Search results

The On Track project, the research project on which this report is based, is an attempt to provide alternative measures of the success of schools in securing positive outcomes for their students. Schools and system authorities require a more detailed picture of retention and transition, which is important not only for the global management of the large and complex system of post-compulsory education and training in Victoria, but for achieving effective outcomes for individuals. The project seeks to provide a measure or profile of post-school transition which takes into account the range of academic and vocational pathways available and thereby provide a balanced and accurate view of outcomes for students in a range of settings. To achieve this, school leavers who exited Victorian schools from Years 10, 11 and 12 in 2002 were surveyed by telephone in March-April 2003. Data collected were subsequently analysed by the research team in the Centre for Postcompulsory Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Melbourne. The project found that it is important that the survey itself become an ongoing aspect of the policy process, in order to compare destinations from year to year, measure progress towards the achievement of educational targets and continue to provide schools with relevant and recent data on the postschooling destinations of their students. Stakeholders have made clear during the process of reporting findings that a longitudinal perspective is needed in order to put the findings reported in this survey into perspective.