Educational accountability tests, social and legal inclusion approaches to discrimination for students with disability: a national case study from Australia

Journal article


Cumming, J. Joy and Dickson, Elizabeth. (2013). Educational accountability tests, social and legal inclusion approaches to discrimination for students with disability: a national case study from Australia. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. 20(2), pp. 221 - 239. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2012.730499
AuthorsCumming, J. Joy and Dickson, Elizabeth
Abstract

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability promotes equal and full participation by children in education. Equity of educational access for all students, including students with disability, free from discrimination, is the first-stated national goal of Australian education. Australian federal disability discrimination law, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, follows the Convention, with the federal Disability Standards for Education 2005 enacting specific requirements for education. This article discusses equity of processes for inclusion of students with disability in Australian educational accountability testing, including international tests in which many countries participate. The conclusion drawn is that equitable inclusion of students with disability in current Australian educational accountability testing is not occurring from a social perspective and is not in principle compliant with law. However, given the reluctance of courts to intervene in education matters and the uncertainty of an outcome in any court consideration, the discussion shows that equitable inclusion in accountability systems is available through policy change rather than expensive, and possibly unsuccessful, legal challenges.

KeywordsAustralia; educational accountability; students with disability; inclusion; legal compliance; anti-discrimination law
Year2013
JournalAssessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice
Journal citation20 (2), pp. 221 - 239
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN0969-594X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2012.730499
Scopus EID2-s2.0-84876303466
Page range221 - 239
Research GroupInstitute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE)
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Controlled
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
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