Outcomes for accountability in curriculum planning in Australia

Statements of outcomes have recently become part of the educational agendas in many countries as a means of ensuring greater school accountability. This article accounts for the emergence of outcomes as the predominant statements of educational intent in Australian schools, and synthesises the findings of two studies which investigated the extent to which teachers are incorporating outcomes into their teaching planning and practice in New South Wales. The findings indicate that outcomes are instrumental in teachers’ planning; that they are stated differentially according to subject; that they are stated more in relation to skills than knowledge or values; that they are stated for short‐term intent rather than long‐term intent, and that they have not significantly changed the nature of classroom pedagogy.