Collection of information on student background characteristics
This manual provides information to assist schools and school systems to collect student background information from parents as agreed by Education Ministers. This is to enable nationally comparable reporting of students' outcomes against the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-first Century.
Information is to be collected via enrolment forms on students':
sex;
Indigenous status;
socioeconomic background; and
language background.
Some of the data elements require the collection of information about the background of students' parents/guardians.
The Manual describes what is involved and what it means in practical terms for schools, school systems and testing agents.
The 2008 Manual should be used by schools and school systems when enrolling students for the first time in the 2008 school year so that student background data can be provided for students taking part in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy testing, and Year 6 students selected to participate in the National Assessment Program –Information and Communication Technology, 2008.
It may also be used by those secondary schools which have not previously collected information on student background characteristics using the nationally agreed specifications for data collection and which will be required in 2008 to have information on the background characteristics of Year 9 students for full cohort common national testing in literacy and numeracy.
The main change from the 2007 edition is that the 2008 Manual contains updated lists of Main languages other than English spoken at home for Australia and by State/Territory (Attachment 5) and Main countries of birth for Australia and by State/Territory (Attachment 7) based on 2006 Census of Population and Housing data. The lists provide schools and school systems with an alternative to the more complex process of assigning the appropriate code to link individual responses to the correct entry in the classification categories. The use of the lists is optional and existing data collected using the previous lists (derived from 2001 Census data) does not need to be updated.
In brief, schools and school systems need to collect background information on relevant students using agreed questions. The resulting information is supplied to testing agents so that it can be linked with students' test forms. For the purposes of nationally comparable reporting, schools and school systems are not required to seek updated information from parents once the information has been collected according to the agreed questions and responses. However, school systems and schools may decide to do so in light of particular policies on student information management. Updating of data also depends on any requirements for agencies or organisations to comply with the privacy legislation applicable to the State/Territory or sector to ensure that information they collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
The Manual is intended for people in schools and school systems who are involved in the:
design of enrolment forms and enrolment processes;
collection of information from parents;
design, maintenance or modification of student information storage and retrieval systems;
updating of student records; and
school-level management or coordination of literacy, numeracy and national sample testing.
The Manual also provides information for testing agents (i.e. the organisations that conduct the assessments). In some cases, State education authorities are the testing agents.
Not all schools need to use the Manual. In large systems, for example, implementation of the data collection requirements is a central responsibility.
The Manual and its attachments can be downloaded as one complete document or, for convenience, as four separate documents.
Introduction Purpose of the manual How is the information be used? Who should use the manual? How is implementation managed in your sector? Updates of the manual Privacy requirements Help for schools
Actions required Key steps for existing users Key steps for new users
Technical specifications How information is collected, stored and reported for each of the background characteristics
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MCEECDYA Secretariat, PO Box 202 Carlton South, VIC 3053, Australia.
