policy & reform campusreview . com . au
Not up to the test
SCU academic slams LANTITE report as ‘ flawed ’.
David Zyngier interviewed by Wade Zaglas
Before an internal government report
recently revealed that the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education ( LANTITE ) was causing significant concern among pre-service teachers and universities , nine focus groups were created to brainstorm concerns about the test and possible changes to how it would be administered in the future , and by whom .
Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Education at Southern Cross University David Zyngier was invited to participate in one of these focus groups by a group of education students who had been agitating online for change .
However , after the report was released , Zyngier called it “ flawed ”, saying the whole process appeared to have one predetermined outcome : shifting the LANTITE test so it would be an entry requirement for undergraduate education courses .
As an experienced researcher , he also thought the process involved in developing the report lacked rigour .
According to Zyngier , the report eschewed other important concerns that students and other experts had identified with the test . These included the ongoing role of ACER in delivering and assessing relatively costly tests that provide little , if any , meaningful feedback , as well as the fact that undergraduate education students are being forced to take the test , despite many having no intention of entering the classroom .
As he mentions , not all education undergraduates want to become teachers – some wish to become educational psychologists and trainers .
CR : Why was this report into LANTITE instigated ? Were concerns aired by both the media and the tertiary sector starting to gain some traction ? From the first instance , it was investigated because of the push by the pre-service teachers themselves agitating by forming groups in social media . There were over 800 people registered in one Facebook group that I know of who were unanimous that the LANTITE was not fit for purpose for
12