Evaluation of the Middle Years Reform Program

The Middle Years Reform Program (MYRP) was conducted in all Victorian government secondary and P-12 schools over the period 2001-2003. The program was designed to provide these schools with financial support to employ additional classroom teaching capacity to develop and implement initiatives in the areas of literacy, attendance and the ‘thinking curriculum’ in Years 7-9. Data for the evaluation were taken from: a. Literature and document review; b. Three preliminary consultations with representative groups of regional office personnel, school principals, middle years co-ordinators and other teachers familiar with middle years issues; c. A questionnaire that was distributed by e-mail to all schools with students in years 7-9 that achieved a response rate of just over 80%; d. Analysis of school-level aggregate data for the period 1998-2003 on Year 9 literacy, Years 7, 8 and 9 attendance, and retention to Year 11; e. Six brief case studies of purposefully selected schools with Year 7-9 students. The questionnaire data formed a key component of the evaluation of MYRP

Evaluation of the Standards and Professional Learning Project 2003

In February 2003, the Victorian State Minister for Education and Training launched the ‘Standards and Professional Learning Project’ as the first major policy initiative of the new Institute. The brief of the project was: to develop professional teaching standards for full registration, and to support new teachers (who were mostly newly graduated teachers from tertiary teacher education programs) to move from provisional to full registration at the end of their first year of teaching. This involved designing and implementing evidence based assessment processes to show that the standards had been met. These assessments would provide guarantees of teacher quality to the public and to the teaching profession in Victoria

Teacher Education Courses In Victoria: Perceptions Of Their Effectiveness And Factors Affecting Their Impact

Investment in teacher education is a major strategy to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in our schools. Agencies, such as the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), with responsibility for the accreditation of teacher education, can use feedback about the effectiveness of different modes of teacher preparation to support providers. It is vital that data for this purpose be valid and reliable. The Future Teachers Project (FTP) was designed to collect such data. It was designed to address two major questions: What are the perceptions of stakeholders (beginning teachers and their employers) about the effectiveness of current teacher education models in Victoria? What changes do stakeholders believe should be made to teacher education programs to better prepare future teachers

Research on performance pay for teachers

This report falls into three main sections, in accordance with the project brief. The first provides an overview of current pay arrangements and collective enterprise bargaining agreements for teachers in Australian schools. Within these arrangements, the report gives particular attention to provisions for performance-based pay schemes and to identifying potential impediments to the introduction of performance-based pay for teachers. The second part of the brief called for an overview of recent Australian and international research on the attitudes of stakeholders to performance-based pay schemes for teachers and the impact of these schemes on, for example, teacher retention, improved teaching standards, improved student outcomes and recognition of accomplished teachers. The third part of the brief asked for gaps in the Australian and international evidence base on performance pay to be identified and for suggestions about further research that would be valuable in assessing the value and/or acceptance of performance-based pay for teachers in the Australian context

OECD improving school leadership activity: Australia country background report

Prepared for the Australian Government by the Australian Council for Educational Research in 2006 and released in January 2008, this report provides information on school leadership in Australia, including school governance, the links between leadership and learning outcomes, the attractiveness of the leadership role, and training and professional development for school leaders. The report helped inform the OECD\u27s International Comparative Report on school leadership, due for release in April 2008

Best Practice Teacher Education Programs and Australia’s Own Programs

This report was prepared by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to support the work of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG). ACER was requested to undertake evidence-based research and benchmarking of world’s best practice teacher education programs against Australia’s own programs, which included: (a) identifying best practice principles for the design, delivery and assessment of teacher education programs; and (b) articulating the features of teacher education programs that most effectively support successful transition to effective practice

Investing in teachers

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

Oxygen Production System for Refueling Human Landing System Elements

Current NASA plans for lunar exploration include a human lunar landing system, comprised of separate descent andascent modules, with the eventual goal of reusability. Different oxygen production processes were studied to evaluatethe feasibility of producing 10 tons of oxygen per year assuming a high latitude landing location. The study includesconsideration of packaging the ISRU components on the descent module, methods to transfer the regolith from theexcavators to the processing plant which may be mounted well above the lunar surface, and general concept ofoperations for excavation, oxygen production, and liquefaction and storage. A solar-based power system was alsodesigned and packaged on the lander, including the use of direct solar thermal energy where appropriate

ACER-Led Delegation Investigates US Teacher Quality Practices

ACER recently led a delegation of representatives from Australian education systems and organisations on a study tour to Washington DC to observe the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).The aim of the visit was to find and share answers to questions on teacher quality in Australia such as:What do we mean when we talk about teacher quality? and how do we know it when we see it? Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz, reports on the observations made during the visit