IEU WIN: NCCD Evidence Requirements Clarified

The IEU has helped streamline evidence collection for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) as part of its campaign to reduce the impact of non-teaching tasks upon members. 

Time consuming non-teaching tasks are exhausting Australian teachers. Administrative duties continue to pile up, reducing the time teachers can teach, and increasing stress and job dissatisfaction. The IEU is hard at work addressing this issue by bargaining on better workload outcomes for members in upcoming Agreements.

But there are other things we can do.

Evidence collection for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) is frequently cited by IEU members as one of the most significant factors in recent workload intensification for teachers, LSOs / aides and school leadership. In response to member concerns about the NCCD, the IEU used survey tools in 2020-2021 to establish the severity of workload and wellbeing concerns related to its administration.

Our research in hundreds of schools showed there is widespread respect for the NCCD and its aims. However, it was clear that teachers were struggling with unsustainable evidence collection expectations at school and system level.

The IEU raised these concerns with the federal Department of Education, Skills, and Employment (DESE), and has worked collaboratively with DESE extensively to help clarify and ‘put a fence around’ staff workload expectations.

Following these discussions, DESE has published an updated ‘NCCD Evidence Fact Sheet’ for the non-government sector. This fact sheet will be invaluable in ensuring that NCCD requirements are met without placing unnecessary additional workload burdens on staff.

Below are some of the key elements of the fact sheet – you can access the full document here.

Click here for our workplace poster on this topic.

But here are the most important details of the changes to NCCD data collection:

NECESSARY AND UNNECESSARY EVIDENCE

✔ Schools are encouraged to build the gathering of evidence into their ongoing processes and structures. Teachers and school staff can draw on their existing records of assessments, teaching/learning outcomes, consultations with parents, carers or students and records of adjustments.

✔ DESE requires evidentiary materials that cover four areas of identified need, adjustments, consultation/collaboration, and monitoring/review to be sighted. It is possible that evidence for all four areas can be recorded in one concise document, such as an Individual Learning Plan or similar.

✔ The DESE NCCD Portal contains guides and templates; these are not exhaustive checklists and not all of these sample documents are required.

✔ Evidence will be reviewed during the non-government school Census post-enumeration exercise in whatever form it is held in by the school.

X Schools are NOT required to create new or additional evidence for the purposes of the NCCD.

X Schools are NOT required to collate the evidence into one document. If a school chooses to develop such a document for the purposes of overview or planning, it should be concise and usable.

X Duplication of evidence into other forms, formats or locations is NOT required by DESE at class, school or system level.

EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE IN EXCESS OF WHAT IS REQUIRED

DESE is strongly encouraging school staff not to create unnecessary documentation, including but not limited to:

·      Teacher notes or annotations at the end of lessons to describe the adjustments made or student goals – recording adjustments in the program or elsewhere is sufficient.

·      Narrative or supplementary texts explaining school decisions with respect to a student’s adjustments – recording the adjustments to be provided is sufficient.

·      Annotations to the timetable post-lesson by learning support officers/teacher aides – a timetable specifying the activities occurring in particular sessions is sufficient.

·      Photographs (with appropriate approvals) of teachers or aides supporting students – timetables, programs or student assessments are sufficient.

·      Photographs or maps of the location of a student’s seat in the classroom – a statement is sufficient.

·      Voice recordings (with appropriate approvals) of meetings – written notes are sufficient.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR IEU SUB-BRANCHES

The DESE guidance provides helpful clarification about what should and should not be expected of staff who are collecting evidence for the NCCD.

The guidelines empower IEU sub-branches to reduce workload pressures by securing NCCD processes that align with these guidelines.

Speak to your IEU Organiser about how your sub-branch can improve NCCD practices in schools.

The IEU Victoria Tasmania is holding NCCD Project Discussion Forums to help members understand the improvements – register below!

To view a full copy of the DESE fact sheet: click here.

Click here for our workplace poster on this topic.