Watch Angela Thorogood tell the tale of Room 8 in 2024.
The pressure of a new curriculum affects us all. However, what if we focus not on teaching more and more things, and instead focus on making sure that we teach less and teach it better? This is the old battle of ‘coverage versus depth.’
So, Angela hardly taught anything new last year! That is a big thing to brag about. She used Assessment for Learning strategies (and a few other key strategies) and got wonderful results. The classroom data below is a snapshot of her Year 3 students who made more than one year of progress in a year:
- Spelling 63% of students made more than one year of progress in one year;
- Reading 58%;
- Writing 33%;
- and Maths 38%.
She thinks teachers need to choose the right learning that will make the most difference overall. And that learning should come from data. Then teachers should focus on that gap. Sounds simple right? It is not.
Angela was for many years a school leader and an assessment facilitator. She has now chosen to return to the classroom to put her knowledge into practice.
Find Angela’s presentation slides here: Angela Thorogood Teach Less Stuff, Better NZAI 2025
