Survey shows schools haven’t complied with student report requirements

By Wendy Currie

Only 14.7 per cent of schools complied with the State Government requirements about student reports, a recent Federation survey shows.

More than 1600 survey responses were received -- an extraordinary response rate of around 52 per cent.

As you are all aware, the State Government's requirements were very specific and went far beyond the use of a five point scale. Yet the survey results show that the only way the Government could possibly claim that between 80 and 90 per cent of schools were compliant was to count any school that used a five point scale for any aspect of any reports as compliant.

Compliance in fact requires meeting each of the following criteria:

• use of a five point scale for all students (except kindergarten and with a few other exceptions) and all key learning areas/subjects;
• the five point scale must equate to the Board of Studies descriptors;
• use of either A-E or 'outstanding' to 'limited'. If the latter was used, there was to be a statement noting that this terminology equated to A-E;
• inclusion of an invitation for parents/carers to seek comparative data from their school; and
• provision of separate written comments for each key learning area.

In interpreting the results of the survey it was these criteria that were used to determine what percentage of schools were compliant.

Some of the finer points that came out of the survey are instructive and, along with the larger finding that only 14.7 per cent of schools that responded to the survey were compliant, will give a great deal of comfort to those schools that have made professional decisions to vary their reports from the requirements or are now seeking to pull back from those requirements after consultation with teachers and the school community. These points include:

• while 85 per cent of all schools responding to the survey used a five point scale for some reports or some aspect of some reports, only 63.6 per cent of primary and 66.6 per cent of secondary schools used a five point scale for every key learning area/subject for students in years 1-6 or years 7-10. Note that most SSPs and central schools answered this question separately in relation to their students in both secondary and primary. As mentioned above, a five point scale alone is not the measure of compliance.
• Of those who used a five point scale for some or all of their reports, 17.9 per cent used a scale that did not equate to the Board of Studies descriptors.
• Only 24.9 per cent of all responses used A-E.
• 61.6 per cent used 'outstanding' to 'limited'.
• 21.4 per cent used other terminology.
• Only 40.5 per cent of those who used terminology, either 'outstanding' to 'limited' or their own, stated that this equated to A-E.
• Only 32 per cent invited parents to seek comparative data on the number of children in each of the achievement levels.
• While 94 per cent of primary/infants schools included written comments, 73 per cent included a separate written comment for each key learning area.

Indeed, the survey directly contradicts the Government's claims about compliance. The results will provide schools with the ammunition they need should there be any attempts to intimidate them into compliance with claims that they are the only school that is not meeting the requirements. This is important as Federation has already had a number of reports of Regional Directors requiring the attendance at training sessions of those schools that did not comply. These schools should now feel confident that they are not alone, and that the collective stand taken by the profession will support them in the continued exercise of their professional judgement about how best to report on their students' achievement.

Wendy Currie is a Research Officer.

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