Understanding Students with Additional Needs as Learners

Patrick Griffin held the Chair of Education (Assessment) at The University of Melbourne and was the founding director of the Assessment Research Centre. His work includes more than 40 years in teaching and research in education measurement.  He focuses on item response modelling applications in interpretive frameworks for performance assessment, problem solving and higher order competency assessment and performance reporting. He was the measurement team leader for UNESCO in the SACMEQ project and a World Bank consultant in Vietnam, Philippines and China. He retired from university of Melbourne in 2015.  He still leads  several national and international studies of problem solving, literacy and numeracy and was the Executive Director of the Assessment and Teaching of 21 ^st Century Skills project in which he pioneered the assessment of collaborative problem solving. His research into reliable rubrics is on display through the doctoral students’ work in this volume on the work with special needs students.

Kerry Woods devoted 16 years to understanding how teachers observe their students and use formal and informal sources of assessment data to guide their classroom planning and teaching. Her doctoral research investigated the design and validation of criterion-referenced assessments of communication and literacy to support personalised learning for students with diverse additional needs. In collaboration with fellow academics and school and policy leaders, her research led to the development of an integrated program of advice and support for teachers of students with disability. She is currently an honorary Senior Fellow of the Assessment Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne.