The University of Melbourne was engaged by the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and Communities (DEC) to: undertake an extensive literature review to identify best practice indicators of quality career advice within school contexts; determine to what extent existing data available from within the three data collection programs within the DEC (i.e. the Expectations and Destinations of NSW Senior Secondary Students Survey, the Student Pathways Survey and the annual Online School to Work Program reporting) can be re-analysed to provide evidence of 'quality career advice' in accordanc
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The University of Melbourne was engaged by the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and Communities (DEC) to: undertake an extensive literature review to identify best practice indicators of quality career advice within school contexts; determine to what extent existing data available from within the three data collection programs within the DEC (i.e. the Expectations and Destinations of NSW Senior Secondary Students Survey, the Student Pathways Survey and the annual Online School to Work Program reporting) can be re-analysed to provide evidence of 'quality career advice' in accordance with the best practice indicators identified; and recommend further strategies and actions DEC should consider to adequately respond to the NSW Legislative Assembly Public Accounts Committee's recommendation that, by June 2015, DEC conduct an evaluation of the quality and appropriateness of career advice provided in schools.
The body of this report is divided into four sections. Section 1 provides an introduction and describes the rationale for the study. Section 2 provides a comprehensive review of Australian and international literature on quality career development provision. After defining the key concepts, the benefits of career development provision are documented. This is followed by a detailed discussion of quality, identifying best practice at the system and school levels and documenting the indicators/competencies at the school and student levels. Section 3 maps the instruments from the three major NSW studies against these indicators (school level) and competencies (student level). The five step process involved a content analysis of individual items and the extent to which they correspond to the indicators/competencies. This mapping exercise reveals the extent to which a re-analysis of existing data can address the Public Accounts Committee's recommendation. Concluding the report, Section 4 summarises the findings and suggests future directions.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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