Page 444 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

35 Australian Torres Strait Islander Students 419

“Under-Achievement” on Benchmarked Science Assessments

Patterns of so called “under-achievement” by Australian indigenous students (both
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) on benchmarked science assessments have
been consistently reported in several studies. For example, the OECD Program for
International Students Assessment (PISA) 2006 results showed that 40% of
Australian indigenous students performed below the OECD “baseline” and the
Third International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) reported Australian
indigenous students have significantly lower average scores than non-indigenous
students. The 2006 Australian National Year 6 Science Assessment Report found
only 49% of Queensland students were at or above a nominated proficiency stan-
dard, compared with the Australian average of 54%. Indigenous students, whose
first language is not English, and who live away from the major population centres
in regional, rural and remote areas of the country, were least likely to meet the
national science proficiency standard for year 6.
Following what were called “poor” results in the 2008 National Assessment
Program – Literacy and Numeracy (known as NAPLAN), the Premier of Queensland,
Anna Bligh, commissioned Professor Geoff Masters, Chief Executive Officer of
the Australian Council for Education Research, to review Queensland curriculum
and educational standards. Masters (2009) reported indigenous students from the
Torres Strait and Cape District performed among the lowest five per cent of students
nationally. The report suggests that by grade 9, the average “gap” in achievement
level of students in literacy, numeracy and science between non-indigenous
Queensland students and indigenous students living in very remote parts of the state
is the equivalent of 6–7 years of schooling. There are factors beyond remoteness
underlying these statistics, including the much lower socio-economic status of
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in general as well as
a very high proportion of indigenous students for whom English is a second or third
or fourth language (Tripcony 2000). We argue here that one of the strongest factors
in generating continuing inequity in terms of secondary school science achievement
is that the Queensland science curriculum is taught and assessed using Standard
Australian English at the expense of every other language possessed by Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Malcolm 1998). What we think is being mea-
sured by standardised national and state achievement tests is not indigenous
students’ understanding of scientific concepts, but how well students are able to
take the test in a second or third or fourth language they may not be able to speak,
write or even be able to think well in at all.

Torres Strait Islander Students’ Cultural Resources

Torres Strait Islander people identify themselves as a sea people and the movement
of the seas and the winds order their lives. Traditional activities are determined by
two different seasons – the dry time of southwest winds from April to August and