Peter Luxton (Forest Lake State School) was manager of the consultation process, Corinne McMillan (Springfield State School) helped with the refinement of the Reich tasks, and Susan. Frank Crowther (University of Southern Queensland) provided valuable comments from the prospective of the IDEAS project. This requires the orchestration of the "messaging systems" (Bernstein, 1990) of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to produce improved.
These are the New Basics, and they go well beyond traditional versions of the '3Rs'. A finding based on analysis of data collected in the first year of the study is that social support is highest on a 1-5 Likert scale. The key finding is that actual levels of the proxy measures for Newmann's (1996) authentic pedagogy in intellectual quality and relevance are relatively low (in the low 2s across all ten subcategories) across both schools and subject areas.
Nevertheless, based on a purposive sampling of innovative schools and teachers in the first two years of data collection, it remains a finding of the SRLS that levels of intellectual engagement and levels of relevance need to be improved. Rather, these factors are linked to the procedure and sequence of teaching the lesson. That a socially supportive, student-centered classroom is necessary but not sufficient to improve the outcomes of the students most at risk (SRLS, 1999; Freebody et al, 1996).
Improved student results require systematic, principled and practical coordination of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment communication systems.
Current and Proposed State Interventions
The activities of the QBSSSS are based on the need to define and maintain standards in the development process and renewal cycles due to its legitimizing role. Each attempt was an attempt to reorient, shift, and/or recoordinate some aspect of the system. In Queensland, a large-scale reorientation of the entire system in response to new learning or knowledge requirements would require the coordination of large employment groups such as Education Queensland (responsible for implementation in state schools) with two statutory bodies (QBSSSS and QSCC).
One of the main criticisms of the UK National Curriculum is that it tends to exaggerate results, creating an unmanageable situation. Without a philosophical vision and practical plan connecting parts of the messaging system, a series of unintended effects ensue. However, in the short term, such steps can lead to a reorientation of the system and precisely defined improvements.
Some of the unfocused pedagogy described by Freebody et al (1996) can be made more focused and teachers will, no doubt, teach to the tests. Despite the high quality of many of the QSCC curriculum documents, there is also limited evidence that processing multiple outcomes can effectively resolve or redirect the pedagogy outlined by SRLS.
Project Parameters: A Way Forward
Therefore, the models for the implementation of the New Basics Project must be drawn from the extensive literature on school reform and on school-level change (see section 2.5), rather than from the previous models of curriculum reform and implementation that were carried out between 1990 and 2000. The New Basics refers to four clusters and families of practices essential to survival in the worlds that students will live and work in. They were designed by expert panels of teachers and educators using New Basics as starting categories.
Operational fields: the New Base, and other disciplinary, KLA and/or transdisciplinary fields of knowledge that will need to be brought into play to complete the task. Successful completion of the Rich Tasks will confirm that students have demonstrated mastery of the New Base at the level required to deal with new cultures and economies. Together, the Rich Tasks and the New Basis form the core curriculum for pilot schools.
Coaching productive leadership through the establishment of a New Basic Project forum for principals. The New Basics project addresses three of its premises – Pedagogy, Futures and Professional Learning Communities – by creating three key dialogues within and between pilot schools.
Technical Specifications
Rich Tasks
The demonstration of the tasks can engage the whole school community in their planning and presentation. A draft set of Rich Tasks has been developed for use in the first phase of the New Basics trial. Officers working on the New Basics Project, each assisted by a member of the subgroup.
Students will demonstrate that they are able to recognize historical influences on the meaning of an expression. They collect information about the suitability of materials for the manufacture of a product on a larger scale. Students will demonstrate that they can create a multimedia presentation depicting a member of the school community.
Each of the Rich Tasks is accompanied by a list of key papers, or areas of knowledge and practice, that students must work on within a three-year period of education in order to be able to demonstrate achievement on the task. The lists of major treatises are arranged in terms of the four categories of New Basics. However, the Technology KLA in its current syllabus form explicitly covers only one of the tasks at any one time.
Using this type of interpretation, Technology KLA would have links to many of the tasks at each point in time. Make students' work and responses evidence of in-depth understanding of~j. The costs for the development of a bank of Rich Tasks and the professional development of teachers are included in the draft budget in the Framework Implementation Plan.
Setting standards for student performance on each Rich Task and ensuring that there is a common understanding of the standard descriptions. The teacher's assessment of student performance on each of the completed Rich Tasks according to holistic assessment with predetermined criteria and, optionally, of student performance on the subskills associated with the Rich Tasks. Ensuring comparability of standards across the state for reporting student performance on each of the completed Rich Tasks through public student demonstrations and peer review of teacher judgments.
Only in the second year of the trial are students directly affected. After further refinement of the tasks and immersion of teachers in the tasks and the standards.
Development and refinement of a bank of Rich Tasks
Selection of a balanced suite of Rich Tasks for each juncture
Setting standards for student performance on Rich Tasks In immersion sessions, teachers come to a shared understanding of the meaning of
Assessment by teachers of Rich Tasks and associated subskills
Obtaining evidence of student achievement on each Rich Task
Reporting of student attainment on each Rich Task
Implementation Planning, Systematic Support and Accountability This final section takes up implementation planning and the research and organisational support
In this way, the implementation and trial of the New Basics Project maintains the spirit and approach of the initial development phases of 1999. It is expected that the impact of the IDEAS project on student achievement will be assessed upon completion of: Possible implications of the lessons for the school pilot phase of this project are outlined in Table 3.
Change lesson* Brief explanation * Possible consequences of project implementation 1. The more complex the change. the less you can force it. The dynamic complexity of New Basics & Rich Tasks requires an open approach to school test options. Relationships and communications throughout the project must be dialogic and open. the wider environment is key to success. outwardly as well as inwardly.
The pilot schools will show how far the New Basis can be pushed in innovative directions and will also provide a sense of the realistic limits of such innovation. 93 Critical Friends: Providing critical friends for pilot schools and clusters is crucial to the success of the pilot phase (for a more detailed description, see the implementation plan). These groups will review periodic reports on the trial and the results of the New Basics Project Research Design.
Establishing the new basics and rich tasks can provide guidelines for systemic 'core curriculum' in response to the planned 2005 completion of the KLA rollout. Several trial schools are SRLS schools, which will mean we will have 7 years of longitudinal data by the end of the trial. At-risk students in the pilot schools will be tracked to determine the extent to which application of the New Basics can lead to improved outcomes.
Longitudinal research will be conducted in pilot schools on the impact of the implementation of the New Basic Principles on curriculum reforms and behavior management strategies. The pilot schools will provide an opportunity to test the application of PDT rights toward a coordinated school approach to implementing the New Basics Project. The necessary cultural, administrative and educational resources needed to facilitate change at the school level.
