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these students and for these times . So , they began to gain traction in the media .
Then that , of course , impacted upon the government , who wanted to instigate this investigation . I don ’ t believe that the tertiary sector actually had much to do with it . Unfortunately , they ’ ve been very compliant with the regulations . Some universities have pushed back , but there hasn ’ t been a pushback against LANTITE or support for these pre-service teachers .
In fact , in many instances , I ’ ve been told anecdotally by some members of these groups that their universities have actually almost actively discriminated against them .
How were individuals selected for these focus groups , and do you believe all the participants ’ views held equal weight ? Well , as far as I know , people weren ’ t selected . They were self-identified .
The actual investigation and the focus groups were promoted amongst the pre-service teachers who are part of , as I mentioned before , this social media LANTITE protest group .
I was also invited to come along by that group , along with another academic . We participated in one of the nine focus groups . I don ’ t believe that the internal investigation of LANTITE actually reports fairly from the comments made by the various focus groups at all .
You ’ ve called the report flawed . Why ? Well , I think that the investigation had a predetermined outcome . The outcome is that ACER , the Australian Council of Educational Research , which is a private body , will continue to create , mark and examine the LANTITE , and that the minister of education had already predetermined that the LANTITE tests would be moved to the beginning of a pre-service teacher ’ s career as basically an entrance requirement .
The reason why that ’ s flawed is that there are many , many students who don ’ t ever want to be a classroom teacher . Therefore , the LANTITE is actually irrelevant to them . They want to study to become educational psychologists , or they might want to go on and do a master ’ s in education because they want to work in training somewhere and they need to have an educational degree to do that .
These people are being discriminated against because they have no intention to be a classroom teacher .
The focus group that I was participating in was adamant that LANTITE or something of that nature is required , and that it should be held at the end of a student ’ s course , but only for those who want to get registration to become a classroom teacher .
The focus group , again , that I was privileged to be part of was unanimous that the LANTITE or a test of its kind should be in the hands of the registration authority of each state and territory , and apply only to those students who want to apply to become registered as a classroom teacher .
The group was quite clear . The Australian Council of Educational Research is not the appropriate body , given that it ’ s a moneymaking organisation , and it seems to not care about how the test discriminates against certain students who suffer from dyscalculia or dyslexia , and find a testing regime almost impossible to pass .
ACER is not the appropriate body , given that it ’ s a money-making organisation , and it seems to not care about how the test discriminates against certain students .
Some students , for example , failed one of the two tests , the literacy or the numeracy component , by one mark and have asked for special consideration ; and it ’ s not given because the test is marked by a computerised system .
The lack of feedback has been a common complaint as well . Certainly , when our students in classrooms are asked to sit a test , they expect to get feedback and also to ensure that the test is fit for purpose . It ’ s not related to LANTITE , but that ’ s one of the reasons why our NAPLAN results appear to go backwards in year nine , because the students don ’ t get feedback on it and they don ’ t care .
Teenagers see the test as a joke and actually don ’ t put their best into it . The OECD reports the same with the PISA International test for year nines , that 75 per cent do not actually try their hardest . Of course , with the LANTITE test , our pre-service teachers who want to go into a classroom try their damnedest to pass this test , and some of them have sat that five times at an extraordinarily expensive cost to them , and they still can ’ t pass .
They might fail by one mark . They don ’ t get any feedback as to why they are not passing and what areas that they need to improve in because every time the test is different .
Finally , do you believe the process for developing the report was fit for purpose ? Why or why not ? Could it have involved more than it did ? Well , first of all , nine focus groups of about four people each is not really representative . As a researcher , I would have been doing surveys as well to get more feedback .
Given what I said before , it seemed to have a predetermined outcome already , and the feedback from these focus groups was ignored where they weren ’ t seen to be acceptable to the predetermined outcome .
It ’ s like Yes Minister : never set up an inquiry unless you know what the answer is . ■
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