New laws to introduce national numeracy and literacy tests

Queensland Parliament today passed laws to replace state-based Years 3, 5, 7 literacy and numeracy tests with national tests which will include Queensland’s Year 9 students for the first time.

Education and Training Minister Rod Welford said under the Education Legislation Amendment Bill 2007 the state-based tests developed by the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) would be replaced by nationally developed tests.

“Our Government is committed to improving the literacy and numeracy skills of young Queenslanders,” Mr Welford said.

“The decision to replace the state-based numeracy and literacy tests with national common tests was agreed to by all Australian education ministers.

“The QSA will administer the tests across the state in much the same way it managed the process for state-based assessment.

“This testing program will enable better comparisons of Queensland students with their interstate counterparts. All Australian students will be assessed equally against national benchmarks.”

Mr Welford said more than a million Australian schoolchildren, including over 200,000 from Queensland, would sit the tests on 13-15 May this year.

“Students will be familiar with the test formats and the type of questions they have to answer because they will be similar to other types of school assessment,” he said.

“The literacy assessment will focus on areas of reading, writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar.

“Numeracy testing will cover measurement, chance and data, space, working mathematically, algebra function and pattern.”

Mr Welford said results from the tests would be used for reporting to parents, school reporting to their communities, and reporting by states and territories to form a national overview.

“Holding the tests in May, which is earlier in the year than the former state-based assessment, will also help teachers to identify key areas for learning during the rest of the school year,” he said.

Media contact: Marnie Stitz or Emma Clarey on 3237 1000