[PDF] naplan 2014 state report with answers.pdf | Plain Text

NAPLAN 2014 State reportFor all Queensland schools

1 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Preface The purpose of the National Assessment Program is to collect information that governments, education authorities and schools can use to determine whether Australian students are reaching important educational goals. As part of that program, the Literacy and Numeracy tests are one source of information about the literacy and numeracy learning that can be used to inform educational policy and current educational practice. The National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests are developed using the nationally agreed Statements of Learning for English and Statements of Learning for Mathematics, 2005 , referred to as the Statements of Learning (SoLs). These statements describe essential skills, knowledge, underst andings and capabilities that all young Australians should have the opportunity to acquire by the end of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The NAPLAN tests are designed to provide a na tionally comparable indication of student performance in Language conventions, Writing, Reading and Numeracy. The tests are designed to assess a student’s ability to demonstrate the following skills: • Language conventions: The test assesses the ability of students to independently recognise and use correct Standard Austra lian English grammar, punctuation and spelling in written contexts. • Writing: The test assesses the ability of students to convey thoughts, ideas and information through the independent construction of a wr itten text in Standard Australian English. • Reading: The test assesses the ability of studen ts to independently make meaning from written Standard Australian English texts, in cluding those with some visual elements. • Numeracy: The test assesses students’ knowledge of mathematics, their ability to independently apply that knowl edge in context, and their ability to independently reason mathematically. This document reports the performance of Q ueensland students in Year 5 who sat the 2014 National Assessment Program — Lite racy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests. Who should use this report? NAPLAN: State report will help teachers, principals and other school pers onnel understand, interpret and use the student performance informat ion contained in the test reports. Class and school reports are supplied electronically on the secure section of the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authorit y (QCAA) website: https://naplan.qcaa.qld.e du.au/naplan/pages/login.jsp . These reports are accessible only with the scho ol’s Brief Identification Code (BIC) login and password. Individual student reports are distributed to schools as printed copies. Principals Principals can use this report to help interpret th eir school reports and to provide information to the school community on aspects of the tests. It provides information on how to access and interpret the online reports located on the QCAA’s website. Curriculum leaders, Heads of Departme nt and Heads of Special Education Services Queensland’s performance in each year level on ea ch of the Literacy and Numeracy strands is provided in this document. Curriculum leaders can use this information to interpret the class reports.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State report 2 Classroom teachers Classroom teachers can us e information such as the item desc riptors, state and national results and the commentaries provided in this report to interpret their class reports. Teachers can compare the performance of thei r students on a particular item with Australian results. For example, an item with a low fac ility rate may not necessarily indi cate a problem in teaching and learning. It may be that this wa s simply a difficult item for all students in this cohort across Australia. The results for such an item may pr ovide information about the learning challenges associated with that concept but should not necessarily be cause for concern. Parents/carers Parents can use the information in the report to in terpret the results on their child’s report. They are also able to judge how their child performed when compared with the whole population of students. The item descriptors provide useful information about the scope of the tests. Pre-service teachers Pre-service teachers will find the information in the commentaries on overall student performance useful in gaining an understanding of what students know and ca n do in some areas of Literacy and Numeracy at Year 5. Placing the tests in the assessment context The NAPLAN tests are national instruments desi gned to contribute to a school’s assessment program and to inform the teaching and learning cy cle. It must be remembered, however, that the results from the 2014 NAPLAN tests represent on ly one aspect of a school’s assessment program. The results from a school’s formal and informal assessment of students should be consistent with the NAPLAN test results. Principals and teachers should keep in mind that these were pencil-and- paper, point-in-time, timed tests. If the test results are different from what was expected, consider the possible reasons. The re sults of the tests may indicate as pects of student performance that need further investigation within the cla ssroom using other forms of assessment. Marking and scoring the tests Marking the tests The tests are scored against nationally agreed mark ing guides. There are four guides, one for the writing task and one each for the open responses in reading, numeracy and spelling. These guides provide information on the acceptable forms of the correct answer. For the Numeracy tests, students may provide a co rrect response in different forms. Professional officers review these resu lts and decide how to score. Calculating raw scores The simplest calculation made in scoring the test s is the raw score — the number of questions answered correctly. All of the questions for the Language conventions, Writing, Reading and Numeracy tests are marked as either correct or incorrect. Constructing scale scores Raw scores have limited use. They enable the performance of students who have all completed

3 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | the same test at the same time to be placed in a rank order, but they do not provide information about the level of difficulty of the test no r the relative differences between students. To achieve this, raw scores are transferred to a comm on scale that reflects how difficult it was to achieve each score. The scale is comparable between year levels for each assessment area. An equating process is also carried out on each year ’s test to enable scores to be compared between years of testing. This might mean, for example, that a raw score of 20 on the Year 3 Reading test is transformed to a scale score of 354. This will also represent the same achievement for a student with the same scale score in Year 5, and for a st udent with the same scale score for Reading in a previous year. The single scale for all students in all year leve ls is centred on approximately 500. Scale scores also provide a basis for measuring and comparing students’ abilities across years of schooling, for example comparing a student’s result in Year 3 in 2012 and Year 5 in 2014. Using scale scores The scale score can be used to compare the resu lts of different students. Principals and teachers should take care when making comparisons between small groups of students. For groups of fewer than 10 students, any differences may not be reliable, particularly if the differences are small. The scales can be used to monitor the growth of groups of students over time. Principals and teachers should take care to ensure that the co mpositions of the groups are the same. This enables the school to evaluate special pr ograms that may have been put in place.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportUnderstanding the data 4 Understanding the data Which reports? Th e NAPLAN National Summary Report and the NAPLAN National report provide nationally comparable data about student performance within the National Assessment Program. These data provide states and territories with informat ion about the achievement of their students in relation to their peers across the nation. T hese data are available from the ACARA website. This NAPLAN: State report provides detailed information about student performance on each of the test items. It gi ves information about: • the Queensland performanc e on each of the items • the national performance on each item • the item descriptors • performance at the state level • some recommendations for teaching. Together, these publications provide the general system-level information and are generally available. The NAPLAN School Reports give information about the performanc e of the year level as a whole. They provide a summary of year-level performance as well as performance by gender, language background and Indigenous status in the following fields: • distribution of scale scores • distribution of achievement bands • school and state means • participation of the group. The shading showing the range of performance for the middle 60% of Queensland students, together with the state mean, locates a school’s performance relative to that of the state. NAPLAN data Government systems Australian public Schools Teachers Analysis of systems data: • Systems planning • Trends Analysis of school data: • Range • Comparisons of student & state Analysis of class data: • Test results by – class – group response Teaching, learning and assessment including planned explicit teaching and feedback based on identified learning goals. National report School report Class report

5 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | The NAPLAN Class Reports show the performance of each student on every item. They show the items a student had correct, including the errors that students made in each strand with the exception of reading, where the answers are generally too long to record. The report also gives the: • scale scores for each student • bands for each student • percentage correct for each item fo r the class and state, and by gender. Using data to improve teaching and learning While the national and state reports provide the co mparative data, it is the class reports that provide a school with the information that can be used to inform teaching and learning and to build capacity in schools. Analysis of the NAPLAN cl ass data, in particular the performance on each item, will provide teachers wi th information about the understandings a nd patterns of misunderstandings in student learning. An analysis of the distracters presented in mu ltiple-choice items and the answers to the constructed-response items, other than those for reading, is available through the SunLANDA data analysis tool. This is available on the QCAA website and is designed to help schools with their analyses of class and school results along with other school-based assessments. Looking at the performance on the items and then analysing the error patterns allows teachers and principals to make hypotheses about why grou ps of students make particular errors. Schools can: • compare the facility rates (percent age correct) of items to see if their performance is consistent with the national and state resu lts available in this document • look at the common errors made by their stude nts and compare them with the common errors made in the state. (Only errors from Queensland are available. These are to be found in the item analyses that are part of SunLANDA.) • form hypotheses about why students are making these errors – How did students think about this aspect of curriculum? – What misunderstandings migh t these errors represent? – How might the structure of t he item have shaped the response? Using a combination of the N APLAN data, school data and prof essional judgment, teachers should then test these hypotheses to see whether they are valid or whether there is more to be thought about and investigated. Inte rpretation of these results allows teachers to make judgments about teaching approaches and curriculum. The professional conversations that are part of this process are the most effective and powerful way to use the data as they are the vehi cle for developing shared understandings.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportWriting prompt 6 Writing prompt Rules and laws tell us what we can and cannot do. Choose a rule or law that you think needs to change. It could be a home or school rule. It could be a rule of a game or sport. It could be a law that everyone has to follow. The change should make the rule or law better. Write to convince a reader why this rule or law should be changed. UÊ 6WDUWZLWKDQLQWURGXFWLRQ An introduction lets a reader know what you are going to write about. UÊ Ê :ULWH\RXURSLQLRQRQWKHWRSLF Give reasons for your opinion. Explain your reasons. UÊ Ê )LQLVKZLWKDFRQFOXVLRQ A conclusion sums up your reasons so that a reader is convinced of your opinion. 5HPHPEHUWR UÊ «>˜ÊÞœÕÀÊÜÀˆÌˆ˜} UÊ ÕÃiÊ«>À>}À>«…ÃÊ̜ʜÀ}>˜ˆÃiÊÞœÕÀʈ`i>à UÊ ÜÀˆÌiʈ˜ÊÃi˜Ìi˜Vià UÊ ÊV…œœÃiÊÞœÕÀÊÜœÀ`ÃÊV>ÀivՏÞÊÌœÊVœ˜Ûˆ˜ViÊ>Ê reader of your opinion UÊ «>ÞÊ>ÌÌi˜Ìˆœ˜ÊÌœÊÞœÕÀÊëiˆ˜}Ê>˜`Ê«Õ˜VÌÕ>̈œ˜ UÊ V…iVŽÊ>˜`Êi`ˆÌÊÞœÕÀÊÜÀˆÌˆ˜}ÊÜʈÌʈÃÊVi>À° Change a rule or law ‹$&$5$

7 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Key messages for teachers About the task All year levels were given the same prompt and the same spoken instructions. Teachers read the text on the stimulus page aloud to the students. No disc ussion of the task was allowed. Working independently, students had to plan, draft and edit a written response. They had 5 minutes to plan, 30 minutes to write their script and 5 minutes to edit and complete their writing. They were given a maximum of three pages on which to write their response. This year the prompt Change a rule or law was constructed without su pporting images that might tempt students to write a ‘tour of the stimulus’. The wording was also changed to remove the suggestion that st udents view the topic from both sides, although they could still us e this rhetorical technique if they desired. The sequence of the topic subjects rule, then law, supported younger students, particularly Year 3 students, who may have been more likely to relate personally to rules from home or school. The prompt gave clear guidelines about the bas ic structural elements of the writing: an introduction, a body and conclusion. Within this structure, there were no prescribed methods for developing these elements. The prompt also provided students with a writing checklist. Markers were trained using the national persuasive writing training package, conducted under the auspices of the Australian Education, Early Childhood De velopment, and Youth Affairs Senior Officials Committee (AEEYSOC). Markers were re cruited and trained in accordance with national protocols, applied consistently ac ross all states and territories. Only teachers marked the NAPLAN Writing test in Queensland. All markers across Au stralia applied the 10 criteria and the related standards from the marking rubric. The Writing test scripts were marked electronically in all states and territories. Stringent quality-control measures were applied to marking of student scripts, including a prescribed percentage of script s to be double-marked, and the same set of control scripts that must be scored by all markers across Australia. There is provision for appeal over individual Writing test scores. On appeal, a student’s script is ma rked independently by two senior Writing test markers. The NAPLAN Persuasive writing marking guide is available at www.nap.edu.au/NAPLAN/About_each _domain/Writing/index.html. Performance Though it may have been an unintended outcome, the 2014 Writing test topic, Change a rule or law , actually proved to be a very open-ended subject, with students introducing a wide range of persuasive subject matter. As expected, and as the prompt suggested, many students selected rules associated with common experiences and settin gs, such as schools, home life, sports etc. However, a number of students, particularly in the upper grades, interpreted ‘rules’ and ‘laws’ in somewhat abstract or unstated wa ys, describing various behaviours and situations that might be regarded more as convention (or desirable outcom e) than rule. For instance, many older students wrote broadly on the subject of cigarette use, even though ‘laws’ currently only apply to age limits, advertising, sales restrictions and where smoking can occur. In general, these responses to the prompt were deemed acceptable. In lower grades, Year 3 in particular, students’ understandings and expression of rules and laws were treated re spectfully, allowing these young students scope to write within the realm of their limited experienc e. Only about 1% of all students chose not to provide any response. Students had been made aware that the 2014 task mi ght be in either the persuasive or narrative genres, and it was reasonably expected that a num ber of students may respond to the prompt in a narrative form. Narrative responses were rare , however. Some students did shift to more informative approaches, often as part of a broa der persuasive text. When students continued in

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportWriting prompt 8 the informative line, without taki ng a stance on the subject in question, they were deemed to be ‘off genre’, an outcome that had cons iderable impact on their scores. As a general observation, it appeared that originalit y in responses may have suffered as a result of over-rehearsal, or excessive exposure to persuasi ve models. (This was the fourth year of the persuasive genre in the NAPLAN Writing test.) Many students in the lower grades, in particular, continued to follow a generic structure based around an intr oduction adopting some stance: I strongly believe that …, a series of brief paragraphs with rather prosaic connectives, Firstly … secondly … etc., and a conclusion that mainly provided a summary of the text. While this pattern may have broadly met the criteria of a persuasive te xt type, it proved somewhat limiting in that students' natural flow with language and ideas wa s restricted. Better scripts, including some produced by Year 3 students, challenged an d engaged the reader from the outset, used supporting evidence for their positions judiciously , and left the reader with calls to action or contemplation, rather that simple restatements of the arguments presented. Though scored independently, the strong nexus between the criteria of audience, persuasive devices , and ideas in this type of task rewards students w ho are prepared to take on ‘the big idea’ and explore this in a more engaging way. Altern atively, students who wrote with passion and commitment about a subject they knew very well , even if it was something as specific as the off-side rule in football or the injustice of diff ering bedtimes for siblings, produced creditable responses. The NAPLAN marking rubric also allocates significant score points to the skills areas of sentence structure, punctuation and spelling . Persuasive writing almost encourages the use of adverbial clauses and phrases indicating causation and condition. In the 2014 Writing test, the repetition of the same conjunctive forms (e.g. if and because ) narrowed expression to some degree. Stronger scripts, mainly the work of students in upper grades, showed variety and control over complex sentence forms, with ‘punchy’ simple sentences (and even sentence fragments) occasionally used for marked effect. Punctu ation, particularly sentence boundar y punctuation, was generally not handled well. Oral language patterns may have c ontributed to the prevalence of sentence ‘run- ons’, ‘splice’ commas and the like. References Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2013 Australian Curriculum: English www.australianc urriculum.edu.au Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2013 Hidden worlds www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/3579_wt_hidden_worlds.pdf Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2011 Queensland’s Literacy Test: A framework for describing spelling items www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p _10/3579_describing_spell_items.pdf

9 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 3 Literacy Year 3 Language conventions Spelling — Results and item descriptions The percentage columns give the proportion of correct answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description Proofreading — error not identified 1 C 93.2 94.2 Identifies a word ending in the rime -ill. 2 D 89.6 91 Identifies a word ending with the digraph -ea. 3 C 78.5 82 Identifies a short vowel word ending in -ck. Proofreading — error identified 4 huge (huje) 75.8 78.4 Correctly spells a word ending with the soft g ( -ge ). 5 bath (barth) 67.7 73.5 Correctly spells a word with an ambiguous vowel sound. 6 honey (huney) 50.6 54.5 Correctly spells a word with the short vowel sound -u represented by -o in the first syllable. 7 third (therd) 52.4 52.5 Correctly spells a word with the digraph -ir. 8 knock (nock) 45 46.3 Correctly spells a word with the initial silent consonant k-. 9 rows (rose) 34.6 41.4 Correctly spells a homophone with the digraph -ow. 10 signal (signel) 23.4 29.3 Correctly spells a word where the final unstressed syllable ends in -al. 11 ribbon (ribben) 23.6 29.6 Correctly spells a word with a schwa ( o) in the unstressed second syllable. 12 halves (halfs) 15.3 17.1 Correctly spells a word with the plural requiring a change to the base word ( f to ve). 13 squirts (skwirts) 10.8 11.8 Correctly spells a word beginning with the trigraph squ-. 14 tissues (tishues) 7.8 10.9 Correctly spells a word with -s/s (u) at the syllable junction. Proofreading — error not identified 15 rainbow (ranebow) 65 68.3 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a compound word with the digraph -ai in the first word. 16 deep (deap) 54.4 57.2 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the long vowel digraph -ee. 17 brushes (brushs) 46.3 48.7 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word where the inflectional ending -es is added without a change.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Literacy 10 Year 3 Spelling: Key messages Performance The performance of Queensland Year 3 students on the first five items of the 2014 NAPLAN Spelling test demonstrated that st udents were able to map sounds to letters very well. They demonstrated that they had an understa nding of the use of double consonants -ll at the end of a word containing the short vowel -i, (item 1), as well as the use of the digraph -ea instead of -ee in the word tea (item 2). Queensland students also performed well on the first two error-identified items, huge (item 4), a two-syllable word with a soft -g, and bath (item 5), a one-syllable word with an uncommon sounding of the vowel. As anticipated, students found spelling partic ularly challenging in words with the final -k, as in black (item 3) and knock (item 8), even though this was not the targeted error in knock. This is because young students generally learn to spell wo rds with short vowels first and therefore learn that many of these words end in -ck. Long vowels are taught at a later stage and so students tend to generalise the pattern they learnt with short vowels, i.e. -ck, and use it to end words with long vowels. This was evident in item 17, where many students selected the word soaking as the incorrect spelling and wrote soacking and socking, instead of choosing the targeted word, brushs (brushes). To help refine their knowledge of the spelling of words with a final -k, students need to know that short vowels are usually followed by -ck, while long and r-controlled vowels, as in bark, are followed by a single -k. The second and third set of items tested aspects of spelling such as the coding of vowels, the adding of suffixes and the spelling of common homophones. These elements are a major teaching focus in Year 2 (ACELA1471 and ACELA1472) , and Year 3 (ACELA1485 and ACELA1486). Performance on this test shows that, at this stage of development, students find many spelling patterns more challenging in multisyllable words or in homophones, such as in item 9, rows (rose), where decisions about meaning dictate the vowe l patterns. Analysis of the common errors suggests that some Queensland students were unabl e to make efficient use of the contextual information provided in the sentence and appeared no t to recognise the target word. This indicates 18planets (plannets) 44.1 49.1 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with a closed syllable pattern. 19 pushed (pooshed) 46.8 50 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the ambiguous vowel represented by -u. 20 lighthouse (litehouse) 48.5 51.3 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a compound word with the long i pattern (igh) in the first word. 21 memory (memmory) 33.5 40.9 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word with a closed syllable pattern. 22 floating (floting) 35.3 37.6 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the digraph -oa . 23 spicy (spicey) 20.8 26 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word where the adjective forming ending y requires a change to the base word ( e-drop). 24 skeleton (skeleten) 13.9 18.8 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word with a schwa ( o) in the unstressed final syllable. 25 scissors (sissors) 6.3 9.7 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a two-syllable word with the digraph sc-. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description

11 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | that students are unaware of the importance of the meaning layer of spelling and need to further develop their knowledge of the spelling-meaning connection rather than rely on sounding out. In the second set of items (error identified), Qu eensland students appeared to lack the vocabulary knowledge to spell some words correctly. In item 13, skwirts (squirts), it appeared that students did not read-on or re-read the sentence for contextual understanding and only 11% were able to spell the word correctly. Many students focused on the -k in the error and wrote skirts. Reading-on or re-reading the sentence with this word should have indicated that skirts was incorrect. Students in Year 3 are beginning to understand syllable patterns.They are ready for direct, focused teaching. Several words required students to use knowledge of syllable patterns — ribbon, tissues, spicy and the more difficult planets and memory . Many students, unable to spell ribbon (item 11), did not rec ognise that the doublet -bb in ribben (ribbon) was correct. More than a third of students had only a single b in their misspelling. However, there is also a large group of students, around 20%, who did recognise the doublet but relied on their pronunciation of the word to determine the vowel. This caused them to make errors such as ribban ribben, ribbin. The teaching point here is that students cannot rely on their ears but have to rely on their eyes to know how the vowel sound is represented. In the more difficult word tissues, Year 3 students did not recognise the doublet at all. In tissues, the doublet (ss) is followed by a -u which gives the second consonant a different sound from the first . Students demonstrated that they were relying on sounding out to spell the word. The majority of errors kept the -sh and targeted the end of the word as the misspelling, for example tishuse and tishyous . About 8% of students were able to spell this word correctly. Some did not know the word and seemed to look at their teacher’s desk and write what they could see, for example pencils, chocolates, books . Target words where stude nts needed to understand the word-function laye r of the spelling system were those such as brushes, floating or pushed , i.e. those with a base word + ending. Students seemed unable to identify the base word in order to be able to identify whether the error was in the base word, the ending or the convention for addi ng the ending. In an error-identified item, the plural word brushes, 46.3% of Year 3 students in Queens land could recognise the need to add -es, brushes . Both items 15 and 20 were compound words, rainbow and lighthouse . While 65% of students were able to identify the error in rainbow and correct it, the error patterns demonstrated that a number of students did not break the word down into its meaning parts to check the spelling of each word and select the correct digraph -ai. The largest error pattern saw the students drop the -e in the given error ranebow t o write ranbow . If they had split the word into two — rain and bow — they would have been able to see their mistake and possibly correct it. The error patterns for lighthouse showed that here too, students were unable to re cognise the two words. Fewer students were able to identify lighthouse as the incorrectly spelt word, choosing instead reef, shallow and island . This accounts for the difference in t he facility rates for these two items. Students also need to be test-wise enough to know that the circled, identified word is wrong and that they should not reproduce it as a correct an swer. In nine of the 11 error-identified words, the target word was one of the five most common errors. Implications for teaching The error patterns on items where the stude nts need pronunciation and coding knowledge suggests that the bulk of students are still working in the letter-name stage of spelling. The major focus of their spelling is on the sound layer and they need explicit teaching of the word function and meaning layers of the spelling system to assist wi th the correct spelling of plurals, common multisyllable words and compound words.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Literacy 12 Students need to be explicitly taught problem-solv ing strategies for learning and monitoring their spelling as well as for use in proofreading. They need an understanding of simple and complex letter-sound relationships, an ability to notice an d use patterns in words (how words sound, how they look and their meaning), and an ability to use a repertoire of word-solvi ng strategies. As students learn about the coding of long vowels, they need to learn about sequencing of letter patterns, the positions in which they occur and t he frequency with which they occur. This will help spellers make decisions. The conventions for adding inflectional endings and other suffixes is a key teaching point. Students need to be taught the conventions for adding plural and tense endings. This knowledge becomes the basis for underst anding syllable patterns. The convention of doubling is of critical importance, as it is one that will help students understand syllable patterns. An understanding of what makes a syllable open or closed is also an important concept to be taught. It is worth noting that thre e items in the 2014 Spelling test were based on closed syllables that were no t signalled by two consonants — honey, planet and memory . Year 3 students need to be overtly taught about the in fluence of meaning on spelling. It is important that they develop the key understanding that words with similar meaning will maintain their spelling even if the pron unciation changes, for example sign and signal (item 10). Similarly, words with different spelling, ev en if they sound the same, will have a different meaning, for example rows and rose (item 9). Students need to learn that all facets of the English spelling system need to be used, not just the sound laye r. The knowledge that students develop as they explore homophones provides the foundation on which understanding of the meaning layer can be built. The ability to apply spelling knowledge to proofread ing is a sophisticated activity. Students must be able to draw on their knowle dge about the spelling system in an organised and strategic way. Performance on the error-unidentified items show s how difficult this is. Students need support to develop their proof reading skills through focused and direct teaching. This knowledge can be built by using learning strategies such as Look-Say -Cover-Write-Check, or the BEE keys which ask students to observe, remember and use specific word features such as sequence, frequency and position of letters. That is, during th ese strategies, they need to be able to articulate what it is that they are looking at, what they are checking for and what strat egies they apply to this knowledge. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QCAA website. Grammar and punctuation — Resu lts and item descriptions The percentage columns give the proportion of corr ect answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item no. Answer Qld% Aust% Description 26 D 94.6 95.3 Identifies the correct personal pronoun, we . 27 A 90.8 92.1 Identifies the correct conjunction to show a cause/effect relationship between clauses. 28 C 85.8 87.1 Identifies the coordinating conjunction, and . 29 B 85.4 86.9 Selects the correct comparative adjective, harder . 30 C 84.4 85.8 Identifies the correct preposition to introduce a phrase. 31 C 84.5 84.7 Identifies correct sentence boundary punctuation. 32 B 77.3 78.1 Identifies the correct preposition to introduce a phrase.

13 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Grammar and punctuation — Key messages There were 26 questions in this part of the test. Seventeen were about grammar and nine about punctuation. Performance Queensland’s performance on the grammar and punctuation questions was very similar to that across Australia, with only small va riations from the national result. Grammar Grammar has both form and function. The first five questions asked Year 3 students to select the correct grammatical form from natural language. Mo st were able to do this. For example, more than 85% of students were able to select the co rrect conjunction to link two clauses to show a cause-and-effect relationship (item 27) and to indi cate the addition of information (item 28). Almost 85% were able to select the correct prepositi on to introduce a phrase (item 30), but where the example was slightly less common — I am happy about going on holidays — the result was slightly lower. These results indicate that most Year 3 students are able to combine prepositions using the grammar of ev eryday language. This knowledge form s a sound basis on which teachers can build so that students learn about and develop control of more sophisticated ways of linking clauses and phrases, particularly in written languag e. Similarly, most students (75.1%) were able 33 D 75.1 77.4 Identifies a sentence with correct subject-verb agreement. 34 C 66 67.5 Identifies the correct pronoun to replace a compound object. 35 D 66.1 66.1 Identifies the correct capitalisation of proper nouns. 36 C 69.2 66.6 Identifies the action verb, runs. 37 C 64.7 65.6 Identifies the correct subject-verb agreement. 38 A 55.7 59.7 Identifies correct sentence boundary punctuation. 39 A 52.1 55.2 Identifies the correct use of the adverb there . 40 A 52.4 55.2 Identifies the correct use of capital letters for proper nouns. 41 D 45.7 47 Identifies the correct sentence boundary punctuation between two simple sentences. 42 A 53.9 57.2 Identifies the correct punctuation of direct speech in a statement. 43 B 50.6 51.6 Identifies the function of an adverb. 44 C 39.2 40.4 Identifies the correct use of commas in a list. 45 A 45.1 44.1 Identifies the correct auxiliary verb. 46 D 43.8 43.4 Identifies a noun. 47 B 32.4 32.7 Identifies the correct pronoun reference. 48 D 28.3 29.6 Identifies the correct position for an apostrophe of contraction. 49 B 28.5 30.4 Identifies the correct indefinite article before a noun beginning with a vowel. 50 D 26.8 25.8 Identifies the correct position for an apostrophe of contraction. 51 C 25.3 25.3 Identifies an adverb of time. Item no. Answer Qld% Aust% Description

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Literacy 14 to recognise correct subject-verb agreement in a simple sentence. In this case, the item was constructed using discrete sent ences for each of the options. Item 37 (64.7%) also assessed subject-verb agreement, but the stem gave less support, requiring students to recognise what was wrong and select the correct option. In 2013, 61% of Year 3 students were able to id entify a noun preceded by an article. This year, students were asked to identify a noun from a comple x sentence (item 46). In the same way that it was in 2013, the noun was signalled by an article. Ho wever, this year one of the distracters was an adjective which required finer discrimination resulting in a lower facility rate (43.8%). Where students had to recognise the function of an aspect of grammar such as items 43 and 51, they found the items more difficult. In these items, they had to understand the role of an adverb. In item 39, students were asked to identify the adverb there and to recognise its correct spelling. While 52.1% of Queensland students were able to do this, slightly more than a third of the Year 3 students found it difficult to discriminate between they’re used in two of the options and there. Item 51, the most difficult of the gr ammar questions, asked to identify the function of an adverb of time. Punctuation Most students demonstrated that they knew how the boundaries of a statement should be punctuated (item 31, 84.5%). Where students had to discriminate the kind of end marks that had to be applied (item 38, 55.7%) or where they had to identify the sentence boundaries (item 41, 45.7%), performance was lower. Although students can identify sentence boundary punctuation in earlier years, as they begin to develop more complex sentence structures students need to redefine and relearn their understandings of wh ere the boundaries are. Therefore, focused and explicit teaching of sent ence boundary punctuation needs to occur as part of the teaching of more sophisticated sentence structure. Punctuation that is internal to the sentences, such as commas in a list and the punctuation of direct speech, is challenging to Year 3 students. They need to be helped to understand how these kinds of punctuation are used to mark out sm aller units of meaning to support a reader. Most students were also able to correctly punc tuate a proper noun. The difference in performance on the two items that assessed proper nouns may be accounted fo r by the familiarity students had with the noun involved. While most students were familiar with capitalising days of the week, tested in item 35 (66.1%), fewer Year 3 student s were aware of the need to capitalise the words Parliament House (52.4%). The capitalisation of proper nouns, particularly those attached to less well known places, requires students to have some background knowledge of the places and how the vocabulary is categorised. Student understa nding of the punctuation of proper nouns can be expanded as they are encountered, particularly in learning areas such as Geography and History. Year 3 students found apostrophes of contraction the most challenging of the punctuation items. This is consistent with the results in previous years. Implications for teaching Both grammar and punctuation need to be taught as they are used in reading, writing and speaking. As the gram mar test is one of standard Australian English, it is important that students know how different language forms are used in di fferent contexts to establish different meaning. Colloquial forms of the language are often used in questions as distracters, and while students may hear this form commonly used in everyday language, they need to know it is usually not acceptable in written language and is unlikely to be correct in the Language conventions test. Focused instruction about grammar at the word level should occur as part of th e spelling program as well as during writing. In the case of words such as their, they’re and there, the spelling choice has to be made on the basis of grammatical fu nction. Knowing the spelling-grammar connection

15 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | will help students recognise and use nuances of meaning w hen reading, listening and writing. In teaching students about grammar, it is important for students to discuss and learn what the grammatical form is and the part it plays in the construction of meaning. Students need to develop and use the appropriate terms so that there is a common language for sharing knowledge. In reading, students need to be taught how to use th is information as the basis of reading strategies, such as when to read on and to re-read. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QCAA website.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Literacy 16 Writing task sample Year 3

17 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority |

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Literacy 18 Year 3 Audience 4 The writer provides enough information to support reader understanding of the argument and is beginning\ to engage and persuade. This emerging author’s voice is developed through techniques such as direct appeals to the reader Why would anyone want to waste time … , logical reasoning (see paragraph 4) and comparing ideas and emotive language to appeal to readers … have fun instead of cleaning for an hour. Text structure 3 Text contains all three components, each with some development. The first paragraph introduces the issue, cleaning up is a waste of time, as the writer’s position on this issue. The body picks up points from the introduction and elaborates on these. The conclusion pulls together the main thrust of the argument and makes a final appeal to the reader. Not enough development of ideas to score 4. Ideas 3 Ideas are developed to persuade readers that cleaning is a waste of time\ . A clever development occurs between paragraphs two and three. Paragraph two attemp ts to convince readers that children should be having fun instead of wasting time cleaning. Paragraph three then gives more detail about why cleaning is a waste of time. The final idea is an emergent, yet successful, refutation of a parent’s view on the subject. The writer twists the parent’s argument to prove their own point. Persuasive devices 3 The writer uses some persuasive devices effectively. Devices include the use of rhetorical questions\ What’s the point? , answering a rhetorical question emphatically NO ONE!!!, conjunctions and connective to compare one situation with another, instead, but and emotive words such as waste of time. Vocabulary 3 Mostly simple words and word groups with some precise persuasive language. By themselves words like an hour, more and untidy are simple, but when phrased as an hour or more and more and more untidy , they give emphasis to a significant amount of time and thus make the use precise. Similarly, the question starters Why would anyone and What’s the point are used for their persuasive effect. Cohesion 3 Some good lexical strings about time — waste of time, in a day or two, for an hour, an hour or more , all day long are used throughout the text. There is also good repetitive phrasing used to refute parent argument. Parents say ‘But things will get lost …’ And the response But then things do get lost … Paragraphing 1 Obvious breaks between each idea. High score 1. There is not enough development of ideas in paragraphs to score 2. Sentence structure 4 Mostly complex sentences using a range of conjunctions including which, when, instead of, because. Enough control of elaborating clauses and phrases for low score 4. Punctuation 4 All sentence boundary punctuation correct including fu ll stops, question marks and exclamation marks. Correct use of commas for phrasing, apostrophes of contraction What’s and punctuation of direct speech. Enough evidence for score 4. Spelling 3 More than 20 common words correct, but no difficult words.

19 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Reading Results and item descriptions The percentage columns give the proportion of correct answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description Max’s idea (Narrative) 1 A 96.3 96.8 Identifies the main character. 2 D 94.8 95.3 Locates directly stated information. 3 B 90.2 91.6 Locates directly stated information. 4 A 91.6 92.9 Makes a synonymous match to answer a literal question. 5 A 90.4 91.3 Locates directly stated information. 6 4, 2, 3, 1 84.1 86.6 Sequences the order of events. The best smellers (Informative) 7 D 87 87.7 Identifies the main idea of an information text. 8 C 78.7 80.3 Infers a key piece of information. 9 A 89.5 91.1 Locates directly stated information. 10 D 61.6 64.6 Infers the relationship between two pieces of information. 11 A 83.2 85.6 Locates and interprets information. 12 D 62.2 64.8 Interprets information. 13 B 75.8 78.4 Infers the purpose of a text. Geronimo Zero (Informative) 14 D 51.6 54.2 Interprets directly stated information. 15 C 49.8 51.5 Integrates information to infer a movement. 16 A 63.3 66.4 Interprets directly stated print and visual information. 17 C 79.3 81.9 Locates directly stated information. 18 A 73.7 77.2 Interprets directly stated information. 19 B 54.8 58 Interprets persuasive language in an advertisement. Trumpet troubles (Narrative) 20 D 18.4 19 Infers the mood of the setting of a story. 21 B 26.6 26.1 Interprets the feelings of a character. 22 D 47.3 50 Interprets directly stated information. 23 B 53.8 58.1 Interprets directly stated information. 24 C 46 47.2 Interprets directly stated information. 25 C 52.1 53.8 Interprets the effect of an exclamation.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Literacy 20 * For item 32 Correct responses referred to the geographical area (or conditions associated with this) and/or \ scooping out seeds and leaving piles in the sun. • which area they came from • where they are grown • the soil they grow in • leaving the seeds in the sun for a time • scooping the seeds out and leaving them in piles for 7 days Incorrect responses referred to things other than to the geographical area or scooping out seeds and leaving them in piles in the sun. • sugar and milk • the taste • the beans Year 3 Reading: Key messages Performance Queensland students performed well on the easier questions and less well on the more difficult questions. Overall, the Queensland performance was similar to that of previous years. Literal questions about the short narrative text, Max’s idea, and the poster, Geronimo Zero, were answered correctly by 90% or more of Queensland Year 3 students. While Queensland girls generally performed bett er than boys on most questions, a higher percentage of boys correctly answered three infe rential questions, items 14,15 and 16. These questions all related to the na me or actions involved in the Geronimo Zero ride, something perhaps boys may have more experiences of or interest in than girls. Boys also performed as well as or better than girls on some inferentia l questions from the two informative texts, Chocolate trees and Mammoth surprise . The literal question, item 29, which required students to make a direct match between the words in the stimulus — In fact, most of the world’s cocoa beans are now produced in West African countries. — and those in the answer — Most cocoa beans now come from West Africa. — proved more difficult for boys (43%) than girls (47%). To locate the correct Chocolate trees (Informative) 26 D 39.7 41.4 Identifies the purpose of sub-headings. 27 B 48.3 51.2 Interprets directly stated information. 28 B 57 58.3 Interprets the order of events. 29 C 44.9 47.5 Locates directly stated information. 30 C 34.5 35.9 Interprets directly stated information. 31 B 32.5 34.4 Integrates information to make a text-based inference. 32 * 15 17.6 Interprets specific details in a text. Mammoth surprise (Informative) 33 C 41.3 44.4 Interprets the metaphorical meaning of words. 34 A 63.4 67 Makes an inference from given information. 35 B 10.3 9.1 Interprets information across the text to make an inference. 36 A 45.7 48.7 Interprets directly stated information. 37 D 35.8 38.3 Identifies the reason for quoting an expert. 38 B 14.6 14.4 Interprets the purpose of a date in an article. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description

21 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | answer, students had to persist with reading to the end of the stimulus, which may have contributed to the fact that this item had the lowest score for a literal question on the Year 3 paper, 45%. Many of the questions that caus ed Year 3 students problems were those that required them to interpret and integrate information. Some questions required the interpretation of higher level vocabulary such as words used: • emotively — groaned, reluctant, disappointed, originally • in a technical way — support a person’s weight • in an unfamiliar way — stumbled upon, sudden silence, delicate • with multiple meanings or functions — now, indicating a new finding • as metalanguage — (gloomy) mood. Other questions required students to have the strategic knowledge to determine the answer. They needed to be able to: • integrate knowledge of the worl d with ideas in the stimulus • apply their knowledge of texts to the language and ideas • integrate information across different parts of the text. Some of the more difficult items asked the ques tion in a way that required careful reading. For example, item 31 was challenging to all Australian students. It asked, Which question is not answered by the text ? Questions that ask students to find so mething that is not correct or is an exception present a cognitive challenge as people fi nd it is easier to use similarity to make an association. Year 3 students across Australia al so find questions that require a written answer difficult. In these questions, students have to not only read and under stand the question, they have to construct a clear answer. Item 32 was such a question. That 14% of Queensland students failed to attempt this question is further evidence of the difficulty this kind of item presents. Implications for teaching Continued work on the development of vocabulary is an essential component of Year 3 reading programs. Students need to increase both the rang e and depth of their vocabulary. Teachers can extend students’ vocabulary know ledge through texts that provide opportunities to explore new topics, different learning area know ledge and a range of text types. Increasingly, students in Year 3 will encounter more and more figurative vocabulary where the meaning is something more than might first appear. They need to understand the difference between what is said and what is meant. More explicit teaching would contribute to greater awareness of this concept. Planned discussions about t he choice and meaning of words in the texts students read, listen to and view will assist students’ comprehension. Students need to be familia r with a range of question types and be able to unpack what a question or reading comprehension task requires of them as readers. For students who struggle, this may be an important first step towards su ccessful reading and comprehension. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QC AA website. Additionally, SunLANDA materials are available to Education Queensland schools through OneSchool.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Numeracy 22 Year 3 Numeracy Results and item descriptions The numeracy strands are abbreviated as fo llows: Algebra, function and pattern (AFP); Measurement, chance and data (MCD); Number (N ); Space (S). All items are worth one score point. The percentage columns give the proportion of correct answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item Strand Answer Qld% Aust% Description 1 MCD D 96.7 97.4 Identifies the tallest object from a given selection. 2 S B 95 96.4 Interprets ordinal numbers to locate a position. 3 S A 94.9 95.3 Identifies the longest distance on a simple map. 4 AFP B 91.1 92.2 Continues a descending counting pattern. 5 N C 90.7 92.4 Recognises the place values in a 2-digit number. 6 MCD D 82.8 83.5 Interprets tally marks represented in a table. 7 N D 78.2 80.9 Solves an addition problem involving regrouping. 8 N C 78.2 79.3 Compares 3-digit numbers to identify the smallest. 9 MCD D 68.1 69.5 Matches a written time to a digital representation. 10 S C 69.3 70.2 Identifies a 3-D shape represented in two parts. 11 S B 72.1 73.5 Solves a problem involving the number of edges in a cube. 12 AFP 23 63 66 Calculates the missing addend in a number sentence. 13 N B 59.3 61.9 Solves a division problem involving a remainder. 14 MCD D 59.8 63.4 Calculates the total length using given uniform informal units. 15 N 3 50.6 53.2 Calculates the whole number represented by given quarters. 16 S B 51.7 53.4 Recognises an object from a different viewpoint. 17 N C 47.2 50.4 Uses reasoning to position a number on a number line. 18 N A 54.8 58.9 Calculates the difference in heights from measures given in a table. 19 MCD A 38 42.5 Uses whole and half-shaded squares to compare the areas of shapes. 20 MCD C 46.5 46.9 Interprets a calendar to solve a time problem. 21 S A 35.8 38 Visualises the shape that results from folding and cutting. 22 MCD B 40 40.6 Interprets a table of data to answer a question. 23 MCD C 26.5 28.5 Identifies the result of transformations. 24 MCD B 29.5 33.3 Interprets a simple column graph to answer a question. 25 N 24 29.5 32.3 Solves a money problem requiring multiplicative thinking. 26 S D 26.8 28.2 Recognises the shape made from overlapping shapes. 27 AFP 7 24.6 25.7 Continues a number pattern to solve a problem.

23 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 3 Numeracy: Key messages Performance The Numeracy paper tests concepts and skills from across the strands. The number of Queensland students answering the items correctly ranged from 96.7% for the first item through to 6.7% for item 34. Over half the items tested were answered correctly by more than 50% of students. The types of numeracy skills demonstrated by more than 80% of Year 3 students included: • counting backwards from a given two-di git number, including bridging a ten • representing two-digit numbers with bundles of ten • interpreting a simple table of dat a where tally marks have been used. Most of these items were situated early in the paper, where th e less challenging items are placed. The items became more challenging as student s progressed through the test. These more challenging items provide students with opportunities to apply their existing knowledge and skills to other contexts and situati ons. Students who have a good knowledge of, and are confident in, using a range of concepts and skills are more likely to solve these types of items. For example, item 32 involved a series of computations. Students needed to add and subtract with money to determine a missing price. It r equired comprehension of the probl em, the selection of applicable operations and knowledge of how to check that their solution was correct. Knowing what the students put as their answers can help determine what errors, if any, were made. Item 32 was a construct ed response and so each student’s incorrect responses are collected and reported in the class report. Common errors seen across the state for this item included the avoidance of regr ouping, i.e. where students have not regrouped from the cents to the dollar, and where students have worked with only the whole dollars, ignoring the cents. The most difficult item on the paper was item 34 . Only 7% of students in Australia answered it correctly. Students needed to use logical thinking and deductive reasoning to work out the height of the given model. It required Year 3 students to use all the available information in the diagram to work out the length and width of a smaller block and combine this with some geometric knowledge of squares to work out the final height of the model. 28 AFP 9 17.8 20.5 Solves a multistep problem involving partitioning, multiplication and division. 29 N 3 21.8 25.8 Solves a problem involving reasoning and multiple computations. 30 MCD D 23.9 26.2 Interprets a table of data to answer a question. 31 S D 23.9 21.7 Determines the number of edges in an irregular 3-D object. 32 AFP 1.10 11.9 14.6 Calculates the cost of an object from the change received. 33 N 879 9.5 12.7 Uses place value and addition to solve a number problem. 34 MCD 20 6.7 7.6 Interprets information presented in diagrams to calculate an unknown length. 35 S 35 15.9 17.2 Interprets scale and cardinal points on a map to calculate a distance. Item Strand Answer Qld% Aust% Description

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Numeracy 24 Queensland students outperfor med the national result by 2% on item 31. It required recognition of the number of edges in an irregular 3-D object and provided some evidence that the students answering it correctly have knowledge of so me geometric properties of 3-D shapes. Schools and teachers can use overall performance data to compare against their own data. They can also use this to evaluate how difficult a particular aspect of numeracy was for all Year 3 students. If teachers combine this with similar data from previous NAPLAN tests, they can judge for themselves the relative diffic ulty of various concepts and skill s. For example, many teachers would expect most Year 3 students to be able to perform a subtraction operation with two-digit numbers, however the data show that when the s ubtraction is presented as a missing addend, as it was for item 12, many student s are confused. They don’t link add ition to subtraction. They have not internalised the inverse connection between the two operations. This year 63% of Queensland students answered it correctly. Teachers may want to look at their class results and compare how their students performed on this item. Looking back over time, the comparison and missing addend subtraction problems are usually more chal lenging than the straight take-away situations. Implications for teaching There were several space items that required the skill of visualisation. This skill can help students with further geometric understandings. Being able to make mind pictures or to imagine a change or transformation to a shape can help students wi th later concepts such as tessellations, 3-D structures, designs and patterns. Dutch researcher s van Hiele and van Hiele (cited in Pegg 1985) identified visualisation as the first level of geometric thinking. They argue that central to geometric thinking is this initial ability to manipulate and tr ansform spatial images in the mind. They base a lot of their early spatial activities on everyday si tuations and experiences, such as building, cutting and drawing shapes. Visualisation also helps develop problem-solv ing skills as students create, manipulate and transform spatial images in the mind. Lowrie a nd Diezmann (2007, 2009) found that visualisation can help build capacity to interpret diagrams, maps and graphs. This year items 16, 21, 23 and 26 required students to manipulate spatial images in their minds or imagine an object from different viewpoints. Results for these it ems show that Queensland’s pe rformance was approximately 2% below the national facility rate and this may be an area for further investigation. Teachers can incorporate visualis ing into classroom spatial activities. For example, to help develop visual memory, teachers may want to provide opportunities for students to change or transform actual shapes and objects. Teachers may build into everyday class activities opportunities for students to imagine changes or transformations of shapes or arrangements before creating them. Students c an also develop their visualisation skills by taking photos of shapes and objects from various viewpoints. Teac hers need to point out to students how to use the various features of shapes and objects to recognise them from a different orientation or viewpoint. Solving computation problems may be another area where teachers may wish to review the data. This year there were eight items that tested com putation — four addition and subtraction problems (items 7, 12, 32 and 33) and four multiplication and division problems (items 13, 25, 28 and 29). Year 3 students are developing a nd extending their understandings of these operations and the results will provide insights into how they are perceiving them. In correct responses given in class reports will be helpful in identifying mi sconceptions. For addition and subtraction they should have ha d many experiences with the concept and have a bank of addition and subtraction facts to draw on. To help strengthen students’ perception of addition and subtraction problems teachers may want to provide opportuniti es to demonstrate the inverse relationship bet ween the two operations.

25 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | For example, teachers might start with number facts and demonstrate all the related facts. Sometimes these are referred to as fact families (7 + 8 = 15, 8 + 7 = 15, 15 – 8 = 7 and 15 – 7 = 8). Knowing the relationship between addition and subtraction or being able to recognise an additive situation will help equip st udents with more strategies for solv ing problems. Asking students to identify the part/par t/whole relationships when studying the addition fact families will help with missing addend subtraction. Addition fact family Similarly with multiplication and division, teachers should start wi th basic concept work and use the models of grouping, length and arrays to build understandings. As important, is the work developing familiarity with the inverse relationship. Being fluent in the number facts will help to strengthen that understanding. Most important is the difference in structure between addition and subtraction and multiplication and division. Altho ugh multiplication and division can be seen as an extension of addition and subtraction in early co nceptual work, teachers should move quickly to develop multiplicative thinking and distingui sh it clearly from additive thinking. It should be remembered that these are overall re sults and what is observed across the state may not be relevant to an individual school. The im plications for teaching should be viewed as suggestions for scho ols to consider. References Diezmann, CM & Lowrie, T 2009, Primary Students’ Spatial Visualization and Spatial Orientation: An evidence base for instruction, in Proceedings of the 33rd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathemat ics Education, 19–24 July 2009, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 3 Numeracy 26 Lowrie, T & Diezmann, CM 2007, ‘Solving graphi cs problems: Student performance in the junior grades’, The Journal of Educational Research 100 (6). Mulligan, JT, Mitchelmore, MC, English, LD & Crevensten, N 2013, ‘Reconceptualizing Early Mathematics Learning: The Fundamental Role of Pattern and Structure’, in English, LD & Mulligan, JT (eds), Reconceptualizing Early Mathematics Learning, Advances in Mathematics Education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 47–66. Pegg, J 1985, ‘How Children Learn Geometry: The van Hiele theory’, Australian Mathematics Teacher , vol. 41 July. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QC AA website. Additionally, SunLANDA materials are available to Education Queensland schools through OneSchool.

9 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 5 Literacy Language conventions Spelling — Results and item descriptions The percentage columns give the proportion of correct answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description Proofreading — error identified 1 unwell (unwel) 91.5 93 Correctly spells a word ending in the rime -ell. 2 honey (huney) 78 82.1 Correctly spells a word with the short vowel sound u represented by o in the first syllable. 3third (therd) 76.5 77.3 Correctly spells a word with the vowel digraph -ir. 4 thousand (thowsand) 84.2 82.3 Correctly spells a word with the digraph -ou in the first syllable. 5 trouble (truble) 67.9 69.4 Correctly spells a word with the digraph -ou in the first syllable. 6dirtier (dirtyer) 61.8 61.8 Correctly spells a word requiring a change to the base word (y to i) to form the comparative adjective. 7 signal (signel) 58.2 60.5 Correctly spells a word where the final unstressed syllable ends in -al. 8 ribbon (ribben) 52.5 57.3 Correctly spells a word with a schwa ( o) in the unstressed second syllable. 9 umbrella (umbreller) 33.3 40.7 Correctly spells a multisyllable word ending with the short vowel -a. 10 enormous (enormus) 32.4 36.9 Correctly spells a multisyllable word with the suffix - ous. 11 squirts (skwirts) 32.8 35.4 Correctly spells a word beginning with the trigraph squ-. 12 bury (berry) 21.6 21.6 Correctly spells a homophone. 13 drawer (dror) 9.1 12.7 Correctly spells a word with two errors — the spelling of the vowel -aw in the base word and in the suffix -er. Proofreading — error not identified 14 key (kee) 89.6 91.3 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word ending with the long vowel -ey. 15 lighthouse (litehouse) 77 78.9 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a compound word with the long i pattern (igh) in the first word. 16 paused (pawsed) 63.9 66 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with -au in the base word.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Literacy 10 Year 5 Spelling: Key messages Performance Year 5 students should be developing their under standing of the orthographic system and be able to recognise when they need to draw on different layers of the system. The layers involved in the orthographic system are: • the sound/symbol and pronunciation layer • the syllable word function layer • the meaning layer. All layers were tested in the 2014 Year 5 NAPLAN Spelling test. Most students attempted all of the error-identified spelling items. It is interesting to note that girls scored better than boys on 24 of the 25 items and on the other one (skeleton) they scored the same. The error-unidentified items, 19 to 25, had a higher omission rate. These items were more difficult. In five items, honey, trouble, ribbon, umbrella and lighthouse, girls scored 10 or more percentage points higher than boys. Teaching students to engage with homophones and homographs is the beginning of their understanding of the meaning laye r of the spelling system. In item 12, where students were asked to correct a misspelling, the error patterns suggest that many students whose responses were incorrect failed to realise that the word was a homophone , writing a variation of berry, instead of the correct spelling, bury. Increasing the focus on the spelling-meaning con nection will help students learn words such as pawsed (paused) and signel (signal) which can be related to the base word, and huney (honey) where students can be helped by knowing about its history. In these words students need an understanding of the etymology of words to understand why words are spelt the way they are and to make the meaning connections. The error patte rns for these words demonstrate how difficult it 17 floating (floting) 57.4 59.7 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the long vowel digraph -oa. 18 bridge (brige) 58.4 60.3 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word ending in -dge. 19 wheelbarrow (weelbarrow) 42.1 47.9 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a compound word beginning with the consonant digraph wh-. 20 skeleton (skeleten) 37.1 43.4 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word with a schwa (o) in the unstressed final syllable. 21 sausage (sossage) 34.2 38 Identifies errors, then correctly spells a word with the digraph -au and the single s at the syllable juncture. 22 disposable (disposible) 18.6 21.6 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word where the addition of the suffix -able requires an e-drop. 23 spinach (spinich) 13.5 19.2 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the schwa (a) in the unstressed syllable. 24 aggressive (aggresive) 11.5 14.8 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word with the doublet s/s at the syllable junction. 25 caterpillar (catapillar) 8.8 10.8 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word with an unstressed second syllable. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description

11 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | is for students to attempt these spellings with only a sound-to-letter matching strategy. In general, the analysis of error patterns throughout the spe lling test indicated an over-reliance on, or reversion to, an earlier more embryonic strategy of trying to sound out words letter by letter. Many of the words students were asked to spe ll had more than one syllable. This required students to know how to apply coding knowledg e learnt in earlier years. This needs to be supported by the teaching of syll able patterns and the convention s for adding affixes, even basic ones such as –er. In attempting to correct the spelling of dirtyer (dirtier), many students whose responses were incorrect, commonly altered the base word rather than the inflectional ending. Students need to be taught the different syllable pat terns and the consonant alternation patterns for adding the very common -ible and -able suffixes. Other items explored student un derstanding of syllable patterns, including how vowel sounds perform in stressed an d unstressed syllables (signal, umbrella, enormous, skeleton, sausage, spinach, aggressive, caterpillar). Many students demonstrated an understanding of the spelling patterns for long and ambiguous vowels, correctly spelling both error-identified and error- unidentified words such as thousand – 84%, trouble – 68%, key – 90%, paused – 64% and floating – 57%. They found the spelling of sossage (sausage) more challenging, with only 34% of students spelling it correctly. This is possibly due to the incorrect word having -ss at the syllable juncture while the correct spelling needed the vowel digraph - au and a single - s at the syllable juncture. The majority of the error patterns retained the - ss. It is interesting to note that the spelling of therd (third) had a 77% success rate compared with 58% in 2013 when the same pattern was tested in thersty (thirsty). In item 11, skwirts (squirts), it appeared that students did not read-on or re-read the sentence for contextual understanding. Only 33% were able to spell the word correctly. Many students focused on the -k in the error and wrote skirts. Reading-on or re-reading the sentence with this word should have indicated that skirts was incorrect. This was a similar result to a word in the 2011 test, skwash (squash), where 35% of students were correct and the error pattern was similar to 2014, with a reliance on the -k rather than the correct trigraph squ. Most students knew that the doublet - bb in item 8, ribben (ribbon), was correct but their pronunciation of the word caused them to make errors such as ribbin, ribban. There are still aspects of spel ling consonants that remain ch allenging. Students are still developing their ability to spell the final blend in brige (bridge), 58% correct, an improvement on a similar word in 2013, strech (stretch), with 45% correct . Student errors with both words show that many students changed the vowel pattern, failing to notice the missing consonant in the final blend. Implications for teaching In Year 5, many students are c onsolidating their knowledge of aspe cts of the sound layer of the spelling system. Once students are confiden t with spelling consonant digraphs, complex consonant patterns, long vowels, r-controlled vowels and diphthongs, they need to examine how these, and particularly the vowe l sounds, perform in stressed and unstressed syllables. Year 5 students will benefit from continued explicit teaching of the more am biguous sounds, for example where a letter can be used to represent more than one sound, as in the case of soft c and g, or where a consonant sound can be represented by more than one letter as a final hard k or s. Explicit and extensive teac hing of syllable patterns needs to be a major focus in this year level. Year 5 students are generally able to spell words where the closed syllable patterns are obvious, such as in ribbon, and this knowledge provides a basis to teach more difficult open patterns as seen in enormous.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Literacy 12 Knowledge of the meaning layer of words needs to be extended as students learn commonly occurring suffixes and the conv entions for adding them. Student s need to be taught about the importance of base words and know that their abilit y to identify the base word will improve their spelling knowledge, allowing them to spell and edit more complex and even unseen words. For example, students should know that disposable is made up of the base word dispose and therefore requires an e-drop before adding able as a suffix. The error patterns would suggest that the students who were unable to spell th is word did not know the base word. Teachers must assist students to see that spelling is an organised body of knowledge. The NAPLAN assessment is primarily a proofreading one, and so it requires students to apply this organised body of knowledge to be able to de construct words and apply proofreading strategies. Metacognitive strategies should be used to teach, support and model the decision making needed in learning to spell. As a test-wiseness strategy, students need to know that they s hould not rewrite the error as written. In eight of the error-identified words, the target word was one of the common errors. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QCAA website. SunLANDA materials are also available to Education Queensland schools through OneSchool. Grammar and punctuation — Results and item descriptions The percentage columns give the proporti on of correct answers (facility rate). These results are based on provisional data. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description 26 B 95.6 95.7 Selects the correct comparative adjective, harder. 27 B 91.7 92.5 Identifies the correct modal adjective, possible . 28 B 89.9 90 Identifies the correct preposition. 29 D 91.7 92.3 Identifies a sentence with correct subject-verb agreement. 30 C 80.7 81.4 Identifies correct subject-verb agreement. 31 A 86.5 87.1 Identifies the correct auxiliary verb for past perfect tense. 32 A 80.7 83.5 Identifies correct sentence boundary punctuation. 33 B 75.2 75.9 Identifies the thinking verb, wonder. 34 D 73.3 74.3 Identifies the correct sentence boundary punctuation between two simple sentences. 35 A 71.2 73.5 Identifies the correct use of capital letters for proper nouns. 36 D 75.7 76.7 Identifies the correct position for an apostrophe of contraction. 37 D 56.4 59.9 Identifies the correct main clause to complete a complex sentence. 38 B 62.3 63 Identifies a complete sentence. 39 C 58.6 59.7 Identifies the boundaries of two separate sentences. 40 C 64.7 64.8 Identifies the correct use of commas in a list. 41 C 59.8 59.6 Identifies the correct conjunctions required to join clauses. 42 D 53.5 51.7 Identifies the compound sentence containing two action verbs. 43 C 53 51.7 Identifies an adjective.

13 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 5 Grammar and punctuation: Key messages Performance Seven grammar items were answered correctly by more than three-quarters of Queensland Year 5 students. Students perfo rmed best on The two punctuation it ems on which students performed best — 32 and 34 — tested sentence boundary. Two of the grammar items on which students performed best — 29 and 30 — tested subject-verb agreement. In item 29, the verb was identified and the students had to match the verb to the correct subject. Where students were asked to i dentify which sentence had correct subject-verb agreement without the verb being identified, as was the case in item 30, the result was 10% lower. Identifying the verb/verb group in a clause is a key grammatical understanding. To demonstrate their knowledge of what a verb is , students were asked to identify the sentence that had two verbs (item 42). The correct option was a compound se ntence, the other three options were simple sentences of a similar length. Just over half of th e Year 5 students were able to identify the option with two verbs. Knowledge of verbs and their function is essential for understanding clauses and sentences. Boys and girls performed similarl y on items requiring understanding of verbs. As readers and writers, students also need to be able to construct meaning from elaborated verb groups. Item 51 required student s to identify when an action happened, an adverb of time. For an item where seemingly basic grammatical knowled ge was tested, performance was relatively low across the nation. Over 60% of Queensland Year 5 students chose either B or C. These students may have misread the question or misunderstood wh at they were asked to do. Students may have been drawn to the word action, rather than when in the item question. Both options B and C have words that can be interpreted as possible actions, slowed functioning as a verb and crawl as a noun. Learning how to interpret what a question is asking may be a useful strategy for students. This skill is necessary in many real-life tasks as well as test situations. Knowledge of sentence structure was this year tested in items 37, 38 and 39. Girls correctly answered items about sent ence structure between 7% and 9% be tter than boys. Although item 39 was a punctuation item, students nee ded knowledge of sentence structure to identify the run-on sentence that needed to be punctuated as two separate sentences. The correct response contained two simple sentences. The incorrec t options were either compound or complex sentences. To correctly answer items 37 and 38, studen ts needed an understanding of independent and subordinate clauses, content identified in the Year 5 Australian Curriculum: English . Over 50% of students could identify th e main clause needed to complete a complex sentence in item 37. On 44 D 46.8 48.5 Identifies the word needing an apostrophe of contraction. 45 B 40.6 43.5 Identifies a correctly structured complex sentence. 46 D 50.8 51.7 Identifies the correct position for an apostrophe of contraction. 47 D 36.2 36.6 Identifies the complex sentence which correctly combines information from three short sentences. 48 A 30 30.7 Interprets a time sequence using the grammatical signals. 49 C 32.6 34.2 Identifies the correct sentence boundary punctuation for two simple sentences. 50 B 15.4 15.1 Identifies correct pronoun usage. 51 D 12.8 12.8 Identifies an adverb of time. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Literacy 14 item 38, more than 60% could differentiate a simple sentence from subordinate clauses punctuated as sentences. Knowledge of the singular personal pronoun I in a compound subject or object was assessed in item 50. Subjective, objective and reflexive forms of the pronoun need to be understood to answer this item correctly. The correc t option, the objective form me, was chosen by less than 20% of Queensland Year 5 students. Performance on this item was one of the lowest on the test paper. Interestingly, this was one of the few items on th is test where the percentage of boys answering correctly outnumbered girls and where Queensland st udents performed better than the nation as a whole. Most students, nearl y 60%, chose the incorrect op tion, the reflexive pronoun myself in the sentence — Miss Jones or myself will collect it . Over 20% incorrectly chose the subjective form of the personal pronoun I — Give it to Miss Jones and I — when the objective form was required. Teaching students to cover the additional noun or nouns in a compound subject or object such as this and then to read the sentence with just the pronoun may be an easy self-checking strategy. Miss Jones or myself will collect it. When the three words Miss Jones or are covered, the sentence is clearly wrong, myself will collect it. Similarly, option A, Give it to Miss Jones and I, becomes Give it to I rather than the substitution in the correct option, Give it to me. There is a consistent difference between the performance of Queensland Year 5 boys and girls on punctuation items. While 81% of Queensland students correctly answe red item 32, which required students to identify the correct us e of an exclamation mark, 10% mo re girls than boys were able to do so. Identifying the correct capitalisation of three groups of proper nouns, the names of a river, a lake and a city, was correctly answered by 12% more girls than boys. Errors by boys were spread evenly across all incorrect options in this item. There were three items testing the use of an apo strophe of contraction. Over 75% of students answered item 36 correctly. This item tested k nowledge of the apostrophe of contraction with a single word and with the inclusion or placement of the apostrophe the only variation in the options ( haven’t, have’nt and hav’ent ). The other two items that tested understanding of this type of apostrophe, items 44 and 46, both required students to identify the correct use within one of four sentence options. When asked to apply their knowledge in this way the number of students able to do so was approximately 50% on both items. On each of these three items boys’ performance was between 6% and 8% lower t han that of the girls. A comparison of the performance on items 34 and 49, both of which required the punctuation of two separate simple sentences, gives some insight into the complexities of this skill. While item 34 involved two very basic sentences with a simple subject, verb and object construction, item 49 required students to recognise more complex subjects, i.e. The man next door ... and Breeding birds ... and to discriminate between two different pairs of options. To answer it correctly, students needed to draw on their knowledge of sentence structure, including subordinate clauses, and punctuation. The percentage correct falls from over 73 .3% for item 34 to just over 32% for item 49. This difference shows the need to continually revise sentence boundary punctuation as new sentence structures are introduc ed. As students experiment with increasing the number of clauses in sentences and changing the orde r of clauses, they often need to first consider whether or not they have included a main (independent) claus e. They can then check their punctuation of sentence boundaries. This task can be taught in modelled proofreading activities. Implications for teaching The language of grammar needs to be taught as a tool rather than an end. To manage these items, students need to understand the metalanguag e, and use their proofreading skills. Although the questions are categori sed as grammar and punctuation, ma ny of these questions require the close reading required for proofr eading. This skill is necessary for many items and should be taught in authentic writin g classroom activities.

15 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Using small selections of text crafted by professional writers to demonstrate how aspects of grammar are used to craft meaning and guide t he associations made is a productive way of teaching both grammar and punctuation. During re ading, the grammatical techniques used by an author can be discussed and then used as a model for students to mimic and then to adapt and innovate in their own writing. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QC AA website. Additionally, SunLANDA materials are available to Education Queensland schools through OneSchool.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Literacy 16 Writing task sample Year 5

17 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority |

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Literacy 18 Year 5 Audience 4 Writer makes the case for changes to the burglary laws by providing a ra\ nge of modifications to an existing law. While there is good development of the argument within the body, the issue being argued is not made clear to the reader until the final paragraph. The personal example to demonstrate the writer’s passion for the changes is effective. Text structure 3 The introduction leads the reader into the topic of the text. The changes to the burglary laws are developed in the body paragraphs. A good link is made between the argume\ nts in paragraphs two and three. Conclusion pulls together key ideas, makes a clear statement of the law to be changed, gives a personal reason for the writer’s commitment to the need for the change. Ideas 4 The three improvements to the existing law are acceptable as ‘on topic’\ for this stimulus. Each is developed in a logical and reasoned manner and contributes to the writer’s desire to improve the burglary laws. Persuasive devices 3 The writer uses several effective persuasive devices including: appealing t\ o the reader’s values; developing cause and effect relationships between actions; emotive language; strong modality for emphasis; and personal anecdote. Vocabulary 4 Mostly effective use of precise vocabulary throughout the text. Cohesion 3 Controlled use of some cohesive devices. Text connectives effectively link three body paragraphs. Mostly basic conjunctions used. Pronoun referencing is mostly correct. Tracking references to it and this are sometimes difficult. Paragraphing 2 Each paragraph contains one idea with some development of the idea within the paragraph. Each body paragraph has a topic sentence and some development of the ideas. Sentence structure 4 Most simple, compound and complex sentences are correct. Writer demonstr\ ates some variety of elaboration using words, phrases and clauses. Punctuation 4 All sentence boundary punctuation correct. Correct use of commas, inverted commas and \ contraction apostrophes. Spelling 6 All spelling correct with enough difficult and challenging words.

19 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Reading Results and item descriptions The percentage columns give the proportion of correct answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item no. Answer Qld% Aust% Description On your bike! (Informative) 1 A 95.8 95.8 Infers the main idea. 2 B 90.8 91.3 Locates directly stated information. 3 C 85.5 86.6 Infers the logical action required. 4 B 81.7 80.7 Locates directly stated information. 5 B 95.1 95.2 Locates directly stated information. 6 A 56.1 56.1 Integrates information to infer a key idea. Geronimo Zero (Informative) 7 D 73.1 73.6 Interprets directly stated information. 8 C 72.6 73.3 Integrates information to infer a movement. 9 A 87.6 88.3 Interprets directly stated print and visual information. 10 C 93.4 93.5 Locates directly stated information. 11 A 91.5 92.4 Interprets directly stated information. 12 B 74.5 76.3 Interprets persuasive language in an advertisement. Trumpet troubles 13 D 33.9 36 Infers the mood of the setting of a story. 14 B 42.8 43.1 Interprets the feelings of a character. 15 D 73.2 75.2 Interprets directly stated information. 16 B 79.8 81.9 Interprets directly stated information. 17 C 74.7 76.5 Interprets directly stated information. 18 C 79.1 79.5 Interprets the effect of an exclamation. 19 deluge 22.7 23.7 Interprets vocabulary — deluge. Brahminy Kite (Poem) 20 A 57 60.3 Identifies the purpose of a section of a poem. 21 D 62.7 62.9 Interprets information to make an inference. 22 C 75.8 77.4 Identifies the purpose of the position of a key word. 23 D 40.1 40.9 Interprets metaphoric vocabulary to make an inference. 24 * 20.6 18.6 Interprets and translates directly stated information.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Literacy 20 * For item 24 Responses which stated that the leafhopper dares not jump on leaves or to leaves OR referenced movement were marked correct. • The leafhopper dares not live up to its name by hopping from leaf to leaf • The leafhopper dares not/is not game to (is too scared to) hop/jump. • move or any general reference to movement Responses which directly copied/quoted, were vague, inaccurate — did not state that the leafhopper dares not hop or move from leaf to leaf were marked incorrect • draw attention to itself • fulfil its name • It doesn’t stay on the ground. Year 5 Reading: Key messages Performance Year 5 students in Queensland answered most liter al questions with a high degree of accuracy, with results similar to those nationally. Literal questions are those where a reader has to locate and understand only what is written in the text. Only one literal item (4) had a facility rate below 90%. Students were required to locate a directly stated piece of information which appeared to lead them to Step 2 of a procedure, but which t hen required them to read the information in the step before to find the answer. This involved problem solving, which may account for the lower facility rate. Persis tence and location-finding strategies are important reading skills that some students may need to practise. More than 70% of students answe red most inferential questions related to the procedural text On your bike! , the poster Geronimo Zero and the narrative Trumpet trouble. The only text-based inference that caused students concern in thes e three texts was item 6. This item required students to integrate information in a paragra ph. Student performance varied on text-based inferential questions related to the other stimulus texts. Food miles (Informative) 25 A 68.2 70.7 Locates and interprets information. 26 A 30.4 32 Identifies the purpose of the introduction to a blog. 27 C 56.1 58.7 Integrates information to make an inference. 28 A 59.6 63.7 Identifies the time-ordering convention used in a blog. 29 C 44.1 43.7 Recognises the effect of statements of agreement in a blog. 30 D 35.1 35.6 Interprets information presented in an argument. 31 D 25.6 27.3 Infers the meaning of a sentence ending in the adverb too. Adventure by moonlight (Narrative) 32 5, 3, 1, 4, 218 19.6 Interprets the sequence of events. 33 D 47.2 49.5 Infers the reason for a character's behaviour. 34 D 55.5 56 Interprets the metaphoric use of the word snaked. 35 C 37.8 39 Integrates information to infer the meaning of the word derelict. 36 B 36.2 36.6 Identifies the referent of a pronoun. 37 A 57 57.7 Interprets the meaning of a description to make an inference. 38 B 38.5 41.3 Infers the mood of a story. Item no. Answer Qld% Aust% Description

21 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 5 students found the interpretation of figurative language somewhat difficult, as seen in item 24 of the Brahminy Kite unit, where students needed to be able to interpret fulfil his name (21%). The narrative Adventure by moonlight also required students to interpret figurative language — snaked across the path . The result here was slightly better — 55% of students could do this. A good understanding of descriptive language was neces sary to answer text-based inferences in this unit, items 32, 33, 34, 35, and the contex t-based inference in item 37. Comprehending Adventure by moonlight requires readers to visualise the de scriptions of the places the children walked and what they saw as t hey walked. The mental images mu st be created directly from the descriptions given in the stimulus. Students needed to integrate information from the text with their knowledge of language, texts and the world to make context-based inferences. Context-based inferences remain difficult for students to answer correctly. Yet in item 37 well over half of the Queensland Year 5 students were able to make the link between inscriptions covered in moss and neglect of the gravestones. In the poem Brahminy Kite, over 70% of students demonstrated an u nderstanding of the writer’s visual representation of the word PLUNGES (item 22), where the word ran down the page. Performance on the following item almost halved. To answer the item, 23, correctly, students had to interpret and synthesise literal descriptions and figurative l anguage to infer an emotional state, causing the significant drop in performance. Eco Warrior , a representation of an onlin e discussion, proved quite difficult for many students. Many of the items required students to draw on t heir knowledge of the conventions and devices of this as online text. Item 31, with performance under 30%, demonstrates the need for students to understand the subtle differences in meaning between different language choices. Eco warrior says These things damage the environment too , referring to tractors, fertilisers and pesticides. Yet most students, including many of th e more able readers, chose option C, pesticides and fertilisers as being a more significant point in the author’s argument. Being able to track the complex links in more s ophisticated narratives is something that Year 5 students are still learning. Item 19, where students had to write their answer, required them to demonstrate their understanding of the word deluge in paragraph three by linking it back to the description of heavy rain in paragraph one (pouring rain, noisy and relentless like factory machinery ). Though only 4% of Queensla nd Year 5 students did not write anything in response to this item, only 23% were able to make t he link between the description and the word deluge. This may indicate difficulty wi th vocabulary and cohesion. Implications for teaching To improve comprehension, students need on-going te aching, practise and opportunities to apply their understanding of figurative language, particu larly in narrative and other imaginative texts. Students who find integrating ideas difficult may benefit from identifying the logical links between ideas in texts. Words and word groups may hav e meaning links that run through a paragraph or across paragraphs or they may be how ideas are connected through the conjunctions and text connectives. Asking students to use references from a text to justify answers to comprehension questions may assist those who go outside th e text when asked to make an inference. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QC AA website. Additionally, SunLANDA materials are available to Education Queensland schools through OneSchool.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Numeracy 22 Year 5 Numeracy Results and item descriptions The numeracy strands are abbreviated as fo llows: Algebra, function and pattern (AFP); Measurement, chance and data (MCD); Number (N ); Space (S). All items are worth one score point. The percentage columns give the proporti on of correct answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item Strand Answer Qld% Aust% Description 1 AFP C 93.6 94.8 Continues a number pattern. 2 MCD D 93.6 94.2 Interprets tally marks represented in a table. 3 N D 90.3 92.2 Calculates the total of three numbers. 4 MCD D 86.8 88.4 Matches a written time to a digital representation. 5 AFP D 82.7 84.3 Interprets a simple algebraic relationship. 6 S B 84.9 86.5 Solves a problem involving the number of edges in a cube. 7 N B 79 81.2 Solves a division problem involving a remainder. 8 S C 86.4 88.6 Distinguishes between a pyramid and a prism. 9 S B 80.3 79.6 Recognises an object from a different viewpoint. 10 N D 80.1 78.7 Recognises the value of each digit in 4-digit numbers. 11 N C 71.9 74 Uses reasoning to position a number on a number line. 12 MCD A 76.6 75.8 Uses whole and half-shaded squares to compare the areas of shapes. 13 N B 68.3 69.1 Solves a money problem using addition or subtraction. 14 N C 65.8 69 Solves a word problem involving division. 15 MCD A 62.9 63.7 Interprets and matches data in a table to a line graph. 16 S A 56.1 57.5 Identifies the reverse view of a complex shape. 17 MCD C 62.2 63.6 Interprets a calendar to solve a time problem. 18 S A 63.6 63.4 Identifies a missing piece in a puzzle. 19 S A 54.5 57.1 Visualises the shape that results from folding and cutting. 20 AFP D 44.4 46.2 Continues a visual pattern to identify a future term. 21 MCD C 65.3 67.3 Identifies the number of millilitres in half a litre. 22 MCD C 45.4 47.8 Identifies the result of transformations. 23 S D 46.3 47.8 Recognises the shape made from overlapping shapes. 24 S A 63.4 62.9 Identifies the largest angle in a diagram. 25 MCD B 35.8 38.1 Matches results in a graph to the spinner most likely to produce them.

23 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 5 Numeracy: Key messages Performance The Numeracy paper each year tests items from across the strands of Numeracy. The number of Queensland students answering the items correctly ranged from 93.6% for the first item through to 10% for the last item. Over half the items tested were answered correctly by more than 50% of students. The types of numera cy skills demonstrated by more than 80% of Year 5 students included: • recognising the value of each digit in 4-digit numbers and solving division problems involving a remainder (Number) • interpreting simple number relation ships (Algebra, function and pattern) • identifying the number of edges in objects, knowing the difference between a pyramid and a prism and recognising objects from different viewpoints (Space) • reading digital time (Measurement). The more challenging items are generally situated later in the paper. Some of these more difficult items were answered correctly by less than 20% of Year 5 students. Harder items are designed to differentiate student performance. They provide opportunities for higher performing students to show how they can solve more complex problems . For example, the multistep problems draw content from across the strands of numeracy and can give teachers an idea of how well students at this year level can apply t heir knowledge and skills in diffe rent contexts and situations. 26 N D 45.3 44.3 Identifies the fraction that best matches the shaded part of a circle. 27 AFP 5 33.5 38.9 Calculates the unknown divisor in a number sentence. 28 MCD D 26.3 27.5 Interprets unmarked graduations on a scale. 29 N 879 37.1 41.1 Uses place value and addition to solve a number problem. 30 MCD A 34.4 35 Interprets data in a graph to calculate a value. 31 N 600 28 31.1 Solves a problem involving proportional reasoning. 32 N D 38.3 32 Matches different representations of the same decimal number. 33 S A 23.3 25.6 Follows directions on a street map. 34 AFP 16 20.5 24.2 Solves a problem using proportional reasoning. 35 MCD 20 16.8 19 Calculates an unknown measure using information given in a diagram. 36 N 56 17.6 20.8 Calculates a missing value in a number sentence. 37 MCD 23:44 12.3 15 Solves a subtraction problem involving minutes and seconds. 38 S 24 15.7 17.9 Interprets a diagram to calculate the total number of faces on three objects. 39 N 189 12.6 14.8 Solves a written measurement problem involving calculating with decimal numbers. 40 S 10 10 10.4 Visualises a complex construction of cubes from three viewpoints to calculate the number of cubes used. Item Strand Answer Qld% Aust% Description

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 5 Numeracy 24 Queensland students clearly outperformed the na tional cohort on item 32. This item was answered correctly by 38.3% in Queensland compar ed with 32% nationally. Decimal place value is an area of mathematics notoriously difficult for th is age group. Queensland’s result is particularly interesting and teachers may wish to check their own data against this result to determine how their school matched up. There were some harder items where Queensland Year 5 students were more than 3% below the national results. These were items 27, 29, 31, 34 and 36. Although they were challenging items, the results suggest that teachers may want to reflect on how they are providing instruction and support for these numeracy concepts. Co mmon to these items are the following: • applying the inverse operation, both for addition/ subtraction and for multiplication/division, (items 27 and 36) • using multiplicative thinking to solve probl ems involving proportion (items 31 and 34). For example, item 27, a division problem with a missing divisor, required the application of the inverse relationship 200 = 40. Students needed to use the extension number fact, 40 x 5 = 200 by recalling 4 x 5 = 20, and then applying the inverse relationship bet ween multiplication and division. This item required a constructed response. Ea ch student’s incorrect response is reported in the class report. Teachers may find these incorrect responses valuable to help determine students’ incorrect reasonings. Common errors s een across the state included answers of 50, 20, 4 and 80. Item 31 tested a simple form of proportional reas oning. The item stated that 400 grams of flour would make 24 cupcakes. Student s needed to find out how much flour would be needed for 36 cupcakes.There are many ways of solving this problem. One way would be to draw on multiplicative thinking. Students could divide an d multiply to find the amount of flour. For example, students could: • divide 400 grams and 24 cupcakes by 4. They would then know how many cupcakes can be made with 100 grams • halve 400 grams and 24 cupcakes. They would then know how many cupcakes 200 grams of flour would make. They could work with this value or continue to halve to find how many cupcakes can be made with 100 grams of flour • recall the four or six times tables, as the numbers used in this item are all multiples of four or six. Once they know how many cupcakes are made with 100 grams, they can multiply this value to find the amount of flour needed for 36 cupcakes. Incorr ect responses across the state included 500, 800, 412 and 700. Item 29 was particularly challenging for Queensla nd students. The language and layout of this item may have contributed to its difficulty. This item tested place value and addition and used a context which included number ca rds. Although students have seen these types of problems before, this particular item required students to use these num bers and incorporate an addition symbol and equals sign to create the largest total. Many of the errors demonstrated that a large number of students ignored the term ‘total’ and cr eated the largest number using the four cards. This item was also tested in Year 3 and proved to be very difficult, with a facility rate of 9.5% in Queensland and 12.7% nationally. Some of the er rors made by Year 3 students are still being made by Year 5 students. Teachers should review t he errors made by their students. It may reveal more of an issue with the comprehension of the item rather than the numeracy concepts tested. 

25 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Implications for teaching This year there were 10 items testing computations, five involving addition and subtraction and five involving multiplication and division. Computations, in particular missing-part questions where students need to apply an inverse, were problematic for many Queensland Year 5 students. Often students do not know what to do to solve these types of problems. They may not recogni se the context as an addition/subtraction or multiplication/division situation. They may not know how to solve computations that involve regrouping or renaming. This is evident in the in correct responses generated. It is very common to see responses where studen ts have clearly reversed digits to avoid regrouping. For example, in item 13 where students had to subtract $79 from $145, nearly 10% of students selected option C which provided a response where the digits in the ones place were reversed to avoid regrouping from the tens. Another 12% of students subtracted the 9 ones from the 15 ones but did not rename the tens , so answered $76. The same results were fo und in the incorrect responses for item 39. For multiplication and division problems, students may be helped by being taught how to structure their thinking. For multiplication problems, Jor gensen and Dole (2011) suggest students be shown how to recognise a type of multiplication problem. They categorise multiplication problems into four basic types: 1. Grouping 2. Rate 3. Scalar 4. Cross-product. Giving students an opportunity to recognise and so rt a range of multiplication situations can help with matching suitable strategies and working towards a solution. Division problems can be cl assified as either partition or quotition . Partition requires students to share out a given amount, and quot ition to identify how many groups a particular amount will make. Item 14 was an example of a quotition di vision. Students needed to work out how many groups of 8 pegs could be made from a total of 100 pegs. Teachers may wish to consider how their students performed on space items that required visualising. This year there were eight questions testing students’ ability to imagine a change or transformation to a shape or group of objects. For the most part Queensland students performed at a similar level to the rest of the country on t hese items. Teachers may wish to incorporate these types of activities into their mathematics progra ms as they can help students with later concepts such as tessellations, 3-D structures, designs and patterns. It should be remembered that the comments made here are based on the overall state results. What is observed across the state may not be relevant to an in dividual school. These implications for teaching should be viewed as suggestions fo r schools to consider in planning future mathematics programs. Reference Jorgensen, R & Dole, S 2011, Teaching Mathematics in Primary Schools , 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas designed to assist with the development of the understanding and skills required by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QC AA website. Additionally, SunLANDA materials are available to Education Queensland schools through OneSchool.

9 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 7 Literacy Language conventions Spelling — Results and item descriptions The percentage columns give the proportion of correct answers (facility rate). These results are based on provisional data. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description Proofreading – error identified 1 automatic (autamatic) 89.1 89.4 Correctly spells a word with the etymological element auto-. 2 tadpoles (taddpoles) 86.7 88.4 Correctly spells a word with two different consonants d/p at the syllable juncture 3warmest (warmist) 83 86 Correctly spells a word with the superlative ending -est. 4 trouble (truble) 81.1 84.1 Correctly spells a word with the digraph -ou in the first syllable. 5dirtier (dirtyer) 77.7 78.4 Correctly spells a word requiring a change to the base word (y to i ) to form the comparative adjective. 6 lyrics (lirics) 71.9 77.4 Correctly spells a word with the short vowel ( i) spelt with a y in the first syllable. 7 earn (urn) 66.4 71.1 Correctly spells a less common homophone. 8impression (impresion) 69.3 72.5 Correctly spells a word with the doublet s/s at the syllable juncture. 9 faulty (fawlty) 61.2 65.7 Correctly spells a word with the vowel digraph -au. 10 alligators (alligaters) 49.7 51.7 Correctly spells a multisyllable word with a schwa ( o) in the final unstressed syllable. 11 yawning (yorning) 49.5 56 Correctly spells a word with the vowel digraph -aw in the base word. 12 anchor (ankor) 35.1 37.4 Correctly spells a word with the digraph ch-. 13 genius (genious) 28.8 35.6 Correctly spells a multisyllable word with a schwa ( u) in the final unstressed syllable. 14 pneumonia (neumonia) 12 14.4 Correctly spells a multisyllable word with the silent initial letter p. 15 depot (deppo) 11.7 13.3 Correctly spells a word with French etymology.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 7 Literacy 10 Year 7 Spelling: Key messages Performance Overall, Queensland Year 7 students are performi ng close to the national average in all the spelling items except item 23 ( antiseptic). The most noticeable difference in performance was for the words genius and spinach . The paper had 30 items. In 15 of these, the error was identified and the students were asked to spell the word correc tly. The remaining 15 items required a two-step process. Students had to first identify the error a nd then spell it correctly. They found the second set much more difficult than the firs t. In the first set of items, four had facility rates of less than 40% whereas the second set had nine items with a fa cility rate of less than 40%. Proofreading – error unidentified 16 format (formatt) 83 86.7 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word ending with t. 17 bridge (brige) 72.1 74.7 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word ending in -dge. 18 wheelbarrow (weelbarrow) 62.6 65.8 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a compound word beginning with the consonant digraph wh-. 19 journals (jurnals) 60.6 63 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the r-influenced long vowel digraph -ou. 20 sausage (sossage) 46 49.3 Identifies errors, then correctly spells a word with the digraph -au and the single s at the syllable juncture. 21 consumption (consumtion) 34.3 36.1 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word where p is added to the base before adding the noun-forming suffix -tion. 22 disposable (disposible) 31.4 33.9 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word where the addition of the suffix -able requires an e-drop. 23 antiseptic (anteseptic) 46.2 44.9 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the prefix anti-. 24 spinach (spinich) 22.5 29.1 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the schwa (a) in the unstressed syllable. 25 aggressive (aggresive) 27 28.5 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word with the doublet s/s at a syllable juncture. 26 amphibious ( amphibeous )29.8 30.3 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word ending with -ious. 27 exercises (excercises) 19.9 22.9 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word beginning ex-. 28 embarrassed ( embarassed )14.8 17 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a multisyllable word with the doublet r/r at a syllable juncture. 29 bustling (bussling) 8.8 10.7 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word with the silent t in the base word bustle. 30 noisily (noisely) 7.9 8.6 Identifies an error, then correctly spells a word where adding the suffix -ly requires a change to the base word ( y to i). Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description

11 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Omission rates, that is the number of students who chose not to attempt the item, were higher in the second set, especially in items 21 to 30 which averaged an omission rate of 7%. The highest omission rates were for items 29 and 30. The omis sion rates, together with the common error patterns, showed that many stud ents had difficulty recognising the meaning of both words, bustling and noisily , from the given context. In addition, there was a low recognition rate of the silent - t in bustle and the change of y to i when the suffix -ly is added to the base word noisy. Girls were consistently more able than boys in both item sets, with the exception of the word depot . The greatest gender gap, of 13%, occurred in item 8 with the word impression. The errors for this word suggest that many student s seemed unclear that the base word was impress and that the noun-forming affix - ion was added. Students also failed to recognise the base words fault and dispose in item 9 ( faulty) and item 22 ( disposable). This test assessed students’ phonological knowledge. For example, to spell anchor, it helps to know that ch is a likely spelling for the hard c sound in the word. Words with high facility rates had regular pronunciation, such as automatic, tadpole and format, or were familiar to students, such as bridge , lyrics and the less common homophone earn. Students had mixed success when selecting the correct letter pattern for t he vowel in some words. The r-influenced long vowel in journal, item 19, had a reasonably high fa cility rate of 61%. In item 4 there was a high facility rate for the word trouble, which required the long digraph ou, whereas item 11 ( yawning) and item 20 ( sausage) had lower facility rates of 50% and 46% respectively. The test also targeted word-function and wo rd-meaning knowledge . The word warmest, which required grammatical knowledge of the superlative ending -est, also had a high facility rate of 83%. Many words follow a similar pattern when a suffix is added. A low facility rate of 34% occurred with the word con sumption, where a - p is added to the base word, consume, after dropping the - e and adding the noun-forming suffix - tion. Common error patterns showed that students often did not recognise the convention that - able is generally added to a base word such as in disposable and -ible is added to a root, e.g. responsible, horrible, edible . Finally, the test targeted word-history knowledge , the highest level of the spelling system explained below. Low facility rates occurred in wo rds of Latin and Greek origins, such as item 4 ( pneumonia , 12%) and item 27 ( exercises, 20%), and also in words of French origin, such as item 15 ( depot , 12%) and item 28 ( embarrassed , 15%). Students need to learn about the impact of the origins of the words on pronunciation and spelling. For example, a common error in item 13, genius , was to end it with the adjectival suffix ending - ous instead of the common Latin noun ending - us. The subject-specific word in item 14 ( amphibious) needs the adjectival suffix, -ous added to amphibio ( amphi: both sides plus bios: life). Implications for teaching Rather than working with random lists of words, it is important that teachers give students a clear explanation of the spelling system to show it is systematic, not random. The layers in the system include: a. letter and syllable patterns b. pronunciation and stress c. the function of words and the convention s for adding affixes and inflectional endings d. word meaning and etymology. This understanding should help students avoid an over-reliance on the technique of sounding out, at a simple level of commonsens e where the individual sounds of the word are imagined as spoken and then assigned letters which might match that sound.

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 7 Literacy 12 Teaching should focus on engaging boys, as they were less able than girls at spelling all words except item 15, depot. Boys usually respond to the strong logic inherent in the spelling system if it is explained. Teaching the spelling of subject-s pecific vocabulary and building the associations between such vocabulary is another way to help boys see both the logic and the usefulness of correct spelling. Linking the te aching of spelling to the development of academic and wider vocabulary generally will as sist learning overall. Students should learn t he common spelling patterns that occur so t hat they can predict the spelling of a word that they may not have co me across before. Students can be made aware of these patterns by looking at gr oups of words which conform to it. Students should practise the technique of strip down and build up in order to locate the base word before it is impacted upon by prefixes and inflectional endings. Reading should expose students to words of Greek, Latin or European origin. It is important that they learn common Latin a nd Greek roots, prefixes (auto and anti) and suffixes which affect morphology and word function in the sentence and be alerted to unusual pronunciation of words as a result of their etymology. Students need to be taught strategies for proofreading and to apply these in regular proofreading exercises using authentic texts. Developing test skills A study of common error patterns reveals that oft en students correct the incorrect letter in the word but then go on to change another aspect of the word so that it is incorrect. They then receive no credit for correcting the target error. For example, one of the common errors for the spelling of alligators was aligators. In this error, the -er has been corrected to - or but a new error has been introduced. In correc ting the spelling of aggressive, a common error was for students to correctly double the s but to then introduce a new error to write agressive. In correcting the spelling of wheelbarrow , students produced the incorrect spelling, wheelburrow, where the h has been added correctly but a new error introduced in the spelling of barrow. Students need to develop the skills to be able to c ope with the distracting effect of seeing a target word in close proximity to words t hat are often misspelt but, as in the case of item 30, are not. In this item, 33% of students selected a word other than the target to misspell the word stony as stoney and in item 28, 6% of students selected and misspelt the correct word received as recieved . Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas to assist with the development of the skills requ ired by each item. SunLANDA is available to all schools on the QCAA website. Additionally, Su nLANDA materials are available to Education Queensland schools through OneSchool. Grammar and punctuation — Re sults and item descriptions The percentage columns give the relative pr oportion of correct answers (facility rates). These results are based on provisional data. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description 31 B 96.1 96.4 Identifies the correct modal adjective, possible. 32 A 95.8 95.9 Identifies the correct conjunction of time. 33 A 91.5 91.5 Identifies the correct auxiliary verb for past perfect tense. 34 B 89.7 91.1 Identifies the correct subject-verb agreement for a compound subject.

13 Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority | Year 7 Grammar and punctuation: Key messages Performance The cohort answered the entry-level items 31 to 35 without difficulty. These do not challenge speakers of English as a first language. Less expected was the good performance of Queensland students, compared to the nati onal average, on questions about grammatical metalanguage (the terms for words and sentences). Despite this relatively good pe rformance, students found application of this knowledge more difficult. In item 43, 30% of students answered incorrectly when asked to apply this knowledge to find action verbs , 43% could not find an adjective, item 48, and 40% could not find a compound sentence , item 46. 35 B 87.8 87.1 Identifies the function of an adverbial phrase. 36 A 81.6 83.4 Identifies the correct contraction attached to a relative pronoun. 37 B 80.4 81.1 Identifies the correct pronoun referencing. 38 D 74.3 76.8 Identifies the correct main clause in a complex sentence. 39 A 76.6 77.5 Identifies the correct use of the adverb well. 40 B 69.3 71.5 Identifies the correct pronoun reference in a short text. 41 C 70 70.8 Identifies two separate sentences where sentence boundary punctuation is missing. 42 C 76.9 76.1 Identifies the correct conjunctions required to join clauses. 43 D 71.6 71.4 Identifies the compound sentence containing two action verbs. 44 B 62.9 63.5 Identifies a complex sentence with correctly referenced pronouns. 45 A 58.7 59.7 Identifies the correct use of clause and list commas. 46 D 60.2 53.5 Identifies a compound sentence. 47 D 51 54.1 Identifies the correct use of a comma before a poem title. 48 D 57 58.4 Identifies an adjective in participial form. 49 A 49.9 48.7 Identifies an apostrophe of possession. 50 D 48.1 48.9 Identifies the complex sentence which correctly combines information from three short sentences. 51 A 46.3 47.9 Interprets a time sequence using the grammatical signals. 52 D 41.5 42.5 Identifies the correct use of a colon. 53 C 41.1 42.7 Identifies the correct use of capital letters for proper nouns. 54 C 42.6 44 Identifies an incorrectly punctuated sentence. 55 D 41.3 42.5 Identifies the correct clause to introduce a sentence. 56 C 31.2 33.4 Identifies the correct use of a hyphen to create a compound adjective. 57 D 31.2 32.6 Identifies the correct punctuation of direct and indirect speech. 58 B 10 9.1 Identifies the use of the correct objective pronoun. Item Answer Qld% Aust% Description

| 2014 NAPLAN: State reportYear 7 Literacy 14 The facility rate was much high er when the questions did not use meta language. For example, item 35 asked students to identify a phrase showing how an action is done. Nearly 90% of students answered correctly. Responses to items 41 and 51 show that cl ose reading and re-reading the question is a fundamental skill of test taki ng. Item 41 asked which option needs to be written as two sentences, but 20% of students incorrectly ch ose the first option because it could be written as two sentences. On item 51, 45% of students could not identify which event happened last in a sentence. This tested knowledg e of conjunctions and students needed to recognise how the conjunctions signalled the relationships between the clauses. It is a skill that is vital to good reading comprehension. Items 38, 42, 45 and 50 all, in some way, involved knowledge of clauses and the conjunctions that specify the relationships between ideas and the punctuation, commas, that mark them out. The low facility rate on item 45 result ed from students’ lack of knowledge of when to place a comma between a subordinate clause and a main clause. The correct use of pronouns remains challenging. Many students also struggled to control the pronoun referencing. In items 40 and 44 students had to accurately relate the pronouns to the relevant nouns. While the facility rates for both these items indicated that around two-thirds of students manage this skill, so important to accu rate comprehension and effective writing, the remaining students appear to struggle. Only a small percentage of student s answered item 58 correctly. This question tested the use of the pronoun me combined with another noun in a compound object. In this item, the correct construction — The coach asked Tim and me to collect the bats — was paralleled by a distracter that featured a commonly used and similar construction — The coach asked Tim and I to collect the bats. This option was attractive to some more able students. Punctuation items generally required students to apply their knowledge of punctuation to more sophisticated examples, some of which requ ired some application and persistence to answer correctly. Item 53 required knowledge of the convent ions for capitalising proper nouns in a more adult sentence, while it em 47 required familiarity with th e convention of using a comma to separate a name from a phrase that introduces it. Girls outperformed boys on item 57, the punctuation of direct speech, wh ich was an item that required both application and persistence. Implications for teaching Some conventions, such as those for capitalis ation (item 53) or hyphenation (item 56) or punctuating quotations (item 47), need to be explic itly taught. The 10% of students who got item 58 correct are likely to be those who have been taught the routine for checking each part of a multiple subject or object. For example, test each part of the subject. If Me collected the bats is wrong, so Tim and me collected the bats is also wrong. Knowledge of conventions al so comes from reading plenty of examples of standard English, which teachers can encourage and facilitate. In lessons on test-taking skills , students can be shown how to: • substitute options into blank spaces • identify what kind of ‘corre ctness’ is being asked about • re-read questions, paying a ttention when the question stem uses the word not • respond when the question stem asks for the incorrect rather than the correct option. Please refer to SunLANDA for a detailed analysis of individual test items, including teaching ideas to assist with the development of the skills requ ired by each item. SunLANDA is available to all

. . . . . .