Staff Profiles
Dr Rhonda Farkota
Senior Research Fellow
DipT, BEd Melb State College, MEd Studs Monash, EdD Monash
Dr Rhonda Farkota, a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research, has worked on a broad variety of projects for clients at International, National, State and System levels. Her involvement has included roles as project director, coordinator for test development, and item writer. She has also examined and reported on International and State mathematics curriculum documents.
In 1998 Rhonda joined the numeracy writing team, working on the Queensland testing program, Aspects of Numeracy, and carrying out research on an Educational Measurement Analysis of the Curriculum Standards Framework II draft. Her recommendations for the refinement of the Mathematics framework were highly commended and she was commissioned further to assist in the revision of the mathematics framework. In 2001 Rhonda was responsible for the refinement of the tasks for the Victorian Mathematics Annotated Student Work Samples as well as developing the annotations for the mathematics tasks incorporated therein. She carried out an evaluation of the New Zealand Assessment Resource Banks in Numeracy and was involved in test development for the Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS). In 2001, 2002 and 2003 Rhonda developed numeracy instruments at Years 3, 5 and 7 for the Literacy and Numeracy National Assessment (LANNA) program, and since 2004 she has been the Director of that project. In 2002 and 2004, Rhonda developed Working Mathematically instruments at Years 3, 7 and 10 for the Department of Education, Western Australia and she developed mathematics assessment items for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 for the International School Assessment (ISA) project. In 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, Rhonda was Project Director for the Western Australian Education Department’s Monitoring Standards in Education program (WALNA) for item development and interstate trialing and analysis of trial data for whole cohort testing of students in Years 3, 5 and 7. She also managed the numeracy test development for that project and in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, was Project Director for the Western Australian Education Department’s Monitoring Standards in Education program (MSE9) for item development and interstate trialing and analysis of trial data for whole cohort testing of students in Year 9. In 2007, Rhonda was project Director for the National Literacy and Numeracy Tests – Item Development.
In 2005 Rhonda acted in a consultancy capacity to the Chilean Ministry of Education, Santiago, and was involved in a professional development program, funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training, and developed by ACER, to support teachers to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for students with learning difficulties in years 4, 5 and 6.
Rhonda taught in both Ministry and Catholic schools for 18 years, and worked as Curriculum Advisor for a further ten. She sat on the Boards of both the Education Department and Catholic Education Office Physical Education Curriculum Committees for three and four years respectively. She is a specialist in the US developed teaching model, Direct Instruction, and has conducted professional development and lectured on Effective Teaching Practices at universities, schools and seminars throughout Australia. She has published a variety of educational articles and books addressing mathematics, computers in education and physical education. Her latest publication, Elementary Math Mastery (McGraw-Hill, 2000, 2003, 2007), is a diagnostic math program for upper primary and early secondary students that has become part of the regular curriculum in many schools throughout Australia. She was nominated for the 2003 National Learning Difficulties Australia Award in recognition for her work in this field. Her doctoral research in mathematics was described by the examiner, Professor DH Schunk, the Dean of Education at the University of North Carolina, as an outstanding thesis on a topic of great theoretical and applied significance.
Her doctoral research into mathematics and self-efficacy was described by the examiner, Professor DH Schunk, Dean of Education University of North Carolina, as an outstanding thesis on a topic of great theoretical and applied significance.
The Effects of a 15-minute Direct Instruction Intervention in the Regular Mathematics Class on Students’ Mathematical Self-efficacy and Achievement by Rhonda Farkota