Measures of Student Development (MSD)

MSD tests assess ability, not achievement.  The items are skills based, not curriculum based.  The tests are designed to be used in conjunction with achievement tests (such as class tests, NAPLAN, PAT tests) to identify students working at levels above or below their ability.  These students can be investigated further with a view to placing them in enrichment classes or to determine whether they require extra assistance.

MSD tests are intended to assess a range of general reasoning skills appropriate to typical curricula at primary and secondary schools.  There are four tests designed for students at middle primary school, the end of primary school, at the start of their secondary schooling and again in middle secondary.  Schools determine the timing of the test during the year and administer the test.  Scoring is performed by ACER.

The program is designed to:

• Assess performance within a year level
• Allow development in performance to be monitored over time
• Predict performance at Year 12.

The items are skills based NOT curriculum based.  They are designed to assess general reasoning ability in four main areas.

V&Q (verbal and quantitative abilities),

• A test of verbal (V) and quantitative abilities (Q), the items being in the same test book.   The testing time is 60 minutes at primary schools and 90 minutes at secondary schools.

A (abstract reasoning abilities)

• A test with abstract items to allow the assessment of reasoning in a language-free environment.  The testing time is 30 minutes at primary schools and 40 minutes at secondary schools.

All V, Q and A items are multiple-choice.

W (written communication)

• Students are given a prompt – a picture or a short piece of text - and asked to develop a piece of writing over 30 minutes that demonstrates their creativity.
• The essay score is reported separately from the reasoning test scores.

Schools may choose to use any combination of tests at any level noting that V&Q items occur in the same test book.