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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 2594 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

Establishing a relationship between data collection and the social objectives of schooling will also be closely considered, assuring the very best outcomes for our students. As we all know, students who have well-developed skills in literacy and numeracy have the greatest chance of making a successful contribution to our society. We also know that the assessment alone will not make the difference. However, the sensitive and informed targeting of educational resources will have the capacity to support students at risk and enhance their educational opportunity. The implementation of assessing and reporting will greatly expand our access to data across the system. The only system-wide information we currently have is the data from the learning assistance program. The assessment procedures for this program were established to generate teaching resources for students having difficulties with their learning. They are home grown and have not been validated against reliable norms. Mr Speaker, the data is not collected for the purpose of reporting on student outcomes. We need more reliable information than this about all of the students in our schools. We need information about the very bright and capable students in our schools; we need it for the majority of our students who work soundly at an average level; and we need it in relation to our students who are experiencing difficulties with their learning.

There are clear benefits of this assessment and reporting initiative for all members of our community. Firstly, parents of a student will be provided with an indication of their child's literacy and numeracy development in relation to the learning of the whole ACT year group. They will be provided with a further indication of aspects of their child's learning in literacy and numeracy that may require assistance and a further indication of aspects of their child's literacy and numeracy learning where the child may need to be extended when performing well. Secondly, our teachers will be provided with a further indication of individual learning of students and those requiring assistance from the school or school system and a further indication of the area of learning in literacy and numeracy that they need to focus on in their curriculum development, program planning and classroom teaching for a particular class group.

Last but certainly not least, the ACT Government will be provided with a basis on which resources may be allocated in an equitable manner, information on the effectiveness of our schooling in terms of literacy and numeracy outcomes, data to enable the comparison of student learning outcomes over time and statistically valid data in order to debate with other States and Territories and lobby for Commonwealth resources. It is good to see that the new Federal Minister seems to have a very real commitment to improving schooling in this area. The partnerships these three tiers of the community form seek a simple but vital bottom line with the implementation of assessment and reporting, and an improvement and growth of our students' learning so that they can participate effectively in our society. It is not the be-all and end-all, but I think we would be neglecting our duty if we did not go down this path. It will lead to considerable improvements in literacy and numeracy.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

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