Federal testing produces bad results
Deb Foskey, ACT Greens MLA, today questioned the ACT Minister for Education’s enthusiasm for the Commonwealth Government's national testing for literacy and numeracy which begins next year.
“It is clear that in agreeing to these new tests - which will replace the ACTAP tests currently conducted in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 - the Minister is bowing to pressure from the Federal Minister, who is increasingly tying state and territory education funding to outcomes desired by the Commonwealth,” said Dr Foskey.
“I thought I had better check the small print – but had to go no further than yesterday’s media release from Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop.”
“While ACT Minister Barr may welcome the funds that they will get in complying with the national testing requirements, I would like him to spell out to ACT school communities what else is involved.”
“Ms Bishop's media release says that the Commonwealth will assist students who fall below the benchmark with vouchers for out of school private tuition. I would have thought that increasing the school's capacity to provide more help for the students who need it most would achieve better results.”
“The ACT Government has signed up to a program which will reward, with Commonwealth funding, schools that improve their literacy and numeracy performance.”
“Not all schools have the same capacity to do this. There is a connection between students’ social and economic backgrounds and their literacy and numeracy proficiency that the government is choosing to ignore.”
“What’s more, a recent study in the United States has found that, with national standardised testing, schools teach to the middle in order to meet their proficiency targets. This means the least able miss out again.”
“How can we provide real support for the ACT schools that work with our most socially and economically disadvantaged students? Mr Barr should be telling the ACT community his government will ensure schools that work with these students will receive additional, well targeted ACT funding; since they are unlikely to be getting many of the carrots the Commonwealth is dangling” Dr Foskey said.
