Defined Terms and Documents       

AUSTRALIAN CORE SKILLS FRAMEWORK (ACSF)  means a 203 page report produced in 2012 by the ACSF Project Team which describes the core skills of learning, reading, writing, oral communication and numeracy across five levels of performance, from the lowest level 1 to the highest level 5, for the Australian population.

The framework is primarily used by language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) specialists for reporting on core skill levels of a learner. However, the ACSF can also be used in other contexts, such as in the workplace and in training specifications to accurately and consistently describe core skill requirements.

Key features of the ACSF are:

  • Five core skills:

    • Learning
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Oral communication
    • Numeracy

  • Three domains of communication (broad contexts within which the core skill may be used):

    • Personal and community
    • Workplace and employment
    • Education and training

  • Five levels of performance ranging from 1 (low level performance) to 5 (high level performance).  Each level is described in detail to enable consistent decisions to be made about an individual’s performance.  The five levels of performance represent milestones along a continuum of performance. The levels of performance are described using:

    • Indicators
    • Focus areas
    • Performance features
    • Sample activities

More sources of information on the ACSF:

The below extract shows that Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Australians do not possess the Numeracy Skills to:

Uses a calculator or spreadsheet to analyse and compare the repayments on an expensive item (e.g. a plasma TV, car or piece of machinery) by two different means, e.g. a credit card versus a personal loan or a lease versus outright purchase:

DOMAINS OF COMMUNICATION NUMERACY LEVEL 4 - SAMPLE ACTIVITIES
Personal and community – Draws up a scale plan and uses simple formulae and rates to calculate and interpret dimensions, quantities and costs required for making a personally relevant item, e.g. constructing a child’s playhouse, making furniture or a garden shed, painting the exterior of a house or designing a patio

– Develops a detailed budget for a household, including income and expenses, and creates a matching spreadsheet, e.g. a yearly budget, a budget for a holiday or a budget for the purchase of a car

– Works in a group to write a questionnaire, conduct a survey and collect and collate the results, including at least one graph, e.g. results of surveying community attitudes to building a toxic dump

– Plans and works in organising and running a community event, including costs, promotion and budgeting, e.g. fund-raising for a barbeque, or running a sports competition or a dance

– Uses a calculator or spreadsheet to analyse and compare the repayments on an expensive item (e.g. a plasma TV, car or piece of machinery) by two different means, e.g. a credit card versus a personal loan or a lease versus outright purchase

– Establishes criteria and categories for the budgeting and financial management of a project or activity of a community organisation, and sets up a spreadsheet that allows the monitoring of income and expenditure against these categories


The below extract shows that Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 Australians do not possess the Numeracy Skills to:

– Investigates personal loan financing options and decides on a major purchase to be financed by a loan, researches the types and conditions of each loan, calculates interest payable using appropriate interest formulae and calculates monthly repayments over a chosen repayment period, compares and contrasts information gathered, and decides on the best loan deal relative to repayment affordability and conditions

DOMAINS OF COMMUNICATION NUMERACY LEVEL 5 - SAMPLE ACTIVITIES
Personal and community – Researches and investigates at least two different sports, including comparing and analysing a number of features and aspects of the sports such as the playing areas, the rules of the game, the sports’ records, payments to players and participation rates, including any gender issues and benefits or otherwise to the community

– Investigates personal loan financing options and decides on a major purchase to be financed by a loan, researches the types and conditions of each loan, calculates interest payable using appropriate interest formulae and calculates monthly repayments over a chosen repayment period, compares and contrasts information gathered, and decides on the best loan deal relative to repayment affordability and conditions

– Given particular financial constraints and personal or family requirements, investigates and analyses the options for where best to rent or buy a home or holiday house, considers and compares location, price and availability, and makes recommendations

– Works in a team to research, investigate and analyse options for the establishment of a community enterprise, considering factors that may impact on the feasibility of the enterprise or business, describes its services or products, and develops a budget and draft business plan

– Researches and conducts an investigation into the impact of an environmental issue, gathers data and undertakes a statistical analysis (e.g. of traffic pollution or greenhouse emissions), presents the data graphically using measures of central tendency and spread, and analyses and discusses the data and outcomes

Below extracts from AUSTRALIAN CORE SKILLS FRAMEWORK (A SUMMARY)

 

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

NUMERACY

 Estimates lengths of familiar objects using metric units, e.g. a person’s height, lengths of fabric or lengths of wood used in everyday work

Identifies and compares familiar items, their quantities, sizes and costs, e.g. checks weight and/or length of product against job ticket

Uses calendar to record information related to community, workplace or public dates, e.g. class term dates, RDOs, culturally significant celebrations

 Calculates cost of two items and estimates change due after making a payment

Records numbers or quantities of materials distributed or sales figures and data onto spreadsheet or familiar workplace computers or hand held devices

Accesses and compares information contained in two-column tables, e.g. calculates postage and fees for certified mail

 Works in a group to undertake a simple survey and documents the results including at least one everyday or routine graph, e.g. a workplace survey of worker’s OH&S knowledge

Uses appropriate technological devices to measure and record data and report and act on results, e.g. blood pressure machine, micrometer, temperature gauge

Identifies and explains uses and application of shape in different contexts, e.g. use of 2D and 3D shapes in house or building construction

 

 Works in a team to plan and develop an operating budget for a task/project/activity including income/revenue from different sources, (e.g. Government funding, membership fees, sales) and expenses (e.g. staffing, materials, marketing, overheads, travel, training, IT support)

Uses a job or task description or set of instructions for making up a mixture based on ratios and selects, measures and makes up the mixture to any required amount correctly and according to OH&S constraints (e.g. chemical spray, or industrial recipes)

Interprets and uses ratios and scales to read and discuss the design and dimensions on the plan of a property in order to allocate working space and furniture, e.g. a building/workplace, a sports building/facility

 Researches and investigates statistical data gathered through individual research or experimentation, organises data into groups in a frequency table, represents data graphically, calculates and records measures of central tendency and spread and analyses and discusses the results including their relevance and impact on the topic of research/investigation

Given particular financial constraints and personal/family requirements, investigates and analyses the options for where to best rent or buy a home or holiday house based on location, prices and availability and make recommendations including cost comparisons