Research and mapping for MCEECDYA project: student academic engagement

The Research and Mapping for MCEECDYA Project: Student Academic Engagement has been funded by the Australian Government and project managed by the Department of Education Western Australian (DOEWA), in consultation with a nationally convened Steering Group of jurisdictional and non government school authorities’ representatives. Researchers at the School of Education, Edith Cowan University have conducted the project through tender with the DOEWA. Purpose: The purpose of the project was to examine the characteristics of schools with a low Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) from all jurisdictions that were identified to be making a difference to student academic achievement, and to identify the key drivers and characteristics of successful models of practice for increasing and sustaining student academic engagement. In defining ‘student academic engagement’ this research has built on the definition used in the Pipeline project by Angus, McDonald, Ormond, Rybarcyzk, Taylor and Winterton, (2009, p 101-102): ‘the product of the student’s attention, effor t, emotions, cognitive investment and participation in learning and teacher actions that encourage participation and the development of competence in learning’. This was extended to include school leadership and other factors supporting school change in low ICSEA contexts. Key Research Questions: The study had two broad research questions, related to the issues of student academic engagement in low ICSEA schools. These questions were: What are the key drivers and characteristics of 1. successful models of practice for increasing and maintaining student engagement? What are the policy implications of these findings 2. for effective, sustained reform at the jurisdiction and national levels? Methodology: The study examined a sample of low ICSEA schools from across Australia. It was conducted just three years after the Commonwealth Government established its Education Revolution for Australian schools and established the Smarter Schools National Partnerships reform agenda. A review of the targets and initiatives that have been instituted by the State and Territory Departments of Education was also undertaken to provide a broader contextual framework for the study. State and Territory Departments of Education all require schools to monitor and report on aspects of student attendance, student performance and the quality of schooling in line with the national agenda. A case study approach was used to explore school practices in the area of student academic engagement in order to identify which strategies had been successfully employed. The study also incorporated an analytical theory of student academic engagement, supplemented by consideration of recent literature. Seventy-three schools were nominated by all education jurisdictions across Australia as low ICSEA primary and secondary schools whose national reporting data indicated they had made a significant, sustained improvement in students’ academic engagement. A desktop audit of these schools identified 25 potential case studies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the leadership teams of the identified schools, and school policies and performance data were examined. Twelve of these schools were selected and developed as case studies, to provide a sample of a range of low ICSEA Australian school contexts. Significantly, eleven of the twelve case study schools were National Partnership schools and their innovations were strongly supported by National Partnership funding. In total 40 of the 73 (or 55%) of the schools nominated for selection in this study were National Partnership schools despite this not being a criteria for nomination or selection as a case study school

Final Year Preservice Teachers\u27 Views of Professional Experience in Partnership Schools

This study investigated the perspectives of preservice teachers’ (PSTs) on their final year placements in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs offered at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. It compared the views of PSTs in two placement models; the Alliance school (partnership)and non-Alliance school (or conventional) models. The Alliance model draws on Activity Theory (Engeström, 2015) to strengthen the links between theory and practice in ITE, providing additional support during school placements through an ‘in situ’ boundary crosser. These boundary crossers use an Assessment Circle process that supports professional conversations about teaching and learning. A mixed method approach has been used to compare the reported experiences of final year PSTs who completed placements in an Alliance partnership schools or a non-Alliance schools. Findings indicate significant differences in the experiences of the two cohorts of PSTs in relation to perceived levels of support and their understanding of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011)

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Practicum partnerships: exploring models of practicum organisation in teacher education for a standards-based profession

The findings of this study demonstrate the need for the practicum component of teacher education to be more closely guided by the VIT Professional Standards for Graduating Teachers. Executive Summary The Practicum Partnerships Project has examined the professional learning experiences of preservice teachers in graduate secondary teacher education programs offered by eight higher education providers in Victoria. The investigation has focused on the placement component of teacher education programs and examined how the professional learning experiences of preservice teachers are informed by the VIT Professional Standards for Graduating Teachers. Evidence about the practicum requirements of ten secondary teacher education programs was collected from web-based information and from copies of manuals and assessment forms prepared by providers. Preservice teachers were interviewed in small groups and surveyed individually after their first and last placement. Groups of supervising teachers were also interviewed following their supervision of the first and last placement of each graduate secondary teacher education program in the study. Interviews focused on the conduct of the practicum, how this related to the goals of the particular program and how it was informed by the VIT Professional Standards for Graduating Teachers. Questions were also asked about aspects of professional learning that appeared to be difficult, and about feedback and assessment processes. Resources for the support of placements were also investigated through consideration of support provided to schools and higher education providers. The findings of this study demonstrate the need for the practicum component of teacher education to be more closely guided by the VIT Professional Standards for Graduating Teachers. This is the agreed set of standards for teaching as a profession in Victoria. References to these Standards vary considerably in documents from higher education providers and, while learning on placements often supports these Standards, this appears to mostly occur incidentally. Moreover, it appears that preservice teachers are more strongly influenced by the views of supervising teachers than they are by the goals of providers or VIT Standards. There is thus a need for more knowledge about how the Standards might inform teacher preparation. The study findings further suggest that higher education providers need to evaluate more closely the extent to which the goals of their programs are being addressed by supervising teachers. Finally, the study demonstrates the need for more careful consideration of the costs of, and resources needed for, the practicum component of teacher education. Schools largely absorb the workload for coordination and supervision, and the costs are not formally considered in school budgets. While funding to higher education providers for teacher education has shown some improvement due to recent government initiatives, a review of the cost of placements in teacher education programs is still needed as there has been no formal estimation of the funds required to support high quality teacher education placements and programs. There is a need for a formal review of the resources needed to support teacher preparation, guided by recommendations of this report