Assessment-Driven Language Learning: How St Andrews is Boosting Student Confidence and Achievement with EP
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Jacqueline Mikami shares how targeted assessment and real-time insights are transforming Japanese language learning for middle students at St Andrews Lutheran College.
Jacqueline Mikami, Japanese Language Coordinator at St Andrews Lutheran College on Queensland’s Gold Coast, is leading a refreshed approach to language teaching in response to curriculum changes. With a focus on effective assessment and student engagement, Jacqueline has been leveraging Education Perfect (EP) to support her students’ learning journey in Japanese.
About St Andrews Lutheran College
St Andrews Lutheran College is a leading independent school offering education from Early Learning through to Year 12. The College’s Primary Years Programme is built around the International Baccalaureate (IB) and inquiry-based learning, with German and Japanese taught weekly, from Year 4 through to Year 6 using iPads. In the Middle and Senior Schools, the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 forms the basis of learning and students continue with German and Japanese. A new approach in Year 7 sees students experience six months of each language before making their final choices from Year 8 onwards. From Year 11, students study languages under the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) syllabus.
Assessment: Meeting Curriculum Demands and Reducing Teacher Workload
With the simultaneous introduction of the revised Australian Curriculum and the College’s innovative language rotation model in Year 7, Jacqueline faced a significant challenge: how to quickly and effectively assess and identify student needs in her condensed Year 7 programme. EP has played a vital role in supporting her to get to know the students and their learning needs.
“EP has been an amazing asset over the last year. Thanks to the quality of EP’s curriculum-aligned assessments, we have had access to fully curriculum aligned resources, allowing us to roll out pre- assessment, mid-term, and end-of-term testing with ease.”
“With just six months for each language, efficiency and accuracy of information is so important. EP’s assessment resources have given us a solid structure for these shorter courses and enabled us to assess quickly and assign tasks based on student levels.”
Building Towards Summative Assessment
The benefits of EP’s assessment tools extend beyond pre-testing. Jacqueline has incorporated EP mid-terms, with students permitted multiple attempts.
“The students can have up to three goes, and most of them end up achieving 100%. They like seeing their improvement, and it helps reinforce their learning.”
This iterative approach turns assessment into a learning opportunity, not just a measure of performance.
Driving Student Confidence and Ownership of Learning
A standout benefit for Jacqueline has been the way EP’s formative assessment tools promote student advocacy and build learner confidence.
“In Languages, like in Maths, many students come in thinking they’re not good at the subject. By encouraging them to complete the EP pre-tests in a low-pressure environment, I’ve seen a real boost in their belief in their abilities.”
The design of EP assessments fosters this positive mindset.
“Because students get immediate feedback and if they answer incorrectly, EP shows them the correct answer, they’re learning as they go. It’s not just about getting a score; it’s about building understanding. The students find the process clear, simple, and highly engaging.”
Differentiation at Scale: Personalised Learning Pathways
The accurate curriculum alignment of the new EP assessments has also transformed Jacqueline’s ability to differentiate her teaching at scale. With large cohorts and varied student backgrounds, some students arriving in Year 7 with several years of Japanese learning from primary school and others brand new to the language, EP has empowered Jacqueline to tailor tasks for each learner.
“For students who are struggling, I can assign them foundation tasks like greetings and numbers to build confidence. For students who’ve already been learning Japanese for years, I can push them further by giving them Year 9 or 10-level tasks. No matter how busy I am, EP makes it simple to assign targeted activities for every individual student.”
Teaching and Learning Integration
While the focus has been on assessment, EP is also woven into Jacqueline’s day-to-day teaching practice.
“We use explicit teaching methods, starting with a concept together, with students then choosing EP, textbook work, or OneNote activities to consolidate learning. Most students prefer EP and this year, I’ve noticed even more engagement with the new EP resources.”
Jacqueline credits the up-to-date, engaging content for driving this increased student participation.
The Role of Learning Snapshots
Although still in the early stages of using Learning Snapshots, Jacqueline is already seeing how it could support her work as Year 7 Coordinator. She’s particularly interested in using it to quickly identify patterns across the cohorts and to track individual student progress over time. With multiple classes and a wide range of ability levels, having an easy- to-access visual summary of where students are at is something Jacqueline feels will be increasingly valuable for informing her teaching and support strategies.
“I am going to share the Learning Snapshots with the students themselves so they can see their progress. Today’s children are familiar with looking critically at data and analysing how they are doing. It ties in with our focus on building confidence in their own abilities and in student advocacy.”
Reflections on Impact
While Jacqueline acknowledges that it’s difficult to isolate one factor in student achievement, she is confident that EP is making a positive difference.
“There are so many elements that contribute to success in the classroom, but I am sure that EP is improving achievement. The structured high-quality formative and summative assessments, the differentiation, the student engagement, it’s all making an impact.”
For St Andrews Lutheran College, EP has become an essential tool in delivering a responsive, data- informed, and engaging language learning experience.
