A government-commissioned expert panel recommended a national test for Year 1 students in a report released on Monday.
“We know that by Year 3, around one in 20 students are not meeting the minimum standards in terms of their literacy skills,” Senator Birmingham told the ABC’s breakfast program.
He said a “very light-touch skills check” would help teachers identify students who needed “extra targeted teaching, intervention and assistance”.
The panel recommended a more informal, relaxed style of “test”, more like short interview between each student and their normal teacher. The report said it was vital the checks not be viewed as "NAPLAN for Year 1 students".
Senator Birmingham said there was already enough funding to cover the cost of the testing.
“Taxpayers and parents right around Australia want to know that the funding we're putting into our schools, which is already at record levels and growing significantly, is being applied as effectively as possible,” he said.
The literacy test would include a strong focus on phonics, or the ‘sounding out’ of words.
Such a focus would help identify children with dyslexia, Senator Birmingham said.
“It should not be a divisive debate. We should simply be able to say phonics is a proven component of literacy instruction, it should be deployed across the country.”
Primary principals group opposes the test
A national test for Year 1 students would be unnecessary because teachers were already monitoring their students’ progress, according to the Australian Primary Principals Association's president Dennis Yarrington.
“A national one-size-fits-all approach is not going to benefit students or teachers across Australia,” Mr Yarrington told ABC Radio.
He said teachers were “constantly monitoring” their students’ reading ability and intervening where necessary.
Teachers would always try to intervene earlier than when the test is proposed: in Term 3 of Year 1.
-with wires
