 The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, or ACARA, was established in May 2009. This video introduces ACARA's online presence, including the organisation website and stakeholder portals. It will also present each of the websites of ACARA's major projects. ACARA is the independent authority responsible for the development of a national curriculum, a national assessment program and a national data collection and reporting program that supports 21st century learning for all Australian students. ACARA's work is carried out in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including teachers, principals, governments, state and territory education authorities, professional education associations, community groups and the general public. The ACARA website provides extensive background information on the processes involved in the development of an Australian curriculum and national assessment and reporting programs. To understand ACARA's unique position in the national education sector, users can learn about ACARA's governance relationships with the Commonwealth Government and diverse expert advisory groups. ACARA produces regular public information releases and distributes a national news update to over 30,000 subscribers across the country. Subscriptions to ACARA update can be managed from this site. To view the Australian curriculum, the MySchool website or the dedicated website on the national assessment program, click on the quick links. On the Australian curriculum website, users can explore the Australian curriculum content for each year level and learning area as it is finalised and published for implementation by all Australian schools. The Overview section describes the elements of the curriculum and users can view video tours that explore each learning area in detail. ACARA encourages feedback from individuals and groups on all aspects of the Australian curriculum. A consultation portal is accessible on the site where anybody can register to provide input into the development of specific learning areas during consultation periods or general feedback about any aspect of the development and implementation of the Australian curriculum. The national assessment program is the measure through which governments, education authorities, schools and the community can determine whether or not young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes. It is important that there be consistent and well understood measures of student achievement around the country and that the outcomes of these assessments be used to inform future policy development, resource allocation, curriculum planning and where necessary, intervention programs. National assessments provide useful, nationally comparable evidence about student achievement. By participating in these assessments, schools benefit not only their own students, but also all students across the country. ACARA's highly skilled staff work with a wide range of partners to oversee the delivery of the national assessment program. ACARA publishes the national reports for the national assessment program, literacy and numeracy and the national assessment program, sample assessments. These public reports are made available on the website. ACARA is also responsible for collecting data from schools for the purpose of accountability and reporting, research and analysis and resource allocation. Information on individual schools was published for the first time on the My School website in 2010. The My School website is updated with school information each year. The site enables users to search the profiles of almost 10,000 Australian schools. Users can quickly locate statistical and contextual information about schools in the community and compare them with statistically similar schools across the country. The My School website has two main purposes. Firstly, it provides parents and students with information on each school, its view of itself and its mission, its staffing, its resources and its students' characteristics and their performances. Secondly, it provides schools and their communities with comparisons of their students' performances in literacy and numeracy with those of students in other schools. Most importantly, those in schools that serve similar students. These comparisons provide information to support improvements in schools. Among schools with similar students, those achieving higher student performances can stimulate others to lift expectations of what they and their students can achieve. The schools with higher performing students can be a source of information for others on the policies and practices that produce those higher performances. The site provides parents and the community with information about NAPLAN performance as well as information about school finances and school communities. That brings this video to a close. But remember, there is a lot more detailed information on the website and for anything further, you can contact Akara directly by phone or email.