Using My Numeracy/My Literacy as a Homework Task – Considerations for Educators

Purpose and Intent

My Literacy and My Numeracy are designed as a formative assessment tool to help both students and teachers check for understanding. It provides immediate, automatically marked feedback that supports teachers to:

  • Identify misconceptions quickly.
  • Target review opportunities during Daily Review sessions.
  • Inform spaced practice and intervention planning.

Its primary value lies in guiding classroom instruction, not as a replacement for it.

Benefits of Using in Class

  • Instant feedback: Students receive immediate insights into their learning.
  • Diagnostic visibility: Teachers gain quick access to data to plan reteaching and consolidation.
  • Supports responsive teaching: Enables timely adjustments to instruction and review cycles.
  • Low teacher workload: Automated marking and data collation streamline formative assessment processes.

Limitations When Used as Homework

  • Reduced in-class diagnostic value: If students complete My Numeracy or My Literacy at home, the data and feedback cannot be used effectively for class-based checking for understanding or to inform Daily Review.
  • Not a substitute for explicit instruction: Students working below standard will not "just learn" new content by completing My Numeracy or My Literacy tasks. These activities must follow high-impact explicit teaching and guided practice.
  • Risk of unsupervised access: Without appropriate settings, students may access areas intended for future class activities, limiting the tool's instructional value.
  • Variable home support: Inconsistent adult supervision can affect data reliability and student independence.

My Numeracy and My Literacy are most effective when used within the classroom environment following high-quality explicit instruction. It functions as a formative assessment tool to check for understanding, guide Daily Review, and support spaced practice. Using it at home limits its diagnostic and instructional value.

If schools wish to provide home learning opportunities for Mathematics:

  • Use the printed worksheet generated after My Numeracy tasks — ensuring students have first received explicit instruction and in-class practice.
  • Send home the Parent Update following a pre-assessment, allowing families to see each student’s future focus areas (including questions students got incorrect) and access the linked learning videos for targeted support.
  • Reserve My Numeracy and My Literacy  for classroom use only, where teachers can interpret the data, reteach as needed, and embed learning through structured review.


If schools do decide to go ahead and set EA at home, here are some considerations for implementation:

For home learning to be effective and secure, adjustments are needed to ensure assessments are not accessible outside the classroom. Currently, teachers must manually manage home learning tasks by:

  • Adding and removing tasks to prevent students from accessing classwork at home
  • Providing access only to the below grade-level content and save the "At Grade Level" content for school use. Homework should be consolidation, not new learning. 
  • Disabling the assessment tab to ensure assessments are not attempted unsupervised (Assessment off)
  • Enabling the continuum order to ensure tasks flow logically (Continuum Order: ON)
  • Aligning matched learning videos to the assigned content (Real-Time Feedback ON)

Assessment Options                                                                        My Numeracy

Summary

My Numeracy and My Literacy are most powerful when used formatively within the classroom as part of a data-informed cycle of explicit instruction, guided practice, and review. When used at home, careful settings, guidance, and teacher oversight are essential to preserve its formative integrity and instructional value.

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