National assessment program : ICT literacy years 6 & 10 report 2008

This report presents the findings from the National Assessment Program – ICT literacy assessment conducted in 2008 under the auspices of the national council of education ministers, the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). National samples of Year 6 and Year 10 students were assessed to determine their levels of confidence, creativity and skill development in the use of information and communication technologies. This report compares the results of Australian school students by state and territory and student sub-groups, and provides details of their achievement against an ICT literacy scale. It also enables the most recent achievements of students to be compared against those from the first national assessment of ICT literacy conducted in 2005. A survey of student access to, and use of, computers was conducted as part of the ICT literacy assessment and it provides an interesting insight into how students are using their access to new technologies

Students’ experiences of school suspension

Issue addressed: School inclusion and academic attainment are key social determinants of health. Students who have been suspended from school are more likely to disengage from school and consequently not receive the health promoting benefits of social inclusion and academic achievement. This study sought to explore the experiences of students who have been previously suspended (i.e. had experienced school exclusion). Methods: Seventy-four previously suspended adolescents from five schools in the state of Victoria, Australia, completed a written questionnaire. Students reported their understanding of the process of being suspended; what they did and with whom they spent the day(s) of suspension; and their perceptions of their return to school post-suspension. Results: While suspended, a minority of suspended students received adult supervision and most suspended students participated in benign leisure activities. Upon return to school, students reported diminished teacher assistance and found that suspension did not help resolve the underlying issues that lead to the suspension. Conclusions: Removal of a student displaying problem behaviours from the classroom may provide temporary relief to the school community but suspended students report minimal benefits from suspension. Suspension removes the potential pro-social normative influences of school and provides an opportunity to establish antisocial peer networks. Suspended students appear to perceive a stigma upon their return to school, further diminishing an already tenuous school relationship. So what?: School suspension exposes disadvantaged students to several negative social determinants of health. Students displaying problem behaviours would benefit from interventions that maintain the student’s relationship with school. Should suspension be necessary, schools could assist by ensuring that suspended students receive appropriate adult supervision and a formal reintegration to school to promote social inclusion and academic attainment, two recognised key determinants of health

Getting there, being there, staying and belonging: A case study of two Indigenous Australian children's transition to school

Indigenous Australians are among the most unhealthy populations in the world and yet they reside in a country where the non-Indigenous population enjoys high standards of well-being. Education has been identified as the key mechanism for closing this equity gap. At school commencement many Indigenous children are already at risk of disengagement. This four-year longitudinal study of two Indigenous boys from a socially marginalised community examined key factors affecting transitional trajectories into school. While child characteristics affected level of achievement the critical factors in sustaining positive educational engagement were social support, school practices, inclusion of family and positive expectation

Why a book About Indigenous literacy education in Australia?

[Extract:] This book brings together diverse perspectives about Australian literacy education for Indigenous peoples. The editors of this volume share a long history of working in Indigenous education, both as classroom teachers and as academics, and in school and tertiary settings. As non-Indigenous (Settler) academics, we acknowledge that Indigenous educational priorities ultimately need to be driven by Indigenous people, and we must enter this space respectfully. As educators we are aware of the disparate voices in literacy education generally, but the more so in the multiplicity of Indigenous contexts. We are motivated by the need to keep nudging the conversations along, as Indigenous people determine their own ways of being literate, and as educators continue to tackle the unfinished business of growing their institutions into places where Indigenous people can come to learn successfully. For any Australian teachers and researchers in the field of education, the topic of Indigenous literacy education should be particularly significant because it concerns many of our most marginalised students. It brings our attention to one of our deepest national educational dilemmas, namely, who gets to participate fully in which education