STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY CONSULTATION PACK

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Why publish Students With Disability data on My School?
In 2008, Education Ministers agreed that greater transparency and accountability for the
performance of schools were essential to help ensure that every Australian child receives
the highest quality education through their participation in an education system that is
responsive to their needs. One of the ways of achieving this goal is making data about
schooling publically available, including Students With Disability data.
The publication of students with disability data on My School will provide a new source of
high quality consistent, valid and reliable information about this important student population
in schools across Australia.
Publishing this information provides an opportunity for educators, policy makers and the
general public to learn more about Australian schools and the student population they serve
as well as promoting conversations about the needs of Students With Disabilities.

1.2. ACARAs role

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is responsible for
publishing the My School website.
Education Ministers in coordination with The Joint Working Group for Students With
Disability (JWG) have directed ACARA to examine the feasibility of publishing Students With
Disability (SWD) data on My School in consultation with stakeholders, disability experts,
schools and parent groups.

1.3. What is My School

The My School website provides profiles of each of Australias schools and campuses, of
which there are over 10,000.
My School offers an opportunity for educators, policy makers and the general public to learn
more about Australian schools, and for Australian schools to learn more from each other. My
School contains data about a schools student profile, NAPLAN performance, enrolment
numbers, attendance rates and financial information.
These data must meet a wide range of conditions and principles before they can be
published on My School. In summary, it must represent an important input or outcome
related to school performance. It must be fair, reliable, valid and comparable across
schools. Publication of data and indicators on My School are agreed by Federal, State and
Territory Education Ministers, typically following broad consultation across stakeholders and
peak groups, thereby ensuring transparency and accountability.
To facilitate fair comparisons across schools, My School provides a range of contextual
information about student population including:
the level of socio-educational advantage (SEA) of the school student body;
the proportion of students with an Indigenous background;

students with a language background other than English;

student attendance rates, reported twice a year along with a new measure of the
proportion of students attending school more than 90 per cent of the time.

Information and characteristics at the school level that could reveal personal information
about individual students are suppressed and not displayed on My School. In the case of
students with disability, data that could lead to the identification of an individual will be
suppressed.

1.4. About the Students With Disability data collection

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students With Disability
collects information about students with disability across Australia in a consistent, reliable
and systematic way.
It is an annual collection that counts the number of school students with disability and the
level of educational adjustment provided. Under the collection there are four levels of
adjustment and four broad categories of disability.
The national data collection of school students with disability data has been implemented in
schools progressively since 2013. All schools participated in the national collection for the
first time, in 2015.
Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of all children and their families is essential.
No individual data is collected through the National Consistent Collection of Data on
disability, only counts of students.

1.5. About this survey

ACARA is seeking feedback on the proposal to report Students With Disability (SWD) data
on My School. The following questions are an opportunity to provide your feedback and
suggestions on how we might present this data.
ACARA has prepared several illustrations of how the students with disability data might be
presented on My School, as part of the student background data available, noting that
suppression rules will be applied to avoid potential identification of students.

2. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

2.1. Where does the Student With Disability data come from?
The Student with Disability data is collected through the Nationally Consistent Collection of
Data on School Students With Disability (the national data collection).
This annual collection counts the number of school students with disability and the level of
educational adjustment they are provided with. The national data collection counts students
who have been identified by a school team as receiving an adjustment to address a disability
under the Disability Standards for Education under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992
(the DDA).

Information on the DDA and education standards can be found at

http://resource.dse.theeducationinstitute.edu.au. The DDA can be viewed or downloaded
from the ComLaw website at https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A04426.

2.2. What information is collected through the Nationally Consistent Collection of

Data on School Students With Disability?
Every year, schools collect the following information for each student with disability:
the students level of education (i.e. primary or secondary)
the students level of adjustment
the students broad type of disability.
If a student has multiple disabilities, the school team, using their professional judgment, will
select the broad category of disability that has the greatest impact on his/her access to
education and for which adjustments are being provided. Some students who meet the
definition of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 who may need minimal
assistance may also be counted in the national data collection. Data is combined within each
school and any identifying characteristics (such as student names) are not be transmitted as
part of the collection process.

2.3. How are the data checked for reliability?

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students With Disability collects
information about students with disability across Australia in a consistent, reliable and
systematic way.
The national data collection counts students who have been identified by a school team as
receiving an adjustment to address a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992
(the DDA).
The national data collection is based on the professional judgment of teachers about their
students with disability and the level of reasonable adjustment they are provided with to
access and participate in education on the same basis as other students. This is consistent
with the obligations of all schools under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the
Standards).
The national data collection has been progressively implemented over the period 2013-2015.
From 2015, all government and non-government schools participate annually in the national
data collection.
The Joint Working Group for Students With Disability has engaged Price Waterhouse
Coopers to monitor the quality of reporting by visiting schools directly and engaging in
discussion with nominated staff members to understand how they completed the NCCD. In
addition, training was provided to schools on the completion of the NCCD in a variety of
ways including the provision of factsheets online and telephone support.

2.4. How is disability defined?

The NCCD uses a broad definition of disability based on the Disability Discrimination Act
1992 definition of disability with the focus on the level of adjustment provided to a student
based on their functional needs rather than their disability. The collection includes students
who have disability that affects in some way their participation in education, but who may
require only minimal additional support.

The collection relies on the professional judgements of teachers and school staff to make
evidence-based decisions about:
- students who are receiving reasonable adjustments to access education because of
disability;
- the level of adjustment being provided for each student with disability, in both
classroom and whole of school contexts;
- and the broad category of disability under which the student best fits.
Teachers are guided in their professional practice by the Australian Professional Standards
for Teachers which were developed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School
Leadership.
Under the collection there are four levels of adjustment:
1. Support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice the functional
impact of disability would generally require ongoing monitoring by the teacher and
school staff; for example personalised learning that is implemented without drawing
on additional resources.
2. Supplementary adjustment - provided to meet an assessed need at specific times
to complement the strategies and resources already available for all students within
the school including modified or tailored programs, specialised technology,
intermittent specialist teacher support
3. Substantial adjustment designed to address more significant barriers to
engagement, learning, participation and achievement such as frequent (teacher
directed) individual instruction, adjustments to delivery modes
4. Extensive adjustment provided when essential specific measures and resourcing
are required at all times to address the individual nature and acute impact of the
students disability and the associated barriers to their learning and participation
There are four broad categories of disability:
1. Physical
2. Cognitive
3. Sensory
4. Social/emotional
Taking into account any medical diagnosis and the educational adjustment made, the
teacher will use their professional judgement to determine the appropriate category of
disability.
Whilst a student may have multiple disabilities, they are only counted in one disability
category; the one that most drives educational adjustments provided for them. This does not
imply that the other disability areas are not important, but is identifying where the student
best fits against one of the four broad categories for the purpose of the collection.

2.5. Will my childs privacy be protected?

Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of all children and their families is essential.
No personal details are collected through the National Consistent Collection of Data on
disability.
My School presents information and characteristics at the school level (student level data
are not published) and measures taken to minimise any risk of disclosure of personal
information.
Further information about privacy is available via http://www.acara.edu.au/privacy.html