Education Commons^™

Learning Assessments: Designing The Future, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Processes for assessing student learning are undergoing fundamental transformation.This presentation will consider three developments which can be expected to shape how student learning is assessed in the future. First is fundamental change in how assessment is conceptualised and approached, with a focus on monitoring learning. Second is growing interest in the assessment of a broader range of skills and attributes than those addressed in most current assessment efforts. Third is advances in technology which are opening the door to new ways of gathering information about student learning, including through records of real-time interactions in online learning environments. In ACER’s Centre …

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

Prof Geoff Masters AO

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.

Is School Reform Working?, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

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

Prof Geoff Masters AO

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 …

Redesigning The Secondary–Tertiary Interface Queensland Review Of Senior Assessment And Tertiary Entrance Volume 2: Supplement To Main Report, Gabrielle Matters, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Volume 2 of the Report of the Review of Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance is a supplement to main report. It includes the following sections: An overview of the present system; an analysis of selected major reports in Queensland 1970–1990; an overview of senior assessment and tertiary entrance in Australia and other countries; the strengths and weaknesses of Queensland’s OP system today; and an account of the inner workings of standards, judgement and moderation.

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

Prof Geoff Masters AO

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 …

Review Of The Examination Processes For Membership And Fellowship Of The Australian College Of Veterinary Scientists, Gabrielle Matters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This paper deals with examinations administered by the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists (ACVSc) (herein referred to as ‘the College’) to veterinarians at two levels – membership and fellowship. Membership examinations are set at a level that denotes an above-average level of expertise of the candidate in a particular field, signifying advisory status but no specialist status. Fellowship examinations are set at a very high standard and are intended to signify specialist status. The system of examinations administered by the College involves two components –written and oral/practical. Candidates, for both memberships and fellowships, sit the written examination in early June …

Conversation With Prof. Geoff Masters Ao, Ceo, Acer And Ms Julia Gillard, Former Prime Minister Of Australia, Geoff N. Masters, Julia Gillard

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Listen to the conversation here: http://teacher.acer.edu.au/article/exclusive-a-conversation-between-julia-gillard-and-professor-geoff-masters

Plenary 1 - Quality And Equity Through Evidence-Based Practice, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Plenary 1

Towards A Growth Mindset In Assessment, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

National School Improvement Tool, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Research is revealing the powerful impact that school leadership teams can have in improving the quality of teaching and learning. Effective leaders create cultures of high expectations, provide clarity about what teachers are to teach and students are to learn, establish strong professional learning communities and lead ongoing efforts to improve teaching practices. The National School Improvement Tool brings together findings from international research into the practices of highly effective schools and school leaders. The Tool assists schools to review and reflect on their efforts to improve the quality of classroom teaching and learning. It supports school-wide conversations – including …

Reforming Educational Assessment: Imperatives, Principles And Challenges, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

AER 57 reviews research into assessment, especially in schools; it analyses the pivotal role of assessment in learning and argues for its reconceptualisation by practitioners and policy makers to better support learning. The genesis of this AER was the ACER Research Conference Assessment and Student Learning: Collecting, interpreting and using data to inform teaching, held in Perth in August 2009. Section 1 outlines some current pressures for assessment reform, introduces the concept of a learning assessment system designed to establish where learners are in their progress within an empirically mapped domain of learning, and sketches a set of design principles …

Enhancing The Quality Of Teaching And Learning In Australian Schools : Submission To The Senate Inquiry On Teaching And Learning (Maximising Our Investment In Australian Schools), Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

International research identifies several steps that governments can take to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, and thus levels of student achievement and wellbeing, in primary and secondary schools. The steps are: 1. Restrict and raise the quality of student intakes to teacher education 2. Set and confirm the achievement of minimum standards for registration 3. Recognise and reward the development of specialist knowledge and skill

School Improvement, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Improving our national educational performance depends on ensuring high quality leadership and effective classroom teaching in all Australian schools, as Geoff Masters explains.

Specifying And Assessing Knowledge And Skills For Life, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

In my presentation to this year’s Research Conference I will be taking as my starting point the proposition that a fundamental purpose of schooling is to provide every student with knowledge and skills to equip them for life beyond school. While acknowledging that schooling has broader purposes, I will argue that there are some fundamental understandings and skills that all students should develop during their school years, and that every student should be expected to demonstrate an acceptable level of these skills and understandings by the time they leave school.

Raising Standards : A Shared Challenge, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Geoff Masters outlines his recommendations to improve literacy, numeracy and science learning in Queensland primary schools.

Continuity And Growth : Key Considerations In Educational Improvement And Accountability., Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

The author first discusses traditional styles of curriculum delivery, commenting on the characteristics of 'annual packages', where students are taught and expected to learn curriculum content that is common to those in their current grade. He then comments on various ways in which students are currently organised and taught in attempts to overcome the limitations of grouping by age/grade, and uses examples from research to evaluate the relative effectiveness. He addresses a range of significant issues, including conditions for learning, classroom structures and standards-based reforms, before looking at some of the possibilities for improved practice in future. These include an …

Using Research To Advance Professional Practice, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This paper discusses quality in professional practice - whether as an engineer, accountant or orthopaedic surgeon - and how it depends on expert knowledge of the field, a deep understanding of underlying principles, accumulated experience in the practice of the profession, a familiarity with recent advances in the professional knowledge base, and mastery of the best available techniques and tools. Teaching qualifies as a profession to the extent that it requires the application of specialised knowledge and skill developed through research and high-level education and training. Quality in teaching practice depends on familiarity with recent advances in the professional knowledge …

Conceptualising And Researching Student Wellbeing, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Schools have always seen it as part of their role to support and encourage children's all-round development, including their cognitive, interpersonal, social, aesthetic, physical and moral/spiritual growth. Beyond the academic, schools have been committed to children's general wellbeing; in seeing children develop into well-rounded, healthy individuals who can take their place as informed, principled and engaged members of society. In fulfilling this role, schools have worked alongside and complemented families, churches and other institutions in the community. In recent years, Australian schools and education systems have made efforts to clarify the broad purposes of schooling and to introduce ways of …

Restoring Our Edge In Education, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Much of what is required to improve the quality of Australian school education is widely understood and agreed, as Professor Geoff Masters explains. The levels of educational attainment of Australian students will play a key role in the outcome of future individual, social and economic prosperity. Individuals benefit from high levels of education and training, which increase individuals’ ability to secure meaningful work, earn more, and break cycles of disadvantage. Society as a whole benefits from high levels of education and training, which are related to better health, family functioning and children’s wellbeing, less violent crime, and even a cleaner …

Review Of The Examination Processes For Membership And Fellowship Of The Australian College Of Veterinary Scientists, Gabrielle Matters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This paper deals with examinations administered by the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists (ACVSc) (herein referred to as ‘the College’) to veterinarians at two levels – membership and fellowship. Membership examinations are set at a level that denotes an above-average level of expertise of the candidate in a particular field, signifying advisory status but no specialist status. Fellowship examinations are set at a very high standard and are intended to signify specialist status. The system of examinations administered by the College involves two components –written and oral/practical. Candidates, for both memberships and fellowships, sit the written examination in early June …

Australian Certificate Of Education: Exploring A Way Forward, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Geoff Masters explains why Australia needs greater national consistency in senior school certificates and how an Australian Certificate of Education would likely benefit all Australian students.

Continual Improvement Through Aligned Effort, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Keynote 1 - A framework for school improvement

Improving Educational Outcomes In The Northern Territory : Preliminary Advice To The Northern Territory Department Of Education And Training, With A Particular Focus On The Ongoing Improvement Of Students’ Literacy And Numeracy Achievements, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

The primary focus of this review is on strategies for improving literacy and numeracy outcomes in the Northern Territory. Clearly, the role of school education is much broader than the development of students literacy and numeracy skills, but these are foundational skills on which almost all other school learning is based. It is also clear from research that low levels of literacy and numeracy by the middle years of school are associated with lower school completion rates and a range of post-school outcomes, including higher levels of unemployment, lower lifetime earnings, and poorer health outcomes. Although the primary focus of …

The Science Of Learning, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Geoff Masters explains how an emerging field of research called the science of learning is improving our understanding of how students learn.

Measuring And Rewarding School Improvement, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

There is now a widely held view that the most effective strategy for improving countries’ educational performances is to improve the day-to-day work of schools. This view follows several decades of significant increases in government expenditure on school education in developed countries, often with little or no accompanying evidence of improvements in the quality or equity of educational provision. A number of countries have introduced incentives – both rewards and sanctions – in an attempt to ‘drive’ improvements in the work of schools. Many of these incentive schemes have followed the model adopted in business of specifying and measuring desired …

Assessing Science Learning, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

A new school assessment resource provides teachers with information about individual students’ achievement and progress in science. Geoff Masters details the development of the Progressive Achievement Test in Science.

The Hard Work Of Improvement, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Assessing Student Learning: Why Reform Is Overdue, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

The Power Of Expectation, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO