As a parent of high school children, and a teacher at the primary school level, I concur with all that has been articulated thus far and applaud your efforts and time on this issue. As an example, one of my children studies Biology in Yr12 and was required recently to complete an assessment on [topic removed]. An inordinate amount of his time as well as mine (because of his limited knowledge (aged 16/17) of the intricacies of this very complex topic) was spent trying to find the right set of arguments with which to tackle this issue, before he proceeded to research material/documents and then begin the writing process. From my involvement in this, it became an exercise in how well one could create a splendid writing piece that clearly articulated the argument/s taken. This became such a grind for him, even though he excels at English/Writing, to the point that he was becoming ‘disillusioned’ with Biology and where it was taking him. It appeared to be more about the research and writing process of producing a coherent piece of work and less about the ‘nuts and bolts’ of this type of engineering, as fascinating as it is. In my view, high school learning should be more about acquiring the content of particular learning areas so that a firm foundation of knowledge is laid, prior to any tertiary studies. Without the requisite core knowledge and ‘inspiration’ for further research and learning beyond the school system, we are sadly doing a disservice to our young people. With respect to my teaching at the primary school level, there is sufficient evidence of similar assessment methods being implemented by the QSA e.g. QCATs(Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks – for Yr 4, 6 & 9 students), as well as the new (Qld only) C2C (Curriculum into the Classroom) implementation of the National Curriculum agenda. A grossly convoluted set of assessment methods exists for determining the ultimate grade level received by a child on their report card. QCAT assessment tasks are a creation that is unique to the QSA. Teachers conducting these tasks with students, spend a disproportionate amount of time administering and marking these, versus the benefit to students. The whole aim of conducting QCATs (according to QSA) is purely as a moderation process for teachers across the state. ie. is an ‘A’ grade or a ‘B’ grade, the same for the same piece of work, for all teachers. Parents then have the ‘pleasure’ of seeing these results on their child’s report card, and are confounded by its relevance to their child’s real abilities. The marking of these assessment tasks can take up to three weekends of a teacher’s time to complete, if done as prescribed by the GTMJ (Guide To Making Judgements) marking guide/process. This precious time would be better spent creating innovative and inspiring lessons for our ‘younger minds’. The problem is, those in the QSA are not on the ground listening to people like us at the coalface of teaching.