Eltis report reveals huge workload from assessment

By Jennifer Leete

The report by Sydney University Professor Ken Eltis on his evaluation of outcomes based assessment and reporting was released by Education Minister Dr Andrew Refshauge on November 13.

The evaluation arose from a decision of Federation's Council late in 2002 in relation to the demands created for teachers as a result of the introduction of outcomes based assessment and reporting. In response to the Council decision, then Education Minister John Watkins asked the Department to appoint Professor Eltis to conduct the evaluation, working with a reference group on which Federation and other groups were represented.

The evaluation was conducted between March and July of this year and involved consideration of 450 written submissions, a web-based survey with responses from 160 principals, 145 teachers and 49 parents as well as visits to 24 government schools in rural, regional and metropolitan areas across NSW. This number of school visits is greater than that involved in the first review of outcomes based assessment conducted by Professor Eltis in 1995, which produced his previous report Focussing on Learning.

One of the huge benefits of appointing Professor Eltis to conduct the review was that he had the knowledge and experience of that 1995 review and was well placed to both look at what had changed since that time as well as what had occurred to implement the recommendations of his first review.

His report, "Time to teach -- time to learn," shows that a huge amount of work has been done in schools in an attempt to properly implement outcomes based assessment and reporting. Also, that guidelines and advice from the Department of Education and Training (DET) and the Board of Studies have sometimes been confusing, contradictory, inadequate or non-existent, and that "the needle may have swung a little too far in one direction putting perhaps too heavy an emphasis on assessment and reporting". His report is quite critical of the role played by the Office of the Board of Studies and in particular the lack of co-ordination between that office and the Department.

The report includes significant commentary on the issue of whether, in relation to existing syllabus K-10, assessment of and reporting on all outcomes is mandatory for teachers. Professor Eltis identifies 329 outcomes across the key learning areas in K-6.

He comes to the conclusion that there has been no single central communication which directs that all of these outcomes are mandatory, but certainly reports that most schools think this is the case. He identifies a 1996 memorandum from Director-General Ken Boston which accompanied the DET document "Principles for Assessment and Reporting in NSW Government Schools" as the major statement of what was expected of schools.

On the matter of the use of portfolios of student work as part of outcomes based reporting, he also reports a widespread view that these are mandatory and emphasises that, during the evaluation, his team did not become aware of one primary school which did not use portfolios.

The report also emphasises the huge workload demands made on teachers in some schools as a result of the emphasis and direction of outcomes based assessment and reporting. He makes clear recommendations designed to rationalise this and provide scope for greater creativity and deeper learning and not in any way diminish the "rigour" of teaching.

Jennifer Leete is the Deputy President.

Summary of the Eltis recommendations

Teacher professionalism

For further information

November 2003 contents