'Red dirt' schools and pathways into higher education

One of the predominant themes that pervades much of the literature on remote education is one about Indigenous ‘disadvantage’. It has been defined specifically as ‘the difference (or gap) in outcomes for Indigenous Australians when compared with non-Indigenous Australians’ (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision 2012, p. xiv). The concept then extends to ‘closing the gap’ (Council of Australian Governments 2009) in a general sense and in a more specific educational context (What Works: The Work Program 2012). Combining ‘Indigenous disadvantage’ with ‘remote’ adds a different meaning – those who live in remote communities are doubly ‘disadvantaged’ because of their geographic location and their race, and indeed some indexes of socio-economic advantage place disproportionate weight on location and race

Mapping boarding school opportunities for Aboriginal students from the Central Land Council Region of Northern Territory

The 2014 Wilson review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory recommended boarding school models as the preferred secondary education option for very remote Aboriginal students. This study considers boarding uptake by Aboriginal students from the Central Land Council region of the Northern Territory. An examination of boarding programs available to Aboriginal students in this region found that scholarship access is largely determined by socioeducational advantage and the perceived social stability of the family and student. To increase access and participation in boarding, more flexible funding assistance programs are needed. An expanded role for brokering could also increase retention and completion rates. Ultimately, more investment is also required in remote community schools, and in the development of ‘both ways’ capital if the social and educational aspirations of young Aboriginal students and their families in this region are to be realised through a boarding school model. Copyright © The Author(s) 201

Boarding schools for remote secondary Aboriginal learners in the Northern Territory. Smooth transition or rough ride?

After the 2014 Northern Territory Wilson Review of Indigenous education, the NT Department of Education committed resources support secondary aged students to take up boarding options. The basis for this was firstly, low retention rates of students to Year 12, and secondly, difficulties associated with providing quality secondary education in remote communities. Beyond the Review, the Department’s policy had a small evidence base. It did not know how many young people were attending boarding schools, where, how long they were attending or what the impact of the strategy would be for students or communities. In response, the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation’s Remote Education Systems project commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research to uncover the missing evidence. It became apparent that finding data to fill the gap would be a challenge. Nevertheless, the project revealed findings following interviews with community stakeholders, principals and heads of boarding schools. While the research project itself cannot fill all the gaps it can offer an independent critique of a strategy designed to increase boarding school participation. It also poses questions for further research in a field where transformative impact is assumed to be positive, but where evidence for transformation is limited

Thinking with theory as a policy evaluation tool: The case of boarding schools for remote First Nations students

Many recent policy documents have outlined the challenges of delivering high-quality education in remote First Nations communities and proposed that boarding schools are one important solution. These documents have influenced the increasing uptake of boarding options and there has been considerable public investment in scholarships, residential facilities and transition support. Yet the outcomes of this investment and policy effort are not well understood. The authors of this article came together as a collaboration of researchers who have published about boarding school education for First Nations students to examine the evidence and develop a theory-driven understanding of how policies drive systems to produce both desirable and undesirable outcomes for First Nations boarding school students. We applied complexity theory and post-structural policy analysis techniques and produced a useful tool for the evaluation of boarding policy and its implementation

The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a hospital avoidance program in a residential aged care facility

Background Residential aged care facility residents experience high rates of hospital admissions which are stressful, costly and often preventable. Design Prospective pre-post cohort study and decision model analysis Intervention A decision-support tool was implemented to enable nursing staff to detect, refer and quickly respond to early signals of a deteriorating resident. Advanced clinical skills training, new diagnostic equipment and guided support from clinical lead nurses and nurse practitioners was provided to support nursing staff in the delivery of appropriate sub-acute care. Outcome measures Rate of hospital admissions; length of stay; incremental cost per QALY; net monetary benefit. Results The hospital avoidance program was associated with a 19% reduction in annual hospital admissions and a 31% reduction in the average length of stay. When modelled in a cohort of 1,000 residents the program resulted in a total of 1,606 fewer hospital bed days per annum. This contributed to a total cost saving of $2.6 million and 0.62 incremental QALYs gained per 1,000 residents. The program had a positive net monetary benefit and was considered cost-effective, even when the willingness to pay for health care gains was set to zero. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis estimated that there was an 86% probability that the program was cost-effective after taking the uncertainty of the model inputs into account. Conclusions This study provides compelling evidence for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a RACF nurse led sub-acute care program in preventing unnecessary hospital admissions