Teachers are now experiencing the age of quantitative test-driven assessment, in which there is little weight accorded to teacher-based judgement about student progress. In the Australian context, the NAPLaN test has become a driving force in school and teacher accountability. The language of NAPLaN is one of bands and numerical scores and…

This article provides the background and describes the processes involved in establishing a national approach to benchmarking the way universities engage with their local and regional communities in Australia. Local and regional community engagement is a rapidly expanding activity in Australian public universities and is increasingly being seen as…

This report documents the work of a study group which reviewed the distance education activities undertaken during the Third Cycle of the Asia and Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID), as a basis for the further development and utilization of distance learning systems and structures. Reports on distance education…

This discussion paper is intended to inform the further development of the National Research and Evaluation Strategy (NRES) by strengthening its focus on evaluation in Australian vocational education and training (VET). Chapter 1 discusses the implications for the role of evaluation that changes in VET have caused in the past decade. Chapter 2…

The National Reporting System (NRS) was developed to report the outcomes of English language, literacy and numeracy provision in Australia's vocational education and training and adult and community education sectors, and in labour market programs. Since its introduction, however, the NRS has been used as more than a reporting tool. It has also…

This book addresses the link between student learning of mathematics, the teaching method adopted in the mathematics classroom, and the assessment procedures used to determine and measure student knowledge. Fifteen chapters address issues that include a review of different models of mathematics learning and assessment practices, three contrasting…

Australia's National Reporting System (NRS) was developed as a mechanism for reporting the outcomes of adult English language, literacy, and numeracy provision in the country's vocational educational and training system, labor market programs, and the adult and community education sector. This document is intended to explain the NRS to potential…

Practices and policies regarding graded assessment in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia were examined. Data were collected through a literature review; focus groups involving approximately 120 stakeholders in 5 states; interviews with 49 representatives of registered training organizations (RTOs); and surveys of RTOs, students,…

In July 2001, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) agreed to the development of assessment instruments and key performance measures for reporting on student skills, knowledge and understandings in primary science. It directed the newly established Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…