Research Projects

The Australian Government Minister for Education, Science and Training announced details about the Australian Government’s National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy (NITL) in 2004.  At the request of the Minister, ACER played a major role in ‘shaping’ the direction and outcomes from the Inquiry.  To this end, Dr Ken Rowe, Research Director at ACER, was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry Committee, with support from Ms Marion Meiers (ACER Teaching and Learning research program) to the Reference Group.

The Inquiry involved a broad, independent examination of the evidence-based reading research, teacher preparation and practices for the teaching of literacy, particularly in reading.  In particular, the Inquiry met the following objectives:

  * Review and analyse recent national and international research about literacy teaching approaches, particularly approaches that are shown to be effective in assisting students with reading difficulties.
  * Identify the extent to which prospective teachers are provided with reading teaching approaches and skills that are effective in the classroom, and have the opportunities to develop and practice the skills required to implement effective classroom reading programs.  Training in both phonics and whole language approaches to reading will be examined.
  * Identify the ways in which research evidence on literacy teaching and policies in Australian schools can best inform classroom teaching practice and support teacher professional learning.
  * Examine the effectiveness of assessment methods being used to monitor the progress of students’ early reading learning.
  * Produce a report of the Inquiry’s findings in the second half of 2005 and offer best practice in effective approaches to literacy teaching and learning, both at the classroom level and in the training of teachers.

The Inquiry involved a programme of consultation with State and Territory education authorities, teacher education bodies, teachers, parents and researchers. Submissions were called for through advertisements in the national media and if deemed ‘non-confidential’ were available to download from the Inquiry web site at: http://www.dest.gov.au/schools/literacyinquiry. A final report on the study was released by the Minister for Education in 2006.