Review of the Graduate Level Standards – Consultation Paper
1. Purpose
AITSL is undertaking a consultation process to review the Graduate level Standards and
understand which Focus Areas may require further implementation support to ensure that
beginning teachers are classroom ready.
Stakeholder views will be sought via workshops and written feedback to determine
priority Focus Areas and appropriate resources to enhance support. AITSL will be
seeking the views of education experts, pre-service teachers, teacher educators,
provisionally registered teachers, supervising teachers and school leaders.
This paper provides background for the consultation which addresses recommendations
from the following reports:

Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers (TEMAG, 2015).
“Recommendation 29: The Australian Institute for Teaching and School
Leadership undertake a review of the Graduate level of the Professional
Standards to ensure that the knowledge, skills and capabilities required of
graduates aligns with the knowledge, skills and capabilities beginning teachers
need for the classroom.” (TEMAG, 2015 p.xv)

Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers - Australian Government Response
(Australian Government, 2015).
“The Government will also instruct AITSL to conduct a review of the Graduate
level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to make sure they
reflect the knowledge, skills and capabilities required of beginning teachers.”
(Australian Government, 2015 p.9)
2. Initial teacher education reform
The review of the Graduate level Standards is one part of the broader reform outlined in
Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers - Australian Government Response.
Concurrent work is addressing:
 Stronger quality assurance of teacher education courses
 Rigorous selection for entry to teacher education courses
 Improved and structured professional experience for teacher education
students
 Robust assessment of Graduates to ensure classroom readiness
 National research and workforce planning capabilities.
See the AITSL website for more information about initial teacher education reform,
including induction: http://www.aitsl.edu.au/initial-teacher-education/ite-reform
3. Focus for the Graduate level Standards review
The focus within the Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers report is on improving
implementation of the Graduate level Standards, rather than changing the content.
The TEMAG report affirms the importance of the Graduate level Standards noting they
are nationally agreed and:
 set the stage for quality teaching
 are the basis for improvement in ITE programs
 need to be applied more rigorously
(See Appendix A for further detail and background.)
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Given this, the focus of the Graduate level Standards consultation process will seek to
answer these questions:
1. Which Focus Areas present implementation challenges?
2. What implementation support could be provided for these Focus Areas?
3. How can the profile of relevant existing resources be raised?
4. How could existing resources be amended to enhance their relevance?
5. Are there any resource gaps and what possible resources could be developed?
4. Priority issues in preparing Graduate teachers
The TEMAG report raised several key concerns with regard to the integration of theory
and practice in the preparation of pre-service teachers, five of which are relevant to the
Graduate level Standards review. These issues, raised in section 3 Preparing Effective
Teachers – Integration of Theory and Practice (TEMAG p. 18-33), are:
1. Preparation for student diversity
2. Using assessment for student learning
3. Content knowledge and pedagogy
4. Teaching in specific areas
5. Engaging with school communities.
The following section illustrates that the five issues listed above are effectively addressed
in the content of the current Graduate level Standards.
With acknowledgement that the Graduate level Standards address the five key issues,
the consultation process will seek to uncover which particular Focus Areas would benefit
from enhanced implementation support, as not all are likely to present significant
challenge.
4.1 Preparation for student diversity
The report highlights that “The diversity of students in Australian classrooms requires
teachers to be prepared to engage with students who are culturally, linguistically diverse
and have specific learning difficulties or disabilities.” (TEMAG, 2015 p.19)
The Standards make plain that Graduate teachers are expected to demonstrate their
knowledge and understanding of teaching strategies, cultural influences and legislative
requirements to meet the needs of their students.
Standard 1: Know students and how they learn
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
1.3
Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are
Students with diverse linguistic,
responsive to the learning strengths and needs of
cultural, religious and
students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and
socioeconomic backgrounds
socioeconomic backgrounds.
1.4
Strategies for teaching
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of
the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic
background on the education of students from
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
1.5
Differentiate teaching to meet
the specific learning needs of
students across the full range of
abilities
1.6
Strategies to support full
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of
strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the
specific learning needs of students across the full
range of abilities.
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of
legislative requirements and teaching strategies that
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participation of students with
disability
support participation and learning of students with
disability.
4.2 Using assessment for student learning
The Advisory Group noted that there was “strong agreement that pre-service teachers
must learn how to collect, use and analyse student data to improve student outcomes
and their own teaching.” (TEMAG, 2015 p.20)
Standard 5 requires that Graduate teachers demonstrate capacity to interpret student
data and to modify teaching accordingly, as well as demonstrate understanding of
assessment, feedback and moderation.
Standard 5: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
Focus area
Graduate level Standards
5.1
Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies,
Assess student learning
including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and
summative approaches to assess student learning.
5.2
Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of
Provide feedback to students on providing timely and appropriate feedback to students
their learning
about their learning.
5.3
Demonstrate understanding of assessment moderation
Makes consistent and
and its application to support consistent and
comparable judgements
comparable judgements of student learning.
5.4
Demonstrate the capacity to interpret student
Interpret student data
assessment data to evaluate student learning and
modify teaching practice.
5.5
Demonstrate understanding of a range of strategies for
Report on student achievement
reporting to students and parents/carers and the
purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of
student achievement.
4.3 Content knowledge and pedagogy
The report emphasises that Graduate teachers “need a solid understanding of subject
content, pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge.” (TEMAG, 2015 p.21).
Standards 2, 3, 6 and 7 address this.
The Standards note these skills as important but remain sufficiently high level allowing
contextual adaptation in line with pedagogical choices.
Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
2.1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the
Content and teaching
concepts, substance and structure of the content and
strategies of the teaching
teaching strategies of the teaching area.
area
2.2
Organise content into an effective learning and teaching
Content selection and
sequence.
organisation
2.3
Use curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to
Curriculum, assessment and
design learning sequences and lesson plans.
reporting
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Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
3.2
Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student
Plan, structure and sequence learning, content and effective teaching strategies.
learning programs
3.3
Include a range of teaching strategies.
Use teaching strategies
3.6
Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be
Evaluate and improve
used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student
teaching programs
learning.
The Standards also focus the efforts of Graduate teachers on understanding resources
for developing their practice and seeking and applying feedback to improve practice.
Standard 6: Engage in professional learning
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
6.2
Understand the relevant and appropriate sources of
Engage in professional
professional learning for teachers.
learning and improve practice
6.3
Seek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors
Engage with colleagues and
and teachers to improve teaching practices.
improve practice
Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
7.4
Understand the role of external professionals and
Engage with professional
community representatives in broadening teachers’
teaching networks and
professional knowledge and practice.
broader communities
4.4 Teaching in specific areas
Literacy and numeracy are highlighted as “core components of student learning at all
levels.” (TEMAG 2015 p.22)
Again the Graduate level Standards require that literacy and numeracy be addressed by
all Graduate teachers regardless of the subject area they are teaching.
Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
2.5
Know and understand literacy and numeracy teaching
Literacy and numeracy
strategies and their application in teaching areas.
strategies
4.5 Engaging with school communities
Within the report it was identified that there was a need for “initial teacher education to
better address parental engagement.” (TEMAG 2015 p.25) It noted that “26 per cent of
early career primary teachers and 34 per cent of early career secondary teachers
reported that their course was not helpful in preparing them to involve parents/guardians
in the educative process.” (TEMAG 2015 p.25)
Again these areas are specifically addressed in the Standards. Graduate teachers are
expected to understand strategies for engaging parents and carers in the education
process and for working productively with parents and carers. This includes reporting
student progress to parents and carers.
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Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
3.7
Describe a broad range of strategies for involving
Engage parents/carers in the parents/carers in the educative process.
educative process
Standard 5: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
5.5
Demonstrate understanding of a range of strategies for
Report on student
reporting to students and parents/carers and the purpose
achievement
of keeping accurate and reliable records of student
achievement.
Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
Focus Area
Graduate level Standards
7.3
Understand strategies for working effectively, sensitively
Engage with the
and confidentially with parents/carers.
parents/carers
5. Consultation review process
AITSL has engaged a consultant, Des Gorman to facilitate workshops with:
a. the AITSL Teaching Expert Standing Committee (TESC)
b. the AITSL Focus Group of the Profession
c. a stakeholder group of teacher educators, pre-service teachers, early career
teachers, supervising teachers and school leaders (to be established).
Written feedback will be sought from a broad range of relevant stakeholders from across
Australia.
The consultant will conduct an environmental scan of resources relevant to the identified
issues and will synthesise all feedback and findings into a final report for the Minister for
Education and Training.
6. Outcomes of the Graduate level Standards review
The outcomes of the review of the Graduate level Standards will include:
a. Identification and promotion of AITSL and non-AITSL resources to support
implementation of the Graduate level Standards, particularly the Focus Areas
identified as requiring enhanced support
b. Repurposing and promotion of AITSL and non-AITSL resources to support
implementation of the Graduate level Standards, particularly the Focus Areas
identified as requiring enhanced support
c. Identification of gaps in implementation support and potential future resources
d. A final report for the Minister for Education and Training outlining the consultation
approach, feedback and response.
7. Timeline
The consultation process will be completed by December 2015 and the report provided to
the Minister by June 2016.
8. References
Craven et al (2015), Action Now: Classroom ready teachers, Teacher Education
Ministerial Advisory Group, retrieved from: http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teachereducation-ministerial-advisory-group
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Australian Government (2015) Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers - Australian
Government Response, retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/150212_ag_response_-_final.pdf
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2011), Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers, AITSL, Melbourne
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Appendix A – Background and further information
Why focus on implementation?
Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers notes that the Advisory Group was guided by a
number of fundamental principles:
 The preparation of new teachers is a shared responsibility.
 The community must have confidence that the benchmarks and processes that
assure the quality of programs will drive improvement and will be rigorously
applied.
 Initial teacher education must embrace the use of evidence – from program
design and delivery through to the assessment of program and graduate
outcomes.
 Transparency in initial teacher education is needed to support accountability and
inform public confidence. (TEMAG, 2015 p.1)
The report notes the importance of the Graduate level Standards in addressing these
guiding principles, “There is a solid foundation for reform with the introduction of national
standards for the profession and standards for accreditation… which set the stage for a
focus on the quality of teachers in Australian classrooms.” (TEMAG, 2015 p.1)
The report also specifically refers to the Graduate level Standards as the basis for
change within initial teacher education programs. In focusing on quality assurance
through program accreditation the report noted that, “The Professional Standards
explicitly outline what knowledge, skills and attributes an effective teacher at Graduate
level should possess. Stakeholders argued that these should guide selection criteria.”
(TEMAG, 2015 p.14)
The report notes that the Standards are nationally agreed and that dissatisfaction is
focused on the “rigour of assessment” stating that “Initial teacher education providers are
responsible for ensuring their graduates meet the Professional Standards.” (TEMAG,
2015 p.34)
The Advisory Group raises the concern that not all pre-service teachers are assessed
against the Standards and “believes that this lack of accountability allows providers to
graduate pre-service teachers who do not meet the Graduate level of the Professional
Standards.” (TEMAG, 2015 p.38)
Much of the focus within the Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers report focusses on
improving implementation of the Graduate level Standards, rather than changing its
content. This is illustrated in section 4 of the consultation paper.
Evaluation of the Implementation of the Australian Professoinal Standards for
Teachers
The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, (the Standards) were endorsed by
MCEECDYA (now known as the Education Council) in December 2010, with national
implementation occurring from 2013. The Standards build from the Graduate career
stage and provide a pathway to increasing complexity with the Proficient, Highly
Accomplished and Lead career stages. The Graduate level Standards form the beginning
of a continuum from which teachers continue to build their knowledge, skills and
capabilities.
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In March 2013, AITSL commissioned the Centre for Program Evaluation at the University
of Melbourne to conduct an evaluation of the implementation of the Australian
Professional Standards for Teachers. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine the
usefulness, effectiveness of implementation and the impact of the Standards on
improving teacher quality.
Early findings reveal encouraging levels of knowledge, use, positive attitude and intention
to implement the Standards across four key educator groups: pre-service teachers,
practising teachers, school leaders and teacher educators.
A full review of the content and structure of the Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers is scheduled from 2018. This allows a time lapse of at least five years following
national implementation of the Standards in 2013. This time lapse is needed to delineate
between content and implementation issues when assessing the success of the
Standards.
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