01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

action plans for improvingstudents’ literacy skills and helpsubject teachers make specific linksbetween the literacy skills tested inELLA and the literacy demands oftheir particular subject area.As part of the pilot, two projectswere undertaken to assist inprogram evaluation. The first ofthese was an independent reviewconducted by members of theConsortium of Australian Social,Behavioural and EducationalResearch (CASBER). This reviewinvestigated the reliability andvalidity of the test and found thatthe DSE ‘has developed the mostcomprehensive and complete set oftesting and reporting materials sofar produced in Australia.’The second evaluative activityinvolved surveying samples ofstudents, parents and teachersinvolved in the pilot program. Over90 per cent of teachers whoresponded agreed that the ELLAtest provided information relevantto the Year 7 curriculum, and thatas a consequence of the testteachers have a better idea of theliteracy skills students have onentry to high school.Eighty-six per cent of students andover 90 per cent of respondingparents were also positive about theinformation contained in the reportthey received.Following a review of the 1997pilot program, the Governmentannounced that ELLA tests will beextended to all NSW high schoolsin 1998.Basic Skills Tests(BST) ReportingThe Basic Skills Tests (BST)provide parents with detailedand reliable information aboutthe literacy and numeracyachievements of their children.They are also a means for parentsand teachers to compare individualstudent performance againststatewide performance.The BST assist teachers to identifyindividuals or groups who requireadditional assistance. They alsoprovide schools with reliableinformation to assist them to planand implement programs for theimprovement of literacy andnumeracy and to monitor standardsover time. Classroom teachers candraw on the resources of specialistteachers or intervention programsto provide students withopportunities to improve basicskills.The framework for reportingindividual achievement uses threemeans of comparison to describestudent achievement and progress:• the student’s performanceagainst a standards frameworkof skills bands• the student’s prior and currentlearning achievements• the student’s achievementcompared with those of otherstudents.Since 1996, parents have been ableto make a direct comparison oftheir child’s performance in theYear 5 test with their performancein the Year 3 test two years earlier.Reports are distributed to parentsin October and provide commentsabout their child’s relative strengthsand weaknesses and show howtheir child’s results compare withthe rest of the state.Reports provided to teachersinclude all the information given toparents and show the student’sresponse to every questioncompared with the statewide group.The 1997 School Report Packagesalso show the progress of eachstudent and the average progress ofthe group within the school forwhom matched test scores areavailable.❝The NSW Department of SchoolEducation has developed the mostcomprehensive and complete set of testingand reporting materials so far produced inAustralia.❞Consortium of Australian Social,Behavioural and Educational Research(CASBER).Some Comments from Teachers andPrincipals About the ELLA Tests❝This means I now have benchmarks towork on. We have facts to talk about andwe can plan for the future and use the nextfour or six years to improve our students’literacy.❞Principal, Dubbo South High School.❝Teachers and parents can now identifystudents who need help and can changetheir programs to help them.❞Head Teacher, Marrickville High School.❝Teachers can look at what they’reteaching now and change their programsto make sure students are learning allreading and writing skills.❞Principal, Arthur Phillip High School.Excellence in Assessment andReportingGrenfell Public School won a Director-General’s Award for School Achievementfor its excellent initiatives in assessmentand reporting. ❝The process is a wholeschool approach that develops the conceptof the nature of shared responsibility forlearning between students, teachers andparents, and of the desirability of effectiveassessment approaches.❞DSE Annual Report 1997 55