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This report investigates the relationship between post-school plans, family background and having a lifelong learning orientation. It highlights the important role of vocational education and training such as TAFE as an alternative for students with no plans to study at university. Data was drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Youth (LSAY) and the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The study investigated the post-school plans of young people, with a particular interest in those from families of low socioeconomic background, the factors associated with the development of these plans, and the association between types of post-school plans and predispositions towards lifelong learning. The study suggests that the most important factors for predicting post-school plans are gender, ability and the vocational orientation of the student. An orientation to lifelong learning also has an effect but, according to the LSAY data, only a small one. According to the findings, financial disadvantage is not a barrier to post-school study when students choose to study at TAFE or to pursue other vocational options. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds were found to be more likely to realise their plans for tertiary education when those plans do not initially involve attending university. Four guiding principles for policy development are proposed: (1) the establishment of a national youth mentoring strategy to enhance support provided to young people by families, communities and schools to enable them to make successful choices about their future employment and/or study; (2) government funding to support schools to develop more diverse and flexible pathways into work and/or post-school education to improve outcomes for all students; (3) incentives for businesses to work with schools and tertiary institutions to provide increased opportunities for mentoring and more effective career counselling to ensure that students are better prepared to make choices about post-school work and study; and (4) improved family and community support systems to better support students’ transition from school to work and the development of positive attitudes towards lifelong learning. Show less

The South Australian 'Early years of school' policy, changed the way that an identifiable subset of students progressed through junior primary school, affecting individuals born in specific months of the year, with those born in the remaining months and unaffected by the policy affording a natural comparison group. Analysis indicated that the major substantive change between the two groups was the increased education gained by the affected group. Further analysis revealed that it appeared that an additional year of junior primary school generates an increase in the probability of being employed full time within a year of leaving school by approximately 11 per cent, this only applying to those students who did not go on to full time post-school studies. It is suggested that the results of this study provide evidence that the process of schooling itself has an effect on labour market outcomes. It is also indicated that education reform may have complex outcomes, all of which need to be identified and analysed. Show less

This article reports on the findings and implications of a report that investigated the educational and occupational plans of junior secondary students. The study, conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for The Smith Family, surveyed more than 3000 financially disadvantaged students in Years 8 and 9 who are participating in The Smith Family's 'Learning for life program'. The study investigates the plans and aspirations of these young people and factors associated with these plans, and the accuracy of their understandings about pathways from education to work. The study revealed that these students were beginning to identify areas of work that they like and the pathways required, but that many did not properly understand these routes. It also indicated a mismatch between what these students would like to do and the availability of corresponding jobs in the labour market.

The full report, 'What do students think of work?: junior secondary school students' perceptions of the world of work', is indexed at TD/TNC 81.202. Show less

This study examines non-completion of Year 12 at school for a nationally representative sample of young people who were 15 years old and still attending school in 2003. The study explores relationships between non-completion and selected socio-demographic and school-related factors, and changes in rates of school non-completion from the early 1980s to 2005. There is a particular emphasis on how socio-demographic and school-related factors over that period have influenced early school leaving. This study also examines the use of an alternative measure of 'school completion', which incorporates participation in a vocational education and training (VET) program after leaving school. Show less

This publication highlights research undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), investigating topics of importance and relevance to education and training and the significant role they play in shaping education policy. Two articles are of particular interest. 'Surveying youth study and employment' looks at a recent study under the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program, investigating students who were in Year 9 in 1995, but who left school before Year 11. The study looked at how school achievement, gender, ethnicity, school type and parents' social status influenced early school leaving. Employment outcomes were also analysed. The other study of interest is 'The economics of vocational education and training', which has been researched by the Centre for the Economics of Education and Training (CEET). The study focused on research concerning the TAFE workforce in Victoria and focused on the age, qualifications, gender and specialisations of current TAFE teachers. It aimed to provide the Office of Training and Further Education (OTFE) with ideas to improve staff development activities at statewide and TAFE institute levels. This publication contains the following overviews of research projects: Skills for society; Learning with laptops; Learning through philosophy; A thematic approach to numeracy and literacy; Surveying youth study and employment; Making a start on the road to learning; Making tertiary study more accessible; The economics of vocational education and training; and Language in maths - towards equity in assessment. This publication also contains a list of contacts for further information. Show less

This report examines the vocational education and training (VET) activities and experiences in the initial post-school years of young people who left school before completing Year 12. Differences between those who participate in VET after leaving school and those who do not are investigated and achievement in VET courses undertaken by non-completers is reviewed. Information on the characteristics and success rates of non-completers who participated in VET is provided. Two main sets of analyses were undertaken: (1) an examination of the course enrolments of non-completers including enrolments by stream of study, field of study and qualifications; and (2) an examination of success by non-completers in modules or subjects. Rates of failure and withdrawal were included in the analyses. The results show that 37 per cent of non-completers undertook some sort of VET study in their initial post-school years. There were clear differences according to gender, ethnicity and locality and participation also varied by type of VET course. Show less

This publication explores national and international policy priorities for building students' innovation capabilities through information and communication technologies (ICT) in Australian schools. Section one sets out the Australian policy context for digital education and highlights some of the emerging challenges. It provides an overview of two Australian school education policy priorities: that of how to meaningfully include technologies into teaching and learning; and how to build innovation capabilities in students. Section two critically examines the education and economic policy contexts for digital education in Australia, their intersections with international economic priorities, and the role of commercial technologies markets in schools. Section three discusses those Australian education policy priorities that focus on how students build both their discipline-based knowledge and general capabilities, such as creativity and innovation, using technologies. Section four provides some insights into how students currently use technologies for learning and communicating with each other inside and outside of school, and reflects upon what the implications of these practices are for students and policy implementation in schools. In section five the discussion focuses on the physical and human characteristics required by all stakeholders to enable learning with technologies in 21st century schools. Section six challenges existing policy approaches to technology-use in schools, and argues for more open approaches to the deployment and use of technologies and digital resources in schools. Show less

This is a study of the transition to tertiary education of young people in Victoria. The aims of the study are: to describe the social and educational characteristics of those students who commence tertiary studies compared with those who do not; to develop a casual model of the transitions from school to tertiary study; and to describe the manfest reasons students give for not accepting the opportunity for tertiary study. Show less

This study attempts to explain differences in terms of schooling decisions of two cohorts comprised of individuals born in 1961 and 1970. The aims of the study are to establish whether the way in which education decisions are made differ across cohorts and to assess whether any such differences can be related to the institutional reforms that occurred over the 1960-1980 period. The study shows that the main factors that have contributed to the change in educational attainment of the younger (1970) cohort compared to the older (1961) cohort are individual ability, the parents’ educational attainment, family size and attendance at Catholic and other Independent schools. Reasons for the links between each factor of influence and educational attainment are discussed and implications drawn out. Show less

This report looks at the relationship between students’ attitudes to school and intentions to participate in education and training, and how these attitudes and intentions influence participation in Year 12 and in further education and training. Students’ attitudes to school, educational intentions and attainments are examined within the context of earlier school achievement, social background, geographic location, language background and gender. Findings suggest that: 87 per cent of those who indicated that they planned to proceed to Year 12 did so; 79 per cent of those who indicated that they planned to leave school before Year 12 did leave school before Year 12; the correlation between intention to proceed to Year 12 and actual participation is very high (r = 0.80); 52 per cent of those who intended to enter university did participate in university; only 14 per cent of those who indicated that they did not intend to proceed to university eventually participated in university; the correlation between intention and entry to higher education is moderately strong (r = 0.59). The results indicate that intentions for continuing with education as expressed in junior secondary school are important indications of actually continuing in education. These intentions are influenced by a range of factors, including attitudes to school. The contents are: Executive summary; Introduction; Theory, models and data; Results from the model estimations; Conclusion. Included as appendices are: The attitudes to school scale; Analytic methodology; Data. Show less