Suchergebnisse

The Engagement Matrix (EM) was designed by the Department of Education and Children's Services in South Australia to measure engagement levels of students enrolled in the Innovative Community Action Networks (ICAN)/ Flexible Learning Options (FLO) program once a term. Innovative ICANs work with young people (year 6-age 19), families, schools, community groups, businesses and different levels of government to encourage young people to finish their secondary education. Flexible Learning Options (FLO) was first introduced in 2006 as an enrolment option in ICAN schools which is funded by DECS. FLO is an approach that is more flexible than the traditional full-time enrolment in school to support young people most at risk to successfully complete their secondary education (DECS, 2010). In its current form, the EM is a high-level inference instrument that requires raters to provide one overall rating of a student's engagement in (a) well-being, (b) relationships and (c) learning in five categories. These categories' previous labels of 'Resistant', 'Disinterested', 'Compliant', 'Enthusiastic' and 'Proactive' have been changed to 'Significantly disengaged', 'Partly disengaged', 'Moderately engaged', 'Highly engaged' and 'Very highly engaged'. This report describes an initiative to ascertain the effectiveness of the labels of the EM. To this end, an online survey was designed to obtain information on the levels of engagement and disengagement current and potential users of the EM associated with different labels (e.g. 'Disinterested', 'Active') and different intensifiers (e.g. 'Very', 'Moderately') as well as a combination of intensifiers and labels as currently proposed in the EM. Cognitive interviews were conducted to inform the online survey.

AbstractThe current study examined the ethnic identity of White (N = 120), Latino (N = 87), and African‐American (N = 65) children and early adolescents (aged = 9–14 years), with an emphasis on whether the specific ethnic label White children used to describe themselves might reflect differences in their inter‐group attitudes and whether those differences mirror group differences between White children and children in ethnic minority groups. Results indicated that White children who identified with a minority label (i.e., White biracial, hyphenated American, ethnic/cultural/religious label) had more positive ethnic identities, were more aware of discrimination, and were less likely to show biases in their perceived similarity to in‐group and out‐group peers than youth who identified as White or American. In many instances, White children who identified with a minority label did not differ from ethnic minority youth. In addition, although all participants were more positive about their ethnic in‐group than out‐groups, children who identified their ethnicity as American were less positive about out‐groups relative to other children. Taken together, the findings indicate that children's self‐chosen ethnic identity is as important as their ascribed ethnic or racial identity in predicting their inter‐group attitudes.

Tools to measure perceptions of child wellbeing using a questionnaire are commonplace in educational research. However, the design and development of these tools vary widely. This case study considers a new approach used by researchers who were part of a collaborative, mixed-methods study of child wellbeing, resulting in Australia's first nationally representative and internationally comparable online questionnaire of child wellbeing in the middle years of schooling. The researchers, expert in quantitative methods, worked in partnership with social policy researchers, experts in qualitative research methods, to develop a large-scale questionnaire of child wellbeing. The questionnaire design was informed by children's perspectives on their own wellbeing using qualitative research methods. In particular, the perspectives of children in Australia who may experience disadvantage or marginalization were gathered. Attention was also given to ensuring that questionnaire administration was flexible, interactive, age-appropriate, and sensitive to children's needs. Furthermore, the questionnaire needed to be quantitative in kind, internationally comparable with other questionnaires, and self-completed online by students in Years 4, 6, and 8 in schools across Australia. This case study presents some of the methodological challenges and opportunities in large-scale questionnaire design and online implementation as well as learnings that may be useful for educational researchers and tertiary students undertaking or working in the field of questionnaire research.

This evaluation compares evidence from the literature with Australia's experience in supporting teacher development in a range of developing countries. It uses case studies to good effect in explaining choices made, the extent to which expectations were or were not met, and the lessons for future Australian assistance for teacher development. The evaluation found mixed results. In cooperation with governments and other donors, Australia has made positive contributions, such as improving teacher frameworks and curriculums, and training teachers through a range of interventions. However, there is room to improve—for example, in enhancing policy, strengthening analysis and negotiating new investments—so teacher education and training will result in better teaching and learning in schools. A significant limitation, acknowledged in this evaluation report, is insufficient attention to measuring learning outcomes. Follow-on evaluations involving the Office of Development Effectiveness are expected to help fill this gap.