Have been lucky enough to see Phillip Holmes-Smith twice in the last couple of weeks. He has created a new tool which I think is just fantastic for the classroom teacher. It is an excel document that allows the results of pre and post test answers to be scored and answers sorted to clearly demonstrate the zone of proximal development. At the pre test stage you can clearly see the things students already know so there is no need to teach it. Without this information time can be wasted teaching students things that they already know. Research says something like 30% of teaching time is focused on teaching students things they already know. At the post test stage it clearly shows the things that students still need to learn so that the learning and teaching program can be adapted to meet the needs of these students. Also shows progression and highlights those students that need challenging. Watch for it to be launched…I will certainly be introducing it into my work with schools. Phillip’a website -http://sreams.com.au