National partnerships
Preschool Reform Agreement
In December 2021, NSW became the first signatory to the National (PRA), a historic agreement with the Australian Government that supports the delivery of 600 hours of quality preschool for children in the year before school to improve preschool participation and outcomes.
The replaces the 2018/2021 National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access.
Preschool Outcomes Measure tool
The Preschool Outcomes Measure (the National tool) is a new national formative assessment tool designed to support teachers and educators to understand children鈥檚 learning and development in the year before full-time school.
Frequently asked questions
The Preschool Outcomes Measure tool (the National tool) assesses the key domains of oral language and literacy executive function 鈥 2 important areas that support children鈥檚 language and problem-solving skills.
The National Applied Trial (NAT) is part of the development and trial process for the National tool. Hundreds of NSW early childhood education and care (ECEC) services will be invited to participate in NAT of the National tool between June and September 2025, testing the tool within their service.
At the end of this process, Australian Council for 糖心vlog官网al Research (ACER) will deliver a validated formative assessment, a set of learning progressions, and a series of professional development resources.
Findings from the NAT will inform the continued development and refinement of the National tool and the department鈥檚 approach to formative assessment. Services are encouraged to provide feedback on their experience using the National tool including consideration of how it interplays with existing processes such as the Transition to School Digital Statement.
The National tool includes embedded elements to support accessibility for children with different capabilities and learning requirements, building on the options for accessible tasks provided in the Small-Scale Trial.
ACER have also partnered with Ninti One to inform the design of the National tool using a targeted approach to gain deep insights for further refinement of the tool and professional learning. For example, the tool has been designed to elicit the strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and is suitable for use in a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts.
Participation in the NAT from children in a range of priority cohorts, including children with varying capabilities and learning needs, from cultural linguistic backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, plays an important role to ensure the final version of the National Tool continues to remain accessible and inclusive for all children.
The Preschool Outcomes Measure is a joint initiative of the Australian and state and territory governments. The formative assessment tool is being developed by ACER in partnership with Goodstart Early Learning and Ninti One.
While there are no requirements on the number of children assessed and the number of educators/teachers involved in trial participation, services are encouraged to assess 5 children per educator/teacher so long as it is reasonable and feasible.
This may look different for each service depending on size, capacity and resource, and encourage services, irrespective of size, to participate in the National Applied Trial.
Participating services will receive professional development to support the understanding of formative assessment, how to use the tool, and the 2 domains being assessed.
Services participating in the NAT will use the National tool from Week 4 to 8 of Term 3.
Participants will be asked to provide feedback about different aspects of their experience using the tool to help further develop and refine the Preschool Outcomes Measure.
During the NAT, participating preschool programs will be prepared and supported through:
- Professional development workshops completed prior to trial participation
- Funding, provided by the department to support participation
- Access to online self-paced resources throughout the trial via the Preschool Learning Management System (LMS)
- Access to Helpdesk support via phone and email during business hours of the trial (the Preschool Support Centre)
- A searchable online Helpdesk with articles, user guide materials and video demonstrations.
To support services鈥 participation, there will be in-person and online options to attend the mandatory two days of professional learning.
The department is working with ACER to arrange these workshops and will communicate with services as soon as possible to ensure services have time to plan their attendance.
General information about professional learning can be found in the .
Yes, information sessions will be recorded and emailed to all registered attendees.
For assistance to register participation via ACER鈥檚 Online Assessment and Reporting System (OARS) platform, please submit a request to .
For assistance with submitting the department鈥檚 Application Form via Smarty Grants, please contact nationalprojects.cgp@det.nsw.edu.au.