In this issue:

• Building successful school-community partnerships
• Work and study
• Testing basic mathematics in Norway
• ACER Update

An evaluation of the NAB Schools First Awards released this month is providing evidence and examples of how school-community partnerships can nurture, improve and sustain the learning capacities and personal development of Australia’s children.

The First Interim Report of NAB Schools First, by ACER Principal Research Fellow Dr Robert Simons, followed the progress of the 2009 Impact and Seed Funding Award winners during 2010.

Continue reading »

Whereas once upon a time a student’s employment was seen to be a distraction from their studies, driven by economic necessity, in 2010 off-campus paid work appears to have become a natural and rewarding part of undergraduate life.

In a briefing paper to come from the 2010 administration of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE), ACER Director of Higher Education Research Associate Professor Hamish Coates suggests that universities need to do more to support the large numbers of university students who work while studying.

Continue reading »

The Norwegian government is investing in training and assessment initiatives designed to improve student numeracy levels.

In April a group of delegates from the Norwegian Centre for Mathematics Education (NSMO) travelled to ACER’s Melbourne office to participate in a series of customised training workshops on computer-based testing. Over four days, ACER and NSMO engaged in conversations on the topics of the rationale for the use of interactive digital test items in large scale assessment, the challenges of developing test items for an interactive digital medium, the decisions and practices that ACER has adopted in the development of interactive digital test items in large scale assessments and the topic of education systems and practices in Australia and Norway.

Continue reading »

Research Conference 2011

The ACER Research Conference 2011 Indigenous Education: Pathways to success will be held in Darwin on 7-9 August. The conference will focus on what we can learn from research about creating and sustaining positive educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Presenters will highlight the conditions, contexts, curriculum, pedagogy and practices that establish pathways to success for Indigenous students.

The full conference program is now available online. The keynote presentations are:

• Educational Success: A sustainable outcome for all Indigenous students when teachers understand where the learning journey begins, Professor Jeannie Herbert, Charles Sturt University, NSW
• Creating Indigenous Classrooms of Tomorrow Today: What children will need to know and how to create it?, Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney, Flinders University, SA
• Key factors influencing educational outcomes for Indigenous students and their implications for planning and practice in the NT, Professor Jonathon Carapetis, Menzies School of Health Research, NT
• Indigenous Education: Finding face, making space, having place, Professor Lorna Williams, University of Victoria BC, Canada

The conference will be relevant to those directly involved in Indigenous education as well as those concerned more broadly with we can learn from research about creating and sustaining positive educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Early bird registrations close 1 July. For more information visit www.acer.edu.au/conference

 

NAB Schools First enters third year

Schools throughout Australia are once again invited to apply for a NAB Schools First award and be in the running to share in over $5 million. Seed Funding and Impact Award applications open on 20 June and close on 29 July. The winners will be announced in September. This year there is a Student Award open to students with a great idea for a school-community partnership. Applications for the Student Award open on 9 May and close on 27 May.

NAB Schools First, a strong partnership between NAB, ACER and the Foundation for Young Australians, is designed to recognise excellence in school-community partnerships. It is Australia’s largest corporate initiative of its kind and is open to all schools around the country. This year, 60 Impact Awards will be awarded while the number of Seed Funding Awards has increased from 40 to 50. Impact winners will receive $50,000 each and Seed Funding winners will receive $25,000. To date, 195 Australian schools have shared in $10.15 million award money to support their school-community partnership.

To find out more about NAB Schools First and to download application forms, awards criteria, guidelines and Terms and Conditions visit www.schoolsfirst.edu.au or call 1800 649 141.

 

ACER Institute launches graduate programs

In 2011 ACER Institute launched two research-based and practice-focused graduate programs for teachers. The Graduate Program in the Teaching of Reading and the Graduate Program in the Assessment of Student Learning are university recognised programs that contribute towards a Masters degree. These two Programs were delivered to a group of students from the Queensland Department of Education in March.

The Graduate Programs are delivered to experienced and practicing educational professionals via off-campus study methods incorporating both face to face and online components, while the participants’ practice provides the environment for the integral action research component of the program.

The goals of the Graduate Programs are to provide education professionals with relevant, evidence based information to immediately enhance their skills, knowledge and effectiveness in their role as teachers and school leaders. Further information is available from www.acerinstitute.edu.au