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Full-Text Articles in Education

Music Education: Right From The Start. Primary Teachers Survey - South Australia, Rachel Felgate, Toby Carslake, Tanya Vaughan May 2024

Music Education: Right From The Start. Primary Teachers Survey - South Australia, Rachel Felgate, Toby Carslake, Tanya Vaughan

School and system improvement

A broad-ranging survey of teachers and representatives from 115 South Australian government primary schools. The research in South Australia underscores overwhelming support among teachers for the benefits of music learning. However, it also highlights widespread concerns regarding inadequate investment in teacher training, dedicated facilities, and necessary resources.65% of respondents indicated that less than nine hours were allocated to music learning within their initial teaching degrees. Additionally, only about half (53%) said their school has appropriate musical equipment, with just 7% reporting having a purpose-built building to conduct music learning.


School Improvement Tool Elaborations: Student Engagement And Wellbeing. Background Report And Literature Review, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Pauline Taylor-Guy, Tanya Vaughan, Marijne Medhurst, Christina Rogers Dec 2023

School Improvement Tool Elaborations: Student Engagement And Wellbeing. Background Report And Literature Review, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Pauline Taylor-Guy, Tanya Vaughan, Marijne Medhurst, Christina Rogers

School and system improvement

This literature review outlines the evidence that underpins the development of a set of evidence-informed elaborations, or specific practices, that support student engagement and wellbeing across the 9 domains of the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT). These observable, measurable practices to support student engagement and wellbeing have been developed from a review of relevant literature in the areas of socio-emotional learning (SEL), health and wellbeing, student engagement and a sense of belonging, and motivations for engagement. They also take account of commissioned research reports by the Queensland Department of Education and the Department's (2018) approach to student learning and wellbeing …


Building A World-Class Learning System: Insights From Some Top-Performing School Systems, Geoff N. Masters Aug 2023

Building A World-Class Learning System: Insights From Some Top-Performing School Systems, Geoff N. Masters

School and system improvement

The result of a multi-year study, this book explores how five school systems - British Columbia, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong and South Korea - have been rethinking and reforming their schools systems. It addresses questions including: What policies need to be in place for every child to experience an engaging and supportive learning environment that motivates not only high performance but a desire to keep learning? What do students really need to know and be able to do to thrive in a changing world? How can systems engage in ongoing improvement while also cultivating innovation? The book provides a framework …


School Improvement Tool: A Summary Of The Underpinning Research, Christina Rogers, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Pauline Taylor-Guy Jan 2023

School Improvement Tool: A Summary Of The Underpinning Research, Christina Rogers, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Pauline Taylor-Guy

School and system improvement

In 2023, ACER published the School Improvement Tool (SIT), the second iteration of the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT). A comprehensive review of international research was undertaken to inform the development of the SIT which consists of nine inter-related domains that describe the practices of highly effective schools and leaders. This document provides a summary of research evidence that underpins each of the nine domains of the SIT. Acknowledging interdependencies between domains, it presents a narrative of key evidence and research-based considerations for each domain. Further detail about the evidence for each domain can be found in the School Improvement …


Reform Challenges In School Education, Geoff N. Masters Jan 2023

Reform Challenges In School Education, Geoff N. Masters

School and system improvement

The central thesis of this paper has been that the challenges now confronting schools globally will require fundamental reforms of the external frameworks within which schools work. Today’s challenges to better prepare young people for the future and to ensure that every student learns successfully will not be met by simply expecting teachers to change what they do or by making minor adjustments to current curricula, assessment, examination, reporting and credentialling arrangements. Today’s challenges require deep reforms and a willingness to reimagine—in other words, to ‘transform’ existing learning systems. This is essential because the external frameworks within which teachers and …


School Improvement Tool: Literature Review, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Pauline Taylor-Guy, Christina Rogers Jan 2023

School Improvement Tool: Literature Review, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Pauline Taylor-Guy, Christina Rogers

School and system improvement

The School Improvement Tool identifies practices of highly effective schools and schools which have undergone substantial improvement, based on evidence from the international literature. It is made up of nine inter-related domains, or areas of practice. This literature review presents a thematic synthesis of the research evidence across the nine domains of the School Improvement Tool. This review underpinned the development of the School Improvement Tool, as the Second iteration of the National School Improvement Tool.


Schools As Community Hubs. Literature Review, Ian Teo, Pru Mitchell, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Anna Dabrowski Nov 2022

Schools As Community Hubs. Literature Review, Ian Teo, Pru Mitchell, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Anna Dabrowski

School and system improvement

This literature review focuses on community hub models that include an education setting. The goals of these hubs go beyond improving academic outcomes, and look also to the health and wellbeing of their community. This review explores the ways in which education communities operate as welcoming and enriching places that connect, share, and learn with, not only students, families, and educators, but also their wider community. It focuses on a specific model of school-community partnership, typically known as a school community hub. Core features of community hubs are presented as people, partnerships, place and programs. Benefits and challenges of community …


Building A World-Class Learning System, Geoff N. Masters Jun 2022

Building A World-Class Learning System, Geoff N. Masters

School and system improvement

This study sought to understand how five jurisdictions – British Columbia, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong and South Korea, which have all performed unusually well in international achievement surveys over the past two decades – are approaching school education and its transformation. Geoff Masters describes key aspects of the learning systems these jurisdictions have established, comments on how they are now redesigning their learning systems for the future, and discusses insights into what may be required for any jurisdiction to perform well on measures of the kind currently used in international surveys.


School Improvement Tool Elaborations: Student Engagement And Wellbeing, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer), Queensland Department Of Education Jan 2022

School Improvement Tool Elaborations: Student Engagement And Wellbeing, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer), Queensland Department Of Education

School and system improvement

What happens in schools can have a great and lasting impact on the future wellbeing and outcomes for young people. Schools therefore play an important role in supporting students’ engagement and wellbeing. These elaborations are intended to support the work of schools by providing further specificity about the practices in each of the nine domains of the School Improvement Tool (previously National School Improvement Tool) that optimise student engagement and wellbeing and, in turn, impact on achievement. Commissioned by the Queensland Department of Education, the elaborations provide an evidence-based framework to guide practice by teachers, school leaders and education systems …


School Libraries In South Australia 2019 Census, Katherine Dix, Rachel Felgate, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Shani Sniedze Sep 2020

School Libraries In South Australia 2019 Census, Katherine Dix, Rachel Felgate, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Shani Sniedze

School and system improvement

This report presents the results of a survey census and website review of school libraries, taken across all South Australian schools in Term 3, 2019. The census collected data on school library staffing, facilities, funding, and support. Results reveal that schools with a qualified teacher librarian are more likely to have improved student literacy outcomes. While 94 per cent of South Australian schools have someone to manage the library collection and to select resources, less than a quarter (23 per cent) are managed by a qualified teacher librarian. Questions about the nature of library provision in schools uncovered eight main …


School Staff Workload Study: Final Report To The Australian Education Union – Victorian Branch, Paul R. Weldon, Lawrence Ingvarson Oct 2016

School Staff Workload Study: Final Report To The Australian Education Union – Victorian Branch, Paul R. Weldon, Lawrence Ingvarson

School and system improvement

The School Staff Workload Study was commissioned by the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (the Union) in March 2016. The study involved the design and delivery of an online survey by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). The survey was a census of the Union membership and was open to the majority of members in Term 2, June 2016. The survey targeted three groups: teachers, school leaders (Principal class), and education support staff. The survey was intended to provide a detailed picture of the workload of the Union membership and, by extension, Victorian government school staff. Attention …