Search Results

Surveys like the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) enable educators, policy makers and the wider community to compare Australian students with each other, as well as their counterparts across the world. Young people face financial issues at an earlier age than their parents. Decisions about higher education, the need to be able to manage online payment facilities or even mobile phone plans require a level of financial literacy. PISA 2012 offered an opportunity to collect information about the financial literacy of Australian 15-year-old students, and compare that with their peers internationally.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

While the 20th century saw women stride ahead in their participation in education and the workforce, there are still gender differences apparent in some areas of education. In particular, females do not enrol in higher mathematics, science, or [information and communication technology] ICT, or move into [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] STEM-based careers to the same extent as males. This article addresses three broad areas that may hold females back from participation in these subjects in school and in entering STEM careers, providing teachers with the knowledge to address the underlying issues.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

The latest international assessment of students' mathematical, scientific and reading literacy - the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) - shows that the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students has remained the same for the last decade. In short, Indigenous 15-year-olds remain approximately two-and-a-half years behind their non-Indigenous peers in schooling. This essay provides a precis of the results and analysis of some of the issues; it compares Indigenous performance in 2012 with that from previous PISA cycles; and discusses a range of implications for policy and practice.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the largest international survey asking teachers and school leaders about their working conditions and learning environments, and provides a barometer of the profession every five years. Results from the 2018 cycle explore and examine the various dimensions of teacher and school leader professionalism across education systems. In Australia, a nationally representative sample of 4,000 teachers and principals from 200 lower secondary schools was randomly selected to participate in the study. Findings from TALIS 2018 in Australia are reported in two volumes. The first volume, 'Teachers and school leaders as lifelong learners', published in November 2019, explored teaching practices, the changing contexts for teaching and the knowledge and skills dimensions of professionalism for teachers and school leaders. The second volume, 'Teachers and school leaders as valued professionals', published in August 2020, explores the prestige and standing of the profession, the security, flexibility and reward structures of teaching and school leadership careers, the extent of professional collaboration and collegial relations within schools, and the degree of autonomy and leadership that teachers and school leaders have in their jobs. The primary focus of these reports is the responses from lower-secondary teachers and school leaders. Data for primary teachers, where available and appropriate, is also included.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website with additional information. Show less

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a survey of the knowledge and skills of 15 year-olds that was first carried out in 2000 and repeated every three years to measure the changes that take place over time. This report presents results from PISA 2003, examining ICT [information and computer technology] within the PISA framework - that is, how familiar students were with ICT as they near the completion of compulsory schooling and how well they use the technologies that are available. The report also looks at aspects of the so called 'digital divide', examining access and use of ICT in Australia by state, by gender, by Indigenous background, by socioeconomic background and by geographic location. These characteristics are compared to how well students performed in mathematics, the main area of student performance in PISA 2003. The data on which this report is based are largely self-report data, obtained from the student questionnaire, and there are some points in the report where there may be the possibility of cultural bias in the manner in which questions are answered. As well, in the intervening four years there have been major advances in such things as the availability and reliability of broadband internet. However, this report provides a baseline from which changes in ICT usage can be gauged using the data from PISA. Findings include: all Australian students have access to a computer at school, and most also have access to a computer at home; fewer Indigenous students and fewer students from the lowest level of socioeconomic background have access at home; Australian students use computers frequently and while entertainment is a large part of this, they use computers for a wide range of functions; Australian students were highly confident of being able to perform routine ICT tasks such as opening, saving and deleting files by themselves, and they were amongst the most confident in the world at performing Internet tasks. Show less

The three-yearly OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessments provide an opportunity to monitor the performance of Australian students in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. In particular, the assessments allow examination of the performance of particular equity groups and to look at how well particular groups of 15-year-old students, approaching the end of their compulsory schooling are prepared for meeting the challenges they will face in their lives beyond school. A special focus for Australia has been to ensure that there is a sufficiently large sample of Australia's Indigenous students so that valid and reliable analysis can be conducted. This has been achieved in each cycle of PISA and this report presents analyses of the achievement of Indigenous students in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy in each of the cycles. Achievement is presented in two ways in this report: in terms of mean scores and in terms of proficiency levels. Across the three PISA cycles, Indigenous students have performed at a substantially and statistically lower average level in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy than their non-Indigenous peers. Only 12 per cent of Indigenous students were able to achieve the highest levels of reading literacy, and no more than five per cent achieved the highest level in mathematical and scientific literacy. Significant gender differences were found between Indigenous males and females in reading literacy, favouring Indigenous females. The performance of Australian Indigenous students in PISA continues to raise concerns about the educational disadvantage faced by these students. From an international perspective, they are performing well below the OECD average and from a national perspective, they are achieving well below the performance of non-Indigenous students. The results from the three PISA assessments have shown that the performance of Indigenous students has not improved over time. These results suggest that initiatives to improve the education of Indigenous students through educational policy have to date had little effect. In terms of real-life functioning and future opportunities, Indigenous students remain at a substantial disadvantage. Show less

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative assessment of student achievement directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, are prepared to use the knowledge and skills in particular areas to meet real-life opportunities and challenges. In addition to measuring students' skills in the core areas of reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy, PISA was the first large-scale international assessment to assess financial literacy in 2012. The second assessment of financial literacy was once again conducted as an optional component in PISA and was conducted in 15 countries and economies in 2015. In Australia, the inclusion of financial literacy in PISA is funded by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). This report focuses on the findings from the Financial Literacy assessment in PISA 2015.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

The link between academic achievement and labour market outcomes is well established. But how well does a student’s achievement in a test predict their later success in life? This study examines this question, with ‘success’ considered to encompass satisfaction with life together with the extent to which young people are fully occupied with education, employment or a combination of these. Low performers in mathematics in the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) were the focus. The study found that ‘low performing’ status has little impact on future success. Further, students who saw the value of mathematics for their future success were more likely to achieve this success. Key messages include: academic under-achievement is not the end of the road for most students, with almost three-quarters of those who were ‘low performers’ at age 15 years going on to make a successful transition into full-time work or study (or a combination of these); motivation is a key determinant of students’ later outcomes, with those who see the value of study such as mathematics for their future success more likely to achieve this success; ensuring that the school experience is a positive one for low-performing students may be a challenging task, but can be worth the effort, with positive impacts on young people’s lives at the time they are at school, and, it appears, once they have left school; low-performing students from socioeconomically disadvantaged households are less likely to be successful than their more affluent counterparts, suggesting that the degree to which parents can help their children may be a factor; and having some sort of career or strategic plan, such as aspiring to do an apprenticeship, is particularly important for determining later success in life. Show less

The subjects that students choose to study for their Year 12 certificate have a major impact on the educational and career options open to them after finishing school. Some subjects or combinations of subjects are traditionally more likely to act as gateways to higher education or to vocational education and training (VET), while others are more likely to lead to the workforce or to unemployment. This study looks at the following research questions: (1) What are the typical clusters of subjects or course types studied by Year 12 students and have these changed since prior analyses as a result of the increased participation in VET subjects and with the apparent broadening of subject choices across the Key Learning Areas? (2) What are the profiles of students enrolled in particular course types in Year 12 and are there particular courses that are more likely to be studied by males or females, or those from different social backgrounds? (3) What field of study area or work do students from particular course types tend to move in? (4) What area of work do students from particular course types tend to move into and are there particular course types that appear to lead more often to unemployment or other poor outcomes? Findings indicate that: the course areas of business studies, sciences other than advanced mathematics-physical sciences, and technical vocational courses provide some alternative pathways for a broad range of students, both in terms of ability and social status, language background and gender; the course that provided the poorest pathway to further education and training of any type were the service-clerical vocational, mixed eclectic and visual and performing arts courses; and most students who left school immediately after completing Year 12 moved into low-level positions, mainly in the areas of retail trades, accommodation, hospitality and manufacturing. The contents are: Executive summary; Introduction; Deriving the courses of study; Profiles of participation in Year 12 courses; Participation in further education and training; Moving into the workforce; Discussion. Included as appendices are: Sample and measures; Subject groupings; Notes on methods of analysis; Estimation of the impact of various factors on participation in Year 12 subjects; Interpreting odds ratios; Participation in higher education broad fields of study. Show less

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) seeks to measure how well young adults at age 15 (and, therefore, near the end of compulsory schooling in most participating education systems) are prepared to use their knowledge and skills in particular areas to meet real-life challenges. PISA's orientation reflects a change in the goals and objectives of curricula, which increasingly address how well students are able to apply what they learn at school. The assessment focuses on reading, mathematics, science and problem-solving and, for the first time, PISA 2012 also included an assessment of the financial literacy of young people. Around 510,000 students (representative of about 28 million students overall) from all 34 OECD member countries and 31 partner countries and economies participated in PISA 2012, representing more than 80 per cent of the world economy.

This report presents the results of the PISA 2012 assessment for Australia. It presents the results for Australia as a whole, for the Australian jurisdictions and (where relevant) for the other participants in the study, so that Australia's results can be viewed in an international context. Show less