Family literacy practices, pedagogy and achievement in year one: A quantitative sociological study. Who succeeds and fails in the first year of school literacy? Why and how? Standards and methods for teaching initial literacy are the topic of national policy debate. Yet the debate often is based upon generic and populist claims about the efficacy of instructional methods, relying upon small scale and overseas studies. This is the first large scale quantitative study of variable sociodemographic ....Family literacy practices, pedagogy and achievement in year one: A quantitative sociological study. Who succeeds and fails in the first year of school literacy? Why and how? Standards and methods for teaching initial literacy are the topic of national policy debate. Yet the debate often is based upon generic and populist claims about the efficacy of instructional methods, relying upon small scale and overseas studies. This is the first large scale quantitative study of variable sociodemographic factors, home experiences, instructional treatment and literacy achievement. It addresses policy debates on phonics, early intervention and standards. It will offer guidance for the development of early childhood curriculum strategies and programs.Read moreRead less
Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers' work. The study will inform practitioners, teacher educators and educational policy-makers about the ways that teachers' work is being changed by the introduction of mandated standardised assessment and reporting processes. The research will provide insights into the ways in which teachers need to adapt standardised processes and policies to account for the varied student and community populations they serve. This is significant fo ....Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers' work. The study will inform practitioners, teacher educators and educational policy-makers about the ways that teachers' work is being changed by the introduction of mandated standardised assessment and reporting processes. The research will provide insights into the ways in which teachers need to adapt standardised processes and policies to account for the varied student and community populations they serve. This is significant for educational policy as recent international studies of students' literacy performance suggest Australia is lagging in terms of equity for low SES students. Read moreRead less
Developing portfolio assessment in Mathematics and English: Insider and outsider perspectives on the implementation of professional teaching standards. In previous parallel SPIRT projects the national subject associations in Mathematics and English/Literacy developed professional standards for excellence in teaching. This research project, with the Victorian Institute of Teaching, will study both the preparation of portfolio items by groups of 'outsider' teachers who played no part in the develo ....Developing portfolio assessment in Mathematics and English: Insider and outsider perspectives on the implementation of professional teaching standards. In previous parallel SPIRT projects the national subject associations in Mathematics and English/Literacy developed professional standards for excellence in teaching. This research project, with the Victorian Institute of Teaching, will study both the preparation of portfolio items by groups of 'outsider' teachers who played no part in the development of the Standards, together with the evaluation of their portfolios by groups of 'insider' assessors from the respective subject associations who helped develop the Standards. Data from this project will contribute to validating the Standards, to clarifying the issues of subject-specific/generic professional standards, and to improving quality in teachers' professional development.Read moreRead less
Teaching reading in Australia: An historical investigation of early reading pedagogy, the figure of the teacher and literacy education. This project will make a distinctive national and international contribution to reading pedagogy and literacy research by reconceptualising debates about the teacher of reading and establishing an historical foundation for the study of reading pedagogy in teacher education and professional development practices. Teacher education, already a site of national conc ....Teaching reading in Australia: An historical investigation of early reading pedagogy, the figure of the teacher and literacy education. This project will make a distinctive national and international contribution to reading pedagogy and literacy research by reconceptualising debates about the teacher of reading and establishing an historical foundation for the study of reading pedagogy in teacher education and professional development practices. Teacher education, already a site of national concern, will be reinvigorated by new insights and frameworks for training through access by teacher educators to the corpus of data on a website and through publications and conference presentations that will provide a new vision of the complex processes involved in teaching reading.Read moreRead less
Digital Learning and Print Literacy: A design experiment for the reform of low socio-economic, culturally diverse schools. The Federal Government has declared the Education Revolution as a key national priority for reform. It has called for a policy focus on the introduction of digital technologies into the school lives of students and a renewed focus on equity in traditional print literacy. This project will provide a new evidence base and training site for teacher and student development in pr ....Digital Learning and Print Literacy: A design experiment for the reform of low socio-economic, culturally diverse schools. The Federal Government has declared the Education Revolution as a key national priority for reform. It has called for a policy focus on the introduction of digital technologies into the school lives of students and a renewed focus on equity in traditional print literacy. This project will provide a new evidence base and training site for teacher and student development in print literacy and technology with a focus on low socio-economic school development.Read moreRead less