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Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

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Articles 241 - 270 of 1793

Full-Text Articles in Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research

Rethinking Measurement For Accountable Assessment, Mark Wilson Aug 2021

Rethinking Measurement For Accountable Assessment, Mark Wilson

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The underlying model for most formal educational measurement (e.g. standardised tests) is based on a very simple model: the student takes a test (possibly alongside other students). The complications of there being an instructional plan, actual instruction, interpretation of the outcome, and formulation of next steps, are all bypassed in considering how to model the process of measurement. There are some standard exceptions, of course: a pre-test/post-test context will involve two measurements, and attention to gain score, or similar. However, if we wish to design measurement to hold to Lehrer’s (2021) definition of ‘accountable assessment’ – as ‘actionable information for …

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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 Aug 2021

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 …

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Leading System Transformation: A Work In Progress, Greg Whitby, Maura Manning, Gavin Hays Aug 2021

Leading System Transformation: A Work In Progress, Greg Whitby, Maura Manning, Gavin Hays

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Internationally, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted the education sector. While NSW has avoided the longer periods of remote learning that our colleagues in Victoria and other countries have experienced, we have nonetheless been provoked to reflect on the nature of schooling and the systemic support we provide to transform the learning of each student and enrich the professional lives of staff within our Catholic learning community. At Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta (CEDP), a key pillar of our approach is to create conditions that enable everyone to be a leader. Following the initial lockdown period in 2020 when students …

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Interpreting Learning Progress Using Assessment Scores: What Is There To Gain?, Nathan Zoanetti Aug 2021

Interpreting Learning Progress Using Assessment Scores: What Is There To Gain?, Nathan Zoanetti

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Using assessment scores to quantify gains and growth trajectories for individuals and groups can provide a valuable lens on learning progress for all students. This paper summarises some commonly observed patterns of progress and illustrates these using data from ACER’s Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) assessments. While growth trajectory measurement requires scores for the same individuals over at least three but preferably more occasions, scores from only two occasions are naturally more readily available. The difference between two successive scores is usually referred to as gain. Some common approaches and pitfalls when interpreting individual student gain data are illustrated. It is …

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Using Assessment Data To Improve Equity: How Teachers Use Insights From The Scottish National Standardised Assessments, Sarah Richardson, Sladana Krstic Aug 2021

Using Assessment Data To Improve Equity: How Teachers Use Insights From The Scottish National Standardised Assessments, Sarah Richardson, Sladana Krstic

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Evidence-based decision-making is regarded as an important indicator of quality in schools around the world. Using data gathered from assessments, in conjunction with other insights, can help school leaders and teachers better meet the needs of learners. In schools that cater to disadvantaged learners, using data to design targeted interventions plays an important role in improving equity. In this paper we report on a study with five schools in Scotland. All schools had learner cohorts characterised by multiple layers of disadvantage. Informed by the theoretical underpinnings of sensemaking theory, we investigated how teachers and school leaders used data from the …

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Accountable Assessment, Richard Lehrer Aug 2021

Accountable Assessment, Richard Lehrer

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

There is widespread agreement about the importance of accounting for the extent to which educational systems advance student learning. Yet, the forms and formats of accountable assessments often ill serve students and teachers; the summative judgements of student performance that are typically employed to indicate proficiencies on benchmarks of student learning commonly fail to capture student performance in ways that are specific and actionable for teachers. Timing is another key barrier to the utility of summative assessment. In the US, summative evaluations occur at the end of the school year and may serve future students, but do not help teachers …

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Identifying And Monitoring Progress In Collaboration Skills, Claire Scoular Aug 2021

Identifying And Monitoring Progress In Collaboration Skills, Claire Scoular

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The nature of skills such as collaboration is complex, particularly given that there are internal processes at play. Inferences need to be made to interpret explicit behaviours observed from intentionally designed assessment tasks. This paper centres on the approach to develop hypotheses of skill development into validated learning progressions using assessment data. Understanding a skill from a growth perspective is essential for the effective teaching and development of the skill. The application of Item Response Theory (IRT) allows the interpretation of assessment data as levels of proficiency that we can use to map or monitor progress in collaborative skills.

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Evidencing Creativity And Curiosity In Ib Schools, Sarah Richardson, Sladana Krstic Aug 2021

Evidencing Creativity And Curiosity In Ib Schools, Sarah Richardson, Sladana Krstic

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

There is growing recognition of the importance of learners gaining transversal or 21st-century attributes in order to thrive in the contemporary world. This poses a number of challenges for educators. First, to what extent are transversal attributes innate, or do they include a combination of traits and skills? Second, what can teachers do to help nurture these attributes in learners? Third, how can the existence or strengthening of attributes be recognised? In this paper, we draw on work that we are doing for the International Baccalaureate Organisation to define conceptual frameworks for creativity and curiosity. Our goal is to enable …

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Applying Empirical Learning Progressions For A Holistic Approach To Evidence-Based Education: Swans/Ables, Emily White Aug 2021

Applying Empirical Learning Progressions For A Holistic Approach To Evidence-Based Education: Swans/Ables, Emily White

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Learning progressions have become an increasing topic of interest for researchers, educational organisations and schools as they can describe the expected pathway of learning within a content area to allow for targeted teaching and learning at all levels of ability. However, there is substantial variation in how learning progressions are developed and to what extent teachers can use them to inform their practices. The ABLES/SWANS tools (Students with Additional Needs/Abilities Based Learning and Education Support) are an example of how an empirical learning progression can be applied to support teachers’ ability to not only target teaching to a student’s zone …

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Learning Progressions As Models And Tools For Supporting Classroom Assessment, Alicia C. Alonzo Aug 2021

Learning Progressions As Models And Tools For Supporting Classroom Assessment, Alicia C. Alonzo

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Like all models, learning progressions (LPs) provide simplified representations of complex phenomena. One key simplification is the characterisation of student thinking in terms of levels. This characterisation is both essential for large-scale applications, such as informing standards, but potentially problematic for smaller-scale applications. In this paper, I describe a program of research designed to explore the smaller-scale use of LPs as supports for teacher classroom assessment practices in light of this simplification. Based on this research, I conclude that LP levels may serve as a generative heuristic, particularly when teachers are engaged with evidence of the limitations of LP levels …

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Karmel Oration: Excellent Progress For All: A Function Of Year-Level Curriculum Or Evidenced-Based Learning Progressions?, Dianne Siemon Aug 2021

Karmel Oration: Excellent Progress For All: A Function Of Year-Level Curriculum Or Evidenced-Based Learning Progressions?, Dianne Siemon

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Excellent progress for all students is an ambitious but necessary goal if we are to improve the life choices of all students. At the moment, we are not serving all our students well despite the best efforts of teachers. We need to look further afield to the curriculum and assessment regimes that drive current practice. Grouping students by ability and offering a watered-down curriculum for some is not the answer. Evidenced-based learning progressions that point to what is important in ensuring all students build a deep, well-connected understanding of mathematics over time is what is needed to support reform at …

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This Time Without ‘Feeling’: Children’S Intuitive Theories Of Art As A Logical Basis For Learning Progression In Visual Arts, Karen Maras Aug 2021

This Time Without ‘Feeling’: Children’S Intuitive Theories Of Art As A Logical Basis For Learning Progression In Visual Arts, Karen Maras

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Learning in Visual Arts has traditionally been framed as an experiential process in which feeling and intuition complement the development of aesthetic knowledge. However, while art can be about feelings and processes that develop students’ expressive capacities, the complexity of art understanding and thinking extends beyond this narrow common-sense assumption. I argue that this assumption, which is represented in the Australian Curriculum: The Arts (ACARA, 2015), and even more firmly resonates in recent proposals for the revision of this curriculum (ACARA, 2021), obfuscates the conceptual and theoretical bases on which students make progress in art understanding. This paper examines the …

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Developing An Assessment Of Oral Language And Literacy: Measuring Growth In The Early Years, Dan Cloney, Kellie Picker Aug 2021

Developing An Assessment Of Oral Language And Literacy: Measuring Growth In The Early Years, Dan Cloney, Kellie Picker

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Children develop rapidly in their early years. A crucial component of this development is a child’s ability to learn and use language. Even before they enter formal education, children have learned much about oral language and literacy through meaningful interactions with others, and from their life experiences. Children, however, do not develop at the same pace – some children arrive in early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs more advanced while others require additional support. Recent reviews of the assessment tools available to ECEC educators show a lack of good quality measurement and a reliance on checklist style inventories or …

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How Education Gets In The Way Of Learning, Geoff N. Masters Aug 2021

How Education Gets In The Way Of Learning, Geoff N. Masters

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The formal structures and processes of school education – including the organisation of the school curriculum, processes for assessing student learning, methods of reporting performance, and the uses to which student results are put – are often inconsistent with what is now known about the best ways to promote human learning. Rather than being designed to maximise every student’s learning, these structures and processes often reflect 20th century priorities, including the use of school education to sort and select students into different education and training destinations, and future careers. This sorting function of schooling is becoming increasingly irrelevant in knowledge …

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Research Conference 2021: Excellent Progress For Every Student: Proceedings And Program, Australian Council For Educational Research Aug 2021

Research Conference 2021: Excellent Progress For Every Student: Proceedings And Program, Australian Council For Educational Research

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The focus of the 2021 Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Research Conference is on evidence-based strategies for ensuring that every student makes excellent ongoing progress in their learning. This is an important topic because many students in our schools do not make good, steady progress. Some slip behind and fall increasingly behind the longer they are in school. By the middle years of school, this contributes to significant levels of student disengagement. ACER has invited a number of leading educational researchers to join us to share the findings of their research relevant to this topic. An important conclusion of …

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What Sources Of Data Did Teachers Use To Inform Remote Teaching Under Covid-19?, Anne-Marie Chase, Kathryn Richardson, Nathanael Reinertsen Aug 2021

What Sources Of Data Did Teachers Use To Inform Remote Teaching Under Covid-19?, Anne-Marie Chase, Kathryn Richardson, Nathanael Reinertsen

Digital learning research

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted education systems worldwide, forcing teachers to find new ways to teach students when physical attendance at school was not possible. Our study investigated how teachers gathered and used data to understand and cater for the diverse educational needs of students in remote learning. We surveyed teachers to understand the challenges faced by emergency remote teaching (ERT) and how they gathered and used existing data to meet their students’ needs. While some teachers had experienced online learning as students, few had taught remotely or online. This meant that teachers had limited experience on which to draw when …

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Menzies School Leadership Incubator: Insights, Adrian Field Jul 2021

Menzies School Leadership Incubator: Insights, Adrian Field

Educational leadership

The Menzies School Leadership Incubator (the Incubator) is a national trans-disciplinary initiative to design, test and learn about transformative innovations that will support lasting systems change in Australian schools’ leadership. This review explores the successes, challenges and learning from work in the Incubator to date, from the perspective of a collaborative seeking longstanding systems change. The design of the review is informed by thinking in the innovation literature, principally communities of practice and socio-technical systems theory. This review was undertaken as a rapid exploration of experiences and learning, drawing on interviews with eight individuals from within the Incubator (six interviews) …

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Infographic: Teacher Attitudes Towards Stem, Dominique Russell Jul 2021

Infographic: Teacher Attitudes Towards Stem, Dominique Russell

Teacher infographics

Teachers can have a key influence on the career choices of young people, so knowing their attitudes towards STEM can help us understand how students are being influenced in the school environment. Here, we share results of a survey capturing teacher attitudes towards STEM.

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Infographic: School Librarian Recruitment – Valuing Reading For Pleasure, Dominique Russell Jul 2021

Infographic: School Librarian Recruitment – Valuing Reading For Pleasure, Dominique Russell

Teacher infographics

A new study has explored job titles and descriptions for school librarian jobs advertised in the United States and Australia to assess the emphasis placed on a school librarian’s role in promoting reading for pleasure. Researchers found ‘Australian school librarians are far more likely to be expected to foster reading for pleasure’.

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Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series: Evaluation Of Australia’S Investment In Teacher Development In Lao Pdr: Baseline Report, Debbie Wong, Hilary Hollingsworth, Prue Anderson, Paul R. Weldon, Louise Ockwell, Renee Kwong, Clare Ozolins Jul 2021

Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series: Evaluation Of Australia’S Investment In Teacher Development In Lao Pdr: Baseline Report, Debbie Wong, Hilary Hollingsworth, Prue Anderson, Paul R. Weldon, Louise Ockwell, Renee Kwong, Clare Ozolins

Initial Teacher education

This report constitutes the Baseline Report of the multi-year study of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) investment in teacher development in Lao PDR through the Basic Education Quality and Access in Laos program (BEQUAL). This Lao PDR study is part of a three-country multi-year study series on teacher development, in response to DFAT’s Office of Development Effectiveness’ 2015 Investing in Teachers report. This study is framed within the context of Lao PDR’s staged introduction of a new primary education curriculum, and accompanying in-service teacher professional development support. The overall aim of this study is to …

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End-Line Evaluation Zambian Girls 2030 Program (2016-2018). Final Evaluation Report, Sanjay Tripathi, Oscar Mutinda, Linda Banji Siamuzyulu, Jagbeer Kaur Jul 2021

End-Line Evaluation Zambian Girls 2030 Program (2016-2018). Final Evaluation Report, Sanjay Tripathi, Oscar Mutinda, Linda Banji Siamuzyulu, Jagbeer Kaur

Program monitoring and evaluation

The Realising My Potential Programme (2016–2018) programme was implemented in Northern and Southern Provinces targeting four districts in each province: Mungwi, Luwingu, Mbala and Mpulungu in the Northern Province and Pemba, Sinazongwe, Namwala and Monze in the Southern province. The focus of the programme was to empower girls through career and skills mentoring, guidance, entrepreneurship skills development, financial literacy education and an internship opportunity, and to provide girls with the professional training and networks to succeed. Restless Development was the implementing partner, and financial and technical assistance and guidance were provided by Ministry of General Education and UNICEF. The Australian …

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Developing A Teachers’ Assessment Literacy And Design Competence Framework, Anit Girgla, Laura Good, Sladana Krstic, Brendan Mcginley, Sarah Richardson, Shani Sniedze, Jennifer Star Jul 2021

Developing A Teachers’ Assessment Literacy And Design Competence Framework, Anit Girgla, Laura Good, Sladana Krstic, Brendan Mcginley, Sarah Richardson, Shani Sniedze, Jennifer Star

Assessment and Reporting

Within International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes, teachers play a central role in facilitating learning and empowering learners. One of the key competencies required by teachers to be able to support high quality learning is for assessment, teaching and learning in their classrooms to work collectively. Teachers must possess a high level of assessment literacy to properly fulfil their role of supporting teaching and learning. Teachers’ assessment literacy can have an impact on the quality of educational provision. The aim of this study was to develop an assessment literacy and design competency framework for use across IB programmes and professional learning resources.

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Infographic: Student Enjoyment Of Reading, Dominique Russell Jun 2021

Infographic: Student Enjoyment Of Reading, Dominique Russell

Teacher infographics

The most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey measured the attitudes held by 15-year-olds on reading. An Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Snapshot report has analysed these attitudes, and looked at how they differ between girls and boys, Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, and most disadvantaged and least disadvantaged students.

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Remote Education Responses To Covid-19 In The Indo-Pacific Region. Document Review, Anna Dabrowski, Yung Nietschke Jun 2021

Remote Education Responses To Covid-19 In The Indo-Pacific Region. Document Review, Anna Dabrowski, Yung Nietschke

International Education Research

Many countries have shifted to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, much of the existing research focuses on fully online learning in high income contexts, with very few studies considering the mechanisms that support remote learning in low- and middle-income countries. A document review of the grey literature provides some insights into the ways that countries outside the OECD are ensuring continuity in the supply of education services. Online education, International education, Teaching effectiveness, Organisational effectivenessThe review reveals a diversity of mechanisms have been used to provide educational access. In some contexts, existing online content has been provided free, …

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Infographic: Foundational Literacy And Numeracy Skills, Jo Earp Jun 2021

Infographic: Foundational Literacy And Numeracy Skills, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

In the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, Year 4 principals were asked to report how many students in their school could do foundational literacy and numeracy skills such as ‘write their names’ and ‘recognise written numbers from 1 to 10’ when they began their first year of primary school. Find out how Australian data compare to the international average in this infographic.

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Professional Learning Modes. Literature Review, Anna Dabrowski, Pru Mitchell Jun 2021

Professional Learning Modes. Literature Review, Anna Dabrowski, Pru Mitchell

Professional learning for teachers and school leaders

This literature review summarises evidence from education research to describe and compare different modes of professional learning. It applies the findings to the question: ‘what works best, and for whom’ in terms of modes of professional learning for Australian teachers, with particular focus on early childhood teachers, casual relief teachers and teachers in rural and remote teaching contexts. A key professional learning challenge common to these teachers is isolation – which can be physical, pedagogical, technological and/or social isolation. The review sought to identify research on modes of professional learning and in particular any studies that compared different modes of …

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Teaching And Learning International Survey, Australian Council For Educational Research Jun 2021

Teaching And Learning International Survey, Australian Council For Educational Research

Assessment GEMS

The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) gathers data about school teaching environments from teachers and school leaders, in close to 50 countries in its most recent cycle. TALIS is a tool to assist educational reformers to improve the quality of teaching. TALIS data is based on the opinions, perceptions, beliefs and accounts of teachers and school leaders, as reported by them in a self-completion questionnaire. This publication, presents an overview of TALIS and covers its origins and context, purpose, measurement objectives, background information collection, target population and sampling methodology, assessment administration, reporting and dissemination and influence.

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The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program, Australian Council For Educational Research Jun 2021

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program, Australian Council For Educational Research

Assessment GEMS

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program (SEA-PLM) is a regional assessment of Grade 5 students in six Southeast Asian countries. SEA-PLM was initiated in 2012 by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Association (SEAMEO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The first main cycle of SEA-PLM was implemented in 2019, with future cycles intended. All member countries of SEAMEO can choose to participate in SEA-PLM. The first six participating countries were: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Viet Nam. SEA-PLM measures curricula and cross-curricula knowledge, skills and understanding in the domains of mathematics, reading, writing and global …

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Citizen-Led Assessments: A Model For Evidence-Based Advocacy And Action To Improve Learning, Suman Bhattacharjea, Sehar Saeed, Rajib Timalsina, Syeed Ahamed Jun 2021

Citizen-Led Assessments: A Model For Evidence-Based Advocacy And Action To Improve Learning, Suman Bhattacharjea, Sehar Saeed, Rajib Timalsina, Syeed Ahamed

Assessment and Reporting

Designed as household-based assessments, citizen-led assessments (CLAs) are implemented by local organizations who assess children in their homes, thus reaching the most marginalized children, families, and communities, often in remote areas. CLAs add an essential piece of information for truly monitoring progress and help realistically represent the learning levels of all children – at national, regional, and global levels. By using simple tools and easy-to-understand reports, CLAs engage parents and community members in discussions about learning and help foster understanding of the importance of ensuring quality education through civil action. In this publication, members from organizations conducting CLAs in India, …

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Measuring The Impact Of A Girls Education Program In Zambia May 2021

Measuring The Impact Of A Girls Education Program In Zambia

International Developments

The Zambian Girls 2030: Realizing My Potential program was initiated in 2016 through a partnership between the Ministry of General Education (MoGE) and UNICEF. The program aims to ensure better educational and employment outcomes for Zambian girls through various educational interventions at the secondary school level. The ACER evaluation will shed light on the results achieved against the targeted objectives and the potential for expansion of the program.

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