Spelling out some problems for Gonski

Let's look now at a more recent example. In May of 2008 the NAPLAN attempts to assess spelling still refused to actually test the students' ability write entire words from memory. Instead, the program again invited each student merely to encircle the correctly spelt word within 10 sets of 4 arbitrarily contrived misspelt words at each year level.

In both cases above, the so called spelling tests were therefore no such thing. They were tests only of accurate read-aloud skill.

There was indeed a time in Australian literacy education, when our education authorities were prepared to honestly report the spelling-for-age levels of the students in Australian schools. Below, I present a spelling test of 50 words from a book of official national spelling tests. The Australian Council for Educational Research produced 11 reprints of this book between the years 1936 to 1969.

gold bring high took part north burn climb press sometimes return music speaks size obtain coffee chimney weigh wear towel choose usual allowed ought quarrel tomato canoe described receive concern label opposite sincerely occupy familiar quantity opportunity extraordinary annual receipt consequence committee orchestra persistence recommended stationery indispensable unanimous privilege irresistible

Each test word had to be written in full and from memory. In those days 8.5 year old students were expected to score around 13 right: 9.5 year olds 21 right: 10.5 year olds 28 right: 11.5 year olds 34: 12.5 year olds 39 and 13.5 year olds 42.

These details on English spelling alone indicate that a Gonski-Coalition implementation without a prior radical reform to our national primary literacy curricula, will simply never work with the majority and this despite the splash of billions of dollars.