In this issue:

• Varying pay-offs to post school education and training
• Accountability and transparency key to education quality
• Inclusion and exclusion in VET and higher education
• ACER UPDATE

Social background plays only a small role in accounting for differences in occupational status and earnings at age 24, indicating that education is enhancing social mobility, a study by ACER has found. The study, released on 20 January, found that, in general, post-school education and training leads to higher status occupations and higher earnings, compared to not doing any further study or training.

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An approach that measures educational ‘outputs’ through student, school and teacher assessment is needed to ensure accountability in the education system, says an ACER paper. Output Measurement in Education, by ACER Principal Research Fellow Dr Andrew Dowling, is the latest in a series of policy papers released by ACER.

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The Australian government has adopted a ‘social inclusion agenda’ that aims to bring together social and economic policies in order to reduce disadvantage in the Australian community. A presentation by Fran Ferrier and Sue North at the Monash University-ACER Centre for the Economics of Education and Training (CEET) Conference held in November reported on progress in an investigation of the relationship between social exclusion and education, with a focus on VET and higher education.

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Universities take part in national student aptitude test trial

ACER has been contracted to conduct stage two of the Federal Government’s pilot National Student Aptitude Test for Tertiary Admission (SATTA). ACER will supply uniTEST for 2009 and 2010 entry. Four universities, Flinders University, The Australian National University, Macquarie University and the University of Ballarat recently held test sessions.

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) will subsidise universities’ participation in the pilot by providing funding for universities to test up to 20,000 students, as well as providing up to $10,000, for each university, to promote the scheme. Further information about uniTest is available on the ACER website at http://unitest.acer.edu.au/

Vale Professor Peter Karmel

ACER staff were saddened by the recent passing of former Chair of the ACER Council, Professor Peter Karmel, AC, who died on 30 December at the age of 86.

Professor Karmel played a very significant role in the history and development of ACER. He was a member of ACER Council for more than 30 years, from 1968 to 1999, and Chair of the Council from 1979 to 1999. During the thirty years in which he was associated with ACER, Professor Karmel worked with four of ACER's five chief executives (Bill Radford, John Keeves, Barry McGaw and Geoff Masters) and was directly involved in the appointment of three.

Planning seminars for school leaders February 2009

The ACER Leadership Centre is conducting a series of planning seminars for school leaders in February with education experts, Professor Brian Caldwell and Professor Stephen Dinham. The seminar will provide school leaders with ideas and practical strategies relevant to all school sectors. The seminars will take place in Melbourne (23 February), Sydney (24 February) and Brisbane (25 February). Further information and registrations details are available online or by contacting Stephen Cutting on 03 9277 5791 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)