Page 2429 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 30 July 2019
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recommendations deal with issues subject to another process, such as a consideration of a more effective way of reflecting student gain in NAPLAN reporting.
The government does not agree with recommendation 3 about using standardised testing data from NAPLAN to conduct a public inquiry into the causes of the observed underperformance of ACT schools. Using NAPLAN data in this way is not appropriate, for a range of reasons. Most relevant is that using NAPLAN data for this purpose relies on the underlying calculation of the index of community socio-educational advantage, ICSEA. Among other things, the ACT has concerns about the accuracy of this index in relation to its application to jurisdictions with small populations. The ACT is working with ACARA to understand and resolve any potential biases in this index, and it would be inappropriate to make performance judgements about the ACT until any issues with the index are resolved.
The other reason is that the educational performance of the ACT has already been considered in a number of contexts, including by the Auditor-General, and is well understood. Responses to the already identified issues relevant to school education in the ACT, including improvement in the equity of outcomes, are contained in the future of education strategy.
The government is also delivering a range of specific, targeted initiatives such as early years literacy, high school writing, count me in too, middle years computation, principals as numeracy leaders, and reSolve: maths by inquiry. The government is focused on setting every child up to be successful at school, particularly those who need extra help, as will be outlined in the soon to be released early childhood strategy. We have been clear about supporting people who teach our children with strategies to empower teachers, school leaders and other professionals to meet the learning needs of all students.
Recommendation 3 is also premised on the idea that NAPLAN is the indicator of school performance. It is not. It is just one indicator, taken at one point in time, among a range of others.
Another analysis of the past using comparisons based on ICSEA will not contribute significantly to current understanding of the issues that face education in the ACT nor contribute significantly to the government’s direction. Instead, it is more likely to delay the implementation of the strategies to improve outcomes, to the detriment of children.
In the ACT public school system the emphasis in strategic reporting has shifted from reporting NAPLAN mean scores to reporting student growth and equity. The government is ensuring that schools can utilise detailed NAPLAN data through access to the SCOUT system, which is a data analysis tool. Schools are also encouraged to use school-based standardised testing tools such as PAT-reading and PAT-maths and other school-based assessments to provide quick feedback on student progress and, more particularly, to provide insights into the individual strengths and weaknesses of students in a way that supports teachers to provide differentiated learning on an ongoing basis.
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