How do qualifications delivered by enterprises contribute to improved skill levels and other benefits for companies, workers and the nation? This project investigates the role of employer-based qualifications training in developing the skills and prospects of the Australian workforce and the competitive capabilities of companies. It focuses on enterprises that are accredited to deliver qualifications to their own workers, providing data to improve and expand this form of training.
Data infrastructures, mobilities and network governance in education. Multiple data sets now drive education systems and schools. This project aims to investigate the role of data infrastructures in education policy, in schools, systems, nations and globally. The project will examine four related policy contexts in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States of America) and the data mobilities flowing from the release of Programme for International Student Assessment ....Data infrastructures, mobilities and network governance in education. Multiple data sets now drive education systems and schools. This project aims to investigate the role of data infrastructures in education policy, in schools, systems, nations and globally. The project will examine four related policy contexts in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States of America) and the data mobilities flowing from the release of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015. New knowledge is expected to be developed on the concepts of data infrastructure and data mobility; how data create new spatialised modes of educational governance; and how relations between governments, Non-Government Organisations and corporations are reconfigured through data use. The project is expected to provide new evidence on how educational data affect education governance, policy making and policy enactment across geographical scales.Read moreRead less
Identifying effective strategies to grow and sustain a professional early years workforce. The National Early Years Workforce Strategy (2012) identifies the imperative for a larger, more qualified, professional, responsive and collaborative childcare workforce. This need is urgent. By 2014, Commonwealth legislation specifies that all long day-care centres must have a qualified teacher and minimum staff qualification of Certificate III. Yet high turnover, skill loss and failure to meet existing q ....Identifying effective strategies to grow and sustain a professional early years workforce. The National Early Years Workforce Strategy (2012) identifies the imperative for a larger, more qualified, professional, responsive and collaborative childcare workforce. This need is urgent. By 2014, Commonwealth legislation specifies that all long day-care centres must have a qualified teacher and minimum staff qualification of Certificate III. Yet high turnover, skill loss and failure to meet existing qualification standards persist. Nationally, multiple strategies are being implemented to achieve the new qualification standards but there is scant evidence about their effectiveness. This project aims to identify the most effective strategies to reduce loss and increase professional engagement in the early years workforce.Read moreRead less
Building futures for young Australians at risk: a coordinated measurement framework and data archive. This project will build a national data base of evidence about and for programs that address the needs of the 16 per cent of young Australians currently at risk of school non-completion. It will generate important knowledge for program improvement and sustainability and coordination of evidence across diverse and fragmented programs.
Innovative measurement approaches to optimise the comparability of large-scale and high-stakes performance assessments. Over 1.2 million Australian school children participate in national and high-stakes state assessments each year. This project aims to produce improved and novel methods for assessing students using open-ended tasks so that educators can more accurately compare students’ achievements and track their progress. In turn, this aims to support decision makers to enable better educati ....Innovative measurement approaches to optimise the comparability of large-scale and high-stakes performance assessments. Over 1.2 million Australian school children participate in national and high-stakes state assessments each year. This project aims to produce improved and novel methods for assessing students using open-ended tasks so that educators can more accurately compare students’ achievements and track their progress. In turn, this aims to support decision makers to enable better educational outcomes. The investigators aim to refine a rubric used in the National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) so that Writing assessments are as accurate and comparable as possible. Methods also aim to be designed to enable more accurate and comparable assessments of Australian children in areas not covered by NAPLAN such as History and The Arts.Read moreRead less
Investigating professional learning lives in the digital evolution of work. This project aims to investigate learning practices of professionals working in professions effected by digitalisation. The project expects to generate new knowledge about how professionals’ learning practices shape and are being shaped by evolving work practices. Expected outcomes of the project include new conceptual thinking about professional learning, and a contemporary and nuanced evidence base to inform innovative ....Investigating professional learning lives in the digital evolution of work. This project aims to investigate learning practices of professionals working in professions effected by digitalisation. The project expects to generate new knowledge about how professionals’ learning practices shape and are being shaped by evolving work practices. Expected outcomes of the project include new conceptual thinking about professional learning, and a contemporary and nuanced evidence base to inform innovative teaching and learning solutions for individuals, workplaces and education providers; particularly higher education. This project should provide significant benefits for a national policy on lifelong learning to address Australia’s agile skills development needs.
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Creative industries pathways to youth employment in the COVID-19 recession. This project aims to accredit 21st century skills developed through youth arts. The significance of this project lies in our response to the increase in Australia’s youth unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and industry demand for 21st century skills. Outcomes include pathways from arts to employment and job-ready skill development, through micro-creds that showcase skills to employers. Benefits align with UN Su ....Creative industries pathways to youth employment in the COVID-19 recession. This project aims to accredit 21st century skills developed through youth arts. The significance of this project lies in our response to the increase in Australia’s youth unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and industry demand for 21st century skills. Outcomes include pathways from arts to employment and job-ready skill development, through micro-creds that showcase skills to employers. Benefits align with UN Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5 and 8: to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. Read moreRead less
Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Austr ....Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Australian industries. Most VET teachers are qualified only to a Certificate IV level. A more highly qualified VET teaching workforce is likely to lead to improvements in quality; however there is currently no firm evidence to establish this link, as the 2011 Productivity Commission report on the VET workforce pointed out. This project aims to provide much-needed evidence to guide policy.Read moreRead less
Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. This project will examine what attracts or deters potential, future and practising teachers of the sciences and mathematics, by focusing on current teachers, school and university students in Queensland. Promises of a technological revolution and rapid economic development will be hollow if students do not study sciences and mathematics, and there are too few qu ....Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. Attracting and sustaining engaged science and mathematics teachers. This project will examine what attracts or deters potential, future and practising teachers of the sciences and mathematics, by focusing on current teachers, school and university students in Queensland. Promises of a technological revolution and rapid economic development will be hollow if students do not study sciences and mathematics, and there are too few qualified teachers. This project will identify where to intervene in the science and mathematics teacher supply pipeline, and policy levers to attract and sustain quality teachers. The project is expected to uncover what attracts or deters teachers of science and mathematics—disciplines essential to industry innovation, a skilled workforce and productivity growth.Read moreRead less
The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial pro ....The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial provision of schooling creates relationships between governments and private companies and the implications of this commercial provision for equitable and democratic schooling in Australia.Read moreRead less