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The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This technical report is the codebook for wave one0 of the Y95 cohort. The Y95 cohort of LSAY was drawn from the national sample of approximately 13,000 year nine students. It was constructed by randomly selecting two year nine classes from a national sample of 300 schools designed to represent state and sector. The report describes the contents of the dataset and provides an explanation of all the variables in that dataset. 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 Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. This technical report is the codebook for wave seven of the Y98 cohort. The Y98 cohort of LSAY was drawn from the national sample of approximately 14,000 year nine students. It was constructed by randomly selecting two year nine classes from a sample of schools designed to represent state and sector. The report describes the contents of the dataset and provides an explanation of all the variables in that dataset. Show less

This report describes how young people in Years 8 and 9 who were in the Smith Family’s Learning for Life program are preparing for their transitions to education and work and the factors that shape these plans. It examines their educational and occupational plans and aspirations based on responses to a survey sent to Learning for Life families. Findings from the study relating to vocational plans indicate that: approximately 70% of students could nominate an occupation that they would like to do at the age of 25, of which 50% indicated they would like a professional level job and 25% would like a trade level job; girls were more likely to prefer a professional level job than boys, and boys were more likely to prefer a trade level job than girls; approximately 75% of students expected to get the job that they would like to do at age 25 and the expectation that the student would get the most liked job was associated with perceived ability; about 60% of students saw lack of ability as an important explanation for a failure to obtain a job, with those who perceived themselves as below average at school being more likely to see this as an important explanation; there was a lack of understanding about the availability of professional and trade level jobs in the labour market; and respondents in this study appeared to match their perceived ability to their educational and vocational goals. The contents include; Executive summary; Introduction; Gender, interests, ability and future plans; Understandings of education and work; Conclusion. Included as appendices are: Methodology and response rate; Survey instrument; Ability and self-perceived ability. Show less

This report uses data from the 1995 Year 9 Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) to describe the educational, training and labour market pathways of non-apprenticeship vocational education and training (VET) course entrants and to identify factors associated with persistence in non-apprenticeship VET courses. The report focuses on students who participated in one form of VET study. Findings include: 23% of females and 17% of males had commenced a non-apprenticeship VET course by 2000; males were more likely than females to be still studying in their first course and less likely than females to have completed their first course by age 20; gender differences existed between pathways of persons with no experience of tertiary education and those of persons who had undertaken non-apprenticeship VET; low socioeconomic status (SES) students were not disadvantaged in terms of course progress; and a number of educational and labour market characteristics, such as numeracy, course level, paid work, attitudinal factors and reasons for discontinuing, were associated with course persistence. The contents are: Executive summary; Introduction; Data and methods; The level and nature of participation in non-apprenticeship VET; Pathways into, through and out of VET study; Factors associated with course progress; Summary and conclusion; References. Included as appendices are: The 1995 Year 9 LSAY cohort; Accuracy of retrospective data; Measures; Multivariate techniques; Supplementary tables. Show less

This study, which looks at whether completing school really benefits all young people, provides estimates of the benefits to additional years of schooling for young people who are assessed as non-academically inclined. It uses data from the 1995 Year 9 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) to estimate the effects of additional years of schooling on earnings and on the probability of being in employment. While evidence that further years of schooling is actually detrimental to some young people, as the literal interpretation of many of the results suggests, is less clear, it nonetheless should not be ignored by policy makers and alternatives such as reasonable job openings, traineeships and apprenticeships should not be ignored for the sake of accumulating years of schooling. The report concludes that alternative pathways and institutional arrangements need to be available to meet the varying needs, abilities and preferences of all young people, as well as the information they require to make informed decisions on what is optimal for them. Show less

This report examines the experiences of young people during their first year of tertiary education. The data used in this report are drawn from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) which study the progress of cohorts of young Australians as they make the transition from secondary school to work and/or further education and training, beginning in Year 9. The report focuses on the group of young people who were in Year 9 in 1998 and first entered tertiary education during 2002. It is based on three questions. (1) How satisfied are university and TAFE (non-apprenticeship) students with their initial experiences of tertiary education and what areas of their transitions have been difficult? (2) Who is the most likely to change course, or institution, or defer study or withdraw and what are their reasons for doing so? (3) Are the outcomes and experiences of the ‘equity target groups’, those students from backgrounds that have been underrepresented in higher education (i.e. students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, rural and isolated backgrounds, with an Indigenous background, or from non-English speaking backgrounds, female students in non-traditional fields of study, or students with disabilities), different from the experiences of other students? Overall, the study found that the majority of first year tertiary students reported predominantly positive experiences of tertiary study. Some students appeared to be having trouble maintaining a balance between work and education commitments. It is recommended that monitoring and further research are needed to clarify the effects of paid work on transition to tertiary education. The report also recommends monitoring of the experiences, difficulties and first year outcomes of some of the equity target groups, particularly students of an Indigenous Australian background, as the results suggest that although these students have accessed tertiary education, they may still face relatively high difficulties in maintaining their studies. Show less

This report looks at the pathways of recent school leavers who enter the higher education sector in Australia, focusing on the first three years following senior secondary school. Based on data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), it aims to: provide estimates of the proportions of entrants who change courses or leave the higher education sector before completing a course; identify factors associated with course change within the higher education sector; identify factors associated with attrition from the higher education sector; and examine the initial education, training and labour market destinations of those who leave the higher education sector before completing a qualification. The study found that 13 per cent of young people who first commenced higher education in 1999 or 2000 had changed courses within the higher education sector by 2001, and 14 per cent left the higher education sector without completing a qualification and had not returned by late 2001. However, attrition from the higher education sector did not necessarily mean the end of education and training as students may move to the vocational education and training (VET) sector or enter full-time employment in their chosen field. The study also found that the factors associated with course changes are different from those associated with attrition. Show less

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and work. The 2003 cohort of LSAY was drawn from the sample of 15 year-olds in Australian schools who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2003.

Part A of this technical report, 'Data dictionary', describes the contents of the dataset and provides an explanation of all the variables in that dataset.

Part B, 'Frequencies', provides the counts of the values within each variable for wave two of the 2003 (Y03) cohort.

Part C, 'Questionnaire', is the questionnaire for wave two of the 2003 (Y03) cohort. Show less

This report examines effects of structural and process features of professional development programs on teachers’ knowledge, practice and efficacy. It is based on four recent (2002-2003) studies undertaken through the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme, designed to enhance teacher quality. The total data set for the survey study includes 3,250 teachers who had participated in 80 individual professional development activities within these studies. Teachers were surveyed at least three months after participating in an activity, which provided them with the opportunity to gauge the impact of programs on their practice. To investigate factors affecting impact, a theoretical model was developed based on recent research into the characteristics of effective professional development and tested using blockwise regression analysis. The model included contextual factors (e.g. school support), structural features of programs (e.g. length), process features (e.g. emphasis on content; active learning; examination of student work; feedback; follow-up), a mediating variable (level of professional community generated), and four outcome measures (knowledge; practice; student learning and efficacy). Consistent significant direct effects were found across the four studies for the impact of content focus, active learning, and follow-up on knowledge and professional community. Feedback was rarely incorporated into program design. Impact on efficacy was strongly related to the perceived impact of activities on teachers’ practice and student learning outcomes.

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