This article examines synergies and gaps in the construction of English, literacy, multimodality in policy and curriculum in Australian education with a focus on current assessment practices and educational accountability in order to make recommendations for future practice for teachers and for policy-makers. The article builds on analyses of the…

Attainment of functional English literacy skills by all students has been a focus of Australian national policy since the 1989 Hobart Declaration (MCEETYA, 1989). This focus underpins current educational accountability policy enacted through the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The Adelaide and Melbourne Declarations…

Addresses that distinctive contribution of English to the development of students' literate capabilities as they progress through the years of schooling. Develops a framework for thinking about the nature of knowledges and the repertoires of literate practice made available to students of the English classroom. Explains different understandings…

Addresses the tension between the two assessment goals of measurement and instruction and how they relate to standardized testing in general. Suggests that this tension is writ large in Australia's current literacy-policy environment, with the scales tipping to the measurement goal. Argues that these goals need to be aligned in the best interests…