This paper discusses educational insights drawn from a mixed-methods study in Religious Education (RE). The study involved 238 teachers and school leaders, working in 65 Catholic schools in Western Australia (WA). The focus of the study was the educators' perceptions of a large-scale, standardised assessment (LSA) called The Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment (BRLA). The assessment is developed by the Catholic Education Office in WA for the purpose of measuring student learning in RE. Students enrolled in Years Three, Five and Nine in Catholic schools across WA participate in the assessment each year in August. The study revealed six themes, two of which are specific to the educators' perceptions of the administration of the BRLA. The other four themes relate to the perceived nature and role of RE and the use of LSAs in education. The themes signal complexity, based on diverse experiences about teaching and assessment practices in RE. These experiences provide empirical evidence specific to the context of RE as an academic learning area, reserved for the classroom. The evidence is new knowledge that builds on research in RE, identifying existing complexity and challenging, presuppositions and motivations that appear to cause misalignment between policy expectations and school-based practices. Given national interest in education about progressing student learning and the Catholic education agenda about addressing the quality of RE, the new knowledge acts as a springboard for classroom, school and system level dialogue about teaching and assessment practices in RE that can promote progress in student learning in Catholic schools.

This paper describes a set of educational initiatives in Religious Education (RE). The paper addresses RE as an academic learning area and reserved for Kindergarten to Year 10 classrooms in Catholic schools. The initiatives described in the paper are evidence-based; they are guided by research and student achievement data addressing contemporary assessment reforms within the Australian educational context and considering the implications that the reforms have on the quality of student learning in RE. The reforms include quality assurance measures such as large-scale, standardised assessments (LSAs) and social moderation tools. The purpose of the measures is to establish standards that support the alignment of teaching and assessment practices. Such an alignment in the RE learning area has the potential to strengthen and improve student, as well as teacher, knowledge and understanding of the Catholic Faith Tradition. The paper draws from the Catholic RE school curriculum in Western Australia (WA), assessment principles outlined for schools in WA, an Australian Research Council Linkage project and local research about teacher perceptions of an LSA in RE. The paper supports local and national policy expectations recommending a review of the quality of RE as a learning area. Furthermore, given the prominence of the Catholic Church’s mission of evangelisation and the nature and role of RE in Catholic schools as part of that mission, the paper endorses the Church’s current stance on thoughtful dialogue and renewed efforts to bring a better understanding about Catholic culture and education to the world.