ERIC Number: EJ1247573
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Feb
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1874-8597
EISSN: N/A
Enhanced Use of Educational Accountability Data to Monitor Educational Progress of Australian Students with Focus on Indigenous Students
Cumming, Joy; Goldstein, Harvey; Hand, Kirstine
Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, v32 n1 p29-51 Feb 2020
In Australia, under the National Assessment Plan, educational accountability testing in literacy and numeracy (NAPLAN) is undertaken with all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to monitor student achievement and inform policy. However, the extent to which these data have been analysed to report student progress is limited. This article reports a study analysing Year-3 and Year-5 NAPLAN reading and numeracy data, school and student information for a single student cohort from Queensland, Australia, to examine student achievement and progress. The analyses use longitudinal multilevel modelling, incorporating an enhanced approach for missing data imputation, given that such data frequently involve large amounts of missing data and failure to account properly for such missing data may bias interpretations of analyses. Further, statistical adjustments to deal with the impact of measurement error, an aspect not previously addressed in such analyses of data, are undertaken. A special focus of analyses is achievement of Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. International and national data demonstrate a considerable achievement gap between these students. "Closing the gap" is a core Australian education equity policy, with NAPLAN data used as a primary indicator of policy impact. Overall, analyses indicate greater understanding of student progress for all students is available from Australian data if appropriate analyses are undertaken. However, analyses also demonstrate not only that the gap between Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous student progress increases as they move through school but also diversity of achievement within the Indigenous student cohort. Implications for policy are considered.
Descriptors: Accountability, Data Use, Indigenous Populations, Foreign Countries, Literacy, Numeracy, National Competency Tests, Educational Assessment, Academic Achievement, Grade 3, Grade 5, Achievement Gap
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 3; Primary Education; Grade 5; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A