Secondary Education Commons^™

Lleap Dialogue Series (No.2) : A Practical Guide To Grow Your Ideas For Maximum Impact, Michelle Anderson, Emma Curtin

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

This Guide, number 2 in the series, has been designed as a user friendly tool that could be used by different groups within education and philanthropy to suit their needs (e.g. in the training of philanthropic program managers in education; in the development of educational projects in schools; or supporting school-philanthropic-not-for-profit collaborations). Included are two ‘think pieces’ around collaboration: one on socially intelligent schools by Bill Lucas; the other on philanthropy and Indigenous education by Tony Dreise. These are followed by frameworks and guiding principles; and specific tools, tips and strategies for improving collaboration and engagement. Fifteen cases are also …

Building A Culture For Partnering, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer), Schools Connect Australia

Tender Bridge

'Building a culture for partnering' has been developed because there is a growing body of evidence that shows that school-community partnerships are an effective tool for improving outcomes for students, but for many schools this presents a whole new way of thinking and working. The program has been developed with both primary and secondary schools in mind. Included in this publication are the aims and structure of the Building a Culture for Partnering program and its relationship to the Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework. Following this is a pre-program kit which outlines a number of activities and includes a …

Case 9: Tannum Sands State High School, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Tender Bridge

Tannum Sands State High School is a school of over 980 students in the coastal town of Tannum Sands on the Central East Coast of Queensland, just over 400kms north of Brisbane. The school has been a Tender Bridge subscriber since March 2013. Community Liaison Officer Carol Shuttleworth spoke to Tender Bridge about the school’s path to securing some new sporting facilities.

Lleap 2012 Survey Report : Schools, Not-For-Profits, Philanthropic Foundations And Trusts In Australia : Building Knowledge To Maximise The Impact Of Philanthropy In Education, Michelle Anderson, Emma Curtin

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

LLEAP – Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy began because of a widespread view that effective engagement of philanthropy in education was hampered, in many cases unnecessarily, by gaps in knowledge, understanding and ways of doing things better. LLEAP explores issues from the perspectives of philanthropic education grant making foundations and trusts, schools, and not-for-profits working with schools. One key part of LLEAP is a national annual survey.

In 2012, the LLEAP Survey received a total of 507 responses from 359 school (Government 69%; Independent 20%; Catholic 11%, from every state and territory), 87 not-for-profit and 61 philanthropic foundation or …

The On Track Survey 2012: The Destinations Of School Leavers In Victoria. Statewide Report, Sheldon Rothman, Catherine Underwood

Vocational, adult and professional education research

The On Track project was initiated in 2003. Since the first large-scale survey in that year, around 385,000 school leavers have participated in the On Track surveys, providing valuable insights into their post-school destinations and pathways. The On Track survey was conducted in April–May 2012 by the Social Research Centre (SRC) in collaboration with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). This involved a short telephone survey of school leavers who had earlier agreed to participate. Separate questionnaires were used for Year 12 or equivalent completers and early school leavers. This report is based on data from telephone surveys of …

Lleap Dialogue Series : Cases Companion Document, Michelle Anderson, Emma Curtin

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

Collaboration is not the destination. It is one strategy to advance a project of mutual interest and maximise its impact. It is one reflection of engagement, signalling the importance of mutual commitment in the relationship. It is one forum where learning, informal and formal, can take place. It is the one issue that came up again and again in the author’s fieldwork and reviews of effective philanthropic endeavour in education. The issue people wanted to know more about was how could we better connect with one another around an area of mutual interest? This companion document in the LLEAP Dialogue …

Lleap Dialogue Series : A Guide To Grow Your Ideas In Education For Maximum Impact, Michelle Anderson, Emma Curtin

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

This Guide and the companion case studies, report the largest assessment ever conducted in Australia of needs, interests, priorities, opportunities, achievements and challenges in the field of philanthropy in education. A notable feature is that, while the rank order may differ in small ways, the needs of schools and the priorities of the philanthropic sector lie in efforts to ensure that all students in all sectors succeed. This they seek to accomplish at a time when concerns are raised about the large gap in achievement of low and high performing students and when the challenge in transforming schooling in the …

Philanthropic Funding Eligibility Requirements, Catherine Brown

Tender Bridge

This two page document was developed to assist schools determine whether they are eligible to apply for a grant. The eligibility requirements often relate to the legal tax status of the applicant organisation. Outlined and explained are the key requirements and their impact on funding sources.

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

Vocational, adult and professional education research

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.

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 …

Leading Learning In Education And Philanthrophy : 2011 Survey Report, Michelle Anderson, Emma Curtin

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

The findings of the first national survey on philanthropy in education have confirmed that when it comes to grant seeking, those least equipped can often be the ones most in need, with nine out of ten Australian schools surveyed considering themselves novices at philanthropic grant seeking. The three-year Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP) project seeks to explore whether the full potential of funding and partnerships across the philanthropic and education sectors is being achieved. The 2011 Survey Report, released in November, uses the responses of 302 schools, not-for-profits, philanthropic foundations and trusts to help form a clearer picture …

Analysis Of Year 12 Or Certificate Ii Attainment Of Indigenous Young People – Stage 1 : A Report Prepared For The Council Of Australian Governments Reform Council, John Ainley, Sarah Buckley, Adrian Beavis, Sheldon Rothman, Alice Tovey

Indigenous Education Research

The purpose of this paper is to assist the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council to analyse performance information relating to the Year 12 or Certificate II attainment of Indigenous young people and to understand better variations in performance across jurisdictions. As part of these analyses variations over time within each jurisdiction have been reported. The analyses use existing data sources. No new data have been collected. There are four strands to this work:

1. a statistical overview of educational attainments and participation;
2. multivariate analyses of influences on attainment;
3. a review of literature intended to inform an understanding of trends …

Lleap 2011 Overview For Schools, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

This brief document provides an overview specifically for schools of findings from the Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP) 2011 survey. LLEAP is a three-year national project that explores the impact of philanthropy in education in Australia. The survey findings cover what philanthropic foundations and trusts offer, the extent of school knowledge about the work of philanthropic foundations and trusts and how philanthropic foundations and trusts perceive how grant seeking applications can improve.

Lleap 2011 Overview For Philanthropic Foundations And Trusts, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP) is a three-year national project that explores the impact of philanthropy in education in Australia. A survey was conducted of schools, philanthropic organisations and not for profits. This brief report provides a brief overview of the survey in relation to what philanthropic foundations and trusts reported were their key priority areas and target audiences.

Case 3: Waikerie Independent Learning Centre, Michelle Anderson

Tender Bridge

Waikerie Independent Learning Centre provides a flexible learning pathway for disadvantaged young people. Neil White is the Principal of Waikerie High School, and this is their story of seeking to address a real need for some of the youth in Waikerie and surrounding communities.

Lleap 2011 Overview For Not-For-Profits, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

LLEAP is a three-year national project that explores the impact of philanthropy in education in Australia. A survey was conducted in 2011 by LLEAP of schools, philanthropics and not-for-profits. This brief overview reports on the survey findings in relation to not-for-profit organisations.

Case 1: The Outdoor Classroom, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Tender Bridge

This storied account of practice looks at the development of a program for boys who, for various reasons – learning difficulties, behaviour, family and emotional concerns – were struggling. ‘The Outdoor Classroom’ project idea grew out of the national ‘Green Corps’ program for 17-24 year old unemployed youth. Waiting until boys were 17, however, did not seem like a good idea; boys were ‘at risk’ of leaving school before then. This is the story of how Anglican Community Care and Tenison Woods College came together to grow and resource ‘The Outdoor Classroom’ to identify and redirect boys who might have …

The On Track Survey 2009 : The Destinations Of School Leavers In Victoria. Statewide Report, Sheldon Rothman, Justin Brown, Kylie Hillman, Gary Marks, Phillip Mckenzie

Vocational, adult and professional education research

Findings presented in this report are based on the On Track telephone survey of 36,022 Year 12 or equivalent completers and 4,676 early leavers from the 2008 school year in Victoria. Year 12 or equivalent completers are defined as those who completed a Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), International Baccalaureate (IB) or Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL, Senior or Intermediate). The sample includes those who completed such qualifications in schools (98.7%), or in TAFE colleges or adult and community education providers (1.3%). Early leavers are defined as those students in Years 10, 11 and 12 who had registered their …

Teaching And Learning In Middle Schooling: A Review Of The Literature, Stephen Dinham, Ken Rowe

School and system improvement

The literature review on teaching and learning for students in the middle schooling years summarised in this paper was undertaken in 2007. It was commissioned by the New Zealand Ministry of Education following identification of the following issues: limited quality data on middle schooling outcomes in New Zealand; the need to develop an evidence base to inform decisions and policy development in relation to middle schooling; the need to ensure that decisions are informed by the best evidence about effective curriculum and pedagogical approaches in the middle years of schooling; and the need for a coherent, coordinated approach to establishing …

Guidelines On Writing A Successful Grant Seeking Submission, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Tender Bridge

This document provides a brief set of guidelines on how to write a successful grant seeking submission to a philanthropic organisation. It includes preparing for submission, writing a submission and what to do after the proposal is submitted.

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 …

National Survey Of Health And Well-Being Promotion Policies And Practices In Secondary Schools, John Ainley, Graeme Withers, Catherine Underwood, Tracey Frigo

Program monitoring and evaluation

This report details the results of a survey of a nationally representative sample of secondary schools on matters concerned with health promotion and student well-being. Within the general area of health promotion and well-being the survey included information on school knowledge about and evidence of implementation of MindMatters.

The Measurement Of Adolescent Depression, Leigh Roeger

Shannon Research Press

Very broadly the general aims of this study are: to examine whether the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) measures depressive symptomatology equivalently across adolescent boys and girls; and to examine whether schools exert effects on student levels of depressive symptomatology independently of individual level characteristics. In the course of this study quite a number of subsidiary questions are also addressed. Most of these questions centre around the psychometric properties of the CES-D scale when used with adolescent samples.

Engaging Secondary School Students In Lifelong Learning, Jennifer Bryce, Graeme Withers

Indigenous Education Research

A 'lifelong learning' orientation to education is seen as vital if young people are to thrive in the knowledge rich, constantly changing world of today and the immediate future. This study identifies ways that the foundations for lifelong learning can be built in secondary schools. 'Lifelong learning' is interpreted as engaging people with learning throughout all stages of their lives. Lifelong learning at secondary school level is concerned with keeping students engaged in learning, and developing in those students the characteristics that will make learning an integral and valued part of their lives when they leave school. Thus the report …

Changes In Mathematics Achievement Over Time In Australia And Ethiopia, Tilahun Mengesha Afrassa

Shannon Research Press

This study has five major purposes: to develop a general theoretical model which considers the multivariate structure of the available data; to examine the changes of the mathematics achievement level of Australian lower secondary school students over time; to develop a common mathematics scale to enable investigation of mathematics achievement over time and across countries; to develop a theoretical model of student level factors influencing the mathematics achievements of lower secondary students in Australia and Ethiopia and to examine these hypothesised interrelationships between variables; and to investigate the views and attitudes of Australian and Ethiopian students towards mathematics and schooling …

15-Up And Counting, Reading, Writing, Reasoning : How Literate Are Australian Students? : The Pisa 2000 Survey Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy Skills, Jan Lokan, Lisa Greenwood, John Cresswell

Indigenous Education Research

This report presents evidence on the performance in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy of 15 year old students, their schools and their countries, interpreted from an Australian perspective. It gives insights into factors that influence the development of these skills at home and at school, and discusses implications of the results for policy development. Chapter 5 focuses on results for the Australian states and territories and for other sub-national groups. Results achieved by Indigenous students and by students with language backgrounds other than English are included in this chapter. The sixth chapter describes the Australian PISA participants in some detail, …

The Era Of Lifelong Learning: Implications For Secondary Schools, Jennifer Bryce, Tracey Frigo, Phillip Mckenzie, Graeme Withers

Lifelong learning

This era of lifelong learning is a time when knowledge is increasing and changing rapidly. Focusing on implications for individuals and schools, this paper addresses issues such as the need for information literacy, the need to develop a questioning, reasoning and evaluating approach to learning appropriate generic competencies, and the importance of identity and learning how to learn.

The Mayer Key Competencies And Arts Education, Jennifer Bryce, Adrian Harvey-Beavis, Joan Livermore, John O'Toole

Lifelong learning

This report Is the major outcome of the project Evaluating the Key Competencies In the Arts conducted by the National Affiliation of Arts Educators (NAAE) and the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA). The report uses the voices of arts teachers to show how the key competencies may have a generic function across the five arts areas and to explain how the construct of 'competency' makes sense In the arts field. Information on the use of the Mayer key competencies was collected from teachers in …

Books & Beyond: 2nd Edition, Schools Commission's Advisory Group On School Library Standards

Information Management

This revised edition of Books and Beyond has been prepared in response to a continuing demand for guidelines and advice on library resource facilities and services. It attempts to meet the changing needs and priorities in the planning and managing of school libraries and to promote efficient and economic use of resources. In revising the previous edition, the Schools Commission's Advisory Group on School Library Standards has given attention to several important aspects of school libraries, in particular to the concept of resource networks - sharing in the purchasing and use of learning resources - and the matter of space …

Standards For Secondary School Libraries : A Preliminary Statement, Australia Commonwealth Secondary Schools Libraries Committee

Information Management

The Commonwealth Secondary Schools Libraries Committee was appointed by the Minister for Education and Science to advise him on the conditions and standards necessary for the effective development of the new program in relation to the independent schools. This involves recommending desirable standards for library buildings. furniture and equipment. books and materials and also establishing methods by which existing deficiencies in library facilities and services in particular schools may be determined. Committee members will visit independent schools to report to the Minister on their library needs and to assist the schools in developing plans for building adequate library facilities and …