GENERAL

What is compliance all about?
Section 77 of the Australian Education Act 2013 (the Act) sets the ongoing policy requirements which approved authorities must comply with in order to receive funding. These conditions are that an approved authority for a school must:

implement the Australian Curriculum
participate in national student assessments (NAPLAN and sample based national and international assessments)
provide information e.g. for the census, national reporting and My School
provide readily understandable student reports to the parents or carers of each child
make information publicly available about the school which includes a set of indicators, within six months after the end of a school year
have processes and procedures for enhancing principal and teacher performance and professional development
comply with relevant disability discrimination laws of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.

Sections 41-61 of the Australian Education Regulation 2013 (the Regulation) set out the specific requirements of the ongoing policy requirements listed in section 77 of the Act.

For the 2014 school year we ask you to confirm that your school (or schools):

Implemented the Australian Curriculum (teach, assess and report on student achievement using the content and achievement standards in the curriculum) as required in your state or territory?
Collected and reported the required information on student background characteristics as specified in the Data Standards Manual: Student Background Characteristics?
Provided the parents and carers with readily understandable reports for each subject on student achievement (A to E or equivalent reports)?
Implemented the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework; and provide access to ongoing professional development consistent with the Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders?

What year are we talking about?
This certificate is about confirming your schools' compliance for the 2014 school year. It doesn't apply to what you may have done in 2013 or previous years.

Didn't we report on 2014 last year?
No, that was for 2013. We're asking you to report on 2014 now because you have until the middle of 2015 to publish the required information about your school.

When do we have to submit the certificate?
For 2014 there is only one compliance certificate. It is available from 31 July 2015 and will need to be submitted by 18 September 2015.

CERTIFICATE QUESTIONS

Question 1 - Did your school implement the Australian Curriculum (teach, assess and report on student achievement using the content and achievement standards in the curriculum) as required in your state or territory?

What curriculum or learning content should our school be implementing?
All government and non-government schools must implement the Australian Curriculum as approved for implementation by the competent authority in their state or territory or a curriculum that is recognised by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) as allowing comparable outcomes to the Australian Curriculum and is included in the Recognition Register on the ACARA website (section 42 of the Regulation).

What learning areas should our school be implementing? Do I need to be implementing them all?
A school's approved authority is required to implement the curriculum requirements in learning areas agreed by the Ministerial Council by the times agreed by the Ministerial Council (Section 42 of the Regulation).

The Australian Curriculum for Foundation to Year 10 in English, mathematics, science and history has been steadily introduced across all states and territories since 2011.

Each jurisdiction, system and/or school is responsible for the take-up and implementation of the Australian Curriculum. An overview of the implementation timelines adopted by each state and territory jurisdiction is provided on the ACARA website at:

http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/foundation_-_year_10.html

My school delivers an alternative curriculum. Is that ok?
Yes, provided it is included in the Recognition Register on the ACARA website. ACARA undertakes the process of assessing well-established curriculum frameworks as an alternative means of delivering Australian Curriculum. More information about the Recognition Register can be found at:

http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/alternative_curriculum_recognition/recognition_register.html

Why do I need to report against 'achievement standards'? My school already provides A - E reports to parents.
Full implementation of the curriculum is defined as school teaching, assessing and reporting on student achievement using the content and achievement standards in the curriculum (section 42 of the Regulation).

Where will I find a copy of the Australian Curriculum?
The Australian Curriculum can be found at:

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Question 2 - Has the required information on student background characteristics as specified in the Data Standards Manual: Student Background Characteristics been collected and reported for each of your schools?

Do we have to use the data standards manual?
Yes. (Sections 53 to 58A of the Australian Education Regulation 2013)

What is the point of collecting information on student background characteristics?
The availability of information which allows reporting of student performance data by student background characteristics, particularly by Indigenous status and socioeconomic background, is essential to ensuring that schooling promotes the social inclusion of all students and reduces the effect of factors associated with educational disadvantage. Nationally consistent and comparable data are essential to improving the quality and accuracy of national monitoring and reporting of progress towards the achievement by particular groups of students of national goals and targets at various points of schooling.

All Australian governments (state, territory and Commonwealth) have given a commitment to raising the educational attainment of all Australian students and reducing the effect on their performance of sources of disadvantage, such as socioeconomic background, Indigenous status, language background, refugee or humanitarian status, and geographic location. Indigenous students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds in particular, are under-represented among high achievers and over-represented among low achievers. Accurate information on how students and schools with comparable student populations are performing assists teachers, principals, parents and governments in understanding different patterns of disadvantage, sharing best practice and innovation in teaching and learning, and directs additional resources to where they are most needed.

What do we need to collect?
For each student, you need to collect information on:

the sex of the student,
the Indigenous status of the student,
the 'main language other than English spoken at home' of the student,
the 'main language other than English spoken at home' of both parents,
the student's country of birth,
the highest level of schooling completed by each parent,
the highest educational qualification completed by each parent, and
the occupation group of both parents.

Full details, procedures and forms are set out in the Data Standards Manual: Student Background Characteristics (the Data Standards Manual) can be found at:

http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/data_standards_manual_student_background_characte.html

Why is information collected on parents' education and occupation?
Commonwealth, state and territory Education Ministers, on the advice of measurement experts, decided that in reporting student outcomes across Australia, the best indicator of the influence of a student's socioeconomic background is their parents' educational background and occupation. The only way this information can be gathered in a systematic, comprehensive way is by the school, when each student enrols.

Do we need to collect this information for all students?
Yes. The reporting of student outcomes data, disaggregated by the agreed student background characteristics, is a standard component of national performance reporting requirements and applies to all schools.

Does student background information have to be collected and/or provided to testing agents for students who are exempted from testing?
Yes. Information about the percentage of 'assessed' students is publicly reported. 'Assessed students' comprise students who sat the tests and students who were exempted. As the percentages of 'assessed students' are reported by the identified student background characteristics (sex, Indigenous status, socioeconomic background and language background), information about the background characteristics of exempt students is needed to compile the test results.

How do schools collect this information?
The student background characteristics information can be collected by schools from students' parents/guardians on enrolment forms.

Any schools or school systems which have not integrated the data collection requirements in their enrolment process will need to undertake special collections of student background information from students' parents using the question modules specified in the Data Standards Manual.

Once the required information has been obtained from parents using the agreed questions and responses set out in the Data Standards Manual, it does not have to be updated unless schools choose to do so for their own purposes or there is a requirement under privacy legislation applicable to the state/territory or sector that it be updated.

What do we do with the information once we've collected it?
Your school needs to ensure that the collected data is as complete and accurate as possible, is coded correctly, is entered on the school's administrative computer system, and can be accessed or retrieved for linking to student performance data. Processes need to be in place for providing the student background information in the format required by the test administration authority (for Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy tests) or an assessment contractor (for Year 4, 6, 8 and Year 10 students participating in sample based national or international assessments).

Your school should provide the background information collected on each student to the test administration authority which is delivering the sample based assessment at your school. They will link this information to the student's test paper.

Where can we go for more help?
The Data Standards Manual provides full details, including the names and contact details of people who can help in your school sector.

Question 3 - Has your school provided parents and carers with readily understandable reports for each subject on student achievement (A to E or equivalent reports)?

What are the requirements for providing the student reports to parents?
The requirements for student reporting are set out in section 59 of the Regulation.

School accountability is the responsibility of the state and territories and individual schools. However, the Australian Government requires under section 59 of the Regulation that:

an approved authority for a school must provide a report to each person responsible for each student at the school
a report must be readily understandable to a person responsible for a student at the school
a report must be given to each person responsible for the student at least twice a year.

For a student who is in any of years 1 to 10, the report must give an accurate and objective assessment of the student's progress and achievement, including an assessment of the student's achievement:

against any available national standards
relative to the performance of the student's peer group
reported as A, B, C, D or E (or on an equivalent 5 point scale or approved variation) for each subject studied, clearly defined against specific learning standards or contain information that the Minister determines equivalent, in providing an accurate and objective assessment of the student's progress and achievement.

There is no requirement to assign A to E grades in a particular way, such as on a 'bell curve'. For example, all students in a cohort could be given the same grade if they all meet the same requirements for the appropriate learning standard.

Do all schools have to provide comparative reporting?
Yes, student reports must include information relative to the performance of the student to their peer group. The intention of comparative performance reporting is to provide parents with an indication of the achievement of their child relative to other students in the cohort. There is no requirement to provide the comparison in a particular way.

Parents may withdraw their child from comparative reporting. The Guide to the Australian Education Act 2013 provides that individual parents may elect not to receive this type of reporting for their child. This request must be made via a written request from the parent or guardian to the school. The school must retain a copy of all such written requests on file.

Do reports have to be exclusively labelled as A, B, C, D, E?
No, reports can be labelled using an equivalent five point scale or approved variation. For example, a scale of Outstanding, High, Sound, Basic, Limited meets the requirements but must include a description of what is expected at each level.

Individual schools/systems determine how grades are both defined and allocated.

Schools have the additional flexibility to use interim categories (e.g. "B+" etc.), or more than five categories (for example, International Baccalaureate schools use a seven-point scale), but a five-point scale is the minimum requirement.

student report can also include any additional information that a school may wish to provide.

How often must schools provide student reports?
Reports must be provided at least twice each school year.

Is a template available?
All state and territory and individual schools must comply with the reporting to parents arrangements as set out under section 59 of the Regulations.

Common school report card templates are used in state and territory government school systems, some independent system schools such as the Lutherans and Anglicans and in some systemic Catholic schools. For other schools, check the school website for information.

What about students with disabilities?
Parents of children with disabilities should continue to receive a report of their child's progress against their individual learning program (or equivalent). These reports are not required to include A to E achievement levels. If you have provided individual learning program reports to parents of students with disabilities, and the required student reports in all other cases, then you can answer "yes" to this question.

Question 4 - did your schools implement the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework; and provide access to ongoing professional development consistent with the Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders?

Can a school develop its own equivalent framework to develop its teachers?
No. Schools are required to implement the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework in accordance with section 41 of the Regulation.

Where is the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework available?
The Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework can be found at:

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/professional-growth-resources/performance-and-development-resources/australian_teacher_performance_and_development_framework_august_2012.pdf

Where is Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders available?
The Australian Charter for Professional Learning for Teachers and School Leaders can be found at:

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/professional-growth-resources/professional-learning-charter-resources/australian_charter_for_the_professional_learning_of_teachers_and_school_leaders.pdf

Does a school need to implement the whole framework?
Within the performance and development cycle, there are four elements that are essential to an effective approach. These have been distilled from the research, practitioner advice and an analysis of current good practice. While these are necessary, they will not by themselves be sufficient to gain the maximum benefit from this process. However, it is important to be clear about common requirements and the minimum level of support that all teachers can expect in Australian schools. Listed below are the four essential elements that should be present in all Australian schools:

All teachers have a set of documented and regularly reviewed goals related to both performance and development, and ways of measuring progress towards them, that are agreed with the principal or delegate.
All teachers are supported in working towards their goals, including through access to high quality professional learning.
Evidence used to reflect on and evaluate teacher performance, including through the full review described below, should come from multiple sources and include as a minimum: data showing impact on student outcomes; information based on direct observation of teaching; and evidence of collaboration with colleagues.
All teachers receive regular formal and informal feedback on their performance. This includes a formal review against their performance and development goals at least annually, with verbal and written feedback being provided to the teacher.