South Australia (SA)

Standards and Benchmarking

• 1. What does your state/territory understand by the terms standards and benchmarking?
• A standard is a common reference point used to measure progress (in this case, in learner achievement) along a scale or continuum.
• A benchmark is the delineation of an acceptable level of achievement in a particular skill (or set of skills) within a given context.
• 2. How are standards and benchmarks currently applied in your state (ie. current practice)?

  The term "standard" relates to the recently drafted Curriculum Standards that, in conjunction with the Curriculum Scope and Curriculum Accountability components, form the basis of the draft South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability (SACSA) Framework, across the eight areas of learning. The (draft) definition of a Curriculum Standard is that it, "provides a common reference point for teachers and other educators to use in monitoring, judging and reporting on learner achievement (in clearly defined skills, knowledge and dispositions) over time". The Curriculum Standards will be defined by sets of learning outcomes, evidence of learner performance and work samples.

  The term "benchmarks" relates to the Literacy (writing, spelling and reading) and Numeracy Benchmarks. These articulate nationally agreed minimum acceptable levels of literacy and numeracy for students in Years 3, 5 and 7.

• 3. Briefly outline the work being done in the area of standards and benchmarking in your state?

  The Curriculum Standards are currently being trialed and calibrated as part of the draft South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework, in preparation for the final framework that will be used by all schools from 2001. The Curriculum Standards are set at Years 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, and will form the basis for schools’ reporting of learner achievement to parents and State Office. Preceding Curriculum Standard 1 at year 2, are developmental learning outcomes that guide learning in the early years.

  The nationally agreed Benchmarks in Literacy (writing, reading and spelling) and Numeracy (will) form the basis of states’ reporting to the Commonwealth on students’ achievement in each of these particular areas. This will be done through the statewide assessment processes, principally the Basic Skills Tests and the Writing Assessment. Reports to parents will indicate whether their child has met the relevant benchmark. The Year 7 assessment is currently being developed.

  The (Year 3 and 5 Literacy) benchmarks have been distributed to all schools, in order for teachers to appreciate their implications for curriculum development and assessment practices.

Reporting At the End of the Compulsory Years.

• 1. What is the purpose of internal reporting (ie. by schools) reporting in the compulsory years in your state?

  Schools report regularly to parents to inform them of the progress of their child in the context of the designated outcomes based developmental continuum in each of the eight learning areas (formerly the nationally developed Profiles, which are soon to be replaced by the Curriculum Standards). The form of this reporting is decided at the local level.

  Schools report a range of data, including learner achievement data, to their communities through their Annual Reports. Schools are assisted in this process through the Office of Review.

  Schools have previously (in 1997 and 1998) reported to State Office on the progress of a sample of students against outcome based developmental continua (nationally developed Profiles) in designated learning areas. A Curriculum Accountability Discussion Paper is currently available for consultation. Future statewide reporting requirements against the Curriculum Standards will be established as a result of this consultation.

• 2. What is the purpose of external reporting in the compulsory years in your state?
• South Australia reported Year 3 Reading data to the Commonwealth in 2000 as part of its commitment to the National Literacy and Numeracy Plan.
• Student achievement data is used in the department’s annual report to Parliament.
• The department reports statewide data on students’ achievement in the Basic Skills Test at Years 3 and 5, through the Chief Executive to the Minister, in order to gauge the impact of statewide literacy and numeracy development programs. This is also done on a limited basis in regards to the Writing Assessment.
• In 1997 and 1998, State Office published the results of the statewide Profiles data collection in order to guide future systemic planning, and to provide a context within which schools could compare the achievement of their students. Curriculum Standards data will be used in future and processes for doing this are currently being consulted on.
• 3. What information is currently reported externally?

  For 1999/2000, data derived from the Basic Skills Test and the (sample based) Writing Assessment is reported externally.

• 4. How is this information reported?

  This is reported in aggregated form and is disaggregated by gender, age, Aboriginality, and language spoken at home.

• 5. What agency is responsible for external reporting?

  The responsibility for reporting student achievement data is shared between the Curriculum Policy Directorate and the Strategic Planning and Information Directorate within the department

Middle Years of Schooling (years 5-8)

• 1. How does your state/territory define the ‘middle years’?

  The draft South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework defines the ‘Middle Years Band’ as years 6-9. The framework describes the characteristics of learners in this band in order to assist teachers to shape curriculum delivery appropriate to the needs of these learners.

• 2. What initiatives/programs are currently being planned or implemented in the ‘middle years’ in your state/territory?

  A number of schools have self-funded a ‘South Australian Middle Schooling Network’ in order to extend their middle schooling practices. They employ an Assistant Principal who works across sites to support their research and professional activities.

  The department has contracted out a Curriculum Policy Directorate salary to five schools to develop innovative Middle Years Band curricula based on the Essential Learnings in the draft curriculum framework. These sites will inform the content of the final framework in the Middle Years Band, and share their curriculum materials and expertise as part of the implementation of the framework.

  Implementation of the curriculum framework commencing in 2001 will involve statewide professional development and teaching, learning and assessing materials. Part of these activities will focus on the Middle Years Band.

  A middle years numeracy project has been undertaken with Commonwealth funding. This has involved professional development and action research within a number of junior secondary schools, designed to incorporate numeracy across the curriculum. Further funding is currently being allocated to similar projects targeting both literacy and numeracy in the middle years.

• 3. What are some of the current issues in the middle years of schooling being addressed in your state/territory?

  The department’s Enterprise and Vocational Education Team are supporting the development of enterprise and vocational learning in the middle years. Work and community-based learning is included. The implementation of the South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework will support these developments through their explicit incorporation in the framework and the professional development and teaching, learning and assessing materials.

  Many schools are developing practice consistent with sound middle schooling as a result of a Teaching and Learning in the Middle Years poster that was distributed to schools in recent years. The essence of this information is being applied within the new curriculum framework.

Vocational Learning

• 1. What does your state/territory understand by the terms:
  Vocational learning
  Structured workplace learning?
  

  DETE (SA) Vocational Learning is defined as follows: "Through Vocational Learning, all students acquire a broad understanding of the world of work and develop a range of generic skills, competencies, understandings and attributes that are relevant to a wide range of work environments. Vocational Learning provides students with structured learning experiences in Key Competencies, Enterprise Education, Career Education, Community Based Learning and Workbased Learning. Through these experiences young people acquire skills that are critical to them becoming life-long learners."

  DETE uses the MCEETYA definition of Structured Workplace Learning.

• 2. What initiatives/programs are being planned/implemented in your state/territory in vocational learning and structured workplace learning and in what years?

  Throughout the period 1997-99 DETE schools were engaged in familiarising themselves with Vocational Learning in a variety of ways:

  1. A comprehensive program to integrate the Key Competencies into teaching and learning in all schools was implemented. This involved: familiarisation programs for all school principals, production of a training pack for teachers, a comprehensive train-the-trainer program attended by approximately 1000 teachers, and a raft of small project grants to approximately 100 schools to assist them to further explore the Key Competencies in their own contexts.
  2. Enterprise Education was trialed in six clusters of schools over a two year period. The clusters were funded to progress approaches to enterprise education and to share their findings with the system. The results of their work have helped to shaped the directions of DETE’s new Enterprise and Vocational Education team.
  3. Each school district was provided with funding to explore approaches to Career Education, and to develop programs. A number of districts linked this activity to their work with the Key Competencies.
  4. Each school district was also provided with funding [to supplement ASTF funding] to facilitate effective coordination of students into structured work placements.
  5. The outcomes of the above mentioned initiatives, and of others, are being built upon by the work of the Enterprise and Vocational Team. This team has been created through direct government funding to address a range of issues in relation to the transition of students from school to work or to further education and training. Issues include: increasing student skill levels in generic work related competencies that are valued by business and industry; facilitating the provision of quality career education services by external providers; increasing the quality of Structured Workplace Learning opportunities; expanding the opportunities for Part-time New Apprenticeships for School Students; promoting and facilitating the involvement of business, industry and the wider community in the provision of Vocational Education in schools. The focus of the Enterprise and Vocational Team encompasses all year levels, although activity related to Structured Workplace Learning and VET courses is generally focussed on students in the post-compulsory years.
  6. Vocational Learning outcomes are being explicitly identified in the new South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework. A key accountability feature will be the re-development of the Student Personal Portfolio that will, for the first time, provide students and teachers with the opportunity to articulate evidence of a student’s achievements in generic skills, competencies and attributes. Such articulation will require evidence to be drawn from a range of sources, including out-of-school experiences such as part-time work and community involvement.

• 3. What is the rationale for having vocational learning and structured workplace learning in the curriculum in the compulsory years?

DETE promotes Structured Workplace Learning as an integral part of VET courses that lead to or contribute to a qualification under the AQF, and as such is generally undertaken by students in the post-compulsory years. Therefore there is no stated rationale that promotes Structured Workplace Learning as having a role in the curriculum in the compulsory years. On the other hand, Vocational Learning is promoted as being relevant to all students in all years of schooling on the understanding that emphases and approaches used will vary depending on year level. The rationale for inclusion of Vocational Learning in the curriculum at the compulsory years are the National Goals of Schooling embodied in the so-called Adelaide Declaration. The relevant goals are 1,1, 1.5, 1.6, 2.4, 2.5 and especially goal 2.3.

• 4. How are the vocational learning initiatives/programs in the compulsory years linked to those in the post-compulsory years?

  The five aspects of vocational learning (Key Competencies, Enterprise Education, Career Education, Work based learning, and Community Based Learning) will be integrated into the new South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework which covers all year levels. Therefore the difference between Vocational Learning initiatives in the compulsory years and the post-compulsory years is in terms of sophistication and context. [The diagram on page 45 of the march 2000 MCEETYA VET in Schools Taskforce report effectively summarises this linkage.]

  For example:

  • in the middle years students might engage in career education activities as part of learning area studies, whereas in the post-compulsory years, although this may still happen, such activities will most likely be supplemented and strengthened by specific programs provided by external career guidance providers;
  • through the Student Personal Portfolio, students will have by the end of their compulsory years, assembled a range of evidence to support their articulation of achievements in the Key Competencies and other generic skills and attributes. In the post-compulsory years it is likely that students will, as their preferred post-school pathways become clearer, refine this evidence or replace it by other evidence that better demonstrates the increasing sophistication of their achievements.

• 5. How might any issues identified in the middle years of schooling impact on vocational learning in years 9 and 10? What are the curriculum implications?

See response to ‘Middle Years of Schooling’ question 3