Assessment and reporting of student achievement for students with specific educational needs against literacy and numeracy benchmarks

This issues paper was commissioned by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs to identify and provide information on key issues in relation to the assessment and reporting of school student literacy and numeracy achievement against the national benchmarks, for students with specific educational needs.  These include Indigenous students, particularly where English is a second or later language; learners of English as a second language; and students with disabilities and learning difficulties.  The paper is written in the context of the National Literacy and Numeracy Plan, encompassing the national literacy and numeracy goal, the development of benchmarks, and statewide testing to be used in reporting aggregated student achievement data.  The paper provides an analysis of the issues, options and implications in relation to assessment and reporting for students with specific educational needs against literacy and numeracy benchmark standards. 

The paper outlines nine major issues identified by focus groups:

• the identification of students with specific educational needs;
• the need for nationally agreed definitions;
• accountability related to exemptions and inclusion in state-based assessment;
• the range of special provisions provided for special groups of students;
• reporting results;
• differential consequences of state-based testing processes;
• equity;
• support for students not achieving the benchmark standard; and
• professional development. 

Each of the issues is discussed in the context of current State and Territory assessment practices and international research.  The paper provides a summary of the assessment and reporting practices in state-based assessment and an examination of three state-based reports on state-wide assessment results.

Electronic version only available from the Department.  Print copies may be available for loan from your local library.

• Summary report: download PDF    (29.8 KB, 2 pages)
• Summary report: download RTF    (19.6 KB, 2 pages)
• Full report: download PDF    (472.91 KB, 159 pages)
• Full report: download RTF    (2.59 MB, 144 pages)