In the light of recent studies and reports, Australia’s world ranking in education has been in steady decline. In the latest OECD table, Australia ranks 14th behind other countries such as Poland (11th), Vietnam(12th) and Germany (13th).
In an effort to reverse the decline in Australia’s educational ranking and improve the quality of teaching, the Literacy and Numeracy test for Initial teachers (LANTITE) was fully implemented on the 1st July 2016. This nationally consistent test requires graduate teacher’s literacy and numeracy skills to be within the top 30% of the population.
Personally, I am optimistic that programs such as the Literacy and Numeracy test for initial teachers will increase teacher competency and will flow down to benefit primary and secondary school students.
Whilst the Literacy and Numeracy test should be beneficial for Australia’s educational system, it does place an extra financial burden upon education students who already struggle to make ends meet. Education students will need to pay $185 to sit the Literacy and Numeracy test. This cost may be higher if they need to retake the test.
Some universities and TAFE’s are also unhappy about certain aspects of the test. When graduate teachers need to take an externally run test, in addition to their degree or diploma, this may bring forward the suggestion that the standards of our higher educational establishments are not rigorous enough.
Because the Literacy and Numeracy test is new, there are not many resources educational students can call upon to assist in their preparation. Therefore, we have developed our own Literacy and Numeracy practice exams for initial teachers. Our practice exams are the most realistic practice exam available and are an invaluable resource for initial teachers.