An event start: innovative resources to support teachers to better monitor and better support students measured below benchmark

Presenter Information

Jocelyn Cook, ACER

Start Date

18-8-2009 11:00 AM

End Date

18-8-2009 12:15 PM

Comments

Literacy and numeracy are foundation skills for a successful education and a productive life. Improved literacy and numeracy outcomes encourage higher school retention rates, lead to improved employment opportunities, enhance engagement in society and support future economic prosperity. Conversely, a range of research indicates that poor basic skills are associated with a life trajectory of disadvantage. Enhancing teachers’ capacity to recognise the specific needs of those students with the poorest skills and to provide remedial help is at the heart of breaking the cycle of disadvantage. An Even Start is a Commonwealth government initiative aimed to address the learning needs of students who require additional assistance to acquire satisfactory literacy or numeracy skills. The resource developed for DEEWR by ACER focused on: accurate diagnosis of specific needs; provision of useful advice to teachers and tutors on remediation of specific difficulties; and more precise and accurate measures of progress. This paper traces the conceptualisation of An Even Start Assessments, illustrating how the instruments and support materials draw together the requirements of good measurement, useful diagnostic information, and accessible and relevant teaching strategies.

Recommended Citation

Cook, J. (2009, August 18). An event start: innovative resources to support teachers to better monitor and better support students measured below benchmark [Paper presentation]. 2009 - Assessment and Student Learning : Collecting, Interpreting and Using Data to Inform Teaching. https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2009/18august/3