The Kids in Communities Study: national investigation of community level effects on children's developmental outcomes. This project (a cross-disciplinary collaboration) will investigate community level factors influencing early childhood developmental outcomes using a mixed methods approach in up to 10 communities across Australia. This will result in a potential set of measures or indicators that reflect communities that are good for children.
Opportunity spaces - community engagement in the planning, use and governance of shared school facilities. This project will capitalise on investment across Australia in renewing schools and building community education precincts. The work will illuminate the role played by civic infrastructure in community building, the benefits of coordinating social and educational services, and the potential of schools as learning resources for the whole community.
Creating pathways to child wellbeing in disadvantaged communities. This project aims to test, in nine disadvantaged communities, a model for action that blends new human and digital resources to support respectful, data-driven collaborations between schools, families and community agencies.
The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of translational prevention science about how to influence risk and protective factors for child wellbeing in a cost-efficient manner and at a scale ....Creating pathways to child wellbeing in disadvantaged communities. This project aims to test, in nine disadvantaged communities, a model for action that blends new human and digital resources to support respectful, data-driven collaborations between schools, families and community agencies.
The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of translational prevention science about how to influence risk and protective factors for child wellbeing in a cost-efficient manner and at a scale within existing service systems. Project benefits should include a methodology for achieving lasting improvements in child wellbeing, behaviour and school success.
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Crime, poverty and early prevention: A longitudinal study of social and developmental pathways to wellbeing through the Pathways to Prevention Project. Youth crime is concentrated in poor areas because social processes undermine positive development. Family support is widely used in these areas but its crime prevention value is unclear. This project analyses how such services offered by the Pathways to Prevention Project enhanced child and parent wellbeing. It uses interviews, records and case s ....Crime, poverty and early prevention: A longitudinal study of social and developmental pathways to wellbeing through the Pathways to Prevention Project. Youth crime is concentrated in poor areas because social processes undermine positive development. Family support is widely used in these areas but its crime prevention value is unclear. This project analyses how such services offered by the Pathways to Prevention Project enhanced child and parent wellbeing. It uses interviews, records and case studies, and a longitudinal database of 4858 children aged 4 to 12 years that link Project participation with parent and child outcomes, including youth justice record, to model pathways from preschool for participants and matched non-participants. By situating pathways in the context of systemic barriers facing families, teachers and agency staff, the project will advance prevention theory and practice.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100113
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$422,660.00
Summary
Gender differences in the prevention of youth victimisation and offending. This project aims to investigate how early family, individual, and school factors can be targeted to prevent victimisation and offending among vulnerable male and female young people. This project expects to generate new knowledge on: 1) gender-specific risk and protective factors of victimisation and offending; and, 2) the effectiveness of school-based social-emotional learning programs for males and females. Expected ou ....Gender differences in the prevention of youth victimisation and offending. This project aims to investigate how early family, individual, and school factors can be targeted to prevent victimisation and offending among vulnerable male and female young people. This project expects to generate new knowledge on: 1) gender-specific risk and protective factors of victimisation and offending; and, 2) the effectiveness of school-based social-emotional learning programs for males and females. Expected outcomes include advancing developmental life-course theories for female offending. This project should provide significant social and economic benefits for policymakers on how to most effectively prevent male and female young people’s involvement with the criminal justice system.Read moreRead less
Student retention beyond the compulsory schooling years in rural, regional and disadvantaged communities. This project will incorporate longitudinal mixed-methods study to investigate the factors that influence student retention in schooling beyond the compulsory years in rural, regional and disadvantaged communities. Research outcomes will identify best-practice educational strategies to enhance retention in such communities across Australia.
Getting an Early Start to aspirations: Understanding how to promote educational futures in early childhood. Children from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds are three times less likely to attend university than their high socio-economic status peers. For families without experience of higher education it is difficult to know how to encourage young children's aspiration for educational futures. This project aims to improve aspirations for educational futures in LSES early childhood sett ....Getting an Early Start to aspirations: Understanding how to promote educational futures in early childhood. Children from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds are three times less likely to attend university than their high socio-economic status peers. For families without experience of higher education it is difficult to know how to encourage young children's aspiration for educational futures. This project aims to improve aspirations for educational futures in LSES early childhood settings. A social marketing intervention targeting parents, children and early childhood educators will be developed and longitudinal interviews will be conducted to understand the development of aspirations by LSES families with young children. The project will produce a unique 'education promotion' strategy for early childhood.Read moreRead less
Creating the conditions for collective impact: transforming the child serving system in disadvantaged communities. No one institution can close the gap in child wellbeing and school achievement between poor and affluent areas. This project will draw schools, child serving agencies and community members into coalitions in disadvantaged areas to build, test and evaluate an integrated 'backbone support system' designed to foster healthy development of the whole child.
Data-smart schools: enhancing the use of digital data in secondary schools. This project aims to investigate the use of digital data in schools to identify ways to improve its capture and use. Masses of digital data are generated within schools every day, but despite its potential, this data remains poorly used and understood. The project intends to work with school communities in order to develop innovative data tools and techniques that make more effective use of the data. The project will pro ....Data-smart schools: enhancing the use of digital data in secondary schools. This project aims to investigate the use of digital data in schools to identify ways to improve its capture and use. Masses of digital data are generated within schools every day, but despite its potential, this data remains poorly used and understood. The project intends to work with school communities in order to develop innovative data tools and techniques that make more effective use of the data. The project will provide new insights into the technical, informatics, organisational and social issues surrounding the (re)use of digital data in schools and the development of digital data ‘best practice’ models. This project should provide benefits in terms of improved teaching and learning, parent engagement and use of infrastructure investment.Read moreRead less
Optimising intersectoral collaboration between the health and education sectors. The Australian Government has a clear commitment to improving the health of all Australians. In the face of rising rates of chronic illness and attendant unsustainable high medical costs, optimising outcomes for public health initiatives, such as school based immunisation programs, is of the utmost importance. The recent H1N1 (Swine Flu) epidemic school closures highlight the need for a more effective, efficient and ....Optimising intersectoral collaboration between the health and education sectors. The Australian Government has a clear commitment to improving the health of all Australians. In the face of rising rates of chronic illness and attendant unsustainable high medical costs, optimising outcomes for public health initiatives, such as school based immunisation programs, is of the utmost importance. The recent H1N1 (Swine Flu) epidemic school closures highlight the need for a more effective, efficient and flexible intersection between education and health. This project offers the opportunity for the public health and education sectors to work closely together to identify how they can best configure future collaborations to maximise outcomes for all Australians.Read moreRead less