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The LANTITE policy positions the profession , teacher education , and teachers at a deficit .
LANTITE report card
Monash expert interrogates LANTITE ’ s suitability as a teaching gatekeeper .
By Wade Zaglas
Six years have now passed since the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education ( LANTITE ) was introduced as part of a suite of educational reforms to return Australia ’ s education system back to its ‘ rightful ’ place .
Fuelled by an Australian media that focused on less-than-impressive PISA and NAPLAN results , the LANTITE was seen as panacea of sorts for all of Australia ’ s education ills . The equation seems logical : smarter teachers will result in smarter students and better outcomes .
But in a recent piece for Australian Association for Research in Education ( AARE ), Monash education lecturer Dr Melissa Barnes questions whether the assumptions underlying the test are logical , and whether the test itself is the best way to separate the wheat from the chaff .
What are these assumptions ? “ The LANTITE as a policy solution suggests that the problem lies within initial teacher education programs — in how they select teacher candidates into their programs and whom they allow to graduate ,” Barnes says .
“ Initial teacher education programs have been criticised for being ‘ cash cows ,’ establishing minimum entry criteria so that universities can meet financial targets .”
Barnes also questions the assumption that high-performing teachers in the LANTITE test will inevitably lift the literacy and numeracy outcomes of the students .
“ This [ policy ] suggests that the decline in Australian students ’ standardised testing scores in literacy and numeracy skills is directly related to the literacy and numeracy skills of their teachers ,” she says .
While again reinforcing the need for teachers to possess strong literacy and numeracy skills , Barnes warns that the logic is “ too simplistic ”, creating a misleading conclusion that teachers with a passing LANTITE grade “ will ensure strong student scores in national and international test scores ”.
“ Many educational policies have been underpinned by the assumption that quality in education can be quantified . In other words , the idea that teacher quality can be quantified and measured through the same measures we use to measure student achievement — standardised tests ,” the Monash expert argues .
“ However , the limitation of such an approach ignores the importance of context when determining what counts as quality in education .”
Is the LANTITE suitable for reforming teacher education ? “ Given the financial burden placed on teacher candidates to take the test , we wanted to know how many students were being excluded from the profession of teaching and how this test influenced the perspectives of teacher candidates ,” Barnes said .
“ Our quantitative analysis on 2,013 LANTITE scores from a large metropolitan university were consistent with the national LANTITE pass rate of 90- 95 per cent . However , our analysis found that when students failed an attempt , they had a 50 per cent chance of passing the test on their subsequent re-sit .
“ Therefore , the 5-10 per cent who failed the test , in our sample , did not reflect the number of teacher candidates who failed the maximum number of attempts but who had failed at that particular point in time . This suggests that many of the 5-10 per cent would later go on to pass a subsequent attempt .”
Here , Barnes highlights the flaws in the policy measure of keeping so-called illequipped teachers out of the profession through the LANTITE , as most students are given up to four opportunities to pass the test and the overwhelming majority do eventually pass it .
“ LANTITE does not appear to be a very effective policy measure in clearly discerning who should enter teaching and who should not ,” she said .
President and vice chancellor of the Australian Catholic University Professor Greg Craven , who was one of the architects of the LANTITE , told The Daily Telegraph that rather than weeding out prospective teachers with sub-standard literacy and numeracy skills it has led to the “ collapse of the teaching profession ”.
Professor Craven explained how applications for teaching degrees in NSW between 2016 and 2019 dropped by 57.3 per cent , and first preferences for teacher courses plummeted by 40 per cent over the same period .
While policy makers and many educators have defended the ‘ screening process ’ of LANTITE , Barnes points to the ways in which the test is undermining the teaching profession in myriad ways .
“ Our research findings suggest that it is shaping how society , through discourses in the media , and how teacher candidates themselves view the profession ,” she said .
“ Unfortunately , the LANTITE policy positions the profession , teacher education , and teachers at a deficit . This aligns with the failure narrative that permeates the national news agenda .
“ I , as an educator and researcher , wholeheartedly want to attract ( and keep ) the right people into the teaching profession but I am unsure as to whether the LANTITE is the most effective way to do so .” ■
4 | educationreview . com . au