items.