Education Commons^™

Education Out Loud Case Study: School For Life, Alexander Towne, Sladana Krstic, Jolanda Butler

International Education Research

Children living in remote rural parts of Ghana experience inequality in basic education, in terms of both access and outcomes. This issue is particularly acute in the north of the country and for girls. For example, 30 percent of children in the north have no school nearby and 20 percent will never enroll. Furthermore, transparency and accountability within Ghana’s education system is weak. Generally, information is not disseminated in a way that is accessible to most citizens (for example it is not produced in a local language), which means they are denied the opportunity to understand and engage with the …

Education Out Loud Case Study: Iid, Alexander Towne, Sladana Krstic, Miriam Linder

International Education Research

The education system in Bangladesh has undergone significant change since the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. In 1973 the community-sponsored school system, in which communities felt a moral obligation to take an active role in schools, was transformed into a centralised national system. This caused a shift in the sense of ownership of the education system and a disconnect between community and school. This in turn led to the development of a system, which lacks accountability and community monitoring, and has left the system vulnerable to shocks that disproportionately affect already disadvantaged students. Nevertheless, there have been some notable …

Education Out Loud Case Study: The Gear Alliance, Alexander Towne, Sladana Krstic, Sam Boering

International Education Research

This case study is part of a larger body of work funded by the Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) Education Out Loud (EOL) programme. It explores the advocacy and policy influencing (API) activities of the GEAR Alliance, a transnational alliance of four East African civil society organisations (CSO) receiving funding from EOL, and the process, results and impact of action research project they conducted in partnership with MDF/ Australian Council for Education Research (ACER), an EOL ‘Global Learning Partner’ (GLP). EOL is the GPEs fund for advocacy and social accountability. The fund aims to support CSOs to be active and …

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder: Reframing The Possible Employment Outcomes Of Leaving Certificate Applied (Lca) Students From Disadvantaged Communities, Vicki O'Reilly

Journal of Franco-Irish Studies

Researching disadvantage can potentially make a difference to the lives of those who are involved. Can we research disadvantage without adding to an already negative narrative or appearing to be condescending? Application of Active Research as a methodology can bring an inclusive and participatory approach to studying disadvantage. Comprehension of the impact of theories such as social reproduction and possible selves, their interaction and how one could be used to counteract the other, will allow an opportunity for conversation around positive solutions. Through understanding the language used to describe disadvantage we can bring an openness to challenge how we look …

Analysis Of Early Childhood Education And Learning Outcomes In The Pacific, Dan Cloney, Yung Nietschke, Jeffery Marshall

Early Childhood Education

There is strong evidence supporting early childhood education (ECE) programmes as an effective way to support children to have the best start in life, especially for the most disadvantaged children. When high‐quality programmes are established – where quality is assured, and barriers to participation eliminated – large positive effects are observed that are sustained into adulthood. Indeed, substantial positive returns on public investment in ECE programmes are reported. When low‐quality programmes are taken to scale in the market, however, smaller effects or no effects are observed. This is attributed to failure to get quality right. And when quality is too …

Teacher Efficacy In High Performing Teachers: Barriers And Enablers For New Graduates, Dianne M. Toe, Lynette Longaretti

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teachers with a high sense of self-efficacy are more resilient to difficulties, experience greater job satisfaction and have higher expectations of their students. This study investigated teacher self-efficacy in high performing teachers at two points in their development: 1) as preservice teachers, halfway through their undergraduate degree using the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) 2) as new graduates through a qualitative interview focused on efficacy. These 24 teachers participated in the National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools program (NETDS) at Deakin University during their BEd (Primary) degree. They demonstrated lower self-efficacy than their peers in Efficacy …

Conceptualising Early Career Teachers’ Agency And Accounts Of Social Action In Disadvantaged Schools, Margaret Kettle, Bruce Burnett, Jo Lampert, Barbara Comber, Naomi Barnes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article examines the accounts of actions undertaken by Early Career Teachers (ECTs) recently graduated from a social justice-oriented Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program and employed in complex school settings with high levels of student diversity, disadvantage, and poverty. The study drew on theories of teacher agency and agency more broadly to examine the workshadowing observations of the teachers’ practice in classrooms augmented by their reflective accounts in interviews. The study found that the ECTs’ agency, or contextualised social action, can be conceptualised as temporally embedded social engagement directed at addressing their students’ cultural, social and academic needs. The teachers …

Using Assessment Data To Improve Equity: How Teachers Use Insights From The Scottish National Standardised Assessments, Sarah Richardson, Sladana Krstic

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Evidence-based decision-making is regarded as an important indicator of quality in schools around the world. Using data gathered from assessments, in conjunction with other insights, can help school leaders and teachers better meet the needs of learners. In schools that cater to disadvantaged learners, using data to design targeted interventions plays an important role in improving equity. In this paper we report on a study with five schools in Scotland. All schools had learner cohorts characterised by multiple layers of disadvantage. Informed by the theoretical underpinnings of sensemaking theory, we investigated how teachers and school leaders used data from the …

Vulnerable Learners In The Age Of Covid-19: A Scoping Review, Catherine F. Drane, Lynette Vernon, Sarah O’Shea

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020, The Author(s). This scoping review provides an overview of COVID-19 approaches to managing unanticipated school closures and available literature related to young people learning outside-of-school. A range of material has been drawn upon to highlight educational issues of this learning context, including psychosocial and emotional repercussions. Globally, while some countries opted for a mass school shut-down, many schools remained open for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This partial closure not only enabled learning in smaller targeted groups but also offered a safe sanctuary for those who needed a regulated and secure environment. In Australia, if full school closures were …

Global Education: The Caribbean Realm, Carson Moore

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper will explore the educational systems of four countries in the Caribbean region, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica, referenced as the focus countries. This will also compare these educational systems to the education system of the United States. In addition, this paper will also show a pilot research study conducted to evaluate how Americans view these four countries in the Caribbean realm and what they know about education in other countries as a whole, showing that Americans know very little about education in other parts of the world, and no even less about countries in the Caribbean …

Exploring Intersectional Typologies Of (Dis)Advantage In United States Medical School Applicants, Alison Howe

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Increasing diversity in the medical workforce is necessary to address public health needs and reduce health disparities, particularly in low-income and minority communities. The populations that experience these inequalities are the same populations that remain underrepresented in medicine. Research has demonstrated that social-concordance in the physician-patient dyad is associated with better patient outcomes and that students from underserved communities are more likely to return to practice in underserved areas. Despite academic medicine’s continued commitment to admitting and training diverse individuals to address health disparities and increase cultural competency in medical students, a three-decade trend of the majority of medical students …

Fostering Educational Inclusion: Reality Far Removed From Policy, Ashu Kapur

Teacher India

The ground realities of inclusive education narrate a sad story of discrimination. Ashu Kapur shares the findings of her recent study.

The Application Of The Specific Learning Disability Exclusionary Clause As Practiced By Virginia School Psychologists, Kaitlynn Carter

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

When special education eligibility is being determined under Specific Learning Disability, the exclusionary clause needs to be carefully considered. The current study was concerned with the exclusions of cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage, and limited English proficiency. The study used a semi-structured interview to explore when and how the exclusionary clause is considered by school psychologists in Virginia and what type of impact it has on eligibility decisions. Ten school psychologists were contacted via the email database of the Virginia Department of Education and completed a phone interview. Grounded theory was used to investigate the themes and ideas regarding …

Basic Education: Foundation Level, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Education Analytics Service

The purpose of this module is to provide introductory information about the importance, structure, purpose, key issues and outcomes of basic education. It provides a foundation to engage in this topic and apply advice from staff with operational or expert levels of knowledge in education. On successful completion you will be able to be an informed participant in forums related to basic education.

Basic Education: Practitioner Level, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Education Analytics Service

This Practitioner level module is designed to ensure that Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) staff members who engage with and lead policy dialogue with international and domestic partners are informed about effective strategies for implementing basic education and key priorities in basic education. It is recommended that staff complete the Basic Education: Foundation level module as background information to this Practitioner level module. Topics covered by this module include definitions of basic education, how can we develop effective strategies for implementing basic education, key priorities in basic education and basic education post-2015.

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Australian Education Review

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Jacynta Krakouer

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Suzanne Mellor

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

Investigating The Relationship Between Equity And Graduate Outcomes In Australia, Sarah Richardson, Dawn Bennett, Lynne Roberts

Dr Sarah Richardson

Australian higher education equity policy focusses mostly on access and participation with the implicit assumption that disadvantage will be ameliorated through educational achievement. Less is known as to whether patterns of disadvantage continue post-completion. In a context in which graduate employability is becoming an important yardstick against which to measure institutional effectiveness, this question is of fundamental importance to higher education equity practitioners and policymakers. This study employed Commonwealth graduate outcome data to investigate relationships between disadvantage and graduate outcomes in Australia, with disadvantage defined as a graduate belonging to one or more of the following groups – low SES, …

The Influences Of Opportunity. Differences In Children's Play Choices Across Diverse Communities In Ireland, D O'Connor, V O'Rourke, C Robinson Mcgunnigle, M Mccormack

Education Conference Papers

This paper presents findings from The Irish Neighbourhood Play Project; a research study initiated by IT Sligo and Early Childhood Ireland in 2012. The focus of this paper is on the data section which highlights children’s play choices and opportunities across socio-economic communities. The study incorporated almost 1800 families across 240 communities. Data was collected within disadvantaged communities, middle class communities and affluent communities. Where and what children are playing was investigated. The choices children and families make within play have a direct effect on the developing brain of the young child (Acar & Torquati, 2015). This, in turn, affects …

School Leaders’ Perspectives On Educating Teachers To Work In Vulnerable Communities: New Insights From The Coal Face, Lynette Longaretti, Dianne Toe

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Classroom teacher quality can significantly impact student learning outcomes. Increased access to skilled teachers in low socioeconomic status (SES) schools could substantially improve the learning outcomes and engagement levels of young people.

The National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools (NETDS) programme is a university based Teacher Education programme that has been implemented by Deakin University in the Geelong/Werribee area. It seeks to prepare high achieving pre-service teachers (PSTs) to teach in low SES school settings.

This project investigated the views of school leadership teams in low SES schools including their views of an exemplary teacher, and the understandings and skills …

Lighting Up Learning: Mathematics Becoming Less Of A 'Killer Subject' In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Marguerite Maher

Marguerite Maher

This paper reports the findings of an evaluative study of an initiative, in its sixth year of implementation, enhancing the learning and teaching of mathematics in 20 disadvantaged secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, twenty years after democracy. Findings highlight the importance of initial and ongoing professional development for under-qualified teachers. Support and strategies that have enhanced the achievement in mathematics of learners in these still under-resourced schools, are described.

Investigating The Relationship Between Equity And Graduate Outcomes In Australia, Sarah Richardson, Dawn Bennett, Lynne Roberts

Higher education research

Australian higher education equity policy focusses mostly on access and participation with the implicit assumption that disadvantage will be ameliorated through educational achievement. Less is known as to whether patterns of disadvantage continue post-completion. In a context in which graduate employability is becoming an important yardstick against which to measure institutional effectiveness, this question is of fundamental importance to higher education equity practitioners and policymakers. This study employed Commonwealth graduate outcome data to investigate relationships between disadvantage and graduate outcomes in Australia, with disadvantage defined as a graduate belonging to one or more of the following groups – low SES, …

Empowering Teachers And Learners: Strategies To Maximise Curriculum Potential And Counter Disadvantage In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Through The Khanyisa Initiative, M Maher, J Seach

Education Papers and Journal Articles

This paper first provides a discussion on disadvantage and what that means in an educational context. It then proposes a theoretical conceptualisation of curriculum highlighting that curriculum advantages some learners more than others on several levels. Finally, discussion then turns to an evaluative study of an initiative that is ongoing in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, involving disadvantaged learners and their teachers in under-resourced schools. Key findings from the study include effective ways the initiative found (a) to assist teachers in disadvantaged schools to keep abreast of changes to curriculum; (b) to empower teachers to promote their learners’ capacity to access the …

Lighting Up Learning: Mathematics Becoming Less Of A 'Killer Subject' In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Marguerite Maher

Education Papers and Journal Articles

This paper reports the findings of an evaluative study of an initiative, in its sixth year of implementation, enhancing the learning and teaching of mathematics in 20 disadvantaged secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, twenty years after democracy. Findings highlight the importance of initial and ongoing professional development for under-qualified teachers. Support and strategies that have enhanced the achievement in mathematics of learners in these still under-resourced schools, are described.

A Community To Call Home: An Analysis Of The Southern Youth And Family Services' (Syfs) Approaches To Reducing Youth Homelessness And Disadvantage, Lynne M. Keevers

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The NSW government's stated approach to the reduction and prevention of homelessness is focused on ensuring service approaches are evidenced-based and funding is needs-based (NSW Department of Family & Community Services, 2012). Despite the recognition of homelessness in the research and policy agenda, relatively little has been published about the practices effective in assisting young people to avoid or exit homelessness. The findings from this study build on previous research and inform this developing policy and research area by contributing to the evidence on what works well in supporting young people who are homeless or at risk ofhomelessness

Developing Capabilities For Social Inclusion: Engaging Diversity Through Inclusive School Communities, Linda J. Graham, Valerie Harwood

Valerie Harwood

The effort to make schools more inclusive, together with the pressure to retain students until the end of secondary school, has greatly increased both the number and educational requirements of students enrolling in their local school. Of critical concern, despite years of research and improvements in policy, pedagogy and educational knowledge, is the enduring categorisation and marginalization of students with diverse abilities. Research has shown that it can be difficult for schools to negotiate away from the pressure to categorise or diagnose such students, particularly those with challenging behaviour. In this paper, we highlight instances where some schools have responded …

Monitoring The Pathways And Outcomes Of People From Disadvantaged Backgrounds And Graduate Groups, Daniel Edwards, Hamish Coates

Dr Daniel Edwards

The development of a strong and vibrant knowledge economy is linked directly to successful learning outcomes among university graduates. Building evidence-based insights on graduate outcomes plays a particularly important role in shaping planning and practice. To this end, this paper analyses some key findings from the Graduate Pathways Survey, the first national study in Australia of bachelor degree graduates' outcomes five years after course completion. It focuses on the outcomes of graduates from disadvantaged groups, people of particular significance in an expanding and increasingly important higher education system. After advancing the rational for this analysis, the paper sketches the overall …

Developing Capabilities For Social Inclusion: Engaging Diversity Through Inclusive School Communities, Linda J. Graham, Valerie Harwood

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The effort to make schools more inclusive, together with the pressure to retain students until the end of secondary school, has greatly increased both the number and educational requirements of students enrolling in their local school. Of critical concern, despite years of research and improvements in policy, pedagogy and educational knowledge, is the enduring categorisation and marginalization of students with diverse abilities. Research has shown that it can be difficult for schools to negotiate away from the pressure to categorise or diagnose such students, particularly those with challenging behaviour. In this paper, we highlight instances where some schools have responded …

Where Next? A Study Of Work And Life Experiences Of Mature Students (Incl. Disadvantaged) In Three Higher Education Institutions, Aidan Kenny, Ted Fleming, Andrew Loxley, Fergal Finnegan

Other Resources

This study explores how graduates who entered college as mature students, and ‘disadvantaged’ mature students, view and value Higher Education after graduating with a primary degree. The study highlighted the limited usefulness of the concept of disadvantaged mature student and the findings of the research were not significantly different whether one was a mature student or a disadvantaged mature student. The rationale given by the state for supporting mature students in Higher Education (HE) is that it will yield economic and social benefits for both the students and society. As a consequence a wide range of access policies has been …