Making measurement a pathway to learning and inclusion
Measuring What Matters (MWM) promotes whole child assessment in education systems to improve learning and development outcomes for children and youth all over the world.
One of the best ways to catalyse improvement in any activity is to measure it. This programme seeks to drive meaningful change by helping to integrate Whole Child Development (WCD) thinking and metrics into assessment systems in education around the world. With a focus on students who face extreme adversities, the hope is that measurement can become much more than a way of tracking learning; it has the potential to become a tool for inclusion.
Our partners offer support at local, national and international levels, piloting tools involving students, teachers, principals and parents. As a result, we are increasing our understanding of how best to use assessments to include children in adversity, strengthening their resilience and involving the wider ecosystem around them – their families and school communities.
Another key outcome of the programme is to facilitate collaborations across organisations active within WCD and assessment, helping the sector consolidate around common goals and sharing learnings. Ultimately, we believe that the more we can integrate WCD measures into assessment systems, influencing policies, classrooms and individuals, the greater the impact on the lives of these young people.
Measuring What Matters
New policy research on the value of Whole Child Development
As part the ‘Measuring What Matters’ programme, Porticus has commissioned a policy analysis report to capture how cities and countries value, define, and measure Whole Child Development (WCD) - and equivalent - both broadly but also in the context of reaching those in extreme adversity.Developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), the report published in July 2020, provides insights into the challenges experienced in embedding WCD in education systems and offers evidence around the growing recognition and momentum globally around WCD and holistic learning.
One of the key findings from the report is that policy makers are much more motivated to integrate whole child approaches in education policies when they feel confident that this will contribute to improved learning (academic) outcomes. Crucially, the study also found that children and youth facing extreme adversity are recognised by all participating sites, broadly and within a local context, as a priority group deserving of special attention in the education system.
This study was designed as a baseline for understanding the perspective of global policy makers – key drivers of systemic change - and to advance the knowledge around how national and city education systems define this approach and measure it. The intention is to repeat this study in the future in order to capture the evolving and diverse perspective of policy makers in their goal towards incorporating elements of WCD in their systems, particularly for those children and youth facing extreme adversity.
Read the policy analysis report developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) with insights on the value of WCD.
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