Education Commons^™

Single-Sex Schooling And Girls’ Achievement In Australia, Katherine Dix

Dr Katherine Dix

Data from research studies such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and NAPLAN have been utilised to compare girls’ and boys’ academic achievement in single-sex and co-educational schools. The data sets, which inform policy monitoring by identifying key performance measures and evaluating progress towards educational goals for Australian students by international standards, are examined to identify any gender biases in Australian and international trends in reading and mathematics for Years 3-4 to Year 9 students. The effects of socio-economic status, year level and …

Pisa 2015: Financial Literacy In Australia, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli

Dr Sue Thomson

The main focus of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) financial literacy assessment is on measuring the proficiency of 15-year-old students in demonstrating and applying the knowledge and skill that they have learned in and out of school. Like other PISA domains, financial literacy is assessed using an instrument designed to provide data that are valid, reliable and interpretable. PISA is an international comparative assessment of student achievement directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, are prepared …

Pisa 2015: Financial Literacy In Australia, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli

Lisa De Bortoli

The main focus of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) financial literacy assessment is on measuring the proficiency of 15-year-old students in demonstrating and applying the knowledge and skill that they have learned in and out of school. Like other PISA domains, financial literacy is assessed using an instrument designed to provide data that are valid, reliable and interpretable. PISA is an international comparative assessment of student achievement directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, are prepared …

Class 6 School Factors In Afghanistan 2013 : The Relationship Between School Factors And Student Outcomes From A Learning Assessment Of Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy, Tim Friedman, Sally Robertson, Stephanie Templeton, Maurice Walker

Dr Tim Friedman

In 2012, the Ministry of Education, Afghanistan, engaged the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) as a partner to support the development of a national learning assessment program in Afghanistan. To achieve this goal, the Learning Assessment unit of the Ministry of Education and ACER have collaborated to design and implement the Monitoring Trends in Educational Growth (MTEG) program in Afghanistan. MTEG is designed as a long-term monitoring program with one focus on trends in achievement outcomes in single class levels over time, and another focus on the growth of achievement in cohorts throughout the school cycle, from Class 3 …

Next Steps: Measuring Reading Progress, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

Monitoring progress in literacy requires the international cooperation of the education community, as Ross Turner explains.

Teaching Reading In The Early Years, Prue Anderson

Prue Anderson

Teaching children to read in the early years involves a variety of comprehension strategies for the development of literate practices, as Prue Anderson explains.

Torch : Tests Of Reading Comprehension, Leila Mossenson, Andrew Stephanou, Margaret Forster, Geoff Masters, Margaret Mcgregor, Prue Anderson, Peter Hill

Prue Anderson

This set of twelve reading tests is designed to assist teachers of students from Year 3 to Year 10 in their assessment of students' reading comprehension skills. Each of the twelve reading tests consists of a reading passage and a corresponding answer sheet.

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 …

Aligning Reading Assessment With National Goals, Danielle Anzai, Maurice Walker

Maurice Walker

No abstract provided.

The Conditions Of Reading Acquisition In Contexts Of Low Literacy, Prue Anderson, Mary Fearnley-Sander

Prue Anderson

No abstract provided.

Paper 2 - Aligning Reading Assessment With National Goals, Danielle Anzai, Maurice Walker

Danielle Anzai

Class 6 Girls And Boys In Afghanistan 2013 : Comparing Outcomes Of Girls And Boys From A Learning Assessment Of Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy, Alla Routitsky, Rachel Stanyon, Maurice Walker

Maurice Walker

This report presents the results of an assessment of reading, writing and mathematical literacy of Class 6 students in 13 provinces in Afghanistan in relation to the gender of students. The data were collected in late 2013. The purpose of Monitoring Trends in Educational Growth (MTEG) is to provide information to education policy makers on the quality of education outcomes in Afghanistan. In addition MTEG will inform educational practitioners by clearly demonstrating what students at Class 6 can and cannot do in an assessment situation. One of the policy areas that MTEG aims to inform is gender equality. It is …

Class 6 Girls And Boys In Afghanistan 2013 : Comparing Outcomes Of Girls And Boys From A Learning Assessment Of Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy, Alla Routitsky, Rachel Stanyon, Maurice Walker

Dr Alla Routitsky

This report presents the results of an assessment of reading, writing and mathematical literacy of Class 6 students in 13 provinces in Afghanistan in relation to the gender of students. The data were collected in late 2013. The purpose of Monitoring Trends in Educational Growth (MTEG) is to provide information to education policy makers on the quality of education outcomes in Afghanistan. In addition MTEG will inform educational practitioners by clearly demonstrating what students at Class 6 can and cannot do in an assessment situation. One of the policy areas that MTEG aims to inform is gender equality. It is …

Addressing The Learning Needs Of All Students, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Year-level curriculum expectations in our schools sometimes impose artificial ceilings on student learning, and many of Australia’s most able students are not achieving their true potential as a result. Geoff Masters explains why.

The 'Literacy' Idea, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

A central reason why researchers and practitioners refer to domain literacy is to draw attention to the kinds of things students learn in the domain. In a traditional learning domain the focus might be on the acquisition of discrete facts, skills and procedures that have little obvious connection or utility. In a learning domain with a literacy orientation, the focus is on applying the domain’s facts, skills and procedures to support creativity and inventiveness, to solve novel problems and to deal with the kinds of challenges that life presents outside the classroom. In the case of mathematics, for example, a …

Pisa In Brief : Highlights From The Full Australian Report : Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy., Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

Kylie Hillman

No abstract provided.

Pisa In Brief : Highlights From The Full Australian Report : Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy., Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

Kylie Hillman

No abstract provided.

Pisa In Brief : Highlights From The Full Australian Report : Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy., Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

Kylie Hillman

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Doubling Instruction Efforts On Middle School Students' Achievement: Evidence From A Multiyear Regression-Discontinuity Design, Timothy J. Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Timothy J. Bartik

We use a regression-discontinuity design to study the effects of double blocking sixth-grade students in reading and mathematics on their achievement across three years of middle school. To identify the effect of the intervention, we use sharp cutoffs in the test scores used to assign students to double blocking. We find large, positive, and persistent effects of double blocking in reading, but, unlike previous research, we find no statistically significant effects of double blocking in mathematics either in the short run or medium run.

School Improvement On Australia’S Horizon, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

While Australia has seen a steady decline in 15-year-olds’ reading literacy achievement over the past decade, Geoff Masters identifies promising signs at the primary level that this trend may soon be reversed.

The Effects Of Doubling Instruction Efforts On Middle School Students' Achievement: Evidence From A Multiyear Regression-Discontinuity Design, Timothy J. Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Marta Lachowska

We use a regression-discontinuity design to study the effects of double blocking sixth-grade students in reading and mathematics on their achievement across three years of middle school. To identify the effect of the intervention, we use sharp cutoffs in the test scores used to assign students to double blocking. We find large, positive, and persistent effects of double blocking in reading, but, unlike previous research, we find no statistically significant effects of double blocking in mathematics either in the short run or medium run.

'Introducing Proficiency Scales' And 'Results: What Can Afghan Class 6 Students Do In Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy?, Juliette Mendelovits

Juliette Mendelovits

No abstract provided.

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

Lisa De Bortoli

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 …

Torch : Tests Of Reading Comprehension, Leila Mossenson, Andrew Stephanou, Margaret Forster, Geoff N. Masters, Margaret Mcgregor, Prue Anderson, Peter Hill

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This set of twelve reading tests is designed to assist teachers of students from Year 3 to Year 10 in their assessment of students' reading comprehension skills. Each of the twelve reading tests consists of a reading passage and a corresponding answer sheet.

Mapping Reading From The Early Years To The End Of Primary School: Implications For The Assessment Of Reading In Australia And Beyond, Juliette Mendelovits

Juliette Mendelovits

No abstract provided.

Visual Discrimination Of Letters In The Alphabet By Young Children: A Rasch Measurement Analysis, Janet Richmond, Russell Waugh

Janet E Richmond PhD

Data on 30 items for upper case letters and 36 items for lower case letters, where each item was scored in one of two categories (wrong scored zero and correct scored one), were Rasch analysed to create two linear scales . The student sample was N=324 pre-primary and primary students (aged 5 to 9 years) in Perth, Western Australia. Twelve of the initial 30 items of Visual Discrimination of Upper Case Letters were deleted due to item misfit statistics leaving 18 items and five of the original 36 items for Visual Discrimination of Lower Case Letters were deleted leaving 31 …

Comparison Of Piaac And Pisa Frameworks For Numeracy And Mathematical Literacy, Iddo Gal, David Tout

David (Dave) Tout

This paper describes key aspects of the frameworks for the assessment of adult numeracy and mathematical literacy in PIAAC and PISA, which are OECD two flagship programs for international comparative assessment of competencies. The paper examines commonalities and differences in how the constructs of adult numeracy and mathematical literacy were assessed in PIAAC and PISA, and sketches selected challenges associated with interpretation of results from these surveys.

A Teacher's Guide To Pisa Reading Literacy, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Lisa De Bortoli

Lisa De Bortoli

This report focuses on Australian students' performance on the PISA items that have been released in reading literacy. It includes an overview of the PISA Reading Framework, Australia's results in the PISA 2009 international assessment , examples of responses and marking guides, and the context behind achievement, e.g. enjoyment of reading, how often they read and high-level strategies for learning.

Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

Lisa De Bortoli

Focusing on reading literacy as the major domain for the PISA 2009 assessment, this national report examines Australian students' achievement in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. Results are reported for the states, by gender, for Indigenous students, by location, language background and by socioeconomic background.

Lessons From International Assessments, David Tout

David (Dave) Tout

Dave Tout explores what can be learned from international assessments of adult literacy and numeracy skills.