Count Me In Too and the Basic Skills Test in New South Wales

Mean scores on the New South Wales Basic Skills Test (BST) in the period 1996-2002 among 71 Count Me In Too (CMIT) schools from across the whole of the state were analysed. In conjunction, background data on the schools and their staff perceptions of CMIT were gathered. The results showed that the mean Year 3 BST numeracy score increased steadily and significantly during the period, while all other BST scores remained approximately constant. The increase in the Year 3 numeracy score was not consistent across all the schools sampled, and various background factors were found to be associated with the size of the increase. The implications of these findings are discussed.