ASSESSING

AGENCY IN
LEARNING

DRAFT MATERIALS 2022

This version of these resources were used by registered
New Metrics partner schools in Semester 1 2022. The
resource kits are a work in progress. The partnership
is in the process of developing future iterations.
Copyright The University of Melbourne.

ASSESSMENT OF COMPLEX
COMPETENCIES: A POEM
Assessment is
a process
of gathering evidence about a learner
(what they say, do, make or write)
in various realistic contexts
to support a reliable judgment
about the position of a learner
on a scale of competence from less expert to more expert,
in a valued domain of learning
explaining what they can do
and what they need to learn next
with sufficient degree of confidence
to support learning and teaching
and recognition of the level of learner attainment
that people trust
~ S.MILLIGAN

New Metrics for Success:

TRANSFORMING WHAT WE VALUE IN SCHOOLS
1
 W I T H M A N Y T H A N K S T O

The schools participating in The University of Melbourne’s

New Metrics for Success research-practice partnership,
whose contributions continue to combine with broader
work of the Assessment Research Centre to inform the
development of this work.

T H I S PA C K

contains a DRAFT kit to be used in calibration and

validation trials of assessment tools being developed by
The University of Melbourne. This kit intends to support
partner schools through the planning for and assessment
of valued complex competencies.

© The University of Melbourne

Version: March 2022

New Metrics for Success:

TRANSFORMING WHAT WE VALUE IN SCHOOLS
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 ELEMENTS OF

AGENCY IN
LEARNING
Knowing what to learn, how to
learn it and who to learn it from

ACTING WITH
PURPOSE
____ TAKING
Connecting learning RESPONSIBILITY
to broader purposes ____ DEVELOPING
of self, group or
community Taking responsibility for EXPERTISE
the learning of self and ____ BUILDING
others 
Understanding what CONNECTIONS
it takes to develop AND SOCIAL
expertise or mastery in
a domain 
ALLIANCES
____
USING Capitalising on
FEEDBACK partnerships to
____ SHOWING maximize learning of
self and others 
Seeking out, providing COMMITMENT
and using a variety of ____ ACTING WITH
feedback in the interests
of learning of self and Being persistent, COURAGE
others  diligent and invested ____ BEING
in learning
Pushing beyond SYSTEMATIC
personal comfort level ____
in the interests of
learning  Planning and organising
for learning 

New Metrics for Success:

TRANSFORMING WHAT WE VALUE IN SCHOOLS 3
A TASTE OF
THE LEARNING
PROGRESSION
Student attainment can be
chartered against a continuum
of learning. Below is a sample of
three ‘big leaps’ in competence.

Students at this level take responsibility for their own

THE DEEP and others learning, seeking competence in the field of

LEARNER 
learning, and follow areas of interest linked to broader
purposes consequential to themselves and their
community. 
They are open to ideas that challenge their current thinking and
expand their inquiries into new areas, seeking to accommodate
new ideas and alternate perspectives. They seek practical
wisdom in a field of endeavour, using and applying skills or
knowledge in novel and appropriate ways. They persist in the
face of setbacks and take considered risks to expand their own
understandings and potential resolutions. They seek feedback
from a range of sources and judge their work by their own
standards or those respected in their sphere of interest. They
lead collaborative work with peers, building productive and

THE
supportive learning environments that encourage others to turn
to them for advice or assistance. 

RESPONSIBLE
LEARNER Students at this level take responsibility for their own
learning, and collaborate with peers to learn.
They undertake learning activities and consolidation of
their own volition. They are motivated to learn, aiming to do
well in tasks and paying attention to work quality. They are
interested in new ideas and challenges and seek help when
required to move forward and act on feedback to improve.
They exhibit interest in the work of others, learning from the
actions and modelling from peers and experts.  

THE
DEPENDENT Students at this level rely on others to initiate
learning and provide feedback.
LEARNER They are dependent on supervision and instruction
and follow procedures and templates to support their
learning. They tend to work alone, requiring prompting
from their teacher to move forward, or to notice if they
are stuck. They depend on their teacher, coach or
instructor for affirmation of their performance. They
are usually passive participants in shared learning
opportunities (group work).

New Metrics for Success:

TRANSFORMING WHAT WE VALUE IN SCHOOLS 4
THE ANATOMY
OF COMPETENCY
ASSESSMENT
FRAMEWORK
OF INDICATIVE
BEHAVIOURS (DRAFT)
INDICATORS A sample progression of
Indicators are behavioural possible behaviours that
markers used to judge the can be used to indicate the
level of learner performance presence of each element
that work together

DEVELOPMENTAL
STAGES (DRAFT) ELEMENTS
‘Big leaps’ in competence (WITH DEFINITIONS)
A competency is a
combination of elements
that work together. We can
consider the definitions of
each element within the
context of the complex
COMPETENCY competency we aim to
& DEFINITION measure

New Metrics for Success:

TRANSFORMING WHAT WE VALUE IN SCHOOLS 5
PLANNING WITH
THE ANATOMY
IN MIND
Becoming familiar with ELEMENTS and INDICATORS will support
teachers to align their tasks, activities and evidence collection
opportunities to the competency they want to assess.

EXAMPLE FROM ‘AGENCY IN

ELEMENTS LEARNING’ FRAMEWORK
(WITH
DEFINITIONS)
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Taking responsibility for the
learning of self and others

EXAMPLE FROM ‘AGENCY IN

LEARNING’ FRAMEWORK

INDICATORS ‘Taking responsibility for the learning of

self and others’ can be observed when a
learner is:
• Taking responsibility for tasks
• Taking responsibility for mistakes
• Taking responsibility for the
learning of others

LITMUS QUESTIONS Example litmus question:

Questions in Ruby aim to bring to the surface ‘When they make a mistake,
indicative behaviours of competence across does the learner’
a range of ages, stages and contexts.
• Seek reasons for the mistake
Response options include ‘not applicable’ and
external to themselves
‘working towards’ because capturing this data is
important for future development. The example • Accept that they have made a mistake
provided here shows a model of the language and • Seek to understand and improve
the broad steps of progression teachers will select
from when recording their judgments in Ruby. • Not applicable

New Metrics for Success:

TRANSFORMING WHAT WE VALUE IN SCHOOLS 6
DRAWING
FROM EVIDENCE
COLLECTION
OPPORTUNITIES

Assessing complex competencies relies on a range of evidence.

Evidence may be sourced from planned or unplanned opportunities, such as:  
• Observation e.g., playing in the sandpit, working in a group on a collaborative task
• Questioning e.g., self-reflections, interviews (informal), teacher-student conferencing
• Portfolios e.g., work samples, journals, work products
• Planned activities e.g., projects, presentations, role-plays, demonstrations

PLANNING STUDENTS:
ASSESSMENT PARTNERS IN
FOR COMPLEX LEARNING 
COMPETENCIES 
Learner agency is a key element of learning design
WHAT  and shared ambitions for the new grammar
of schooling. Schools can support students to
Become familiar with the definition of the
develop learner agency by designing opportunities
competency and elements which make up the
for them to pursue areas of interest, passion and
assessment framework. Review the behavioural
need; empowering students to make decisions
indicators to plan for what you want to observe
regarding their own learning, pathways and
when students are exercising or demonstrating
resources. Constructing a shared understanding
this competency.  
of what students are learning and why they are
learning it is a key consideration in learning design.

HOW  When assessing complex competencies, as with all

Determine how you will collect evidence. Think
about what you do currently that could be used
to collect evidence. Will you be able to make a
judgement about your learners using current
activities or do you need to design new activities
and opportunities for students to exercise this
competency?
practice, it is important that learners and teachers
form learning partnerships. Just as teachers
need to be clear about learning ambitions and
objectives, and what development ‘looks’ like, so
too do students; congruence between all elements
of the learning design needs to be understood by
students to achieve alignment. As students embark
on the learning journey, they will benefit from
being provided with guidance on what success
looks like for a given assessment task. Visual
depictions or success models will help students
guide their efforts.

New Metrics for Success:

TRANSFORMING WHAT WE VALUE IN SCHOOLS 7
Draft – not for distribution (March 2022)

AGENCY IN LEARNING: Knowing what to learn, how to learn and who to learn it from and with to attain expertise in an area of interest
Sees learning as Takes responsibility for Leads or initiates Faces learning Takes risks Seeks new
important for broader Persistently learning of self and collaborative work to challenges squarely, (reputational or environments and
life purposes of practices, reviews or others support learning of with initiative, and other) to expand opportunities to
themselves and/or their redoes work to self and others over time their own expand capacity
community develop expertise understandings or
THE DEEP LEARNER
performance
Uses learning Actively seeks Seeks performance Is willing to be
opportunities to pursue feedback from a broad levels that challenge wrong
own interests range of others, and or expand their level
provides it to others of expertise; sets
high standards for
themselves
Seeks to do as expected Takes initiative to Accepts responsibility Works well with Persists in the face Adapts to changing
by others develop expertise or for own learning others in group of setbacks circumstances in
understanding learning management of
learning

THE RESPONSIBLE
Explores feedback to Seeks to do well at Demonstrates Relies on a stable and
LEARNER
improve performance set tasks diligence and orderly environment
conscientiousness

Learns as directed Absorbs what is Relies on supervision to Works alone Receives feedback Completes tasks as Completes Stays within their Proceeds as directed
presented develop learning when offered set requirements comfort zone in
THE DEPENDENT exploration of ideas
LEARNER or performance
levels

Indicators • Seeking value in • Producing own • Taking • Building learning • Seeking feedback • Judging • Taking initiative • Being willing to • Planning
learning knowledge responsibility for partnerships • Responding to standards • Managing fail/be wrong • Adapting to
• Focusing on the tasks • Recognising value feedback • Seeking challenges • Expressing changing
nature of • Taking of others • Providing feedback community of • Caring about opinions circumstances
attainment responsibility for • Collaborating on • Encouraging interest learning • Taking • Managing
mistakes learning others • Harnessing performance priorities
• Taking challenges • Being sought for challenge risks
responsibility for feedback • Making mistakes
learning of others • Using breadth of
resources
Elements Acting with purpose Taking action to add Taking responsibility Building connections Using feedback Developing Showing Acting with courage Being systematic
value and social alliances expertise commitment
Connecting learning Taking responsibility for Seeking out, providing Pushing beyond Planning and
to broader purposes Taking initiative and the learning of self and Capitalising on and using a variety of Understanding what Being persistent, personal comfort organising for
of self, group or making contributions others partnerships to feedback in the it takes to develop diligent and invested level in the interests learning
community maximize learning of interests of learning of expertise or mastery in learning of learning
self and others self and others in
a domain

Draft – not for distribution (March 2022)

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