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This paper reviews the main comparative research papers on the transition from secondary school level to work, primarily in Europe. The paper aims to identify the important dimensions of variation among education/training systems and their national contexts, which may be hypothesised to influence the success of transitions. It develops a conceptual framework to represent inter-country variations in the nature of the school to work transition process. There are four dimensions of a conceptual framework: the national context; the nature of the education and training system in each country and its connection to the labour market, as well as state policies influencing these processes; the structure of the school to work transition process itself, and the outcomes of the transition process - 'success' and 'failure' in transitions; and variations among the groups of young people in the outcomes achieved. Recommendations are made for additional information needed to test the hypotheses. Show less

This report explores the relationship between life satisfaction and participation in further education, training and employment and assesses whether the relationship between life satisfaction and post-school activities holds after prior levels of life satisfaction are taken into account and whether movement between activities in the post-school years is associated with changes in life satisfaction. It is based on new research that brings together two streams of investigation in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program: emotional well-being of young people; and transitions to further education, training and work. The overall finding of the study is that young Australians are highly satisfied with their life and careers. In particular, the study suggests that young people who were in full-time education, training, employment or a combination of these activities had higher levels of satisfaction than those who were occupied only part-time. Those who were in part-time education, training or employment were in turn more satisfied than those who were not in education, training or employment. Show less

In 2000, ACER introduced cohort reports as part of its Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program to ‘provide an overview of the education, training and labour market experiences of the whole cohort on a regular basis, contributing to discussions of issues that affect young people’. Cohort reports supplement data already available from government statistics on enrolments and apparent retention rates. These reports are aimed at helping researchers to see the potential of the database as they use a wider range of the variables than may be used in the LSAY research reports.

This report contains information about the experiences of the 1995 LSAY cohort in 2001. Information on this cohort was first collected in 1995, when these young people were Year 9 students in Australian schools. The modal age of respondents at the time of the 2001 survey was 20 years. Highlights from this report include: approximately one-half of the cohort were engaged in study during 2001; more females than males were studying at university or TAFE, while the proportion of males in apprenticeships was greater; more than 90% of those who had completed some study since leaving school stated that they had benefited from study; more than four-fifths of the cohort were employed in 2001; males employed full-time worked more hours per week and earned more money than females employed full-time, while males employed part-time earned more money than females employed part-time but worked the same number of hours per week; job satisfaction was very high among cohort members; and most members of the cohort were happy with their lives. The contents are: Executive summary; Introduction; Who is in the Year 9 class of 1995 in 2001?; Education and training activities; Employment; Social aspects; Concluding comments; References.

Other cohort reports relating to the Year 9 class of 1995 are indexed at TD/TNC 78.213, TD/TNC 78.214 and TD/TNC 78.217. Show less

The focus of the 2001 ACER Research Conference is on understanding young people's pathways from school to work and adult life and attempts to provide a 'state-of-the-art' review of: the pathways that are available to Australian youths and their views on opportunities and constraints; the major directions of Australian policy and practice; a comparison of Australian development with major overseas trends; evidence of the impact new forms of pathways have and factors that appear important for their success; the main at-risk groups towards whom policy needs to be directed; and the future research priorities. This document contains: (1) Summaries of conference papers; (2) Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth; (3) Conference programs. The papers presented at the conference are: What are pathways?: concepts and evidence from cross-national research / David Raffe; Early school leavers: who are they, why do they leave, and what are the consequences? / Gary Marks and Julie McMillan; Great divides in learning: youth learning pathways in rural and remote Australian towns / Barry Golding; Identifying and meeting the needs of 'at risk' young people / Robin Sullivan; Regional and local government initiatives to support youth pathways: lessons from innovative communities / John Spierings; The report from the Prime Minister's Youth Pathways Action Plan Taskforce: footprints to the future / Shelagh Whittleston; Doing what it takes: options and opportunities for supporting Australian Youth / Jane Figgis; How young people are faring in 2001: learning, work and transition: a summary / Richard Curtain; Building effective local industry-education partnerships to sustain young people / Harris van Beek; Does VET in schools make a difference to post-school pathways? / Sue Fullarton; How effective are apprenticeships and traineeship pathways / Chris Robinson; Meandering, diversions and steadfast purpose: Australian youth pathways in a comparative perspective / Richard Sweet; Improving pathways outcomes for young Indigenous Australians / Peter Buckskin; Understanding youth pathways: paths through the maze: route maps for education, community and health services / Jan Carter; The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth program / Phillip McKenzie.

Individual papers presented at the conference are indexed from TD/TNC 68.426 to TD/TNC 68.440 Show less

In 2000, ACER introduced cohort reports as part of its Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program to 'provide an overview of the education, training and labour market experiences of the whole cohort on a regular basis, contributing to discussions of issues that affect young people'. Cohort reports supplement data already available from government statistics on enrolments and apparent retention rates. These reports are aimed at helping researchers to see the potential of the database as they use a wider range of the variables than may be used in the LSAY research reports.

This report contains information about the experiences of the 1995 LSAY cohort in 1999. Information on this cohort was first collected in 1995, when these young people were Year 9 students in Australian schools. The modal age of respondents at the time of the 2002 survey was 18 years and almost all of the cohort had left secondary school and had commenced further education, employment or some combination of activities. Key features of the background characteristics of the cohort are: two per cent were of Indigenous background; 89% came from a home in which English was the main language spoken; 68% had attended a government school in Year 9, 20% had attended a Catholic school and 12% had attended an Independent school; 55% had a home address in a metropolitan area in 1995, 24% lived in regional centres, and 21% had a home address in a rural or remote area; and 49% had a father who worked in a professional, para-professional or managerial occupation, and 16% had a father who worked as a plant or machine operator, or a labourer. The contents are: Introduction; Who is in the Year 9 class of 1995?; Education and work activities; Living arrangements and other activities; Concluding remarks; References.

Other cohort reports relating to the Year 9 class of 1995 are indexed at TD/TNC 78.211, TD/TNC 78.213 and TD/TNC 78.214. Show less

In 1997, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA was the result of a desire by governments to monitor the outcomes of education systems in terms of student achievement on a regular basis and within an internationally accepted common framework. This report focuses on Australia's results from PISA 2006 in the areas of scientific literacy, reading literacy and mathematical literacy. Chapters three, five and six are devoted to each of these respectively. Chapter two provides an overview of the context for science education in Australia and focuses on how students are assessed in science for PISA 2006. Chapter four examines student attitudes, motivations and engagement influencing scientific literacy performance, chapter seven looks at the relationship between socioeconomic background and achievement, and chapter eight summarises this report. Show less

Education and training policy is increasingly being framed from a lifelong learning perspective both internationally and in Australia. The need for continual learning over the lifespan is now commonly recognised as a key organising concept in education and training programs. This paper focuses on some of the key policy issues for furthering the goals of lifelong learning in Australia. Five main questions are addressed: (a) what is lifelong learning?; (b) what are the key elements of the policy agenda?; (c) what are the highest priorities?; (d) how much will lifelong learning cost?; and (e) how can investment in lifelong learning be stimulated?

Other selected papers from the seminar are indexed at TD/TNC 69.524 and TD/TNC 69.525. Show less

The changing context of schooling is examined in this paper in terms of global changes and what impact these are having on the skills young people need to have. In particular, the way work is changing, and the skills and education young people need to have to maximise their economic opportunities is explored. The key issues are that high skill jobs requiring university or high level vocational qualifications now make up the majority of jobs and they are growing at twice the rate of other jobs in Australia. Young people with university or vocational education and training (VET) qualifications (at least Certificate III level) have excellent prospects, whereas those who drop out of school early face much more poor and declining prospects. New approaches to schooling to ensure that most, if not all, young people not only complete a full secondary education, but also go on to attain a tertiary qualification at university or VET are explored in this paper. Research suggests that 'in school' factors such as improving teacher quality only account for around one-third of the variation in student performances, so these strategies need to encompass wider and more comprehensive approaches to supporting students to remain engaged and to make the right choices.

Published abstract. Show less

This literature review is part of a project commissioned by The Smith Family that is investigating the effects and influences of family expectations on the cost benefit analyses undertaken by students when they are considering their post-school plans. The review has been structured to survey the following areas of research: the influence of family, friends and networks - which explores the way in which family processes and relationships impact on young people as they make the transition from school to work; family contexts - research which links family structural factors and characteristics such as socioeconomic status with post-school planning; and adolescent decision making - the influences identified in the previous sections are considered in the broader context of theoretical and empirical research describing the underlying processes of career development. Wherever possible, the review emphasises Australian research studies.

Excerpts from publication reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. 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 one1 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