Queensland Education Performance Review

Progress Report

The Queensland Government is committed to improving school performance.

In December 2008, Professor Geoff Masters, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Educational Research, was commissioned to review primary school education in Queensland, with a focus on literacy, numeracy and science.

The Masters Review report, A Shared Challenge: Improving Literacy, Numeracy and Science Learning in Queensland Primary Schools (new window) 1.3M , made five key recommendations to improve the performance of Queensland primary schools in literacy, numeracy and science.

In June 2009, the Queensland Government released its response to the Masters Review, taking public consultation into account.

The Government Response (new window) 48k commits the Queensland Government to nine key actions designed to enhance teaching and learning in literacy, numeracy and science, including:

Building confidence in teaching standards - introducing pre-registration tests in literacy, numeracy and science for all teachers
Endorsement of rigorous professional development - developing a professional development framework for programs improving literacy, numeracy, science and assessment capability for teachers and school leaders
Deploying specialist teachers - employing additional specialists beginning with literacy and numeracy coaches in 175 state schools, and 100 additional teachers to support the teaching of science in Queensland state schools
Building Capacity in Science Teaching - enhancing the Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks (QCAT) and developing additional science assessment items that will be available for all schools and teachers on the QSA's Assessment Bank
Analysis of student performance data - analysing Queensland students' performance in national and international tests to identify priority areas for professional development programs
Queensland Education Leadership Institute - establishing the Queensland Education Leadership Institute to provide high quality professional learning opportunities to meet the needs of leaders in all school sectors.

The Department is working closely with the Queensland Studies Authority, the Queensland College of Teachers and the non-state schooling sector to implement the Government's response to the Masters Review.

The 2010 Progress Report (new window) 295k by Professor Geoff Masters found:

good to excellent progress in the recommendations that were fully supported by the Queensland Government
excellent progress in increasing specialist literacy, numeracy and science support in state schools through the appointment and training of more than 90 literacy and numeracy coaches, 100 full-time equivalent primary science facilitators and 15 regional science managers
very good progress by the Queensland College of Teachers in establishing the Framework for Advanced Professional Development as a new structure for advanced professional learning in literacy, numeracy and science teaching and assessment
very good progress in establishing the legislative framework for the Pre-Registration Test for Aspiring Primary Teachers
very good progress in the collaborative development of content parameters for the test and in advancing arrangements for test development and administration by the Queensland College of Teachers

The 2009 Progress Report (new window) 124k is also available.

Amendments to Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005

Amendments are being made to the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 to enable the Queensland College of Teachers to implement the Government response (new window) 48k to Recommendation 1 from the Queensland Education Performance Review (new window) 1.3M .

Consultation on the legislative amendments has now closed.

For more information about these proposed legislative amendments, please click on links for the explanatory document (new window) outlining the background to the amendments to the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 and the proposed amendments (new window) to the Act.

Related information

Background to the Queensland Education Performance Review
Preliminary report
Access to 2008 NAPLAN materials
Queensland Education Leadership Institute

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This page was last reviewed on 21 Sep 2010