Final report of the National Evaluation of National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (NIELNS)

The National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (NIELNS) was launched by the Prime Minister in March 2000 with the objective “to achieve literacy and numeracy for Indigenous students at levels comparable to those achieved by other young Australians”.  265 initiatives were implemented by education and training providers under NIELNS during 2001 – 2004.  The projects addressed the 6 NIELNS key elements of: improving attendance; improving participation in preschool; addressing hearing and health issues; getting good teachers; using best teaching methods; and improving accountability. 

NIELNS was the subject of an evaluation during 2002 and 2003.  The evaluation team assessed provider reports, talked to key stakeholders and conducted a series of case studies.  The evaluation concluded that 75% of projects, representing 75% of total funding, had either achieved their targets or made an improvement on their baseline.  This report discusses the results in each of the six NIELNS key elements and the strategies that led to them.  It considers program management aspects of NIELNS and addresses each of the evaluation questions.  The final chapter discusses future directions including sustainability and mainstreaming as well as the recommendations from the Indigenous Reference Group.  Three appendices accompany the report providing the policy background to NIELNS, the evaluation methodology, the background to the IRG.

Executive summary: view HTML    

Report: download PDF    (638.89 KB, 145 pages)

Case studies: download PDF    (857.5 KB, 143 pages)