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Western Australian rural and remote schooling: The influence of learning environments on student participation and retention. By 2010 all Australian States and Territories will have raised the school leaving age from 15 to 17 years of age. As one of the first States to have undertaken this essential step toward re-engaging disaffected youth in education, training and/or employment options, it is important that a rigorous examination of the Western Australian experience is conducted. The proposed ....Western Australian rural and remote schooling: The influence of learning environments on student participation and retention. By 2010 all Australian States and Territories will have raised the school leaving age from 15 to 17 years of age. As one of the first States to have undertaken this essential step toward re-engaging disaffected youth in education, training and/or employment options, it is important that a rigorous examination of the Western Australian experience is conducted. The proposed research focuses on what is likely to be the most problematic area of the initiative for school communities - how and why the programs offered to students in rural and remote school and classroom learning environments impact upon student engagement and retention.Read moreRead less
Addressing the teacher exodus: Enhancing early career teacher resilience and retention in changing times. This research will produce new knowledge, strategies, models and recommendations that will help to keep early career teachers in the profession in regional, rural and remote areas. In doing so it will address the problem of teacher shortage that is currently threatening the nation's educational, economic and social outcomes. The research outcomes will have particular credibility at the natio ....Addressing the teacher exodus: Enhancing early career teacher resilience and retention in changing times. This research will produce new knowledge, strategies, models and recommendations that will help to keep early career teachers in the profession in regional, rural and remote areas. In doing so it will address the problem of teacher shortage that is currently threatening the nation's educational, economic and social outcomes. The research outcomes will have particular credibility at the national level because they will be the result of dialogue and collaboration across three universities and six industry partners who are the key stakeholders in teacher employment in two states. In addition, the collaborative approach will facilitate implementation of recommendations at the local, state and national levels.Read moreRead less
Neurodevelopmental disorders and loneliness: School predictors & outcomes. This project aims to establish trajectories of loneliness across the 10-18 year developmental period in adolescents with neuro-developmental disorders (NDDs). This is significant because adolescence is the peak period for loneliness and the social communication difficulties experienced by adolescents with NDDs place them at greater risk of loneliness. Lower levels of school attendance, connectedness and mental well-being, ....Neurodevelopmental disorders and loneliness: School predictors & outcomes. This project aims to establish trajectories of loneliness across the 10-18 year developmental period in adolescents with neuro-developmental disorders (NDDs). This is significant because adolescence is the peak period for loneliness and the social communication difficulties experienced by adolescents with NDDs place them at greater risk of loneliness. Lower levels of school attendance, connectedness and mental well-being, and higher rates of disruptive behaviour, expulsion, drop-out, depression, social withdrawal, and suicide ideation are strongly linked to loneliness. Therefore predicting critical times in trajectories will enhance emotional, behavioural and school related outcomes and optimise economic, societal and quality of life benefits.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100197
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,000.00
Summary
National schooling reform and the reshaping of Australian federalism. The aim of this project is to examine how national schooling reforms in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are reshaping the role of Australian state governments in education policy. It will focus on the impact of reforms on state education departments, and through policy analysis, interviews and case studies in three Australian states, the project intends to generate theoretical insights about the changing nature of Australi ....National schooling reform and the reshaping of Australian federalism. The aim of this project is to examine how national schooling reforms in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are reshaping the role of Australian state governments in education policy. It will focus on the impact of reforms on state education departments, and through policy analysis, interviews and case studies in three Australian states, the project intends to generate theoretical insights about the changing nature of Australian schooling and federalism.Read moreRead less
School autonomy and parent engagement in disadvantaged communities. This project aims to examine public secondary schools’ engagements with parents in disadvantaged communities. Through policy analysis and case studies, the project seeks to advance knowledge about how school autonomy reforms are potentially reshaping meanings and practices associated with public schooling. Expected outcomes include enhanced knowledge about the shifting nature of schooling reform in Australia and insights into ev ....School autonomy and parent engagement in disadvantaged communities. This project aims to examine public secondary schools’ engagements with parents in disadvantaged communities. Through policy analysis and case studies, the project seeks to advance knowledge about how school autonomy reforms are potentially reshaping meanings and practices associated with public schooling. Expected outcomes include enhanced knowledge about the shifting nature of schooling reform in Australia and insights into evolving relationships between governments and citizens in public service delivery. Intended benefits include insights to inform future policy design and implementation at school and system levels.Read moreRead less
Digital Divas: Designing approaches to enthuse girls' interest in ICT studies and ICT careers. A strong information and communications technology (ICT) industry, a skilled ICT workforce and excellence in ICT research is vital to Australia's future. However, girls' interest in ICT, and the numbers of women entering the ICT workforce, are at record lows, while Industry skills are critically short. Digital Divas will pioneer a program to build girls' ICT skills and confidence, increasing their mot ....Digital Divas: Designing approaches to enthuse girls' interest in ICT studies and ICT careers. A strong information and communications technology (ICT) industry, a skilled ICT workforce and excellence in ICT research is vital to Australia's future. However, girls' interest in ICT, and the numbers of women entering the ICT workforce, are at record lows, while Industry skills are critically short. Digital Divas will pioneer a program to build girls' ICT skills and confidence, increasing their motivation to study ICT and enter the ICT workforce. The benefits of education will be maximised by addressing the gender digital divide evident in classrooms, universities and professions.Read moreRead less
Small steps in science: developing young children's science understanding through playgroup incursions. This project will determine how best to structure science-related incursions into playgroups to provide quality experiences to assist children’s learning and to increase adult-child engagement in science activities. The resulting increased understanding will assist parents and early childhood educators to teach science effectively to young children.
Investigating the feasibility of using digital representations of work for authentic and reliable performance assessment in senior secondary school courses. Nationally, school curricula are increasingly focused on performance outcomes, such as technology literacy, because of the need for a highly skilled workforce. The study aims to provide credible assessments of these outcomes to ensure that they become an integral part of the delivered curriculum and in so doing better meet the needs of a di ....Investigating the feasibility of using digital representations of work for authentic and reliable performance assessment in senior secondary school courses. Nationally, school curricula are increasingly focused on performance outcomes, such as technology literacy, because of the need for a highly skilled workforce. The study aims to provide credible assessments of these outcomes to ensure that they become an integral part of the delivered curriculum and in so doing better meet the needs of a diverse set of students and enhance school retention with the ensuing economic and social benefits to the students and society. A capacity to conduct reliable assessments around agreed standards will also further the national curricula consistency agenda.Read moreRead less
Maintaining a precise, invariant unit in state, national and international educational assessment. School achievement testing is a high stakes activity for state and national governments, not just for school students. Significant educational policy decisions turn on comparisons of test results over time, and among states and nations. These decisions rest on assumptions about the validity and precision of national testing. In particular, current measurement systems assume that assessment scales h ....Maintaining a precise, invariant unit in state, national and international educational assessment. School achievement testing is a high stakes activity for state and national governments, not just for school students. Significant educational policy decisions turn on comparisons of test results over time, and among states and nations. These decisions rest on assumptions about the validity and precision of national testing. In particular, current measurement systems assume that assessment scales have common units. Empirically, it is clear that many factors can compromise this assumption, making it rarely justified. This study will serve the national interest by building the theory and technology necessary to solve this problem.Read moreRead less
Maintaining invariant scales in state, national and international level assessments. Large scale assessments involve comparisons between countries, states within a country, and within these over time. For many reasons, identical items cannot be administered to every student. Nevertheless, the items must operate invariantly across groups. The Rasch models, which have invariance as an intrinsic property, are powerful in checking for such invariance. This project brings the basic research of the ....Maintaining invariant scales in state, national and international level assessments. Large scale assessments involve comparisons between countries, states within a country, and within these over time. For many reasons, identical items cannot be administered to every student. Nevertheless, the items must operate invariantly across groups. The Rasch models, which have invariance as an intrinsic property, are powerful in checking for such invariance. This project brings the basic research of the Chief Investigators to the industry partners to study, apply and document ways in which violations of Rasch models and different data collection formats are reflected as changes of scale, and how these might be controlled both statistically and empirically.Read moreRead less