Academic slams LANTITE report as ‘flawed’: podcast

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 pre-determined 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.

But, 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.

Do you have an idea for a story?
Email [email protected]