Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Essential Teaching Practices – Do They Exist?, Geoff N. Masters

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Professor Geoff Masters discusses several practices that he would advance are part of the generic ‘essence’ of effective teaching.

Is School Reform Working?, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Policy Insights

Reforming schools and improving student achievement levels are priorities for governments around the world. In Australia over the past decade, State, Territory and Commonwealth governments put considerable effort into improving the quality and equity of school education. These initiatives included the various National Partnership Programs.

The results of international surveys show that, despite reform efforts, there was little improvement in the performances of Australian students over the past decade. The period 2000 to 2012 saw a significant decline in the reading and mathematical literacy levels of Australian 15-year-olds as measured by PISA, and results from TIMSS confirmed a general lack …

Study On Teacher Absenteeism In Indonesia 2014, Phillip Mckenzie, Dita Nugroho, Clare Ozolins, Julie Mcmillan, Sudarno Sumarto, Nina Toyamah, Vita Febriany, R Justin Sodo, Luhur Bima, Armand Arief Sim

Evaluation of Educational Policy and Reform Programs

The Study on Teacher Absenteeism is a large-scale research project for the Republic of Indonesia Education Sector Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP).The key objective of the study is to provide reliable, valid, nationally representative, and up-to-date information on the rates and determinants of teacher absenteeism in Indonesian primary and junior secondary schools. In addition, the study examines how schools are dealing with teacher absence and assesses the impact of teacher absenteeism on students. Finally, policies and programs already in place are analysed in order to ascertain the extent they are related to teacher attendance in schools and classrooms and …

Assessing End-Of-School Attainment, Geoff N. Masters

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Is there a ‘best’ way to establish the levels of knowledge, understanding and skill that students have attained in a subject by the end of Year 12?

Preparing For Life In A Digital Age: The Iea International Computer And Information Literacy Study 2013 International Report, Julian Fraillon, John Ainley, Wolfram Schulz, Tim Friedman, Eveline Gebhardt

ICT - Digital Literacy

The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) studied the extent to which young people have developed computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. ICILS is a response to the increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in modern society and the need for citizens to develop relevant skills in order to participate effectively in the digital age. It also addresses the necessity for policymakers and education systems to have a better understanding of the contexts and outcomes of CIL-related education programs in their countries. ICILS is the first crossnational study …

Icils International Computer And Information Literacy Study 2013: At A Glance: Highlights From The Full Australian Report – Australian Students’ Readiness For Study, Work And Life In The Digital Age, Lisa De Bortoli, Sarah Buckley, Catherine Underwood, Elizabeth O'Grady, Eveline Gebhardt

ICT - Digital Literacy

The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) is the first international comparative study that examines students’ acquisition of computer and information literacy: ‘the ability to use computers to investigate, create and communicate in order to participate effectively at home, at school, in the workplace and in society'. This publication includes highlights from the full Australian report called ICILS 2013: Australian students’ readiness for study, work and life in the digital age which is available for download from http://research.acer.edu.au/ict_literacy/6/

Learning Metrics Partnership: A Capacity Support And Policy Strengthening Initiative To Develop And Use Common Learning Metrics For Mathematics And Reading, Unesco Institute For Statistics, Acer

Monitoring Learning

The Learning Metrics Partnership (LMP) is a joint initiative of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the ACER Centre for Global Education Monitoring (ACER-GEM) to develop a set of nationally and internationally comparable learning metrics in mathematics and reading, and then to facilitate and support their use for monitoring purposes, in partnership with interested countries. This document outlines the LMP’s three-phase program that aims to develop and validate common learning metrics for reading and mathematics, and to support countries to report results of their assessment activities against these learning metrics. The key features of the program are fourfold: it accommodates …

Achieving High Standards By Starting From Current Performance, Geoff N. Masters

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

A commonly proposed strategy for raising achievement levels in schools is to specify high expectations or ‘standards’ of student performance and to hold students, teachers and schools accountable for achieving those standards. On the surface, it seems like an eminently sensible strategy. But is it?

Uwezo: Monitoring Children’S Competencies In East Africa, Acer

Assessment GEMS

Uwezo, meaning ‘capability’ in Kiswahili, is an initiative in which the competencies of schoolaged children in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are measured to obtain information that encourages changes in educational policy and practice. Uwezo began as a four-year initiative (2009–2013) and it is envisaged that it will run for at least another five-year period (Uwezo, 2011). Uwezo’s goal is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of education. Annual household surveys are implemented to assess the basic literacy and numeracy competencies of school age children across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Uwezo believes that this information will raise public awareness …

Incentives - An Ineffective School Improvement Strategy?, Geoff N. Masters

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

By the turn of the century, the observation had been made in many countries that substantial increases in expenditure on schools had failed to deliver measurable improvements in student performance. But just how effective are incentives as an improvement strategy?

Redesigning The Secondary–Tertiary Interface: Queensland Review Of Senior Assessment And Tertiary Entrance, Gabrielle Matters, Geoff N. Masters

Queensland Review of Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance

A general conclusion of this Review is that senior secondary assessment and tertiary entrance in Queensland are in need of attention. It is more than twenty years since the current OP system was designed, and the broad features of the senior assessment system have been in place even longer. Over the past two decades, assessment and tertiary entrance processes have been the subject of ongoing modifications. Although the current processes have served Queensland well, we believe that they will be less adequate in meeting future needs and that the time has come for a redesign. Any redesign must recognise and …

Implementing Common Assessment: Lessons And Models From Amac Developed By The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Daniel Edwards

Higher education research

The aim of this document is to provide insight into the implementation of common assessments in higher education in order to assist in future work on conducting these kinds of projects. The discussion here draws heavily on the AMAC experience, attempting to broaden the learning from this project for use in future collaborations. The focus of this project has been on medical education, and as such, much of the detail is related to this field. However, it is hoped that the general ideas discussed here can be seen as informative for other fields and disciplines in higher education and at …

Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration: From Proof Of Concept To Proof Of Sustainability: Final Report 2014, Daniel Edwards, David Wilkinson

Higher education research

This is the final report for AMAC-2, entitled Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration: from proof of concept to proof of sustainability (OLT project ID12-2482). This project advanced previous work funded by the ALTC and was undertaken from early 2013 to mid 2014. AMAC-2 took the proof of concept achieved through the initial AMAC project with the aim of building an ongoing, sustainable and successful collaboration between medical schools in Australia and New Zealand.

Determining The Quality Of Assessment Items In Collaborations: Aspects To Discuss To Reach Agreement Developed By The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Lambert Schuwirth, Jacob Pearce

Higher education research

The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration (AMAC) project, funded by the Office of Learning and Teaching, seeks to provide an infrastructure and a road map to support collaboration between Australian medical schools in matters of assessment. This may not seem very new perhaps, because there are already several collaborations taking place in Australia, and, typically, they relate to joint item banks, (such as the IDEAL consortium), or joint test administration, (such as the International Foundation of Medicine tests). The AMAC project seeks to build on these existing collaborations in two ways: first, by tying these initiatives together and thus bundling the …

Thinking It Through: Australian Students’ Skills In Creative Problem Solving, Lisa De Bortoli, Greg Macaskill

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

In every PISA survey, students from every participating country are assessed in the core domains of mathematics, science and reading literacy. In addition to assessing these literacy domains, the OECD proposes additional assessments in other domains. In PISA 2003, a paper-based assessment of cross- disciplinary problem solving was first assessed, when it was included as a core domain. In PISA 2012, problem solving was once again assessed, this time as an optional computer-based assessment.

The focus of the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving was: Are today’s 15-year-old students acquiring the problem-solving skills that will prepare them to meet the …

Best Practice Teacher Education Programs And Australia’S Own Programs, Lawrence Ingvarson, Kate Reid, Sarah Buckley, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Geoff N. Masters, Glenn Rowley

Teacher education

This report was prepared by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to support the work of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG). ACER was requested to undertake evidence-based research and benchmarking of world’s best practice teacher education programs against Australia’s own programs, which included: (a) identifying best practice principles for the design, delivery and assessment of teacher education programs; and (b) articulating the features of teacher education programs that most effectively support successful transition to effective practice.

Learning, Earning And Yearning: The Case For Positive Disruption, Innovation And Expansion In Indigenous Education, Tony Dreise

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

‘What for, I do this?’ asks an Aboriginal young man who has just become the first in his community to finish high school. Rather than celebrating his achievement, he felt the need to ask one of the most profound questions in education – what for or why? This particular story, discovered during the course of my PhD research, leads to an even larger question: How do we personalise education? The question seems a mile away from the perennial debate in education – ‘back to basics’ versus an expansive education agenda. Conservatives in the ‘back to basics’ corner rightly point out …

Unpacking Educational Inequality In The Northern Territory, Sven Silburn, J Mckenzie, S Guthridge, L Li, S Q. Li

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session Block 3

Towards Quality And Equity: The Case For Quality Teaching Rounds, Jenny Gore

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session Block 3

Students' Use Of Good Quality Learning Strategies: A Multi-Level Model Of Change Over Five Years Of Secondary School, Helen Askell-Williams, Michael J. Lawson

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session Block 3

Quality And Equity Issues Related To The Integration Of Immigrant Students In Education, Petra Stanat, Aileen Edele

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

No abstract provided.

Bubalamai Bawa Gumada (Healing The Wounds Of The Heart): The Search For Resiliency Against Racism For Aboriginal Australian Students, Gawain Bodkin-Andrews, Rhonda Craven

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Within the Australian research setting, a strong research base has emerged to articulate both the nature and impact of racism from the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It may be argued though that quantitative approaches to this research have been limited by simplistic measures that fail to capture the complexity of racism today. This limitation may have important implications for the identification of factors that could provide a buffer against the detrimental effects of racism, and thus promote a stronger and positive sense of resilience and engagement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth. It is the …

Gender And Mathematics: Quality And Equity, Sue Thomson

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Over the past two decades, there have been no gender differences in mathematics achievement in Australia in large-scale international surveys such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Similarly, when mathematical literacy was measured in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2003, there were no gender differences. However, PISA 2012 found that, while average scores in mathematics had declined in Australia, males in Australia were significantly outperforming females, and females had significantly higher average levels of anxiety about and significantly lower levels of confidence in mathematics. In light of the recent report of the Australian …

Educational Disadvantage In Regional And Rural Schools, Stephen Lamb, Sara Glover, Anne Walstab

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

While there is much to be valued in regional and rural education, studies in Australia have identified location and isolation as key dimensions of additional need in the provision and delivery of education. Forty years ago, in the report to the Australian Schools Commission, Karmel identified several aspects of educational disadvantage experienced by schools in country areas – including high teacher turnover, low retention rates, less confidence in the benefits of education, limited cultural facilities in the community, lack of employment opportunities for school completers, and a less relevant curriculum – that led to lower levels of attainment (Karmel, 1973). …

Early Bird Catches The Worm: The Causal Impact Of Pre-School Participation And Teacher Qualifications On Year 3 Naplan Cognitive Tests, Diana Warren, John P. Haisken-Denew

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), this is the first analysis for Australia to evaluate the impact of attendance at preschool programs on matched Year 3 nationwide National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test outcomes in the domains of numeracy, reading, spelling, writing and grammar. We also disaggregate the impact of specific teacher qualifications on children’s cognitive outcomes. While one year of learning in Year 3 is represented by about 50 NAPLAN points, we find average preschool domain effects as much as 10–15 points. The impacts for NAPLAN scores in numeracy, reading and spelling …

Achieving Quality And Equity For Māori Secondary School Students In New Zealand, Mere Berryman

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session Block 1

School Attendance: Equities And Inequities In Growth Trajectories Of Academic Performance, Stephen Zubrick

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session Block 1

Cooperative Learning: The Behavioural And Neurological Markers That Help To Explain Its Success, Robyn Gillies, Ross Cunnington

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Cooperative learning is widely recognised as a pedagogical practice that promotes socialisation and learning among students from preschool to post-secondary education and across different key learning areas and subject domains. It involves students working together in small groups to achieve common goals or complete group tasks. Interest in cooperative learning has grown rapidly over the last three decades, as research clearly demonstrates how it can be used to promote a range of achievements in reading and writing, conceptual understanding and problem-solving in science and mathematics, and higher level thinking and reasoning. It has also been shown to promote interpersonal relationships …

Learning Before The School Years: Benefits For Life, Joe Sparling, Susan Krieg, Marion Meiers

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent session

Quality And Equity In Vocational Education And Training (Vet), Sheldon Rothman, David Curtis, Lori Hocking, David Tout

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session