This article answers the following commonly asked questions:
- How do the resources relate to students’ PAT results?
- Choosing the right band: how do I know what level my students are working at?
- How can I view the band and strand descriptions while browsing the resources?
- How do I group my students according to ability?
- How can I review the knowledge, skills and understandings my students are consolidating, what they have achieved and what they are working towards?
- How do I know which resources to give students to target their ability level?
Attached at the end of this article is a list of sample resources available within the PAT Teaching Resources Centre.
How do the resources relate to students’ PAT results?
- Students' test results are reported as scale scores on the PAT scale for that learning area. PAT reports classify test questions by content or skill area and location on the PAT scale.
- The PAT Teaching Resources Centre has a similar structure to the PAT reports, classifying teaching activities and annotated questions by skill area and location on the PAT scale. This allows you to match activities to the achievement level of your students.
Choosing the right band: how do I know what level my students are working at?
- Look at the Achievement Report (in the ACER Data Explorer) or the Bands Report (in the PAT linear reports). Here you can select a cohort of students and see the range of scores represented along the scale.
- Individual student scale scores can be found in the table below the Achievement/Bands Report.
How can I view the band and strand descriptions while browsing the resources?
To view the band and strand descriptions while browsing for resources in the band/strand view:
- select the learning area and band most appropriate for your students
- select the strand you wish to focus on
- click on the coloured button on the right-hand side (e.g. ‘Retrieve 120-129’ in Reading)
- view the descriptions in the flyout that appears.
How do I group my students according to ability?
You can group students according to their scale score bands in the Achievement report (in the PAT Data Explorer) or the Bands report (in the PAT linear reports). Consider whether students are performing at the top or bottom of a band when you do your grouping.
How can I review the knowledge, skills and understandings my students are consolidating, what they have achieved and what they are working towards?
- Using your students’ PAT scale scores as guidance, review the achievement band descriptions.
- The band containing each student’s PAT scale score represents the skills they are consolidating. The band below describes what they are likely to have achieved, and the band above describes what they are working towards.
- Use these descriptions to inform learning intentions. Appropriate resources can be selected or adapted for use based on this focus at the appropriate band level.
Please note: scale scores are not without a margin of error and other evidence can be used to support your judgement of your students’ ability level. More detailed information on interpreting PAT assessment results can be found here in the School Support Centre, the PAT Essentials Kit, and through PAT professional learning.
How do I know which resources to give students to target their ability level?
- Look at the resources at the PAT band level your student/s are performing in.
- If you want to broadly consider the knowledge, skills and understandings your students are consolidating or working towards, you can review the achievement band descriptions below and above the band level they are working at, and select appropriate resources from there.
- If you want to more specifically target skills that students need support in, you can look at students’ performance in strands, sub-strands or in individual questions via the Item Performance Report or Student Report (in the PAT Data Explorer) or the Individual Report or Group Report (in the PAT linear reports).