Explicit teaching is a powerful approach that provides clear, structured and supportive instruction, helping students build confidence and mastery in key learning areas.
Over 1,000 NSW schools partner with Essential Assessment (EA) to support teachers with Mathematics and English assessments, creating rigorous and effective teaching practices, informed by actionable data.
Backing you with explicit teaching support
Our syllabus-aligned assessments and learning materials directly address each core NSW explicit teaching strategy and can boost each student’s Mathematics and English learning. Here’s the strategies EA can support:
- Checking for Understanding
Easily identify student understanding using online and printable formative assessments that instantly pinpoint misunderstandings at the content group and indicator levels. - Connecting Learning
Our assessments identify prerequisite skills, linking new content to prior knowledge, supporting students’ connections across the syllabus. - Chunking and Sequencing
Flexi assessments allow teachers to break down complex content into manageable chunks, supporting step-by-step instructional sequencing. - Gradual Release of Responsibility
Foster independent learning through personalised “I can” statements, provide formative assessment feedback, and scaffold activities that transition from teacher-guided to student-driven. - Sharing Learning Intentions & Success Criteria
Leverage clear, student-friendly learning goals and success criteria, aligned explicitly to syllabus outcomes, to empower students to self-monitor their progress. - Using Effective Questioning
Use data-informed insights to shape targeted, syllabus-aligned questioning that builds critical thinking and promotes deeper learning. - Using Effective Feedback
Gain instant feedback from automated assessments, which offer timely and specific teacher-student dialogue, identifying the next steps for growth.
Teaching techniques simplified
- Activating prior knowledge: Our assessments allow you to gauge existing knowledge quickly, preparing learners to engage effectively with new content.
- Responsive teaching: Rely on actionable, real-time student data and insights, to inform adaptive teaching strategies.
- Scaffolding: Curriculum-aligned resources provide structured support, ensuring students progress from guided practice to independent mastery.
- Peer and self feedback: Encourage reflective practices through clear criteria and immediate formative feedback.
- Independent practice: Extensive resources support individualised learning journeys within each student’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
Ongoing teacher support
To help you deliver high-impact teaching, we offer extensive professional development opportunities, including:
- On-platform training modules
- Webinars
- Detailed step-by-step Help Guides
- Professional development workshops
- In-classroom modelling and onsite instructional coaching (where feasible)
Essential Assessment empowers NSW teachers with curriculum-aligned assessment solutions, simplifying explicit teaching strategies and enhancing student learning across Primary Mathematics and English.
Discover the difference we can make, and strengthen your explicit teaching practices.
Get started today with a free trial.
