Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

The Journey To Becoming A Reader: Relationships Between Home Activities, Attitudes And Reading, Kylie Hillman

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The Progress in International Reading Study – PIRLS for short – has been running since 2001, with Australia joining in 2011. Along with a well-researched measure of students’ reading comprehension, PIRLS includes a number of questionnaires for students, teachers, principals and parents/guardians that provide background and context for students’ performance in the reading assessment. This presentation will provide educators with an introduction to PIRLS and discuss what PIRLS can tell us about various home, attitudinal and behavioural factors that relate to Year 4 students’ performance in the PIRLS reading comprehension assessments.

We will discuss relationships between reading scores and factors …

Assessing Reading: How Assessment Can Be Used To Target Teaching And Enhance Understanding Of Reading Comprehension, Sandra Knowles

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The skills demonstrated by a proficient reader are not easy to untangle. Current research acknowledges that reading comprehension is a highly complex area of ability, one that needs to be understood as the coordination of several integrated processes. Using example test questions and data, this presentation explores how assessment can help us make sense of reading comprehension in a way that curricula and commonly used teaching strategies cannot. Assessment is evidence that informs us about the skills involved in the reading process, how they relate to each other, and how they develop in complexity. When assessment is understood in this …

An Innovative Method For Teachers To Formatively Assess Writing Online, Dr Sandy Heldsinger, Stephen Humphry

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Assessment is an integral component of effective teaching and a teacher’s professional judgement influences all routine aspects of their work. In the last 20 years, there has been considerable work internationally to support teachers in using assessment to improve student learning. However, there is a pressing issue that impedes teacher professional judgement being exploited to its full potential. The issue relates to teacher assessments in the context of extended performances such as essays and arises from the complexity of obtaining reliable or consistent teacher assessments of students’ work. Literature published in the United States, England and Australia details evidence of …

Acer Models Of Writing: Changing The Assessment Mindset, Juliette Mendelovits, Judy Nixon

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

This presentation outlines different models of writing assessment that have a proven track record in various programs delivered by ACER. These models include holistic scoring, and partial analytical scoring on a number of criteria. The writing prompts for these models assume extended pieces of writing. The presentation will also introduce a new and alternative model of writing assessment that ACER has implemented in several large-scale assessments. This model is built on shorter pieces of writing from each student, designed to give more accurate and diverse insights into students’ proficiency in writing in a range of text types, within the constraints …

Making Excellent Progress In Early Reading: How Can The Identification Of Essential Skills And Concepts Help?, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Sandra Knowles, Danielle Anzai, Greta Rollo

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The ability to read and understand text is fundamental to full participation in modern adult life (Olson, 1977; Elwert, 2001). It is essential to educational progress across domains, but increased literacy levels are also linked to positive outcomes in terms of employment and health. Given its critical role both in the facilitation of learning in all domains, and in many aspects of life beyond school, it is imperative that we give students the best possible chance to develop their reading skills. This paper uses early reading as a case study for examining how the identification and explication of essential skills …

Fun With Grammar, Beena Anil

Teacher India

Activity-based learning can help students to learn grammar. Dr Beena Anil shares practical tips.

Successful Sustainable Literacy Practice For Indigenous Students, Nola Purdie

Indigenous Education Research

The author discusses current approaches to the literacy education of Indigenous students within the context of best practice literacy education for all students. Issues addressed include: Literacy and disadvantaged groups; Literacy programs for Indigenous Australian Students; Teachers and literacy learning; Assessment and measurement of literacy learning; and good literacy curriculum.

The Approach To Reading, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Primary School Studies

First published in 1952, this pamphlet explores the fundamental and far-reaching values of reading, and considers the nature, purpose and place of a full reading programme in the school curriculum. It advocates for the achievement of a balanced school reading program which includes learning to read, understanding that reading leads to improved social competence, and promotes reading as a valuable leisure activity. It discusses approaches to determining reading readiness, preparing for reading and developing reading interests, as well as providing methods and materials for the teaching of reading in the primary grades.