Education Commons^™

Teach For Australia Pathway : Evaluation Report Phase 2 Of 3, Paul R. Weldon, Phillip Mckenzie, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Kate Reid

Teacher education

The evaluation of the Teach for Australia Pathway was commissioned by DEEWR and commenced in March 2010. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess whether the delivery of the Pathway can be modified to better achieve intended outputs and outcomes, and whether the Pathway is achieving expected outcomes.

This report (Part 2) concerns the second of three phases of the evaluation of the TFA Pathway. The first report (Part 1) was designed to provide a summary of data gathered on the operation of the Pathway in its initial stages. Data for that report were collected via site visits with …

Social Origin And Citizenship Participation In Latin American Schools, Juan Castillo

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

Empirical research in political participation has consistently shown that participation is characteristic of those with higher socio-economic status and formal education (Brady, Verba, & Schlozman, 1995; Lijphart, 1997; Dalton, 1988; Han, 2009; Marien, Hooghe, & Quintelier, 2010). Socio-economic status differences among citizens are accentuated in societies with high economic inequality as the Latin American ones (De Ferranti et al., 2003; Deininger & Squire, 1996; Dion, 2007; Hoffman & Centeno, 2003; Korzeniewicz & Smith, 2000), and therefore it would be expected to find political inequality in terms of participation in this region (Côrtes & Dubrow, 2011). Such a link is not …

Civic Participation At School And School-Based Community Participation, Elisa Caponera, Bruno Losito, Paola Mirti

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

The idea of civic and citizenship education underpinning ICCS recognizes that civic and citizenship knowledge, dispositions to engage and attitudes related to civic and citizenship education are linked to the variety of contexts where students live, including family background, classrooms, schools, and the wider community (Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Losito, Kerr, 2008; Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Kerr, Losito, 2010). Particular importance is given to the actual opportunities students have to actively participate in school life and in the community where the school is located. The first part of this paper will provide a general overview of how schools in the countries participating …

Some Drivers Of Test Item Difficulty In Mathematics, Ross Turner

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

This paper is one of four contributions to the symposium session at the AERA’s 2012 Annual Meeting titled Exploring Reading and Mathematics Item Difficulty: Teaching and Learning Implications of PISA Survey Data. The author presents a rubric used to analyse mathematics test items developed for use in the OECD’s PISA survey. The rubric focuses on a set of mathematical competencies that are components of mathematical literacy. The work on which this report is based suggests that demand for activation of these competencies functions as a significant driver of item difficulty, which potentially has implications for the teaching and learning of …

How Well Do Young People Deal With Contradictory And Unreliable Information On Line? What The Pisa Digital Reading Assessment Tells Us, Tom Lumley, Juliette Mendelovits

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

There is sometimes an assumption that young people, as ‘digital natives’, are able to use online information effectively, including selecting and negotiating digital texts that are not only relevant for what they need, but also are likely to provide reliable information. This paper examines the question of how well young people are in fact able to recognise whether information is likely to be trustworthy. While some small-scale work has been done in this area, this paper draws on data from the first large-scale international assessment of online reading, the Digital Reading Assessment (DRA) that was part of the Organisation for …

A Framework For Predicting Item Difficulty In Reading Tests, Tom Lumley, Alla Routitsky, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Ramalingam

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

Results on reading tests are typically reported on scales composed of levels, each giving a statement of student achievement or proficiency. The PISA reading scales provide broad descriptions of skill levels associated with reading items, intended to communicate to policy makers and teachers about the reading proficiency of students at different levels. However, the described scales are not explicitly tied to features that predict difficulty. Difficulty is thus treated as an empirical issue, using a post hoc solution, while a priori estimates of item difficulty have tended to be unreliable. Understanding features influencing the difficulty of reading tasks has the …

Print And Digital Reading In Pisa 2009 : Comparison And Contrast, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Ramalingam, Tom Lumley

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

PISA was administered for the fourth time in 2009. Since in each administration, one of reading, maths or science is chosen as the major domain, the 2009 survey marked the first time that a domain (in this case, reading) was revisited as the major focus of the assessment. This allowed a full review of the framework for reading literacy and the inclusion of new elements to reflect the way that reading has changed since 2000 (OECD, 2009). One such change is the increasing prevalence of digital texts. The assessment of digital reading in the PISA 2009 cycle, undertaken by 19 …

Some Drivers Of Test Item Difficulty In Mathematics : An Analysis Of The Competency Rubric, Ross Turner, Ray J. Adams

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

This paper is concerned with the empirical validation of the competency rubric described in another paper presented at the same conference: Turner, Ross (April 2012). Some drivers of test item difficulty in mathematics. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Vancouver, 13-17 April 2012 http://research.acer.edu.au/pisa/4/

Using items developed for the PISA 2012 survey, and data collected as part of an extensive field trial of the PISA tasks conducted during 2011 in some 67 countries, the authors use multidimensional Rasch modelling and latent regression to examine the following three questions: 1. What is the …

Acer Enews 03 March 2012, Acer

ACER eNews Archive

No abstract provided.

The On Track Survey 2011 Longitudinal Report : The 2007 Cohort 4 Years On, Sheldon Rothman, Catherine Underwood

Transition and Post-School Education and Training

This report examines the pathways of young people who left a Victorian government school in 2007. The participants in this On Track longitudinal survey comprised 2346 Year 12 or equivalent completers and 1130 early school leavers. These young people were first contacted in 2008 as part of the annual On Track survey and were interviewed in each subsequent year until 2011. In the first year after leaving school, 70% of Year 12 or equivalent completers were participating in education and training, comprising 39% at university, 20% studying for a certificate and 11% in an apprenticeship or traineeship. By the fourth …

The On Track Survey 2011: The Destinations Of School Leavers In Victoria. Statewide Report, Sheldon Rothman, Catherine Underwood

Transition and Post-School Education and Training

The On Track project was initiated in 2003. Since the first large-scale survey in that year, around 350,000 school leavers have participated in the On Track surveys, providing valuable insights into their post-school destinations and pathways. This 2011 report is based on data from telephone surveys of 35,002 Year 12 or equivalent completers and 3768 early leavers from the 2010 school year. The information was collected in April and May 2011. The report focuses on analyses at the state and regional levels.

Preparing 21st Century Learners: The Case For School-Community Collaborations, Michele Lonsdale, Michelle Anderson

Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation

Highly effective schools have high levels of parent and community engagement. ‘Community’ here includes parents, business and philanthropic organisations, and various services and not-for-profit groups. How ‘engagement’ is defined and what it looks like in practice will vary from school to school. But, as the growing body of research makes quite clear, support from those beyond the school gates is an essential part of preparing learners for the twenty-first century. Schools are expected to prepare students for a complex and rapidly changing world. In addition to teaching subject content, schools are expected to develop young people who are information and …

Acer Enews 02 February 2012, Acer

ACER eNews Archive

No abstract provided.

Parental Neighbourhood Satisfaction : A Snap Shot Of Parents Of 5 – 12 Year Olds, Catherine Underwood

Children’s Independent Mobility and Active Transport

A child-friendly neighbourhood increases children’s confidence to safely negotiate and explore their neighbourhood while enhancing their physical health and wellbeing.

This ‘snap shot’ highlights the extent to which parents of students aged 5 to 12 years living in six Victorian municipalities (3 metropolitan and 3 regional) are satisfied with their neighbourhood. The sample comprised 504 parents. Parents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with a series of statements about their neighbourhood. The data came from a self-completed survey sent home from school with students. Data was collected in 2010 for VicHealth.

With 10 per cent …

Neighbourhood Satisfaction Among Residents : A Snap Shot Of 60+ Year Olds, Catherine Underwood

Children’s Independent Mobility and Active Transport

Neighbourhood satisfaction is an important component of life satisfaction and is associated with levels of well-being among older residents. Older resident’s satisfaction plays a significant role in influencing their level of engagement and interaction with neighbours and their feeling of safety within their neighbourhood.

This ‘snap shot’ highlights the extent to which residents aged 60 years and over living in six Victorian municipalities (3 metropolitan and 3 regional) felt satisfied and engaged with their neighbourhood. The sample comprised 816 residents drawn from a total sample of 2,313 residents. The data was collected from a self-completed survey distributed as a letterbox …

Children’S Independent Mobility And Dog Ownership : 8 To 12 Year Olds, Catherine Underwood

Children’s Independent Mobility and Active Transport

Many families are now acquiring pets to encourage children, to spend more time in the ‘real’, rather than the ‘virtual’ world. The rising prevalence in the number of children who are overweight or obese is increasing in importance as a public health issue in Australia (McCallum & Gerner, 2005). Walking and physical activity is strongly linked to improved general health and lower risks of obesity and associated health problems. A growing body of research shows that pet ownership has a number of physical health benefits. Studies now associate pets, and particularly dogs with increased levels of physical activity.

Children’S Independent Mobility : Fact Or Fiction: 8 To 12 Year Olds - Worried About Strangers, Catherine Underwood

Children’s Independent Mobility and Active Transport

The rising prevalence in the number of children who are overweight or obese is increasing in importance as a public health issue in Australia. Parental fear as a barrier to children’s independent mobility and physical activity has contributed to the decline in children’s physical activity. Timperio et al. (2004) and Veitch et al. (2006) have reported parents commonly identify ‘stranger danger’ as a barrier to children’s independent mobility within their community. In a recent VicHealth survey it was reported that 63 per cent of participants agreed parents should not let primary school age children move to and from places without …

Australian College Of Educators College Medal And Fellowship (Face) Awards 2012, Australian College Of Educators

Australian College of Educators - National

In 2012 the College Medal was presented to Ms Dorothy Hoddinott AO, FACE for outstanding service to school education and the teaching profession through her leadership and achievement, especially in relation to teaching English as a Second Language and students from disadvantaged and refugee backgrounds. Fellowship of the Australian College of Educators is one of the highest honours that the College can bestow, and should be seen by College Members and Fellows, and by the wider education community, to be a recognition of outstanding and distinctive contributions to the advancement of education. 2012 Fellowships were awarded to: Dr Kathryn Brennan …

Acer Enews 01 January 2012, Acer

ACER eNews Archive

No abstract provided.

Phase One Of The Demonstration Project On Course Redesign And Academic Productivity : Final Report, Peter Bentley, Hamish Bennett Coates, Leo Goedegebuure

Higher education research

The objectives of the Demonstration Project on Course Redesign and Academic Productivity (the ‘Demonstration Redesign Project’) are to improve academic productivity and student learning. The project originated out of a series of executive seminars organised by the LH Martin Institute (LHMI) and led by Professor Bill Massy. These seminars highlighted successful academic productivity and student learning improvements achieved through course redesigns led by the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) in the USA. Building on early 2010 foundation meetings with NCAT in Washington DC, the Demonstration Redesign Project is a partnership between the two participating universities, James Cook University (JCU) …

The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration: Developing The Foundations For A National Assessment Of Medical Student Learning Outcomes, David Wilkinson, Daniel Edwards, Hamish Coates, Ben Canny, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Schaefer, Tracey Papinczak, Lindy Mcallister

Higher education research

In late December 2010 the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd (ALTC) provided a grant to The University of Queensland along with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and Monash University to develop foundations for a national assessment that evaluates the learning outcomes of later‐year medical students in Australia. The project, titled ‘Developing the foundation for a national assessment of medical student learning outcomes’ responds to the growing need to prove and improve the standards of medical education by establishing an Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration (AMAC). This project includes scoping work, wide‐ranging sector engagement, development of an assessment framework, …

Pisa 2009 Technical Report, John Cresswell (Ed)

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

PISA is methodologically highly complex, requiring intensive collaboration among many stakeholders. The successful implementation of PISA depends on the use, and sometimes further development, of state-of-the-art methodologies and technologies. The PISA 2009 Technical Report describes those methodologies, along with other features that have enabled PISA to provide high quality data to support policy formation and review. The descriptions are provided at a level that will enable review and, potentially, replication of the implemented procedures and technical solutions to problems. This report contains a description of the theoretical underpinning of the complex techniques used to create the PISA 2009 Database, which …

Case 6: Armidale High School, Nsw - Backtrack Community Partnership, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Tender Bridge

Armidale High School is a comprehensive, partially selective high school in Armidale, NSW. The school has about 90 Aboriginal students out of a total school population of just over 600. The school has a range of community partnerships that have been initiated to cater for a wide variety of student career transition programs. Armidale High School (AHS) and BackTrack Youth Works (BYW) have had a strong partnership since 2006, when BackTrack first started working with young Indigenous people in Armidale. Since BackTrack began running programs at AHS, there has been a documentable increase in the number of young people who …

Case 5: Two Rocks Primary School, Western Australia, Emma Curtin

Tender Bridge

Tender Bridge subscriber Two Rocks Primary School have been successful in securing funding for a range of projects over the last two years to support its Strategic Plan. Eliza Yeo, Teacher, Media and Marketing Officer at the school, spoke to the Tender Bridge team about the school’s programs and why she believed they had been so successful in securing additional resources through grant seeking.

Highlights From Timss & Pirls 2011 From Australia’S Perspective, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Nicole Wernert, Marina Schmid, Sarah Buckley, Ann Munene

TIMSS 2011 and PIRLS 2011

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) are international studies directed by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement), an independent international cooperative of national research institutions and government agencies that has been conducting studies of crossnational achievement in a wide range of subjects since 1959. In Australia, TIMSS and PIRLS are implemented by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), which is Australia’s representative to the IEA. In Australia, TIMSS is part of the National Assessment Program.

TIMSS has been conducted at Year 4 and …

Monitoring Australian Year 8 Student Achievement Internationally : Timss 2011, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Nicole Wernert

TIMSS 2011 and PIRLS 2011

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2011) is an international study directed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). In Australia, TIMSS was managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and funded by the Australian and state and territory governments.

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different educational systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices and to enable this, TIMSS collects …

Monitoring Australian Year 4 Student Achievement Internationally : Timss And Pirls 2011, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Nicole Wernert, Marina Schmid, Sarah Buckley, Ann Munene

TIMSS 2011 and PIRLS 2011

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) are international studies directed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). In Australia, the studies were managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and funded by the Australian and state and territory governments.

TIMSS and PIRLS share the goal of providing comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning (in mathematics and science at Year 4 and Year 8 using TIMSS and in reading at Year 4 using PIRLS). They also provide …

Australian Core Skills Framework (Acsf), Philippa Mclean, Kate Perkins, David Tout, Kath Brewer, Linda Wyse

Transition and Post-School Education and Training

The Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) provides a rich, detailed picture of real life performance in the five core skills of: Learning, Reading, Writing, Oral Communication and Numeracy.

These skills are essential for individuals to participate effectively in our society. They are inextricably interwoven into all parts of our lives, being directly or indirectly linked to the physical, social and economic wellbeing of individuals, workplace productivity and safety, community interaction and capacity, and ultimately to Australia’s economic and community wellbeing. The ACSF reflects contemporary use of English in Australia.

The ACSF has been developed to facilitate a consistent national approach …

Acer 2011-2012 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Iccs 2009 Asian Report : Civic Knowledge, Attitudes, And Engagement Among Lower-Secondary Students In Five Asian Countries, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

This report describes results from the Asian regional module of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). The five countries from the Asian region that participated in the international study—Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand—also participated in the Asian regional module. Each of these countries is located in either eastern or southeastern Asia. The report focuses on aspects of particular relevance for this geographic region, and should be viewed as part of the broader set of publications from ICCS. ICCS investigates the ways in which countries prepare their young people to undertake their …