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Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

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2020

Articles 1 - 30 of 60

Full-Text Articles in Education

Timss 2019 Australia. Volume I: Student Performance, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Sima Rodrigues, Elizabeth O'Grady Dec 2020

Timss 2019 Australia. Volume I: Student Performance, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Sima Rodrigues, Elizabeth O'Grady

TIMSS 2019

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study of student achievement directed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). TIMSS was first conducted in 1995 and the assessment conducted in 2019 formed the seventh cycle, providing 24 years of trends in mathematics and science achievement at Year 4 and Year 8. In Australia, TIMSS is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and is jointly funded by the Australian Government and the state and territory governments. The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement …

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Timss 2019 Australia Highlights, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Sima Rodrigues, Elizabeth O'Grady Dec 2020

Timss 2019 Australia Highlights, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Sima Rodrigues, Elizabeth O'Grady

TIMSS 2019

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international sample study that assesses the mathematics and science achievement of Year 4 and Year 8 students every four years. Australia has participated in all cycles of TIMSS since it commenced in 1995 and over this 24-year period has collected rich data about trends in mathematics and science achievement. This document provides the highlights from Volume I of the main report TIMSS 2019 Australia. Volume I: Student performance. Volume I and these Highlights focus on the achievement results, detailing Australia’s results within the international context, as well as the …

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Mitigating The Impacts Of Covid-19: Lessons From Australia In Remote Education, Anna Dabrowski, Yung Nietschke, Pauline Taylor-Guy, Anne-Marie Chase Dec 2020

Mitigating The Impacts Of Covid-19: Lessons From Australia In Remote Education, Anna Dabrowski, Yung Nietschke, Pauline Taylor-Guy, Anne-Marie Chase

Student learning processes

This literature review provides an overview of past and present responses to remote schooling in Australia, drawing on international research. The paper begins by discussing historical responses to emergency and extended schooling, including during the COVID-19 crisis. The discussion then focuses on effective teaching and learning practices and different learning design models. The review considers the available evidence on technology-based interventions and their use during remote schooling periods. Although this research is emergent, it offers insights into the availability and suitability of different mechanisms that can be used in remote learning contexts. Noting that the local empirical research base is …

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Time For A Paradigm Shift In School Education?, Geoff N. Masters Nov 2020

Time For A Paradigm Shift In School Education?, Geoff N. Masters

Occasional Essays

The thesis of this essay is that the schooling paradigm is in need of review and that the answer may lie in a shift in how we think about teaching and learning. Under the prevailing paradigm, the role of teachers is to deliver the year-level curriculum to all students in a year level. This mismatch has unfortunate consequences for both teaching and learning. Currently, many students are not ready for their year-level curriculum because they lack prerequisite knowledge, skills and understandings. The basis for an alternative paradigm and a 'new normal' is presented. The essay addresses concerns raised about changes …

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Teacher Wellbeing During A Pandemic: Surviving Or Thriving?, Anna Dabrowski Oct 2020

Teacher Wellbeing During A Pandemic: Surviving Or Thriving?, Anna Dabrowski

Teacher workforce and careers

As cases of COVID-19 surge across the world, research has begun to emerge which considers the implications of school lockdowns on student learning, engagement, and achievement. Yet as face-to-face teaching and learning recommences, it is not only students who will need help adjusting to "the new normal". While 2020 has seen a dramatic increase in the workload of teachers, many of whom have negotiated a continuity of learning in adverse circumstances, we must remember that long before COVID-19 disrupted schools, teachers were already at risk of burnout. The novel coronavirus has further exacerbated the stresses facing teachers, and as countries …

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Mathematics Anxiety, Sarah Buckley Oct 2020

Mathematics Anxiety, Sarah Buckley

Student learning processes

This Mathematics Monograph is focussed on helping teachers and school leaders gain a better understanding of: How mathematics anxiety negatively impacts learning and teaching; the symptoms, causes and companions of mathematics anxiety; the difference between reducing mathematics anxiety directly and indirectly; and strategies that can identify and address mathematics anxiety in students and teachers. The Monograph is intended to present information for reflecting and planning how mathematics anxiety can be reduced and regulated in classrooms and in the school community.

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Critical Connections Between Numeracy And Mathematics, Dave Tout Oct 2020

Critical Connections Between Numeracy And Mathematics, Dave Tout

Student learning processes

Increasingly research is showing that life and work in the 21st century is requiring higher levels of mathematics and numeracy of its citizens. Numeracy and mathematics are intrinsically connected and BOTH are needed in our ever changing, globalised and technological world. This paper looks at the implications of this for the skills we want our students to develop and leave school with, and how we can better address these in our teaching and learning.

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Acer 2018-2019 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer) Sep 2020

Acer 2018-2019 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

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Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume Ii Student And School Characteristics, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid Sep 2020

Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume Ii Student And School Characteristics, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international study that measures the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students and how prepared they are to use these to meet real-life opportunities and challenges. Volume II is an examination of Australia’s PISA results in relation to student and school background characteristics, and how these are related to student performance. Each chapter focuses on different indicators that cover the school community, the school learning environment, students’ attitudes and beliefs, and the role teachers play in shaping students’ learning. Together, the different indicators of student and school life provide an illustration of …

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Validation Of The Myanmar Teacher Competency Standards Framework (Tcsf) Final Report, Anna Dabrowski, Jeaniene Spink Sep 2020

Validation Of The Myanmar Teacher Competency Standards Framework (Tcsf) Final Report, Anna Dabrowski, Jeaniene Spink

Teacher education

This final report provides background to the four domains of the Myanmar Teacher Competency Standards Framework (TCSF), and the validation study design, stages and methods which sought to answer the focus question: Does the TCSF describe effective teaching in Myanmar? The study included expert review, a teacher survey and case studies of teaching practice in a sample of effective teachers. The report presents key findings and next steps from validation of the TCSF to implementation.

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School Libraries In South Australia 2019 Census, Katherine Dix, Rachel Felgate, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Shani Sniedze Sep 2020

School Libraries In South Australia 2019 Census, Katherine Dix, Rachel Felgate, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Shani Sniedze

School and system improvement

This report presents the results of a survey census and website review of school libraries, taken across all South Australian schools in Term 3, 2019. The census collected data on school library staffing, facilities, funding, and support. Results reveal that schools with a qualified teacher librarian are more likely to have improved student literacy outcomes. While 94 per cent of South Australian schools have someone to manage the library collection and to select resources, less than a quarter (23 per cent) are managed by a qualified teacher librarian. Questions about the nature of library provision in schools uncovered eight main …

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Earning And Learning Research Project: Report To The Department For Education, South Australia, Julie Mcmillan, Shani Sniedze, Rachel Felgate, Petra Lietz Sep 2020

Earning And Learning Research Project: Report To The Department For Education, South Australia, Julie Mcmillan, Shani Sniedze, Rachel Felgate, Petra Lietz

Transition and Post-School Education and Training

The aim of the Earning and Learning Research Partnership was to explore the reasons why a substantial proportion of successive cohorts of students in South Australia had not completed the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) or were identified as potential non-completers. The project officially commenced in September 2019 and was completed in August 2020.The research particularly aimed to capture the student voice behind young people’s earning and learning pathway choices, specifically identifying: why students in Years 10, 11, or 12 leave school without a documented “valid” reason (leavers); and why some Year 12 students remain enrolled in high school …

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Remote Learning Rapid Literature Review, Gill Cowden, Pru Mitchell, Pauline Taylor-Guy Sep 2020

Remote Learning Rapid Literature Review, Gill Cowden, Pru Mitchell, Pauline Taylor-Guy

Student learning processes

This rapid literature review identifies effective practice in remote learning and synthesises key evidence relevant to education in Australia during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. It draws upon bodies of literature about education in emergencies, access and equity, distance education, blended learning, and quality teaching and learning using technology. The focus is primarily on Kindergarten to Year 12 schooling in Australia. The literature firstly examines education in emergencies, as this underpins the initial crisis approaches and preparedness for the shift to remote learning. The research in this area has a strong focus on implications for wellbeing. The review is then organised …

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Equity Issues In Student Financial Literacy, Sue Thomson Aug 2020

Equity Issues In Student Financial Literacy, Sue Thomson

Teacher columnist - Sue Thomson

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on national economies has underlined the necessity for strong personal financial literacy. With people suddenly able to draw money from their superannuation or freeze their mortgage repayments in order to meet expenses, it is vital that they have the skills to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with such options. Financial education therefore has a role, in conjunction with consumer protection and regulation policies, in equipping people to attain the appropriate skills and knowledge in financial literacy.

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Talis: Stress Levels Among Australian Teachers, Sue Thomson Aug 2020

Talis: Stress Levels Among Australian Teachers, Sue Thomson

Teacher columnist - Sue Thomson

The OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey provides a voice for teachers and principals internationally. Australia is one of 48 countries that participated in TALIS 2018, and ACER has just released the second report on the data gathered – Teachers and school leaders as valued professionals (Thomson & Hillman, 2020). The foci of this second volume are career opportunities, collaboration, autonomy and prestige. The results reported in this article are those from lower secondary school teachers and principals.

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Piaac Numeracy Task Complexity Schema: Factors That Impact On Item Difficulty, Dave Tout, Iddo Gal, Mieke Van Groenestijn, Myrna Manly, Mary Jane Schmitt Aug 2020

Piaac Numeracy Task Complexity Schema: Factors That Impact On Item Difficulty, Dave Tout, Iddo Gal, Mieke Van Groenestijn, Myrna Manly, Mary Jane Schmitt

Transition and Post-School Education and Training

This paper describes some lessons learned from international adult numeracy assessments that can help in understanding the challenges that people, including both adults and school students, have when solving numeracy tasks and their levels of performance on functional mathematical problems. The paper presents a theoretical schema of five factors that predict, separately and in interaction, the complexity or level of difficulty of mathematically-related assessment tasks, including tasks that incorporate texts and require literacy or reading skills, which are very common in adults' lives. The model was originally developed as part of the development of the Adult Literacy and LifeSkills survey …

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Measuring What Matters: Insights On The Value Of Whole Child Development, Porticus, Australian Council For Educational Research, Pina Tarricone, Yung Nietschke, Kylie Hillman Jul 2020

Measuring What Matters: Insights On The Value Of Whole Child Development, Porticus, Australian Council For Educational Research, Pina Tarricone, Yung Nietschke, Kylie Hillman

Monitoring Learning

This policy analysis report captures how cities and countries value, define, and measure Whole Child Development (WCD) - and equivalent - both broadly and in the context of reaching those in extreme adversity. The WCD conceptual framework of this study refers to 11 key themes: values, life skills, social and emotional learning, spirituality, academic knowledge, student engagement, adult support, community, academically challenging learning, safe environments, and health. The report provides insights into the challenges experienced in embedding WCD in education systems and offers evidence around the growing recognition and momentum globally around WCD and holistic learning. One of the key …

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Assessment Of Children As Connected With And Contributing To Their World In Early Childhood Education And Care: Literature Review, Kate Noble, Jen Jackson, Pru Mitchell Jul 2020

Assessment Of Children As Connected With And Contributing To Their World In Early Childhood Education And Care: Literature Review, Kate Noble, Jen Jackson, Pru Mitchell

Early Childhood Education

This literature review unpacks the concept of connection and contribution from the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF), which includes developing a sense of belonging to groups and communities, and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active civic participation; responding to diversity with respect; becoming aware of fairness; and becoming socially responsible and showing respect for the environment.

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Validation Of The Myanmar Teacher Competency Standards Framework (Tcsf): Phase Iii Case Studies, Anna Dabrowski, Rachel Parker, Amy Berry, Jeaniene Spink Jul 2020

Validation Of The Myanmar Teacher Competency Standards Framework (Tcsf): Phase Iii Case Studies, Anna Dabrowski, Rachel Parker, Amy Berry, Jeaniene Spink

Teacher education

Case studies form the third phase of the validation study for the Myanmar Teacher Competency Standards Framework (TCSF) in advance of its implementation in 2020. As the purpose of the case studies is to ensure that the TCSF is culturally and contextually appropriate, this paper outlines the results of data analysis on the Case Study component. This report focuses on responding to four key research questions: Which standards, minimum requirements and indicators were easiest and hardest to demonstrate? How is effective teaching demonstrated by the selected teachers in Myanmar? How does the evidence of effective teaching differ in different contexts? …

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Gender And Ethnicity In Myanmar Education. Baseline Study Report For The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) Committee, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Anna Dabrowski, Petra Lietz Jul 2020

Gender And Ethnicity In Myanmar Education. Baseline Study Report For The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) Committee, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Anna Dabrowski, Petra Lietz

Gender and education

This report consists of two key sections. The first section offers a discussion of the status of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW) Committee activities in Myanmar, includes current opportunities and barriers for supporting educational participation for women and girls in the country, including those of diverse ethnicity. This discussion also focuses on the possibilities for fostering conditions that can lead to enhanced educational opportunities for women and girls. Building on the construct of possibilities, the second section provides the results of an extensive data mapping exercise of available data sources pertaining to educational participation …

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Assessment Of General Capabilities: Skills For The 21st-Century Learner. Final Report, Claire Scoular, Dara Ramalingam, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard Jul 2020

Assessment Of General Capabilities: Skills For The 21st-Century Learner. Final Report, Claire Scoular, Dara Ramalingam, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard

Assessment and Reporting

This report describes a project of the Centre for Assessment Reform and Innovation (CARI) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to develop an approach for teaching and assessing general capabilities, also known as 21st century skills, in the classroom. The report is divided into two parts. Part one presents an overview of ACER’s approach to skills development. This approach is underpinned by the identification of three evident needs: to understand development, to monitor growth, and to ensure alignment across curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy. Part Two outlines how the approach is applied in the context of assessment. An assessment …

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Assessment Of Children As Having A Strong Sense Of Identity In Early Childhood Education And Care: Literature Review, Jen Jackson, Kate Noble, Danielle Anzai, Pru Mitchell, Dan Cloney Jun 2020

Assessment Of Children As Having A Strong Sense Of Identity In Early Childhood Education And Care: Literature Review, Jen Jackson, Kate Noble, Danielle Anzai, Pru Mitchell, Dan Cloney

Early Childhood Education

This review focuses on the Outcome: Children have a strong sense of identity. Its purpose is to equip early childhood professionals with the knowledge to identify and assess children’s progress towards this Outcome in all early childhood settings. Central to the child’s development of a sense of identity is their personal identity. This includes awareness of self, summed up in the statement: ‘I know who I am’, and includes the constructs of self-expression and self-awareness. A strong sense of identity requires that a child also appreciates who they are, summed up in the statement: ‘I value who I am’. The …

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Nurturing Wonder And Igniting Passion. Designs For A New School Curriculum: Nsw Curriculum Review, Geoff N. Masters Jun 2020

Nurturing Wonder And Igniting Passion. Designs For A New School Curriculum: Nsw Curriculum Review, Geoff N. Masters

NSW Curriculum Review

This Review of the New South Wales school curriculum has concluded that change is required. The changes recommended by the Review are far-reaching and amount to the introduction of a new curriculum for NSW schools, from Kindergarten to Year 12. The syllabuses of this new curriculum are designed to ensure every student learns with understanding, builds skills in applying knowledge, and makes excellent ongoing progress in their learning. The goal is to provide every student, in each phase of their learning, with strong foundations for what comes next. Detailed planning, piloting and implementation of the new curriculum will be required …

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A Case For Reimagining School Leadership Development To Enhance Collective Efficacy, Kerry Elliott, Hilary Hollingsworth Jun 2020

A Case For Reimagining School Leadership Development To Enhance Collective Efficacy, Kerry Elliott, Hilary Hollingsworth

Educational leadership

This paper draws together the research evidence and policy direction that underpin the Menzies School Leader Fellowship Program (MSLFP) and presents a case for reimagining school leadership development to enhance collective efficacy. The MSLFP a two-year, leadership development program that seeks to harness cross-sector expertise to understand how to build a pipeline of talented school leaders, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to successfully adapt to and take on the challenges and complexities of the role. The Fellowship is led by a multi-sector collaboration comprised of school leaders, their schools, and corporate, philanthropic and research partners and provides funding, …

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Science In The Early Years. Paper 2: Science Inquiry Skills, Gayl O'Connor, Christine Rosicka Jun 2020

Science In The Early Years. Paper 2: Science Inquiry Skills, Gayl O'Connor, Christine Rosicka

Early Childhood Education

This is the second paper in the Science in the early years series that reviews current research into science learning and monitoring in the early years. The aim of this series is to provide early years educators with an insight into current research; highlight how research findings relate to children’s science learning; look at the current understandings about early years science monitoring; and provide examples of how early years educators can incorporate this research into their practices. This series defines ‘early years’ as the two years prior to school and the first three years of primary school, which in Australia …

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Science In The Early Years: Monitoring Science Understandings. Checklists For Eylf Outcomes, Australian Council For Educational Research Jun 2020

Science In The Early Years: Monitoring Science Understandings. Checklists For Eylf Outcomes, Australian Council For Educational Research

Early Childhood Education

This resource consists of templates of checklists for early years educators, tailored to Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) learning outcomes. They are to help record evidence of children’s science learning and to monitor this across time. The checklists have been populated with the EYLF outcomes identified for the four educator resources accompanying Paper 1: Early years science and integration: Plant treasure hunt; Floating and sinking; and Paper 2: Science inquiry skills: Light and shadows, Exploring mixtures.

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Menzies School Leadership Incubator: Impact And Evaluation Report 2019, Menzies Foundation, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer), Clear Horizon, Angela Mina Consulting, Ernst & Young Jun 2020

Menzies School Leadership Incubator: Impact And Evaluation Report 2019, Menzies Foundation, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer), Clear Horizon, Angela Mina Consulting, Ernst & Young

Educational leadership

The Menzies School Leadership Incubator (the Incubator) designs, tests and generates evidence-based insights to answer the question: How might we build a pipeline of school leaders who can lead collective efficacy in complex school environments? In 2019, the Incubator initiated the first Menzies School Leaders Fellowship Program (MSLFP), a two-year program through which selected school leaders develop their capabilities and skills to lead and build collective efficacy in their school. This report covers the first six months of the MSLFP documenting and sharing insights from five school leaders from Victorian government, Catholic and independent schools.

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Learning Through Play Experience Tool: Guidelines For General Use Of The Learning Through Play Experience Tool, Lisa Van Beeck Jun 2020

Learning Through Play Experience Tool: Guidelines For General Use Of The Learning Through Play Experience Tool, Lisa Van Beeck

Monitoring Learning

The aim of the Learning through Play (LtP) Experience Tool is to see a play experience through the eyes of a child and use this to understand the texture of the child’s experience. The LtP Experience Tool is not designed to rate or evaluate the child. It is an observational tool used to collect data on a child’s play experience by empathising with a child and how they respond to the play experience. These guidelines provide an overview of the purpose of the LtP Experience Tool and how to use it to understand a child’s play experience. The guidelines are …

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Creative Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard Jun 2020

Creative Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard

Assessment and Reporting

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has reviewed the extensive literature on creative thinking and developed both a definition and a framework that synthesise and harmonise existing theory and research on creative thinking. This framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing creative thinking. It outlines creative thinking processes along prescribed strands and aspects informed by a sound evidentiary basis. The aspects contained within the framework are designed to provide foci for teaching and the basis of assessment. ACER’s creative thinking framework identifies key factors that underpin the development of creative thinking with a …

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Critical Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Jonathan Heard, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Dara Ramalingam, Ian Teo Jun 2020

Critical Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Jonathan Heard, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Dara Ramalingam, Ian Teo

Assessment and Reporting

The ACER critical thinking framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing critical thinking. While there are many definitions of the skill, which are outlined in the first part of this document, few provide a means to operationalise critical thinking in the classroom. This framework outlines critical thinking processes along prescribed strands and aspects informed by a sound evidentiary basis. The aspects contained within the framework are designed to provide foci for teaching and the basis of assessment. This paper is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores the development of critical thinking as an …

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