Education Commons^™

School Science Capacity: A Study Of Four Urban Catholic Grade Schools, Lara K. Smetana, Elizabeth R. Coleman

Journal of Catholic Education

Working from the view of schools as a system, and of school improvement as an ongoing journey (Hallinger & Heck, 2011; Jackson, 2000), this study investigated the perspectives of teacher leaders and principals from four metropolitan Catholic grade schools engaged in efforts to improve their school science programs. Built upon existing conceptualizations of school capacity, a model of school science capacity is presented and used as a framework for the development of four case studies. Findings gleaned from collecting and analyzing reports of teacher leaders’ and principals’ interpretations of their school systems illustrate how elements of the school science capacity …

Reflecting On Teacher Research On Assessment: Challenges And Innovations For The Future, Marie Brennan

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The theme of the 2015 Excellence in Professional Practice Conference (EPPC), held by ACER in May, was Improving assessments of student learning. A review of content and presentations for EPPC showed up some important trends and issues for further analysis and discussion. In a significant number of schools, the focus on assessment was well integrated into an overall school improvement plan or approach. In other schools, the school process overwhelmed the focus on assessment, and at times even overshadowed the focus of the study to be shared. One group of presentations focused on using existing instruments in ways that advanced …

Leaders Of School Improvement Share The Journey, Sharon Clerke

Sharon Clerke

ACER's evaluation of ‘turnaround’ schools has revealed that strong school leaders do not undertake leadership alone, but build leadership capacity around them. Sharon Clerke reports.

Utilizing A Systematic Approach To Problem-Solving In The Elementary School Setting: A Program Evaluation Project, Edie Sohigian

Dissertations

Sunnyside Elementary School, an anonymous name, had a high number of discipline referrals. The purpose of this inquiry was to develop and follow an action plan to reduce behavior issues. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry, I collected discipline and academic achievement data as well as survey data to analyze the impact of the Eight-Step Problem-Solving Process on the rate of discipline referrals. Although the overall number of referrals increased, other significant findings were determined. The leadership team and faculty must be vested in the action plan as a priority in order to achieve positive results. It was …

Big Data In Education – An International Perspective, Robert Hassell, Sacha Develle

Dr Sacha DeVelle

The authors report on research they originally undertook for AISNSW, exploring how schools in Finland, Singapore, Japan and Ontario use data to inform improvements in student learning. These jurisdictions have regularly outperformed Australia in their results for PISA and other international assessments. The authors address: the types of data schools collect in the different jurisdictions and their explicit improvement agenda; how ‘big education data’ is used by schools; the future of data use, including ‘big data in education’; and exemplars of effective data use in schools. They identify implications emerging from their research and recommend future actions that are relevant …

Starting Coaching And Mentoring Conversations, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

Establishing the right conditions for coaching and mentoring programs helps ensure these conversations play an important role in a school's improvement agenda.

Addressing The Learning Needs Of All Students, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Year-level curriculum expectations in our schools sometimes impose artificial ceilings on student learning, and many of Australia’s most able students are not achieving their true potential as a result. Geoff Masters explains why.

Building A Culture Of Hope For At-Risk Students, Emily Louise Gibson, Robert D. Barr

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Presenters will share research on the school culture differences found between high-performing and low-performing high-poverty schools. Participants will learn about A Culture of Hope and the four Seeds of Hope. After learning explicit steps and strategies for collecting and using survey data, participants will practice using surveys to assess components of school culture, and develop additional survey questions relevant to individual circumstances.

Understanding And Addressing The Learning Needs Of Our Highest-Performing Students, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

No abstract provided.

An Effective School Improvement Framework: Using The National School Improvement Tool, Deborah Seifert, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young (Consultant)

This occasional paper of the Centre for Education Policy and Practice outlines how the National School Improvement Tool, developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER ) in collaboration with the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment is being used in Australian schools. The Tool is grounded in international research, and its nine domains focus schools on whole school improvement in teaching and learning. ACER’s school improvement team conducts reviews and training for reviewers across Australia, and report on several themes or success factors which emerge from the consultants’ reflections.

School Improvement On Australia’S Horizon, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

While Australia has seen a steady decline in 15-year-olds’ reading literacy achievement over the past decade, Geoff Masters identifies promising signs at the primary level that this trend may soon be reversed.

Shifting Professional Culture In Catholic Schools: A Case Study, Mariagnes Menden

Dissertations

This action research study explores the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at three Catholic schools in a large Midwestern Archdiocese and the impact on the schools' professional cultures. The three-article dissertation structure is used to reflect separately on the stages of problem identification, designing the solution, and implementing and evaluating the solution. The purpose of this project is to capture an insider's view of beginning the PLC journey.

Researchers first conducted problem-based consultations with principals and teacher leaders at the three schools in an effort to understand and define common barriers that prevented teacher collaboration and ownership of school …

Shifting Professional Culture In Catholic Schools: A Case Study, Sandria Morten

Dissertations

This action research study explores the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at three Catholic schools in a large Midwestern Archdiocese and the impact on the schools' professional cultures. The three-article dissertation structure is used to reflect separately on the stages of problem identification, designing the solution, and implementing and evaluating the solution. The purpose of this project is to capture an insider's view of beginning the PLC journey.

Researchers first conducted problem-based consultations with principals and teacher leaders at the three schools in an effort to understand and define common barriers that prevented teacher collaboration and ownership of school …

An Effective School Improvement Framework: Using The National School Improvement Tool, Deborah Seifert, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

School and system improvement

This occasional paper of the Centre for Education Policy and Practice outlines how the National School Improvement Tool, developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER ) in collaboration with the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment is being used in Australian schools. The Tool is grounded in international research, and its nine domains focus schools on whole school improvement in teaching and learning. ACER’s school improvement team conducts reviews and training for reviewers across Australia, and report on several themes or success factors which emerge from the consultants’ reflections.