Education Commons^™

Leaders Acting To Improve Outcomes For Indigenous Students, Paul Hughes, Susan Matthews, Gavin Khan

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

This paper is by three educators who are Indigenous people with extensive experience in Indigenous education. They discuss the actions of school leaders needed to address the limited outcomes being achieved by the majority of Indigenous school students. A feature of this paper is the reflections of Gavin Khan and Susan Matthews on their experiences as Principals of schools with majority Aboriginal student enrolments. The paper takes the Australian Principals Association Professional Development Council - ‘L5 Frame for School Leadership’- and adds an Indigenous focus to the L5 Frame from their ‘Dare To Lead’ project. The L5 states: • Leadership …

The Leadership Challenge : Improving Learning In Schools (Conference Proceedings), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

This conference addressed key issues related to building leadership in schools that makes a difference to student learning outcomes. It provided news about the latest research on leadership practices that enable conditions for quality teaching and student learning. It also stimulated discussion about the resources and conditions that need to be in place if effective forms of leadership are to flower and be sustained in our schools.

The proceedings from the conference can be downloaded from thsis page. The slides accompanying the papers presented by various guest speakers are presented as Related Documents (below).

Moral Purpose And Shared Leadership: The Leaders Transforming Learning And Learners Pilot Study, Michael Bezzina

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

Shared leadership in education has been the focus of a great deal of activity, but less attention has been paid to shared moral purpose and to the connection between it and shared leadership in the pursuit of learning. The Leaders Transforming Learning and Learners (LTLL) pilot program set out to explore this gap. This paper presents some of the emerging understandings from the pilot, drawing in particular on focus group interviews, journals and web-based discussions as a source of data. The study reinforces the importance of shared moral purpose, but emphasises the need for explicitness which is supported through a …

Acer Enews 01 January 2007, Acer

ACER eNews Archive 2001-2013

No abstract provided.

Authoritative Leadership, Action Learning And Student Accomplishment, Stephen Dinham

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

There is a vast body of research confirming the important influence of the classroom teacher on student achievement. A key issue then, is that of how the quality of teaching and learning within individual classrooms can be influenced and improved. Based upon findings from a range of research projects investigating aspects of quality teaching, it is argued that two key, related influences on classroom achievement are educational leadership and teachers' professional learning. This paper concentrates mainly on the former. Educational leadership, like teaching and life generally, is heavily dependent upon relationships. There are two fundamental dimensions to relationships: responsiveness and …

The Impact Of Leadership On Student Outcomes: Making Sense Of The Evidence, Viviane Robinson

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

Published empirical research was used to synthesise the evidence about the impact of different types of leadership on students’ academic and non-academic outcomes. The first analysis involved a comparison of the effects of transformational and instructional leadership on student outcomes. The second involved the inductive development of five sets of leadership practices and the estimation of the magnitude of their effects. The comparison of the effects of instructional and transformational leadership indicated that the effect of the former is consistently and notably larger than the effect of the latter type of leadership. The second analysis revealed five leadership dimensions that …

Research On The Practice Of Instructional And Transformational Leadership: Retrospect And Prospect, Philip Hallinger

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

The past 25 years have witnessed the emergence of new conceptual models. In contrast with many earlier leadership models applied to school administration, these models focus explicitly on the manner in which leadership exercised by school administrators and teachers brings about improved educational outcomes. Two of the foremost models, as measured by the number of empirical studies, are instructional leadership and transformational leadership. This paper will synthesize findings from research on these models in an attempt to understand what we have learned about learner-centered leadership.

Quality Australian Evidence On Leadership For Improved Learning, Bill Mulford

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

Where do those in schools start sorting the wheat from the chaff, genuine growth potions offering long-term improvement from the elixirs, shortterm opportunism and/or unrealistic expectations? The current and growing emphasis on evidence informed policy and practice is as good a place as any. The purpose of this paper is to take up the issues of the complexity and predictive validity of evidence, the need for evidence to be complex enough to come close to the reality faced by Australian schools and evidence that seeks to link leadership and student outcomes. Arising from detailed qualitative and quantitative research, two models …

Leadership For Radical Transformation In School Education, Brian Caldwell

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

There are now high expectations in Australia and comparable countries for the reform of school education. Change on the scale of transformation is required, that is, significant, systematic and sustained change that secures success for all students in all settings. It is evident that such an outcome can only be achieved if there is a dramatic increase in resources, but this does not mean an exclusive reliance on more money (financial capital), although this is important. Intellectual capital, social capital and spiritual capital are also important. Building strength in each and securing their alignment have profound implications for leadership and …

Standards For Teaching : Theoretical Underpinnings And Applications, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Lawrence Ingvarson

Teaching standards and teacher evaluation

The primary purpose of this report was to conduct a critical review of the literature on the application of professional standards to teachers' practice. The New Zealand Teachers Council provided the following questions in the Request for Proposals to guide the review: Where, in the complex mix of factors that can support teachers' professional capacity, do professional standards sit? How can standards support teacher learning? What are the benefits, costs and harms? Which models enhance and which detract from teachers' professional learning and the profession's overall capacity? Can the documented strengths of working with professional standards be gained in other …

Research Digest Edition 2007/1 : Writing To Learn, Marion Meiers, Pat Knight

Research Digest

This edition of the Research Digest summarises key research studies that provide evidence of the potential of writing-to-learn approaches in improving student learning in a range of subject areas. The research tells us that writing-to-learn strategies can be used by any teacher, in all subject areas, and at all levels of schooling. Throughout the digest there are descriptions of a range of writing-to-learn strategies that demonstrate possibilities for classroom practice. This research digest is based on searches of a number of databases and bibliographic resources, including the Australian Education Index, ERIC, Education Research Complete, British Education Index and Scopus. The …

Student Use Of, And Engagement With, Information Technology, John Ainley, Laura Engers

Digital learning research

The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has changed the nature of the learning environments experienced by school students. ... The connection between the learner and the learning environment is central to understanding how virtual learning environments motivate or engage students... The research literature on engagement in general has distinguished between three forms of engagement; behavioural, emotional and cognitive. These distinctions provide a means by which students? engagement with information technology can be described. Behavioural engagement refers to participation (both how much and in what forms) in technology-related activities. In this context behavioural engagement pre-supposes opportunities to engage with …

Is School Wide Adoption Of Ict Change For The Better?, Katherine Dix

Shannon Research Press

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in schools is now an intrinsic part of students’ learning, both inside and outside the classroom. The adoption and impact of ICT on teaching practice and learning outcomes has been a source of keen interest among government policy makers, school leaders, teachers and researchers worldwide. Few empirical studies have been conducted in Australia, or worldwide, that focus on student attitudinal outcomes framed within a design-based paradigm that spans several years. The overarching purpose of this study is to investigate longitudinal change in school climate through its influence on students and teachers, during …

Annual Report 2007 Australian College Of Educators, Australian College Of Educators

Australian College of Educators - National

No abstract provided.

The Vit Program For Supporting Provisionally Registered Teachers : Evaluation Of Implementation In 2005., Lawrence Ingvarson, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Siek Toon Khoo, Jenny Wilkinson

Initial Teacher education

The VIT’s Program for Supporting Provisionally Registered Teachers and its registration procedures are increasingly seen as valid and fair. The Program is generally perceived as leading to improvements in teaching practice. Principals and mentors were very positive about the program, and consistently reported high levels of satisfaction with its implementation. Research has repeatedly found that significant reforms are often accompanied by a degree of unease and resistance, and this has been the case with the introduction of the VIT standards and registration requirements. School leaders play a vital role in leading their schools through these changes. This study has found …

Acer Conquest Version 2.0: Generalised Item Response Modelling Software, Margaret L. Wu, Ray J. Adams, Mark R. Wilson, Samuel A. Haldane

Measurement and statistics

No abstract provided.

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2005, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Chris Freeman, Ministerial Council On Education, Employment, Training And Youth Affairs (Mceetya)

ICT - Digital Literacy

Australia's national goals for schooling assert that when students leave school they should be: confident, creative and productive users of new technologies, particularly information and communication technologies, and understand the impact of those technologies on society. The Australian National Assessment Program includes the systematic assessment of the extent to which this goal is being achieved through triennial sample surveys of students in Years 6 and 10. This report is based on the assessment of ICT literacy conducted in October 2005. It describes the development of a computer-based tool for assessing ICT literacy among school students and the application of that …

Acer 2006-2007 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Year 12 Curriculum Content And Achievement Standards, Gabrielle Matters, Geoff N. Masters

Assessment and Reporting

This study provides the first Australia-wide picture of what is expected of students taking five subjects—English (including Literature), Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Australian History—in the final years of secondary school. The study addresses three broad questions: What is currently taught in these five subjects across Australia? This question is addressed through an analysis of the content of senior school curricula in the five subjects in all Australian states and territories. The study documents similarities and differences in approaches and in the content (subject matter and skills/understandings) emphasised in state and territory curriculum documents. What is the 'essential' content (subject matter …

Research On The Progressive Achievement Tests And Academic Achievement In Schools, Gerard Fogarty

Assessment and Reporting

This report presents three studies examining research conducted in Queensland on Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) published by Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). In study 1 ‘Predictive Validity of the Progressive Achievement Tests for Boys’, a battery of tests was used to assess vocabulary, comprehension, and numeracy skill levels of students commencing study at a regional high school. The tests were used as a screening tool to identify students who might benefit from additional instruction and also to select high achieving students for participation in extension work, maths competitions, and the like. Test results were later correlated with performance in …

Acer Enews 12 December 2006, Acer

ACER eNews Archive 2001-2013

No abstract provided.

Early Childhood Education : Pathways To Quality And Equity For All Children, Alison Elliott

Australian Education Review

AER 50 calls for a coherent, long-term national action plan and timeline to develop and implement an integrated, well-funded, regulated and managed system of early childhood education and care with clear goals, priorities and outcomes. The review describes the current provision of early childhood services in Australia and examines relevant policy. It also provides an overview of the early childhood education research, in Australia and internationally, and uses this body of work to identify and illuminate the central issues.

Acer Enews 11 November 2006, Acer

ACER eNews Archive 2001-2013

No abstract provided.

Australian Students Achievement In The Timss 2002 Mathematics Cognitive Domains, Sue Thomson

TIMSS Australia Monograph Series

The TIMSS assessment materials are organised on the basis of two domains: a content domain and a cognitive domain. The content domain describes the content that is intended to be assessed; while the cognitive domain describes the cognitive abilities students use to answer the items. The content domains are fairly consistently and readily found in the curricula of the participating countries, and are the subject of the major international and national reports for TIMSS. Developing reliable and valid achievement scales for the cognitive domains is not as straightforward, and differences among students across and within countries in their mathematical knowledge …

Acer Enews 10 October 2006, Acer

ACER eNews Archive 2001-2013

No abstract provided.

Acer Enews 09 September 2006, Acer

ACER eNews Archive 2001-2013

No abstract provided.

Standards For School Leadership : A Critical Review Of The Literature, Lawrence Ingvarson, Michelle Anderson, Peter Gronn, Andrew Jackson

Teaching standards and teacher evaluation

This document contains the review of literature, which maps recent and current developments in relation to standards for school leadership, professional learning and purposes for standards, such as professional development and certification, in Australia and overseas. It also provides a brief review of contemporary theory and research on leadership relevant to leadership standards. There is widespread concern about the recruitment, preparation, continuing professional development and recognition of school leaders. Leadership standards are a central component of most proposals for addressing these concerns.

Acer Enews 08 August 2006, Acer

ACER eNews Archive 2001-2013

No abstract provided.

Teacher Education Accreditation : A Review Of National And International Trends And Practices, Lawrence Ingvarson, Alison Elliott, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Phillip Mckenzie

Initial Teacher education

In June 2005 the National Institute for Quality Teaching and School Leadership commissioned ACER to conduct a project to provide advice on developing a national system for the accreditation of pre-service teacher education programs. The project brief fell into two main sections. The first was to conduct a literature review examining: (a) Current accreditation and course approval policies and practices in Australia to identify similarities and differences and implications for a national accreditation system; (b) Developments in the accreditation of teacher education programs in other countries and whether any of the identified approaches could provide a basis for a national …

Acer Enews 07 July 2006, Acer

ACER eNews Archive 2001-2013

No abstract provided.