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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3252 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

In particular, in chapter 6 the influence of the home environment in the development of literacy learning is stressed. No attempt has been made to define what a home is. The widest possible interpretation of this term should be used when studying the paper. I think we need to come back to the fact that not only has this been professionally produced but it is a discussion paper. It is a document that seeks input and ideas to create the best possible learning outcomes for all of our students, and especially those students Ms McRae mentions. I am sure that those students in that situation will figure very prominently in the discussion that goes on in terms of the ideas being generated by this paper and the working out of strategies which we can take forward.

I have already mentioned the response sheet. There is the suggestion in the paper of writing your own comments. No doubt, they will be forthcoming, especially from organisations like the P and C, the AEU, the principals associations and the school board forums and, I imagine, from individual parents too. I am sure that all the sorts of comments which Ms McRae would want to elicit will be forthcoming, because those are very real concerns. Those are things that we are addressing; but, obviously, we hope to address them better and improve them. That is the whole idea of this emphasis on improvement in terms of literacy.

Certainly, as a government, we are interested in and committed to taking action on literacy. We are working actively at the local level and participating actively also in the national debate on literacy. At the local level, I think there is a move of very real value to ACT students. This Government has just implemented its very first literacy assessment in ACT primary schools. That is a very successful step, I think, in the sequential implementation of system-wide literacy and numeracy assessments into four years of compulsory schooling. It is a long overdue program and it is a major education achievement of this Government in improving literacy learning outcomes for our students. But it is just one of a range of initiatives that we have taken to ensure that the literacy achievements in our schools are of an excellent standard.

Data from the assessment show that, in general, the literacy levels of the majority of our Years 3 and 5 students are good to very good. The performance of the majority of these students in both year groups falls within the appropriate national English profile levels. Some students are performing at levels above what is expected and, of course, there are some who are performing below standard; that is, there is a wide range of achievement in every year's level. The purpose of identifying the students who need assistance is to target resources to ensure that student learning progresses. The information the schools have already received about the performance of their Year 3 and Year 5 students will be invaluable in modifying our programs and curriculums to meet our individual students' literacy learning needs.

The ability to identify areas of strength and weakness in our government school programs is beneficial and will give clear direction for the system in indicating professional development needs at the system level. The indications of strengths and weaknesses in literacy that the assessment data have provided will also be used to inform the debate

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