The Steering Committee for this project comprised a panel of principals from both Government and non-Government schools and other key personnel from schools. This Committee, which was chaired by Mr B Shepherd, a Board member and school principal comprised:
Mr B Shepherd, Chair M r J Cook
Mrs K Guerin MrTMcMullen Mrs B Schoer
Dr M Silink, Executive Officer Ms J Sims
Mrs B Stone Mrs M Varady
The Project Team which had responsibility for the conduct of the review was drawn from staff from various branches within the Office of the Board of Studies. The Team comprised:
Mr J Cook, Convenor Mr A Goodyer
Dr R MacCann, from May 1998 Mr D Patterson
Dr M Silink, Executive Officer Mr D Sutherland, until May 1998 Ms C Taylor
Ms J Wilkins
A short profile on each of the Steering Committee members and the Project Team i:
presented below.
THE S T E E R I N G COMMITTEE
Bernie Shepherd is the Principal of St Mary's Senior High School in Western Sydney. Ht was a founding member of the Board of Studies and served on the Board as the nominei of the NSW Secondary Principals' Council from 1990 to 1998.
Trained initially as a Science teacher, Mr Shepherd has taught for more than 30 years at;
number of schools in Sydney's west and has been active in K-12 Science curriculun development and implementation over that time. In 1989 he was appointed to head th<
first public senior high school in NSW. He is presently Deputy Chair of the Council of th<
University of Western Sydney (Nepean) and an executive member of the NSW Secondar Principals' Council.
Mr Shepherd has chaired the former Assessment and Credentialling Committee of th<
Board and the HSC Consultative Committee and has served on a number of Boan committees and working groups including the Gender Project Steering Committee and th<
HS Examination Rules Committee.
John Cook is Director, Examinations and Assessment within the Office of the Board c Studies and was Convenor of the Project Team. His research studies on the use c school based data served as the basis for introducing 'school estimates' as component ii the HSC awards and he has played a key role in the subsequent introduction of 'schoc assessments' into the HSC system and the subsequent refinements to this system.
Kitty Guerin is Principal of St Clare's College Waverley. She was a member of the Boan of Studies (1995-1998) and a former member of the Year 7-12 English Syilabu:
Committee. Kitty was also a member of the HSC Drama Review Committee and th<
Stage 6 English Sub-Committee of the Board.
Tim McMullen is currently Head, Secondary Curriculum at the Sydney Catholic Educatioi Office. He has taught a range of subjects in a number of schools, specialising in histor>
He has served on the History 7-10 and Modem History Syllabus Committees and ha most recently been on the Secondary Curriculum and Assessment Committee of th<
Board of Studies.
Bronlyn Schoer has been the principal of Lucas Heights Community School for a perk>
of seven years. Lucas Heights is a relatively new government school catering for student from Kindergarten to Year 12. The school has developed a comprehensive approach t assessment and reporting which incorporates an outcomes approach to curriculur implementation and a process of criteria based assessment and reporting K-12. Th school's achievement in this area has been recognised by a Director General's Award fc Excellence and the staff are frequently invited to share their expertise in a variety c professional development forums.
Margaret Silink is a Senior Project Officer at the Office of the Board of Studies. She has considerable experience in Assessment, served on German Examination Committees, and has for a long time been involved in HSC German Marking at a senior level, including in 1997 and 1998 as Supervisor of Marking. In her role as Executive Officer she was largely responsible for managing the organisational aspects of the Assessment Review, as well as working on the analysis and interpretation of the responses to all phases of the review process, and contributing to the writing of the Report.
Judy Sims is currently Leading Teacher at Crestwood High School, Baulkham Hills. Prior to taking up this appointment she spent many years as Liaison Officer for the Office of the Board of Studies, Metropolitan West. She is a life member of the Careers Advisers Association of NSW and has an extensive background in education at school and consultancy levels.
Barbara Stone became Principal of MLC School, Burwood, a Uniting Church day school for girls 1990. Prior to this she was Deputy Headmistress at Fintona Girls' School, Balwyn, and Head of Social Sciences in the General Studies Division of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
She is a Board member of the Association of Independent Schools, a member of the AIS Industrial and Professional Development Committees, a member of the State Training and Development Committee for HSC White Paper Implementation, Treasurer of Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (NSW), member of Standing Committee of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia (AHISA) and convenor of The Education Policy Committee of AHISA.
Margaret Varady is Principal of Sydney Girls High School. She has taught at various schools in New Zealand and NSW. She has worked for the Board of Studies as a Regional Field Officer and as Supervisor of HSC Biology Marking for eight years. She has completed a M Ed and is currently working on a Doctorate of Education.
THE P R O J E C T T E A M
Andrew Goodyer is Chief Project Officer within the Office of the Board of Studies and brought to the review a strong research background particularly in relation to the use of survey instruments. He played a key role in the development of the survey instruments developed for the review and in the analysis and interpretation of the responses to these surveys. This phase of the review was crucial to the project underpinning its findings and the subsequent recommendations.
Bob MacCann heads the Measurement and Research Services unit within the Office of the Board. His research papers include the scaling of marks, the moderation of school assessments, test equating using common material, the reliability of marking, sampling, survey evaluation, the use of item response theory, value added research and gender based research at the HSC. He has contributed to the international academic literature on test equating by publishing several theoretical articles in .the leading US measurement journals.
David Patterson is Manager, Planning and Development at the Office of the Board <
Studies. His responsibilities include provision of support to the Board in planninj research and evaluation. He also manages the Board Liaison Officer (BOSLO) progran He represents the Office of the Board on various state and national projects and on cros:
sectoral education and training committees. He is a member of the TAFE Accreditatic Council and the Advisory Board of the Gifted Education Research Centre at UNSW. H has served on Board syllabus committees, examination committees and for many yeai was the Supervisor of Marking for HSC Ancient History.
Duncan Sutherland is a former Agriculture and Science Teacher with experience as Curriculum Consultant with the Department of Education and Assessment Officer with th School Certificate Development Unit. He was an Inspector of Schools and member of th HSC Agriculture Syllabus Committee before becoming Manager, Curriculum Developmei at the Board of Studies in 1990. He became Manager, Product Development & Marketin and Manager, International Projects with the Board of Studies before being mad Manager, Publications Branch. Mr Sutherland holds a Masters degree in Education:
Administration with a special interest in curriculum development and assessment. He currently Policy Officer with the NSW Rural Fire Service.
Carol Taylor is Manager, Assessment Branch at the Office of the Board of Studies wil responsibility for the development and production of the Board's examinations and th provision of advice on assessment. She combines experience in teaching wil qualifications and broad experience in the testing and assessment domain. She has bee involved in the production of various Board publications on assessment for schools an the delivery of professional development courses for teachers. She has also been Supervisor of Marking for English for many years.
Jenni Wilkins is employed as a Principal Curriculum Officer by the Office of Board <
Studies of NSW. She is a highly qualified and experienced teacher who has taught range of subjects in schools in NSW and the UK. Her strong commitment to education demonstrated by her long involvement in many professional associations and committee at State and National level. She has been involved in the production of various course:
syllabuses, publications and textbooks.