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Vocational Update (No. 2) -- April 2013

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:00:16 PDT

Inside...

Upcoming activities

Building on evidence to improve skills

Language, literacy and numeracy

The key to effective teaching and learning?
Teaching numeracy with adults
Computerised assessment of writing for VET
Return on investment in language, literacy and numeracy training
Improving learners’ and workers’ core skills
Addressing core skills in the 21st century

Continuous improvement

AQIS and continuous improvement

Professional Speaking - November 2006

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:40:12 PDT

Table of contents for this issue: (a) Plagiarism and authentication: what can teachers do about it?; (b) Plagiarism : it sounds like the plague. What is it and how can I avoid it?; (c) The three R’s; (d) Libraries: vital for learning.

Professional Speaking - June 2006

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:40:09 PDT

Table of contents for this issue: (a) Quality Assessment in Science Workshop for teachers; (b) Balanced approach needed for students with learning difficulties; (c) Training great teachers.

Evaluation of the assessment and rating process under the National Quality Standard for Early Childhood Education and Care and School Age Care

Sheldon Rothman et al. — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:09:50 PDT

This evaluation of the assessment and rating process for early childhood education and care and school age care services had as its focus the validity and reliability of the process. In particular, do the items reviewed with the Assessment and Rating Instrument provide consistent and replicable measures? Would the judgements made by one authorised officer be made by other authorised officers reviewing the same service? Does the process—including use of the Instrument—allow distinctions between rating levels?

The evaluation was undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), which analysed assessment and rating data from both draft and final reports; managed the online surveys of services and authorised officers; conducted focus groups with services and authorised officers; and had discussions with regulatory authority staff. Focus group sessions were conducted in each capital city, with participants from outside the metropolitan area participating in person or by telephone.

Making a difference : improving outcomes for Indigenous learners

Michele Lonsdale — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:54:43 PDT

This publication highlights ACER’s contributions to Indigenous Educational research over the past decade. This contribution has included research, policy analysis, program evaluation, professional development, and the development of assessment tools and other resources.

Indigenous Education Update (No. 1) -- March 2013

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:15:09 PST

Welcome to the first issue of ACER’s Indigenous Education Update. This newsletter gives you an insight into the work that the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertakes in research and development in Indigenous education.

National Assessment Program : Information Communication and Technology Literacy : year 6 and year 10 : technical report 2005

John Ainley et al. — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:29:05 PST

This report describes the technical aspects of the National ITC Literacy Sample Assessment and summarises the main activities involved in the data collection, the data collection instruments and the analysis and reporting of the data. Chapter 2 summarises the development of the assessment domain and describes the process of item development and construction of the instruments. Chapter 3 reviews the sample design and describes the sampling process. Chapter 3 also describes the process of weighting to derive population estimates. Chapter 4 summarises the field administration and data management procedures, including quality control and the cleaning and coding of the data. Chapter 5 describes the scaling procedures, including equating, item calibration, the creation of plausible values and the standardisation of student scores. Chapter 6 examines the process of standards-setting and creation of Proficiency Levels used to describe student achievement. Chapter 7 discusses the reporting of student results, including the procedures used to estimate sampling and measurement error.

National Assessment Program : civics and citizenship : Year 6 and Year 10 : technical report : 2007

Nicole Wernert et al. — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:43:26 PST

This report describes the technical aspects of the National Civics and Citizenship Sample Assessment of 2007 that was conducted in Australian schools, and summarises the main activities involved in the data collection, the data collection instruments and the analysis and reporting of the data. Chapter 2 summarises the development of the assessment domain and describes the process of item development and construction of the instruments. Chapter 3 reviews the sample design and describes the sampling process. Chapter 3 also describes the weighting procedures that were implemented to derive population estimates. Chapter 4 summarises the field administration and data management procedures, including quality control and the cleaning and coding of the data. Chapter 5 describes the scaling procedures, including equating, item calibration, the creation of plausible values and the standardisation of student scores. Chapter 6 examines the process of standards-setting and creation of Proficiency Levels used to describe student achievement. Chapter 7 discusses the reporting of student results, including the procedures used to estimate sampling and measurement variance, and the calculation of the equating errors used in tests of significance for differences across cycles.

National Assessment Program : Civics and Citizenship year 6 and year 10 : technical report 2004

Nicole Wernert et al. — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:36:48 PST

This report describes the technical aspects of the National Civics and Citizenship Sample Assessment and summarises the main activities involved in the data collection, the data collection instruments and the analysis and reporting of the data. Chapter 2 summarises the development of the assessment domain and describes the process of item development and construction of the instruments. Chapter 3 reviews the sample design and describes the sampling process. Chapter 3 also describes the process of weighting to derive population estimates. Chapter 4 summarises the field administration and data management procedures, including quality control and the cleaning and coding of the data. Chapter 5 describes the scaling procedures, including equating, item calibration, the creation of plausible values and the standardisation of student scores. Chapter 6 examines the process of standards setting and creation of Proficiency Levels used to describe student achievement. Chapter 7 discusses the reporting of student results, including the procedures used to estimate sampling and measurement variance.

Monitoring Australian year 4 student achievement internationally : TIMSS and PIRLS 2011

Sue Thomson et al. — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 02:09:20 PST

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) are international studies directed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). In Australia, the studies were managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and funded by the Australian and state and territory governments.

TIMSS and PIRLS share the goal of providing comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning (in mathematics and science at Year 4 and Year 8 using TIMSS and in reading at Year 4 using PIRLS). They also provide comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different educational systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices and to enable this, TIMSS and PIRLS collect a rich array of background information.

This report analyses and interprets the Australian Year 4 data collected as part of the TIMSS and PIRLS studies. Where appropriate, this report makes comparisons with the results of other countries and the international average to better understand Australian achievement and its context. A companion report details the achievement of Year 8 students in TIMSS.

Highlights from TIMSS & PIRLS 2011 from Australia’s perspective

Sue Thomson et al. — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 02:00:18 PST

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) are international studies directed by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement), an independent international cooperative of national research institutions and government agencies that has been conducting studies of crossnational achievement in a wide range of subjects since 1959. In Australia, TIMSS and PIRLS are implemented by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), which is Australia’s representative to the IEA. In Australia, TIMSS is part of the National Assessment Program.

TIMSS has been conducted at Year 4 and Year 8 on a four-year cycle since 1995 and PIRLS at Year 4 on a five-year cycle since 2001. In 2011, the cycles for TIMSS and PIRLS coincided for the first time and participating countries were offered an unprecedented opportunity to conduct both TIMSS and PIRLS with their Year 4 students. Australia was one of a group of countries that chose to have the same sample of Year 4 students participate in TIMSS and PIRLS, thus obtaining results for students in reading, mathematics and science. As in previous cycles, Australia also participated in TIMSS at Year 8.

Australia has participated in TIMSS since its inception, providing rich data about trends in mathematics and science achievement over 16 years. This is the first time that Australia has participated in PIRLS, or indeed any international study of reading achievement at this level.