Education Commons^™

Session B: Assessing Young Children's Literacy And Mathematics Understandings, Collette Taylor, Joanne Mulligan, Maurice Walker, Prue Anderson, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

Current research indicates that young children are capable of developing mathematical concepts and reasoning much earlier than previously considered. Moderated by Professor Collette Tayler, this symposium on assessing young children's literacy and mathematics understandings is in three parts. Firstly the authors explore the Pattern and Structure Assessment (PASA). PASA is an early mathematical assessment interview which focuses on a range of concepts and processes and is linked with mathematical attainment in the ACER Progressive Achievement Tests in Maths (PATMaths). Secondly, the authors report on the piloting of an early-years technology-based tool called the Digital Early Reading and Mathematics Assessment (DERMA). …

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

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

Concurrent session

Improving Consistency In Teacher Judgements : An Investigation For The Department Of Education, Victoria, Marion Meiers, Clare Ozolins, Phillip Mckenzie

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was commissioned by the Department of Education in Victoria to undertake an investigation of current best-practice approaches to ensuring consistency of teacher judgements against P-10 state-wide standards. The investigation encompassed national and international approaches that had been implemented or were under development. A key objective of the investigation was that the approaches identified should be based on current information, research and best practice, and that they should be supportive of the continued development of a learning and assessment culture in Victorian schools. The report of the investigation was required to provide key baseline …

Literacy And Numeracy Interventions In The Early Years Of Schooling : A Literature Review : Report To The Ministerial Advisory Group On Literacy And Numeracy, Marion Meiers, Kate Reid, Phillip Mckenzie, Suzanne Mellor

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

The NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC) commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in August 2012 to conduct a literature review of the evidence regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of the range of literacy and numeracy interventions in use in the early years of schooling (Years K–3). The review was commissioned on behalf of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Literacy and Numeracy (MAGLN).

A significant aspect of the MAGLN’s work involves the examination of evidence about literacy and numeracy teaching practices and interventions that are effective for children with varied learning needs.

The overarching purpose of the …

Evaluation Of The Getting It Right Literacy And Numeracy Strategy In Western Australian Schools : Using Data To Support Student Learning, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This paper and the paper by Dr. Lawrence Ingvarson are companion pieces to Rosemary Cahill’s account of the intentions of the Getting it Right Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, and the model of professional development on which the strategy is based. In these papers, we present some findings from the ACER evaluation of Getting it Right. We provide detailed results from the surveys of principals undertaken in 2003 and 2004, including findings of the use of data to improve planning.These results provide evidence of the impact of the initiative, and evidence of an increase of the impact of the strategy over …

The Digest Edition 2010/2 : Language In The Mathematics Classroom, Marion Meiers, Jenny Trevitt

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

A recent Australian review of numeracy teaching noted the significant role of language in mathematics learning. The National Numeracy Review Report (2008), commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), synthesised evidence on effective numeracy teaching to support the goal of improving numeracy outcomes for Australian students. The report of the review acknowledged the significance of language in mathematics learning, and recommended: That the language and literacies of mathematics be explicitly taught by all teachers of mathematics in recognition that language can provide a formidable barrier to both the understanding of mathematics concepts and to providing students access to assessment …

Research Digest Edition 2007/1 : Writing To Learn, Marion Meiers, Pat Knight

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This edition of the Research Digest summarises key research studies that provide evidence of the potential of writing-to-learn approaches in improving student learning in a range of subject areas. The research tells us that writing-to-learn strategies can be used by any teacher, in all subject areas, and at all levels of schooling. Throughout the digest there are descriptions of a range of writing-to-learn strategies that demonstrate possibilities for classroom practice. This research digest is based on searches of a number of databases and bibliographic resources, including the Australian Education Index, ERIC, Education Research Complete, British Education Index and Scopus. The …

The Digest Edition 2010/3 : Civics And Citizenship Education, Suzanne Mellor, Marion Meiers, Pat Knight

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians set out two broad goals, the second of which stated that by the end of secondary schooling: All young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens. (MCEETYA, 2008) Some important attributes of ‘active and informed citizens’ are listed in the elaboration of this goal. These indicate a broad view of the student learning outcomes that are expected to be gained from civics and citizenship education, including: appreciate Australia’s social, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity, and have an understanding of Australia’s system of government, history and …

The Digest Edition 2009/1 : The Use Of Icts In Schools In The Digital Age: What Does The Research Say?, Marion Meiers, Pat Knight, Gerry White

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This edition of The Digest is focused on research that has investigated aspects of digital learning. The body of research sometimes described as ‘e-learning research’ encompasses many aspects of ICT in education, at many levels and in many contexts. For the purposes of this digest, the key question is What does research tell us about digital learning in schools? The first section of the digest is focused on the diverse uses of ICT in schools, and evidence about the ICT literacy of Australian students. This is followed by an overview of evidence about the impact of ICT on student learning. …

Using Children's Literature To Assess Reading Comprehension In The Early Years Of School, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This paper reports some findings from the first three years of a longitudinal study designed to follow students' growth in literacy from the earliest years at school. A feature of the study was the use of quality children's literature, in the form of picture story books. These texts were the basis of instruments designed to investigate students' developing comprehension, their understanding and knowledge of narrative texts, and their skills in recognising, explaining and making connections with the themes and ideas in the texts. The selection of texts appropriate for these purposes has raised many points of interest, such as the …

Evaluation Of The Getting It Right Literacy And Numeracy Strategy In Western Australian Schools, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This paper and the paper by Dr. Lawrence Ingvarson are companion pieces to Rosemary Cahill’s account of the intentions of the Getting it Right Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, and the model of professional development on which the strategy is based. In these papers, we present some findings from the ACER evaluation of Getting it Right. We provide detailed results from the surveys of principals undertaken in 2003 and 2004, including findings of the use of data to improve planning.These results provide evidence of the impact of the initiative, and evidence of an increase of the impact of the strategy over …

Evaluating The Quality And Impact Of Professional Development Programs, Lawrence Ingvarson, Marion Meiers, Adrian Beavis

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

The purpose of this paper is to review recent work that ACER has been doing to improve the usefulness of evaluations of professional development programs. This work includes the development of research-based instruments to measure: the nature and quality of the processes used to promote teacher learning; the impact of programs on teacher knowledge, practice and student outcomes; the relationships between these process and impact measures. The paper is based on approaches developed as part of four recent evaluations of professional development programs. These include: three evaluations of the Commonwealth Government’s Quality Teacher Program, as implemented in three separate states: …

A Longitudinal Study Of Growth In Literacy And Numeracy In The Primary School Years, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This paper reports on a seven-year longitudinal study. In 1998 an extensive investigation of the nature of growth in literacy and numeracy across the years of primary school was established at ACER as a national longitudinal study. It was intended that scales of developing literacy and numeracy achievement would be developed within this study, making it possible to show growth from the first year at school until the end of primary school.

Constructing Scales For Reporting Growth In Numeracy : The Acer Longitudinal Literacy And Numeracy Study, Andrew Stephanou, Marion Meiers, Margaret Forster

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

The ACER Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study is set within the conceptual framework of developmental assessment. This paper describes work done on the development of a numeracy scale, and demonstrates how the progressive achievement of the LLANS cohort of students can be reported on that scale and subscales.

A Longitudinal Investigation Of Literacy Achievement And Development In The First Three Years Of School, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This paper describes a longitudinal study of literacy development in the early years of schooling. Monitoring the development of children’s literacy learning in the early years of school poses challenges for educational researchers, including the need for appropriate strategies for identifying the full range of literacy knowledge and skills demonstrated by young learners. The seven-year national ACER Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS) followed the growth in literacy of a single cohort of students across the years of primary school (Meiers, Khoo et al, 2006). A key research question in this study was: “What is the nature of literacy development …

Growth In Literacy And Numeracy In The First Three Years Of School., Marion Meiers, Siek Toon Khoo, Ken Rowe, Andrew Stephanou, Prue Anderson, Kathy Nolan

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This report describes the findings from the first three years of the ACER longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS). The longitudinal study was established in 1999 in a context in which there was significant national interest in improving achievement in literacy and numeracy for all Australian children, and a particular interest in the development of foundational skills in the early years of school. A nation wide sample of 100 schools was selected in proportion to the population of each state and territory and ten students were randomly selected from each of these schools. This provided a cohort for LLANS of …

An Evaluation Of The Getting It Right: Literacy And Numeracy Strategy In Western Australian Schools, Marion Meiers, Lawrence Ingvarson, Adrian Beavis, John Hogan, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This evaluation report is presented in two volumes. Volume 1, Evaluation of the GiR-LNS is focused mainly on the survey component of the evaluation. The complete data set from the surveys undertaken in 2003 and 2004 is analysed, and conclusions drawn from these analyses. The concluding sections draw on the survey data, some research literature and the illustrative case studies to report on the effectiveness of the GiR-LNS as a strategy for professional development, and as a strategy for change. Volume 2, Getting it Right in Context, presents the findings from the illustrative case studies. Twenty schools from across Western …

The Acer Longitudinal Literacy And Numeracy Study (Llans), Marion Meiers, Margaret Forster

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This paper outlines the background to the ACER Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS), the general methodology, and the scope and nature of the data to be collected. A description is then given of the process by which achievement data will be reported. The study has been designed to follow the literacy and numeracy development of a national sample of students throughout the years of primary schooling. The study commenced in 1999 with children at the beginning of their school lives and runs for seven years.

Reading For Pleasure And Literacy Achievement, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

Helping children to develop an interest in books and reading can not only be enjoyable for adults and children alike but also have an important positive influence on reading achievement. Marion Meiers outlines research that emphasises the importance of engagement with reading.

Professional Learning : Improving Learning For Teachers And Students, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

No abstract provided.

Reading In Year 12: A Retrospective Review., Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers (1941-2018)

This presentation is focused on the requirements for English in the final year of schooling in Victoria over the past 50 years. For at least the last half-century, the subject "English" has held a significant place in the final year of secondary education in Victoria. From 1950 — 2001 English has been a compulsory requirement for the completion of the Year 12 certificate, in the various forms that certificate has taken, from Matriculation in the 1950s, to the current Victorian Certificate of Education. In the context of a national conference on the teaching of English, an historical case study contextualised …