Assessment for Graduate Teaching (AfGT) project
The project aims to develop a Teaching Performance Assessment that can be implemented in all Australian Initial Teacher Education (ITE) institutions.
Project update
The University of Sydney will assume hosting responsibilities for the AfGT Management Team from January 1, 2025.
The AfGT Executive Group would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the University of Melbourne for their foundational role as the inaugural host of the AfGT Management Team. Their dedication and expertise have been instrumental in establishing the AfGT as a robust, respected assessment instrument within the field. Their work has also provided the AfGT with a sustainable and well-regarded operational framework. We are pleased to announce that this legacy will be upheld as the University of Sydney assumes the management role for the 2025-2029 period, ensuring the continued growth and impact of the AfGT for educators and pre-service teachers alike.
The University of Sydney has appointed Associate Professor Wayne Cotton as the Project Lead and Director of the AfGT Management Team. Wayne can be contacted at wayne.cotton@sydney.edu.au.
About the AfGT instrument
In 2016, following the recommendations of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG, 2014), the Australian Commonwealth Government requested that the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) assist initial teacher education providers with developing and introducing teaching performance assessment tools with the objective of ensuring:
- a more robust and consistent assessment of students who have undergone initial teacher education; and
- greater quality assurance of initial teacher education.
Standard 1.2 of the National Program Standards contains the details of what a Teaching Performance Assessment must address. AITSL also provides detailed guidance and support about Teaching Performance Assessments (TPAs) and how institutions develop them.
The Assessment for Graduate Teaching (AfGT) is an approved Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) developed and implemented by a consortium of Australian higher education providers that have Initial Teacher Education (ITE) faculties or schools. The AfGT is designed to capture the sophisticated intellectual work of teaching and enable pre-service teachers to demonstrate the various ways in which they can meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate level). The AfGT is the result of collegial and collaborative actions of Consortium members, who have worked—and who continue to work—together on every step in developing, implementing and evaluating the instrument.
The AfGT is a culminating assessment of teacher performance and is both a research project and a mandated coursework requirement that pre-service teachers (PSTs) must pass prior to graduation. The AfGT employs multiple measures to evaluate a pre-service teacher’s teaching and professional decision making. In following sound design and measurement principles, the AfGT utilises multiple forms of data and evidence, and is subject to continuous improvement processes. The AfGT has been designed, trialled and refined, to generate an assessment instrument that represents a robust, comprehensive and authentic series of tasks that reflect teaching.
About the Consortium
The Consortium represents the diversity of Initial Teacher Education programs in Australian higher education providers in terms of geography, student population, program types (undergraduate, postgraduate), course offerings and delivery modes. Since its development in 2017, the AfGT Consortium has demonstrated a robust and adaptable approach to advancing the assessment of graduate teaching capabilities, ensuring its relevance and effectiveness in the changing landscape of teacher education.
The Consortium believes that the value and impact of the AfGT is built and sustained through a commitment to inclusive and collegiate practices and this has been achieved by people sharing their diverse experiences and expertise on committees, as key contacts and/or as assessors. AfGT researchers have contributed to national and international conferences and have published in a range of academic publications. The Consortium's work has been marked by a commitment to evidence-informed practices, collaborative innovation, and a proactive stance on policy and standards in initial teacher education, contributing significantly to the field both nationally and internationally.
The following institutions are members of the AfGT Consortium:
Faculty of Education
The University of Melbourne
College of Education
Charles Darwin University
School of Education
Curtin University
Institute of Education, Arts and Community
Federation University Australia
Sydney School of Education and Social Work
The University of Sydney
Graduate School of Education
The University of Western Australia
Faculty of Education
The University of Canberra
The School of International Studies and Education
University of Technology Sydney
College of Arts and Education
Victoria University
Teaching and Education Courses
Excelsia College Sydney
Education Department
Melbourne Polytechnic
Teacher Training Courses
Montessori Institute
Southern Cross Education
Southern Cross Education Institute, Higher Education
School of Education
The University of Adelaide