Education Commons^™

Progressive Achievement Tests In Reading : Comprehension, Vocabulary And Spelling, Andrew Stephanou, Prue Anderson, Daniel Urbach

Prue Anderson

The ACER Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading Fourth Edition (PAT Reading Fourth Edition) is a major revision of this Australian test of achievement in reading. The PAT Reading Fourth Edition is a researched and normed test for measuring student achievement in reading comprehension, word knowledge and spelling. It is designed to help teachers assess the pre-reading, reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge and spelling skills of students from the first year of school to Year 10; and it provides teachers with objective information for setting realistic learning goals and planning effective programs. The PAT Reading Fourth Edition contains eleven normed and graded …

'Are We There Yet?' Revisiting The Digital Education Revolution, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

Engaging With Excellence In Mathematics Teaching : Creating Excellence In The Learning Environment, Ray Peck, Hilary Hollingsworth, W Morony

Ray Peck

No abstract provided.

Foundation Numeracy In Context, Dave Tout, G Motteram

David (Dave) Tout

Foundation Numeracy in Context describes an approach to teaching mathematics based on applied and contextual learning principles. This means that the teaching and learning of mathematics proceeds from a contextual, task-based and investigative point of view—where the mathematics involved is developed from a modelled situation or practical task. Practical investigations and projects are principle vehicles for student learning in such an approach. This text is written for teachers working with students who have become disengaged from learning mathematics during the middle to latter years of secondary schooling, and will likely have had limited success with mathematics. The approach used will …

Engaging With Excellence In Mathematics Teaching : Creating Excellence In The Learning Environment, Ray Peck, Hilary Hollingsworth, W Morony

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

No abstract provided.

Pisa : Providing International Comparisons, John Cresswell

Dr John Cresswell

OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) aims to measure how well students nearing the end of their compulsory schooling are prepared for adult life. This article discusses the findings and major issues coming out of the study. It also discusses PISA 2003, the next cycle of PISA which is taking place in Australia in 2004.

Pisa : Providing International Comparisons, John Cresswell

Dr John Cresswell

The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) aims to measure how well students nearing the end of their compulsory schooling are prepared for adult life. The assessment is forward looking, focusing on students' ability to meet real-life challenges, rather than testing whether they have mastered a particular curriculum. This article reports

Response To 'Cautions On Oecd's Recent Educational Survey (Pisa), Ray Adams

Prof Ray Adams

This paper refers to the work of S J Prais who questioned the outcomes of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's PISA survey of the reading, mathematics and science attainments of fifteen year-olds. Prais suggested that methodological flaws in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) had resulted in an apparent improvement in the attainment of British students, particularly when compared to their Swiss and German counterparts. This paper responds to Prais's criticisms, noting that when Prais's conjectures are tested with empirical data they are not supported. The author argues that many of Prais's criticisms are due to an incomplete …

Homogenous And High Performing Classes : The Case Of Optimal Classes, K Schwippert, Maurice Walker

Maurice Walker

Students enter schools with different levels of reading literacy and this study concentrated on the school's influence on students' subsequent development in reading literacy. The question is whether teacher and school characteristics, by themselves, have a systematic influence on the development of students' reading literacy. It has been and continues to be a goal of schools, in tandem with social policies, to compensate for student disadvantage arising form the out-of-school environment. Schools should not therefore aim to offer uniform educational opportunities to students without regard to differences in students' background and learning profiles. This article demonstrates it is classes where …

Methods 1/2/3/4 : Tasks Designed To Develop The Characteristics Possessed By Talented Mathematicians, G Williams, G Cowling, Ray Peck, J Ripon

Ray Peck

This paper discusses group learning among VCE mathematics students at a combined schools' workshop in Hamilton, Victoria, and at Gippsland Grammar. When tasks with the potential for collaborative groups to discover complexities are used in conjunction with a teaching approach like class collaboration students tend to engage with the tasks, more frequently display the types of characteristics possessed by talented mathematicians, and develop new mathematical understandings. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the tks described in this paper are suitable for such a purpose.

Graphics Calculators In Victorian Secondary Schools: Teacher Perceptions Of Use, Alla Routitsky

Dr Alla Routitsky

Since Victoria permitted the use of graphics calculators in final external examinations, their use has become quite widespread. A survey of secondary schools undertaken to gauge the response of teachers to these tools, provides information on how teachers view graphics calculator use in secondary mathematics courses.

A Structure For Quality Mathematics Instruction, Hilary Hollingsworth, David Clarke

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

The intention of the authors in this paper is to set out a possible structure by which teachers might incorporate the products of recent curriculum initiatives into their mathematics teaching. They have chosen to focus on Chance and Data as the academic content of their examples.

Teacher Change In Primary Mathematics: Coding, Classifying And Organising Qualitative Data, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

A study that probed primary teachers' experience of a professional development mathematics program. The author uses a range of data gathering methods, including interviews, observation, schedules and teacher documents, and discusses the coding and manipulation of data from these sources.

Assessment At Fairhills High School: A Case Study Of The Process Of Change, Marilyn Huber, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Like many schools Fairhills High School uses reports to parents which indicate achievement grades as well as providing a written comment. In 184 discussions began in the English faculty about ways of improving report-writing. Teachers wrote discussion papers and awareness was raised. This was one step on the road to change.