• Previous
• Next
• Section Contents

Australia : Appendix

Last updated: 09-Apr-2010
 

Appendix 1 - Approved literacy benchmarks

Appendix 2 - Assessment prior to National Assessment Programme - Literacy and Numberacy

 

---

Appendix 1

The approved literacy benchmarks for Years 3 and 5 (children aged 8-9 and 10-11 years respectively) are as follows:

Year 3 Benchmark Standard

Reading
Students read and understand a range of texts that are suitable for this year level.  These texts appear in, for example, picture books, illustrated chapter books, junior reference material and the electronic media.

Typical texts that these students are able to read have predictable text and sentence structures.  Words that may be unfamiliar are explained in the writing or through the illustrations.

Typically, these texts use straightforward, everyday language.

When students read and understand texts like these, they can:

• identify the main purpose of the the text (e.g. say the purpose of a set of short simple instructions is to help you do something)
• identify a sequence of events in stories
• find directly stated information in the written text and/or illustrations
• make links between ideas stated directly and close together in different parts of a text (e.g. predict the end of a story; work out a character's feelings from an illustration; make links between a diagram and its label)
• work out the meaning of some unfamiliar phrases and words.

Spelling
Students spell accurately:

• many frequently used and readily recognised words (e.g. come, going, like, saw, was, went, but, from, they, very, you)
• other one- and two-syllable words
• most words of one syllable wth common spelling patterns (e.g. sharp, thick, star, crown, spoon, free, green, play)
• some words of two syllables with common spelling patterns (e.g. sunny, playing).

While students are expected to spell accurately the words described above, they also attempt to spell a wider range of words.  Errors made with these words should be close to the look and/or sound of the correct spelling (e.g. gess for guess, jungil for jungle, redy for ready).

Writing
Students compose simple pieces of writing that make sense to the reader and show a basic understanding of the writing task.

The pieces of writing contain a few ideas related to the task and topic.  The ideas are usually briefly expressed.

The pieces of writing show evidence of some organisation of the subject matter (e.g. a simple beginning, middle and end in a story).  However, they may also include irrelevant details, or ideas not well tied into writing.

In these pieces of writing, students use:

• simple sentences, and some longer sentences using joining words like and, but, then, because
• phrases and words to give information about the place and time of events (e.g. in the park, on the lid, on Monday, today) and the means by which something is done (e.g. by bus, with a spoon)
• words appropriate to the topic, including some subject specific words
• capital letters and full stops used correctly most of the time.

Year 5 Benchmark Standard

Reading
Students read and understand a range of texts that are suitable for this year level.  These texts appear in, for example, chapter books, junior novels, junior reference material, magazines, newspapers and the electronic media.

Texts that these students are able to read may have:

• varied sentence beginnings (e.g. After ploughing, the soil is raked and flattened; If they had stayed on the cliff they would have seen the boat)
• a significant amount of new vocabulary, as long as this is explained by text and illustrations
• some long groups of words (e.g. the largest planet so far discovered; a cute, well-trained dog; the edible seed of a type of pod-bearing plant)
• some use of figurative language (e.g. His legs were turning to rubber; The wire swung and bounced like a live thing).

When students read and understand texts like these, they can:

• identify the main purpose of a text (e.g. choose a title for a text to highlight a purpose)
• identify the main idea in a text
• identify the order of ideas and information in factual texts
• find directly stated information in the written text and/or illustrations
• make links between ideas in a text (e.g. link information from a heading, written text and diagram, work out a missing step in a set of instructions)
• work out the meaning of unfamiliar phrases and words (e.g. work out the meaning of some figurative language - Her face was as white as a sheet).

Spelling
Students spell accurately:

• most one- and two-syllable words with common spelling patterns (e.g. growing, found, might, smooth, scratch, date, time)
• most of the frequently used and readily recognised words which have less common spelling patterns (e.g. there, because, who, friends, again)
• some other words of more than one syllable (e.g. yesterday, afternoon, morning, money).

While students are expected to spell accurately the words described above, they also attempt to spell a wider range of words.  Errors made with these words should show students' awareness of sound and visual patterns and all sounds should be represented (e.g. finaly for finally).

Writing
Students compose pieces of writing that convey intended ideas and information to a particular reader.  They use a suitable type of writing for a particular purpose.

The pieces of writing contain several related ideas, relevant to the task and topic.  Some of the ideas are detailed and tied into the writing.

The pieces of writing show evidence of organisation of the subject matter (e.g. a developed beginning, middle and end in a story).  Some ideas remain undeveloped (e.g. some events in a story may not be well tied into the story line).

In these pieces of writing, students use:

• simple sentences and longer sentences using joining words like but, when, after, so
• words like this, those, there effectively link ideas introduced in the writing
• words appropriate to the topic, including descriptive and subject-specific words
• appropriate verb tense (e.g. simple present tense in an information report) and correct verb form (e.g. caught instead of catched) most of the time
• agreement between subject and verb (e.g. she is/ they are/ he was/ we were) most of the time
• capital letters, full stops, commas and question marks.

  

Appendix 2

This appendix provides information about assessment of students before the introduction of the National Assessment Programme - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).

Since the late 1980s, there has been an increasing focus on student assessment and the development of education indicators, with State and Territory governments tending to shift their attention away from monitoring resource inputs to monitoring student outputs. For example, States now use standardised pencil and paper tests to assess the achievement of students in the areas of basic literacy and numeracy. ⁵⁴

Assessment arrangements are the responsibility of individual States and Territories. However, research has shown that all are using the National Framework of Statements and Profiles (see sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 ) as a basis for curriculum development and consequently as a basis for assessment.

In its pre-election promises, the Commonwealth Liberal Government, re-elected in October 1998, and again in November 2001 (as part of a Liberal/National Party coalition), highlighted literacy and numeracy as one of the key areas for additional funding. In March 1997, Commonwealth, State and Territory Education Ministers agreed to a national literacy and numeracy goal: that every child leaving primary school should be numerate, and be able to read, write and spell at an appropriate level. ⁸  The Ministers also adopted a sub goal:  that every child commencing school from 1998 would achieve a minimum acceptable literacy and numeracy standard within four years.  ⁸  Ministers agreed that the goals would be achieved through a National Plan focused on the crucial early years of school. One of the elements of the National Plan was an annual national literacy and numeracy testing programme which aimed to assess the reading, writing, spelling and arithmetical abilities of children.³³ As a result, national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy were developed and agreed by the Education Ministers of all States and Territories in April 2000. Assessment against these national benchmarks has been progressively introduced since 1999. Further information is available at http://online.curriculum.edu.au/litbench/default.htm.

The national literacy and numeracy benchmarks aimed ultimately to provide data, through the comprehensive assessment of all students in Years 3, 5 and 7, on the achievement of students. Students were assessed as soon as possible following entry to Years 3, 5 and 7 to identify those at risk of not making adequate progress towards the nationally agreed literacy and numeracy goals and benchmarks for the end of these years. Asssessment was via rigorous State-based assessment programmes. ^17 8

The development of the literacy and numeracy benchmarks for Years 3, 5 and 7 was undertaken by the Curriculum Corporation and overseen by a Benchmarking Taskforce. This taskforce included nominees of all the bodies involved in assessment linked to the benchmarks, namely the State, Territory and Commonwealth Governments, the Curriculum Corporation, the National Catholic Education Commission and the National Council of Independent Schools' Associations. ¹⁷

Determination of the level of the benchmark standards was based on extensive consultation with stakeholders, academic experts and literacy and numeracy education experts from government and non-government education authorities. It took account of a wide range of input, including:

• Information on levels of achievement, as demonstrated in national surveys such as the National School English Literacy Survey and the Third International Maths and Science Study, and in State and Territory assessment programmes.
• Curriculum frameworks in the States and Territories, including Statements, Profiles and variants;
  professional judgement about appropriate and necessary standards.
• Similar work from overseas programmes. ¹⁷

Comparability of results obtained through different State-based assessment programmes was achieved using an equating process developed by an expert committee of the Benchmarking Taskforce. This committee comprised independent measurement experts as well as representatives of State and Territory Education Departments and assessment agencies. ¹⁷

Students identified as being 'at risk of falling behind', by the national literacy and numeracy benchmarks received extra help through remedial reading and other literacy support. ³⁸

From 2001, education authorities were required to report against key performance measures, including literacy and numeracy standards, in order to receive Commonwealth funding.¹⁵⁰

Queensland
Prior to the introducution of NAPLAN, the Queensland Testing Programme was used to assess the progress of students in key areas. All schools in the state sector participated in a mandatory testing programme for students in Year 3 (age 8-9), Year 5 (age 10-11) and Year 7 (age 12-13). Almost all schools in the non-state sector participated in the programme too. The specific purposes of the Queensland Testing Programme were to:

• collect data from the population of Years 3, 5 and 7 students for reporting to parents/carers and schools and for systemic reporting
• accommodate the assessment of students against national benchmark standards for literacy and numeracy.¹⁵⁰

The Queensland Testing Programme took place place in August. The literacy tests covered three strands; reading and viewing, spelling, and writing. The three strands covered by the numeracy tests were number, measurement, and data and space. ¹⁵⁰

Both the literacy and numeracy tests comprised a test booklet and a stimulus magazine, and involved a combination of multiple choice and open-ended tasks.¹⁵⁰

Although the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) outsourced some aspects of the Years 3, 5 and 7 statewide testing programme, it retained overall responsibility for all aspects of quality assurance for the testing programme. The contracted provider for the tests was responsible for test development, provision and distribution of test materials, marking student responses and reporting results. ¹⁵⁰

For the Years 3, 5 and 7 testing programme, schools received:

• two copies of an individual student's report; one for distribution to parents/carers, one to be retained by the school in the student's file
• class reports
• school reports.

The student report provided information about the student's performance in the three strands within each test (literacy or numeracy) and the student's performance in relation to the cohort. It also gave a description of the test items and indicated which items the student answered correctly. The class report provided an item-by-item summary of each student's responses, together with information about the performance of the cohort. The school reports gave a summary of the results and showed trends in student performance.

Victoria

In Victoria, NAPLAN tests replaced the previous Achievement Improvement Monitor (AIM) English and mathematics assessment programme.

Students were assessed against the requirements of the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF). Prior to the review of the CSF (which took place during the period 1998 to 2000) the formal State-wide assessment component of the CSF was known as Learning Assessment Project - LAP - assessment. Following the CSF review it became known as AIM assessment.

All students participated in LAP/AIM assessment, although intially LAP testing was boycotted by many schools. Parents also had the right to refuse permission for testing.⁷⁰  However, most students in Years 3 and 5 (aged 8-9 and 10-11) in schools in Victoria did take the LAP tests. It was recommended that they should do so, unless an exemption had been granted. Principals could grant exemptions to children with disabilities and impairments, or to children who had been learning English in Australia for less than two years.⁷²

The Learning Assessment Project (LAP) provided benchmarked assessment of the achievement of Year 3 (aged 8-9) and Year 5 (aged 10-11) students in mathematics and English and one other Key Learning Area each year. Assessment tasks were designed to assist schools in monitoring student learning outcomes in specific strands and modes of the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF). Year 3 tasks assessed learning outcomes from Levels 1-4 of the CSF, while Year 5 tasks assessed learning outcomes from Levels 2-5. Each student's achievement was reported against the levels of the CSF in the strands or modes assessed (that is, assessment was criterion referenced).⁷³ Benchmarks grouped 'like' schools (that is, those with similar levels of students receiving economic maintenance allowance and students with a non-English-speaking background) to measure added-value.⁸⁴  Two forms of LAP assessment were used in mathematics: a written, multiple-choice test which was 'machine-scored'; and 'performance assessment', which was assessed by the teacher.⁷⁰

Students were assessed in Year 3 to identify individual student achievement at the end of the early years of schooling. They were assessed again in Year 5 to monitor their achievements before transition to secondary school. At both points, the assessment aimed to assist teachers in identifying students who would benefit from enrichment activities, or who may require further development in specific aspects of the curriculum. ⁷⁰

LAP involved a series of assessments taken over a period of two weeks. Two tasks were assessed by the (class) teacher and four were centrally-assessed by the Board of Studies ⁷²  (now replaced by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, VCAA ). In 1998, the time allocated for centrally-assessed tests was:

Subject	Year 3	Year 5
Mathematics	35 minutes	45 minutes
Science	35 minutes	45 minutes
English	35 minutes	45 minutes
Writing	30 minutes	35 minutes 547

In the centrally-assessed tasks, students in both year groups were usually requested to respond to questions in a mark-sensitive booklet. They might have responded in different ways, for example by shading a bubble or shape or writing a number. Student answers were scanned electronically. Where there was any doubt associated with a student response (for example, where all bubbles for one item were shaded, or where the written number was not clear), question papers were checked manually by trained adjudicators. ⁵⁴⁸

In the English writing test, students completed a piece of writing on a set topic. Teachers normally engaged students in some preliminary discussion about the topic and students then wrote their work in the task booklet. Trained markers assessed the centrally-assessed writing task. ⁵⁴⁹

The teacher-assessed and centrally-assessed tasks were all conducted by the class teacher and took place in the usual classroom. Students worked independently. ⁵⁵⁰

Of the Learning Assessment Project ( LAP) assessment tasks (for students in Years 3 and 5, ages 8-9 and 10-11 respectively), two were conducted and marked in schools by class teachers, and the remaining four (also conducted by the class teacher) were set and marked by the Board of Studies (replaced by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) in March 2001). The Board of Studies contracted the services of the University of South Wales Educational Testing Centre (ETC) to prepare the centrally-set tasks and to process and report the results of LAP assessment. ⁷²

For the teacher-assessed tasks, marking criteria were provided by the Board of Studies which enabled teachers to assess all students' work in a standard way. Models of criterion-based assessment tasks were available in exemplary assessment materials produced by the Board of Studies, each of which indicated appropriate levels of difficulty in relation to the CSF . ⁷²

In the centrally-assessed tasks students in both year groups, were usually requested to respond to questions in a mark-sensitive booklet. They might have responded in different ways, for example by shading a bubble or shape or writing a number. Student answers were scanned electronically. Where there was any doubt associated with a student response (for example, where all bubbles for one item were shaded, or where the written number was not clear), question papers were checked manually by trained adjudicators. ⁷²

In the English writing test, students completed a piece of writing on a set topic. Teachers normally engaged students in some preliminary discussion about the topic and students then wrote their work in the task booklet. Trained markers assessed this centrally-assessed writing task. ⁷²

The teacher-assessed and centrally-assessed tasks were all conducted by the class teacher and took place in the usual classroom. ⁷²

To ensure that the LAP assessment tasks provided a valid indication of how students were performing in comparison with the CSF levels and State-wide standards, it was important that the assessment tasks in all schools in Victoria were conducted under 'standard conditions'. Standard conditions included adherence to time limits, level of teacher assistance, and presentation of material to allow all students across the State equal opportunity in completing the tasks. Guidelines for teachers on all of the above were provided by the Board of Studies. ⁷²

The Achievement Indicator Monitor (AIM) programme which replaced LAP included five key components:

• classroom assessment
• homework guidelines
• comprehensive reporting
• learning improvement, and
• statewide testing

each of which aimed to complement the other as part of a comprehensive programme to boost student learning, improve teaching skills and better inform parents. AIM also aimed to identify students having difficulty at school, provide expertise to assist such students in their education, allow teachers to develop and improve learning programmes for children, and enable resources to be targeted where they were most needed.  The standardised literacy and numeracy tests assessed how students performed in mathematics and English in relation to other children in the same age group or year level. They also measured student achievement against the standard expected for that age group in Victoria and nationally. ¹⁶¹ 

A student's degree of progress in each strand of the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF) was indicated on a four-point rating scale (1-4), comparing a student's skills and knowledge to those described in the curriculum focus statement and learning outcomes at a level of the CSF, as follows:

• (Rating) 1: The student has established the skill and knowledge level and consistently and independently exhibits all or most of the behaviours in the level in a range of contexts.
• (Rating) 2: The student is consolidating the skill and knowledge, often exhibiting some, but not all of the behaviours for the level (for example, where students display such learning with assistance, or only in similar tasks).
• (Rating) 3: The student is beginning to show signs of the skills, knowledge or behaviour pattern of the level in that only a little of the pattern is shown (for example, where students occasionally and with assistance demonstrate the learning).
• (Rating) 4: Progress is not apparent. The student shows none of the skills, knowledge or behaviours of the level (for example where no evidence of progress in this level has been observed or the student is not participating in learning activities). 80

Learning Assessment Project assessment tasks (for students in Years 3 and 5, ages 8-9 and 10-11 respectively) were criterion-referenced and the reporting scale was expressed in terms of the levels of the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF ) (see above). ⁷²

• Previous
• Next
• Section Contents