Over the past three decades Australia has developed an increasingly advanced national system of student assessments, results from which have been used to identify areas of growth, stagnation or decline in student learning. For the most part, trends in different standardised assessments have been considered in isolation. By examining literacy and numeracy results across assessments, we can better understand the performance of Australian students over time; we can pinpoint areas of national strength and weakness and improve Australia’s educational outcomes.
The paper draws on the latest National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data to discuss student participation and engagement with the tests – factors which impact the quality and usefulness of the results. It highlights important considerations for interpretation of student results and future implementation of NAPLAN.
This report discusses AERO’s 2022 analysis of student writing data – the most extensive investigation into this area ever conducted in Australia.
This resource looks at developing literacy learning areas through examples of sustained shared conversations and opportunities to embed the skills in different learning experiences and interactions during the day.
Targeting sentence-level instruction is critical in order to develop foundational skills in writing. Sentence combining is an instructional technique used to improve sentence quality, complexity, and variety.
A writing instruction template for primary school principals and leaders.
The intent of this framework is to show how the school approaches and implements the effective teaching of writing and writing assessment, and to evaluate opportunities for further improvement.
This publication summarises available evidence on writing and writing instruction. While the literature on writing instruction is modest compared with reading, and the quality of the research is variable, there are a number of findings and recommendations that can be drawn.
Early literacy approaches support the development of foundational skills. This guide outlines key practices for supporting literacy in early learning settings.