National test performance of young Australian children with additional educational needs
Author(s)
Dempsey, Ian
Davies, Michael
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2013
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
While the national testing of Australian school students is now well-entrenched, the educational outcomes of students with additional needs in this country are unknown. Students with a disability may be exempted from national testing and, in the absence of consistent standards for test accommodations and alternative tests, Australian educational authorities continue to be unaccountable for these students. Using secondary data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, it is estimated that 12.3% of study children had additional educational needs (predominantly learning disabilities, emotional and behavioural disabilities ...
View more >While the national testing of Australian school students is now well-entrenched, the educational outcomes of students with additional needs in this country are unknown. Students with a disability may be exempted from national testing and, in the absence of consistent standards for test accommodations and alternative tests, Australian educational authorities continue to be unaccountable for these students. Using secondary data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, it is estimated that 12.3% of study children had additional educational needs (predominantly learning disabilities, emotional and behavioural disabilities and autism) that required specialist services. More than a third of students with additional needs did not participate in national testing. Those students with additional needs who did participate performed at a significantly lower level in comparison to students without additional needs. Further, students with additional needs in public schools were much more likely to have poorer academic outcomes than their counterparts in the Catholic and Independent education sectors.
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View more >While the national testing of Australian school students is now well-entrenched, the educational outcomes of students with additional needs in this country are unknown. Students with a disability may be exempted from national testing and, in the absence of consistent standards for test accommodations and alternative tests, Australian educational authorities continue to be unaccountable for these students. Using secondary data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, it is estimated that 12.3% of study children had additional educational needs (predominantly learning disabilities, emotional and behavioural disabilities and autism) that required specialist services. More than a third of students with additional needs did not participate in national testing. Those students with additional needs who did participate performed at a significantly lower level in comparison to students without additional needs. Further, students with additional needs in public schools were much more likely to have poorer academic outcomes than their counterparts in the Catholic and Independent education sectors.
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Journal Title
Australian Journal of Education
Volume
57
Issue
1
Subject
Education
Education assessment and evaluation
Special education and disability