Rankling in the ranking

It is interesting that one particular group of Australian universities known as the Australian Technology Network recognised that the engineering profession was potentially missing out on suitable candidates for the profession, because students had not studied the right combination of subjects at school.

In 2007, a test was administered for the first time to identify such candidates and prepare them for study in an engineering program. Of course, aptitude testing of this kind is not new, for example the law and medical professions use tests that focus on skills and attributes considered to be imperative to the profession as a means of entry to university and to identify prospective lawyers, doctors and dentists.

So, what about a test as a means of entry to a teaching degree that complements the current selection processes and reliably measures essential abilities and qualities of an effective teacher? Is it possible to create such a test?

For those who chose to come to USQ in 2007, straight from school to undertake an education degree, the main measure for entry was the OP. Just over 2 per cent of students had an OP between 1 and 5, 20 per cent an OP between 6 and 10, 37 per cent between 11 and 15 and 41 per cent between 16 and 20. At the end of their first year of study the highest academic achievement, known as the Grade Point Average (GPA), went to a student in the OP band of 6 to 10, as did the lowest GPA. There were students who entered their degree program with an OP of 2 who were academically "outperformed" by students who entered with an OP of 16.

This highlights the importance of factors other than academic performance on entry to success, including personal motivation and commitment toward teaching.

Of course students will acquire or develop a whole range of flexible skill sets throughout their time at university, to prepare them as best possible to become quality, beginning teachers.

What is paramount is that universities graduate teachers who have broadly based skills; professional and subject content knowledge and who can support an increasingly diverse learner population. This should be the main emphasis.

It doesn't mean that academic performance as an entry selection criteria isn't important, but it does strongly suggest that the latter be balanced to acknowledge the wealth of research findings that confirm quality teachers possess a variety of characteristics and capabilities - personal as well as professional that impact on their commitment to the profession and their effectiveness in working with young people.

Applicant teachers bring some of these qualities with them to university, others they develop throughout their degree. There should be no compromise on standards achieved at graduation. This is the guarantee that the profession should be able to provide to the Australian public.

Within this context the use of tertiary entrance rankings such as OPs is probably not enough to determine who the next "best" teachers will be.