Educational and career aspirations in the middle years of schooling: understanding complexity for increased equity. This project examines the complex relationships among factors that shape the career and educational aspirations of students in the middle years of schooling across three New South Wales regions. The study will inform interventions designed to achieve greater participation in schooling and higher education for students from low socio-economic status backgrounds.
Pursuing equity in high poverty rural schools: improving learning through rich accountabilities. Poor performance of students in schools located in high poverty communities is a pressing educational problem for Australia, with educational disadvantage in poor rural communities in particular demanding amelioration. The evidence suggests the equity and quality of schooling outcomes are centrally important to the nation's economic future, the strength of Australian democracy, social inclusion and a ....Pursuing equity in high poverty rural schools: improving learning through rich accountabilities. Poor performance of students in schools located in high poverty communities is a pressing educational problem for Australia, with educational disadvantage in poor rural communities in particular demanding amelioration. The evidence suggests the equity and quality of schooling outcomes are centrally important to the nation's economic future, the strength of Australian democracy, social inclusion and a unified nation. In strengthening policy and practice knowledge about educative usage of performance data and the development of rich forms of accountability, the research will advance the academic literature and provide an evidence base for success of the national partnership on low socio-economic status schools.Read moreRead less
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
School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. This project aims to investigate the effect of State Education Departments’ policy interventions designed to improve school principals’ flagging wellbeing. Increasing competition, accountability and public scrutiny make principals stressed; since their influence on students is second only to teachers’, this threatens Australia’s socioeconomic outcomes. The project will map policy interventions to changes in princ ....School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. School principals’ diminishing wellbeing. This project aims to investigate the effect of State Education Departments’ policy interventions designed to improve school principals’ flagging wellbeing. Increasing competition, accountability and public scrutiny make principals stressed; since their influence on students is second only to teachers’, this threatens Australia’s socioeconomic outcomes. The project will map policy interventions to changes in principals’ motivation and wellbeing, and share information about the most productive and cost effective interventions with key stakeholders across Australia. This research could reverse the declining wellbeing of Australia’s school leaders.Read moreRead less
School retention through alternative schooling: towards a socially just approach to education. This project is concerned with how mainstream schools may become more socially just and inclusive of all young people through an analysis of alternative schools specifically designed for this purpose. Such a concern is critical for lifting school retention rates of marginalised young people and improving practices in all schools.