Educational monitoring

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Educational monitoring in Australia Lessons
from down-under Helen Wildy September 2008
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Context

• Education in Australia is responsibility of
  States (6) and Territories (2)
• Each has three sectors
• State
• Catholic
• Independent
• Benefits and drawbacks for PIPS Australia
• Note PIPS in Australia means PIPS-BLA

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Overview

• Issues
• distance, population,regional differences,
  attitudes, confidence and competition
• 2. Strategies
• promotion, publications, administration,
  workshops
• 3. Lessons from down under
• uptake, use of data, collaboration

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1. Issues faced

• Distance
• Population spread
• State and Territory differences
• Attitudes
• Confidence
• Competition

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A comparison Australia and China
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A comparison Australia and Europe
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A comparison Australia and the USA
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Comparative Populations
Sources Central Intelligence Agency. (2008). The
2008 world fact book. Retrieved June 9, 2008 from
http//cia.gov/library/publications/the_world_fact
book/index.html United Nations Population Fund.
(2007). UNFPA State of world population 2007
Unleashing the potential of urban growth.
Retrieved June 9, 2008 from http//www.unfpa.org/s
wp
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Australia Population Distribution
60 or more people/mile2
Uninhabited
Adapted from http//www.britannica.com/eb/art-931
13/Population-density-of-Australia
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Aboriginal Population

• Aboriginal communities
• WA minus Kimberly region

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Aboriginal Population

• Aboriginal communities
• in the Kimberly Region

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Remote schools
Key Government Catholic Independent
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Remoteness
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Remoteness
Pictures from http//www2.eddept.wa.edu.au/schoolp
rofile/home.do
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Age of students on entry to year prior to Year 1
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Attitudes

• 1998 Large scale assessment began
• Literacy, Numeracy Years 3, 5, 7, 9
• States/Territories (called WALNA in WA)
• Mandated
• All sectors by 2002
• Linked to national benchmarks
• Used for accountability
• 2008 National Assessment introduced (NAPLAN)
• Initial high suspicion, fear of being judged,
  teacher resistance, incomplete WALNA data sets
• Gradual acceptance by teachers as useful
  information

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Lack of confidence

• But what does it all mean? (teacher)
• Lack of familiarity with data representations,
  fear of numbers and graphs (by teachers and
  principals)
• We started using PIPS for the wrong reasons
  (accountability). Now we use PIPS for the right
  reasons (to inform our teaching practice) ACT
  DET 2004

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Competition

• Literacy Net
• Department of Education and Training WA
• Australian Early Development Index (AEDI)
• Commonwealth Government Department of Education,
  Employment and Workplace Relations
• Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Survey (LLANS)
• Australian Council for Educational Research
• Early Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (ELNA)
• The University of New South Wales

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2. Strategies

• Promotion
• Peter Tymms visits
• Advertisements
• Conferences and publications
• DVD
• Workshops
• Streamlining administration
• Consortia of tiny schools
• PIPS
• ausPIPS
• Excellent staff

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Visits to AustraliaProfessor Peter Tymms

• July 2000
• Edith Cowan University, Perth
• November 2001
• Hobart, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane,
  Perth
• June 2004
• Murdoch University, Perth
• June 2006
• Murdoch University, Perth

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Visits to AustraliaProfessor Peter Tymms
Brisbane
Perth
Sydney
Adelaide
Canberra
Melbourne
Hobart
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Advertisements
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Conference presentations

• Wildy, H. (2007). What students entering school
  know and can do PIPS Australia 2001-2007. PMRT
  Roundtable Conference, Adelaide, South Australia.
• Wildy, H. (2006). Performance Indicators in
  Primary Schools (PIPS) On-Entry Baseline
  Assessment Linking large scale data with
  classroom practices. PMRT Roundtable Conference,
  Perth, Western Australia.
• Wildy, H. (2003). PIPS Australia Intended and
  unintended outcomes for schools and systems.
  European Conference for Educational Research,
  Hamburg, Germany.
• Wildy, H. Louden, W. (2002). One country - many
  systems PIPS Baseline Assessment bridging state
  differences. 7th Roundtable on Assessment,
  Canberra, ACT.
• Wildy, H., Louden, W. Bailey, C. (2002). One
  country many systems PIPS Baseline Assessment
  bridging state differences. European Education
  Research Association conference, Lisbon,
  Portugal.
• Wildy, H., Louden, W. Bailey, C. (2001). High
  stakes testing in a low stakes environment PIPS
  Baseline Assessment in Australia. Third
  international conference of Evidence-based
  policies and indicator systems, Durham, UK.
• Wildy, H., Louden, W. Bailey, C. (2001). High
  stakes testing in a low stakes environment PIPS
  Baseline Assessment in Australia. Western
  Australian Institute for Educational Research, Mt
  Lawley, Western Australia.

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Papers to refereed journals

• Wildy, H. Styles, I. Measuring what Australian
  students entering primary school know and can do.
  Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood
  Education.
• Wildy, H. Styles, I. What students entering
  school know and can do PIPS Australia 2006-2007.
  Australian Journal of Early Childhood.

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DVD Cover
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Workshop design

• Background about PIPS-BLA
• Features
• predictive validity, reliability, efficiency
• Demonstration of PIPS-BLA
• Interpreting first assessment data
• Sharing own data
• Uses of data, teaching strategies
• Interpreting first assessment data
• Sharing own data
• Uses of data, teaching strategies

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Workshops

• Total 1795 participants (2001 - 2008)
• Teachers (year prior to year 1)
• Teachers (year 1)
• Literacy coordinators
• Deputy principals
• Principals
• Information for PIPS schools
• Promotion for potential PIPS schools

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PIPS Workshops
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PIPS Workshop Locations in WA
Kununurra
Broome
Karratha
Geraldton
Kalgoorlie
Murdoch Uni
Bunbury
Albany
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Consortium Schools
Kukerin Primary School Consortium Leader 10
PIPS Students
Dumbleyung PS 3 PIPS Students
Pingerup PS 2 PIPS Students
Nyabing PS 10 PIPS Students
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PIPS

• 2008
• First year of electronic upload of data and
  download of feedback
• (replacing floppy disks)
• 2009
• Paperless feedback

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PIPS Staff
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3. Lessons from down-under

• Uptake
• Use of data
• Collaboration

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PIPS uptake in Australia 2001 - 2008
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Registrations for year starting February 2009(at
Sept 14 with 5-6 per week registering
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Coverage of jurisdictions
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Distribution of PIPS schools
Northern Territory 4 schools
Queensland 78 schools
Western Australia 343 schools
South Australia 2 schools
New South Wales 29 schools
Australian Capital Territory 71 schools
Victoria 44 schools
Tasmania 199 schools
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Distribution of PIPS schools
Northern Territory
Queensland
Western Australia
South Australia
New South Wales
Australian Capital Territory
Victoria
Tasmania
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InCAS trial

• 2008 trial in 13 Tasmanian state schools
• Purpose validation of age equivalence,
  instructions, appropriateness, relevance
• Designed 2006-2007
• Funded by state education authority in Tasmania
• Australian voice-over 2007
• Data collection Terms 1 and 2 2008
• All participants interviewed on site August 2008
• 2009 ausInCAS to be offered across Australia

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Uses of data

• Reporting against national guidelines
• Reviewing early years programs Links to Year 3
  Reading and Numeracy data (CEO, AISWA, DET)
  value added measures
• Informing teaching practice in year prior to Year
  1, both need for support and high achievers
• Informing teaching planning in Year 1
• Seeking resources

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Use of data

• Reconceptualising school planning
• From annual cycle to long term view
• From assessment of teaching to assessment for
  teaching

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Lessons from down-under

• Uptake
• PIPS-BLA appropriate for Australian students
• Distance and sparse population managed
• Small staff with high levels of responsibility,
  independence and accountability
• Staged, cautious introduction of change e.g.
  InCAS trial
• Word-of-mouth most powerful promotion
• Use of data
• From instrumental to professional use of data
• The long term view Persistence and patience

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• Collaboration
• We have worked productively with the CEM Centre
  for two-fifths of its 25 years to
• provide early years assessment
• support teachers and leaders in using data to
  inform their teaching and planning
• fill a gap in the Australian educational
  landscape
• We are grateful to Peter Tymms and his excellent
  team for their guidance, generosity, patience and
  professionalism.

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