New performance test for all student teachers
Student teachers who fail a new “performance test” won’t graduate or be allowed to teach. The push comes as researchers ask, can the ATAR really measure a “good” teacher?
Education
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A new test will make it harder for teaching students to graduate, as research is underway into whether the ATAR is a worthy measure of a good teacher.
All Australian Initial Teaching Education students will have to pass a performance test from this year, judging them on their classroom skills, ability to communicate and plan lessons.
Much like the literacy and numeracy test (LANTITE), if students don’t pass the latest assessment in their final year of study, they won’t teach.
It comes as research by the Australian Catholic University will investigate what skills a teacher needs to be proficient in the classroom.
The study will look at a student’s Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), their literacy and numeracy knowledge, ability to teach in a classroom and grade point average to give a holistic picture on their aptitude.
“By the time we do this research, we will be able to link ATAR with performance,” said ACUs director of the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Professor Claire Wyatt-Smith.
It is hoped the study will be able to inform governments of the evidence that shows what makes a quality teacher.
ACU has also developed a performance test, now used in 14 universities nationwide, which are collaborating to lift standards of teaching graduates.
The Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment (GTPA) has been validated, or approved for use in universities across Australia with La Trobe, Federation University and RMIT taking it on.
Prof Claire Wyatt-Smith said the classroom skills test was “producing a culture change in teacher education”.
“You need to know the theory, but you also need to be able to apply that with diverse learners,” she said.
Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said she supported the student teacher classroom performance tests.
“But it is important that it is implemented with the necessary resources to alleviate workload concerns faced by teachers and principals in schools,” she said.
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With Victoria also bringing in a minimum ATAR of 70 for teaching courses, the state is the toughest in Australia to become a teacher.
That comes at a time when school student enrolments are exploding to an added 80,000 pupils by 2023, while a school building boom underway.
Education minister James Merlino said as part of new standards agreed to in 2015, all teaching courses would have the performance test.
“Successful completion of this assessment is an important part of ensuring that graduate teachers are ready to begin their teaching careers,” he said.
Universities select their own testing programs, with the performance component having to be implemented for all graduates this year under a federal requirement.
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