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Teachers' thinking about four conceptions of teaching (i.e., apprenticeshipdevelopmental, nurturing, social reform, and transmission) were captured using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI). New Zealand and Queensland have very similar teaching-related policies and practices but differences around assessment policies and practices are expected to influence teachers' conceptions of teaching. Results from two surveys (New Zealand primary (n5241) and Queensland primary (n5784) and secondary (n5614) teachers) found acceptably fitting models. TPI models were not invariant between primary and secondary teachers in Queensland while the models for primary teachers in Queensland and New Zealand were partially invariant. There were only small differences in mean perspectives scores, except for transmission, which elicited large differences.

T he overall rate of omission of items for 28331 17-year-old Australian students on a high-stakes test of achievement in the common elements or cognitive skills of the senior school curriculum is reported for a subtest in multiple-choice format and a subtest in short-response format. For the former, the omit rates were minuscule and there was no significant difference by gender or by type of school attended. For the latter, where an item can be 'worth' up to five times that of a single multiple-choice item, the omit rates were between 10 and 20 times that for multiple-choice and the difference between male and female omit rate was significant as was the difference between students from government and nongovernment schools. For both formats, females from Single-sex schools omitted significantly fewer items than did females from coeducational schools. Some possible explanations of omit behaviour are alluded to.

This article presents the findings of a study of the psychological variables that discriminate between high and low omitters on a high-stakes achievement test using a short-response format. Data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to a random sample ( N = 1,908) of students prior to sitting the 1997 Queensland Core Skills (QCS) Test ( N = 29,273). Fourteen psychological variables were measured including test anxiety (four subscales), emotional stability, achievement motivation, self-esteem, academic self-concept, self-estimate of ability, locus of control (three subscales), and approaches to learning (two subscales). The results were analyzed using descriptive discriminant analysis and suggested that the psychological predictors of the propensity to omit short-response items include test-irrelevant thinking and academic self-concept, with sex of candidate being a mediating variable.

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