Literacy assessment in the early years of schooling in an era of neoliberalism

Bibliographic Data

ID21722277
AuthorsMartina Tassone (0000-0002-3378-9445, The University of Melbourne-Melbourne Graduate School of Education, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume25
Issue2
Pages422-462
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Early Childhood Literacy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-7984 • E-ISSN: 1741-2919
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14687984231161119
OpenAlexW4377821259
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited49

This paper explores the literature related to literacy assessment in the early years of schooling in an era of neoliberalism and reports on a key aspect of a study which focused on the literacy assessment practices of early years teachers and literacy leaders in Australian Catholic schools within the Melbourne archdiocese. Background: The study was undertaken in a period following the Melbourne Catholic Education system’s devolution of literacy assessment responsibility to schools after a long period of mandated literacy assessment (1998–2012) but also occurred within a neoliberal high-stakes assessment environment, characterised by heightened levels of teacher accountability. Research Objectives: The intention of the research was to explore the literacy assessment beliefs and practices of teachers in early years classrooms (F–2), to explore the impacts of assessment devolution and the implications in terms of the literacy assessment practices in the early years in Australian Catholic primary schools in the Melbourne Archdiocese. Methods: A predominantly qualitative case study approach consisting of two phases was used to explore literacy assessment in the early years of schooling. Phase 1 consisted of an online questionnaire comprising both open and closed questions, which was completed by 76 literacy leaders from 76 Catholic schools in the Melbourne archdiocese. The questionnaire was designed to elicit information on schools’ literacy assessment practices in the early years and if these had changed since a Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM) policy change in 2012 allowing schools greater autonomy over literacy assessment in the early years. Phase 2 involved semistructured interviews with 23 early years teachers and seven literacy leaders from eight diverse schools to investigate their literacy assessment practices in greater detail and identify how they responded to the opportunities that came with devolved decision-making

Accountability · Autonomy · Literacy · Numeracy · Pedagogy · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Education Systems and Policy · Indigenous and Place-Based Education · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

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