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Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

2019

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Articles 1 - 30 of 80

Full-Text Articles in Education

Performance In First Year Mathematics And Science Subjects In Australian Universities: Does Senior Secondary Mathematics Background Matter? Final Report, Julie Mcmillan, Daniel Edwards Dec 2019

Performance In First Year Mathematics And Science Subjects In Australian Universities: Does Senior Secondary Mathematics Background Matter? Final Report, Julie Mcmillan, Daniel Edwards

Higher education research

This study explores the extent to which study of mathematics in senior secondary school is a predictor of success in core mathematics and science subjects in the first year of university. The study looked at 16,436 first year students in biology chemistry mathematics and physics from twelve universities covering a range of types. It looked at their pass rates against the level of mathematics that they studied in year 12, including whether they had studied any mathematics of significance to a science degree. The study findings show that, in general, those who study higher levels of mathematics at year 12 …

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Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume I Student Performance, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid Dec 2019

Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume I Student Performance, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative study of student performance directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures the cumulative outcomes of education by assessing how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, are prepared to use the knowledge and skills in particular areas to meet real-life opportunities and challenges. The term literacy is attached to the assessment domains of reading, mathematics and science to reflect the focus on these broader skills and as a concept it is used in a much …

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Pisa 2018 In Brief I. Student Performance, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid Dec 2019

Pisa 2018 In Brief I. Student Performance, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

This document provides a summary of student performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 assessment and tells us about their capacities to apply knowledge and skills in the domains of reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy. In 2018, 79 countries and economies including Australia participated in PISA. The focus of this report is Australia’s performance results in an international context. It covers Australia’s performance over time, results for the Australian states and territories, school sectors, female and male students, the geographic location of schools, socioeconomic background, Indigenous background, immigrant background and language spoken at home.

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Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume I Student Performance: Data Tables [Excel] [Data Set], Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid Dec 2019

Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume I Student Performance: Data Tables [Excel] [Data Set], Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

This zipped excel file is the data behind the figures and tables in the report: PISA 2018: Reporting Australia’s Results. Volume I Student Performance. They cover Australian student performance in reading literacy, reading literacy subscales, mathematical literacy and reading literacy.

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School Resourcing: What Hinders Quality Instruction?, Sue Thomson Dec 2019

School Resourcing: What Hinders Quality Instruction?, Sue Thomson

Teacher columnist - Sue Thomson

It was recently reported in the media that, in a survey of about 1000 parents, 88 per cent rated the level of resources available at their children’s school as at least adequate. Of course, parents’ views are only one perspective.

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Reporting Student Learning, Hilary Hollingsworth, Jonathan Heard Dec 2019

Reporting Student Learning, Hilary Hollingsworth, Jonathan Heard

NSW Curriculum Review

This paper is one of six research ‘backgrounders’ to support the 2018–20 review of the New South Wales (NSW) curriculum. It focuses on reporting student learning, which has been identified as an area of interest in the review. This paper seeks to present an evidence base, based on a rapid review of relevant research literature, to inform considerations related to student reporting practice reform.

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Communicating Student Learning Progress: A Review Of Student Reporting In Australia, Hilary Hollingsworth, Jonathan Heard, Paul R. Weldon Nov 2019

Communicating Student Learning Progress: A Review Of Student Reporting In Australia, Hilary Hollingsworth, Jonathan Heard, Paul R. Weldon

Assessment and Reporting

The Communicating Student Learning Progress project was initiated to investigate questions relating to the effectiveness of current methods of communicating student progress, the extent to which they are valued by stakeholders, whether they are considered to provide quality information about student learning, and whether there are alternative designs for these activities that might be more effective. The project took place over a three-year period from July 2016 to June 2019.

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Communicating Student Learning Progress: A Review Of Student Reporting In Australia. Findings In Brief, Hilary Hollingsworth, Jonathan Heard, Paul R. Weldon Nov 2019

Communicating Student Learning Progress: A Review Of Student Reporting In Australia. Findings In Brief, Hilary Hollingsworth, Jonathan Heard, Paul R. Weldon

Assessment and Reporting

The Communicating Student Learning Progress project was initiated to investigate questions relating to the effectiveness of current methods of communicating student progress, the extent to which they are valued by stakeholders, whether they are considered to provide quality information about student learning, and whether there are alternative designs for these activities that might be more effective. The project took place over a three-year period from July 2016 to June 2019.

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The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program: Thinking Globally In A Regional Context, Unicef, Southeast Asian Ministers Of Education Organization (Seameo) Nov 2019

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program: Thinking Globally In A Regional Context, Unicef, Southeast Asian Ministers Of Education Organization (Seameo)

Assessment and Reporting

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) program is a regional assessment that aims to set a common approach to assessing the learning outcomes of students at Grade 5. As an alternative to international large-scale assessments and national assessments, SEA-PLM has developed a set of assessment and survey instruments for the Southeast Asian region. Designed to be a system-level monitoring tool of educational quality and equity, SEA-PLM covers four domains: mathematics, reading, writing and global citizenship. The assessment also includes questionnaires that gather important contextual information from students, parents, teachers and school principals. A key feature of the SEA-PLM assessment …

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What Do Schools Want From Engagement With Business?, Sheldon Rothman Nov 2019

What Do Schools Want From Engagement With Business?, Sheldon Rothman

Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation

In recent years there have been policy discussions of the potential value of businesses engaging in the school education sector. However, the voice of educators is rarely heard and teachers’ perspective is vital to understanding what would ensure positive outcomes from such engagement. This research addresses this by engaging directly with school leaders and teachers around what they want from engagement with business, including reflections on experiences to date.

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The Science Of Social And Emotional Learning, Anantha Kumar Duraiappah, Nandini Chatterjee Singh Nov 2019

The Science Of Social And Emotional Learning, Anantha Kumar Duraiappah, Nandini Chatterjee Singh

Teacher India

Integration of social and emotional learning promises to be a win-win for education. This article discusses the importance of adopting a whole-brain approach to learning.

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Preparing For Life In A Digital World: The Iea International Computer And Information Literacy Study 2018 International Report, Julian Fraillon, John Ainley, Wolfram Schulz, Tim Friedman, Daniel Duckworth Nov 2019

Preparing For Life In A Digital World: The Iea International Computer And Information Literacy Study 2018 International Report, Julian Fraillon, John Ainley, Wolfram Schulz, Tim Friedman, Daniel Duckworth

ICT - Digital Literacy

The second cycle of ICILS in 2018 (ICILS 2018) continued to investigate students’ computer and information literacy (CIL) and also investigated students’ computational thinking (CT). This dimension involves conceptualising problems (through algorithmic or systems thinking) and operationalising solutions (creating, implementing, and evaluating computer-based responses to problems). The inclusion of CT as an option in ICILS 2018 reflects recent interest by educators, researchers, and policymakers in the value of CT in schooling. ICILS 2018 studied how these components of digital competence related to each other and to the school and out-of-school contexts that support learning with and about computer technology. This …

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Volunteerism - Sowing Seeds Early, Geeta S. Shetty Nov 2019

Volunteerism - Sowing Seeds Early, Geeta S. Shetty

Teacher India

Volunteerism is a concept of social activity that is based on the philosophy of free will. The seeds of volunteerism need to be sown early in life to ensure that the future generations are empowered for social advocacy. This article throws light on the concept of volunteerism and its implications for social accountability of learners.

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Critical Thinking And Problem-Solving, Amy Lightfoot Nov 2019

Critical Thinking And Problem-Solving, Amy Lightfoot

Teacher India

How can teachers help learners become critical thinkers and problem solvers while ensuring that they acquire the necessary knowledge for each subject?

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The Politics Of Gender, Caste, And Education In India, Vimala Ramachandran Nov 2019

The Politics Of Gender, Caste, And Education In India, Vimala Ramachandran

Teacher India

India has a long history of gender and caste-based discrimination and subordination that influences access to education. The country has made significant advances but a lot more needs to be done.

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The Teaching And Learning International Survey 2018. Australian Report Volume 1: Teachers And School Leaders As Lifelong Learners, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman Nov 2019

The Teaching And Learning International Survey 2018. Australian Report Volume 1: Teachers And School Leaders As Lifelong Learners, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman

OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) collects internationally comparable data on the learning environment and the working conditions of teachers and principals in schools across the world. The results of the survey continue to provide valid, timely and comparable information from the perspective of school practitioners to help countries review and define policies for developing a high-quality teaching profession. Australia’s participation in TALIS 2018 was managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). A total of 6603 teachers and 453 principals from a representative sample of primary and secondary schools across Australia participated in TALIS 2018. This …

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Quality-Focused Interventions In Early Childhood Education And Care (Ecec) In Economically Developing Countries, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz Nov 2019

Quality-Focused Interventions In Early Childhood Education And Care (Ecec) In Economically Developing Countries, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz

Monitoring Learning

Quality-focused early childhood education and care (ECEC) interventions are aimed at improving the quality of an existing intervention, service or program. These studies are of particular interest in the current global ECEC context as the emphasis on early childhood services shifts from access and participation to quality. Quality encompasses many aspects of an ECEC program, including structural dimensions and process dimensions. Structural dimensions cover infrastructure and resources, training for personnel and adult-child ratios. Process dimensions cover adult-child interactions, and opportunities for play and exploration. The 20 quality-focused interventions in ECEC identified for this review (of a total of 109 studies; …

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Integrated Interventions In Early Childhood Education And Care (Ecec) In Economically Developing Countries, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz Nov 2019

Integrated Interventions In Early Childhood Education And Care (Ecec) In Economically Developing Countries, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz

Monitoring Learning

Integrated interventions combine multiple services or supports across different agencies in health, social welfare, employment services and education. Such interventions are typically larger in scale than those in other categories (e.g. parent- or child focused ECEC interventions), requiring collaboration or coordination of multiple service providers within the community. Integrated interventions are regarded as the most effective way to address young children’s learning and development and break inter-generational cycles of poverty. Four integrated interventions in ECEC were identified for this review (of a total of 109 studies) which required studies to examine links to children’s development outcomes, resulting in available evidence …

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Learning Practice Guide, Jen Jackson, Kate Noble, Jeanne Marie Iorio, Dan Cloney, Pru Mitchell Oct 2019

Learning Practice Guide, Jen Jackson, Kate Noble, Jeanne Marie Iorio, Dan Cloney, Pru Mitchell

Early Childhood Education

The first section of this Learning Practice Guide reminds early childhood professionals of the theory and pedagogy that underpins day-to-day practice, and helps them find ways to recognise children’s confidence and involvement in learning as a key component of their professional practice. The second section describes eight scenarios to prompt professional reflection, and illustrate ways in which early childhood professionals can improve their practice in relation to the VEYLDF Learning and Development Outcome: Children are confident and involved learners.

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Developing Creativity And Imagination Skills, Amy Lightfoot Oct 2019

Developing Creativity And Imagination Skills, Amy Lightfoot

Teacher India

Cultivating creativity among students is widely acknowledged as an essential prerequisite for 21st century success. In this article, the author discusses how teachers can help foster creativity in the classroom.

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Nurturing Wonder And Igniting Passion: Designs For A Future School Curriculum. Nsw Curriculum Review Interim Report, Geoff N. Masters Oct 2019

Nurturing Wonder And Igniting Passion: Designs For A Future School Curriculum. Nsw Curriculum Review Interim Report, Geoff N. Masters

NSW Curriculum Review

This report is an interim report of the New South Wales Curriculum Review. This review has concluded that change is required. The changes proposed by the Review are significant. They relate to the amount and nature of syllabus content, the overall structure of the curriculum, and the focus of learning in the senior years of school. It has been produced as a progress report and a basis for consultation on the broad directions it identifies.

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Revision Or Re-Vision: Exploring Approaches To The Differentiation Of Qualification Types In The Australian Qualifications Framework, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown, Paul R. Weldon, Louise Wignall Oct 2019

Revision Or Re-Vision: Exploring Approaches To The Differentiation Of Qualification Types In The Australian Qualifications Framework, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown, Paul R. Weldon, Louise Wignall

Transition and Post-School Education and Training

In March 2019, the Department of Education commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to conduct a conceptual analysis of the most appropriate way to develop and present a taxonomy of learning outcomes within a qualifications framework; and a technical analysis and revision of the Knowledge, Skills and Application of Knowledge and Skills descriptors used in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Later this was extended to development of two alternative models that: (a) reflect the new conceptual base developed in Part I; (b) comprise a set of revised domain definitions (along with a new typology for each domain); and …

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Assessing Social And Emotional Skills, Sue Thomson Sep 2019

Assessing Social And Emotional Skills, Sue Thomson

Teacher columnist - Sue Thomson

In this edited version of her presentation at ACER’s Research Conference Dr Sue Thomson looks at the assessment of social and emotional skills in an increasingly fast-changing and diverse world.

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Young People’S Expectations To Participate In Legal And Illegal Activities To Express Their Opinions: Findings From Iccs 2016, Wolfram Schulz Sep 2019

Young People’S Expectations To Participate In Legal And Illegal Activities To Express Their Opinions: Findings From Iccs 2016, Wolfram Schulz

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

In reference to the theory of planned behaviour which links attitudes to action through intentions (Ajzen, 2001; Ajzen, & Fishbein, 2000), the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016 (Schulz et al., 2018) measured students’ intentions to engage in the future and developed items measuring students’ beliefs about their likelihood of civic engagement in the future. This paper focuses on young people’s expectations to participate in legal or illegal activities (as “unconventional” forms of engagements) to express their opinions. This paper uses data from 14 European countries that participated in the recent IEA study ICCS 2016 to explore the …

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Measuring The Value Of Professional Indexing, Philip Hider, Pru Mitchell, Robert Parkes Sep 2019

Measuring The Value Of Professional Indexing, Philip Hider, Pru Mitchell, Robert Parkes

Information Management

This study provides both a quantitative estimate and qualitative analysis of the additional ‘retrieval power’ that professionally assigned subject indexing affords users of a typical database in the field of education. A full version of Informit’s A+ Education database and one stripped of its subject indexing were searched by four research assistants tasked with compiling exhaustive bibliographies on forty-eight topics. The searchers were then surveyed about their use of the two databases, while their bibliographies and search logs were also examined. A two-way ANOVA model was constructed to estimate the percentage of additional resources found by the searchers on the …

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Measurement Of Young Children's Learning For Program Evaluation, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz Sep 2019

Measurement Of Young Children's Learning For Program Evaluation, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz

Monitoring Learning

The global commitment to early learning has been expressed in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals Agenda (SDG) (United Nations, 2016) and access to support for early learning is considered a human right for all children, whether provided by the family, community, or institutional programs (UNESCO, 2013). Inadequate cognitive stimulation has been identified as one of the key psychosocial risk factors associated with poor child development – a factor that is modifiable, with the right interventions (Walker et al., 2007). Thus, insights into how early learning supports may be delivered effectively in various contexts are essential. To explore the …

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Civic Knowledge And Expected Civic Engagement Among Lower-Secondary Students, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon Aug 2019

Civic Knowledge And Expected Civic Engagement Among Lower-Secondary Students, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

Based on survey data from the latest implementation of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), this paper explores the associations between students’ civic knowledge, their disposition to and involvement in civic engagement within the school and community context, and their willingness to engage in future civic activities as adults. The multivariate analyses also include factors related to resources for engagement, variables reflecting the psychological disposition towards engagement, and network-related variables in order to explain variation in expected electoral and active political participation. The results show that civic knowledge is related in different ways to expectations of future …

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Improving Young Children's Learning In Economically Developing Countries: What Works, Why, And Where? Scoping Review, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz Aug 2019

Improving Young Children's Learning In Economically Developing Countries: What Works, Why, And Where? Scoping Review, Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz

Monitoring Learning

This scoping review responds to the increasing interest in improving early childhood education and care (ECEC) in economically developing countries. It examines available research in relation to the question: What effective interventions have been implemented recently in economically developing countries to improve children’s learning in the years before school? As much of the research underpinning ECEC interventions has focused on economically developed countries, it is timely to review available research about the effectiveness of interventions in the economically developing world. The ECEC interventions were categorised as Income supplementation (n=8); Parent-focused interventions (n=37); Child-focused education and nurturing care (n=35); Integrated interventions …

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Education Expenditure In Australia, James Mahmud Rice, Daniel Edwards, Julie Mcmillan Jul 2019

Education Expenditure In Australia, James Mahmud Rice, Daniel Edwards, Julie Mcmillan

Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation

Australia invested $111.8 billion in education in 2015. The sources of this funding and the pathways it follows through various systems are complex. Rarely are all the components of this system captured in the one place. This report offers a detailed insight into investment in Australian education, capturing data from all levels – from early childhood to higher education – and all funding sources – the federal government, state governments, private contributions and the transfers that take place between these. The complex picture shown in this report offers an important reference point for policy-makers, educators, researchers and economists. It draws …

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International Graduate Outcomes Survey 2018 Final Report, Darren Matthews, Ali Radloff, Jo Doyle, Leyna Clarke Jul 2019

International Graduate Outcomes Survey 2018 Final Report, Darren Matthews, Ali Radloff, Jo Doyle, Leyna Clarke

Higher education research

The 2018 International Graduates Outcomes Survey (IGOS) provides an insight into international graduates from Australian universities post-study employment, work readiness, and reflections on course experiences, study motivation and overall satisfaction. Over 10,000 international students who graduated from an Australian university in the last decade (international graduates) were asked a range of questions about their current employment status and their opinions on their Australian qualification. In brief the results indicate that: 90 per cent of graduates who are available for employment are currently employed - incorporating 93 per cent who returned home and 85 percent who were still in Australia; 77 …

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