Does improving school level attendance lead to improved school level achievement? An empirical study of indigenous educational policy in Australia

Current federal government policy initiatives in Aboriginal education and social welfare reform are based on assumptions about the relationship between increased attendance and increased student performance on standardized tests. There are empirical assumptions underlying these policy interventions and their accompanying public debates. Our aim here is to empirically explore the relationships between patterns of student attendance and patterns of student achievement in schools with significant cohorts of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students at the school level. Based on an analysis of the publicly available data reported on the ‘MySchool’ website, we find that reforms and policies around attendance have not and are unlikely to generate patterns of improved achievement. Questions about the rationale and rhetoric of government policy focused at the school level as opposed to the need to focus on pedagogy and curriculum are discussed.

Promoting Statistical Literacy Through Data Modelling in the Early School Years

This chapter addresses data modelling as a means of promoting statistical literacy in the early grades. Consideration is first given to the importance of increasing young children’s exposure to statistical reasoning experiences and how data modelling can be a rich means of doing so. Selected components of data modelling are then reviewed, followed by a report on some findings from the third-year of a three-year longitudinal study across grades one through three.

Taboo Texts and Troubling Silences: How Textual Choices Coconstruct a Positive School Climate for Same-Sex- Attracted Students

This paper offers insights into the relationship between curriculum decision making, positive school climate, and academic achievement for same-sex attracted (SSA) students. The authors use critical discourse analysis to present a ‘conversation’ between six same-sex attracted young people, aged 14-19, and three pop-culture texts currently popular with both teachers and school-aged peers: The Hunger Games, Tomorrow When the War Began, and Neighbours. Analysis starts from the perspective that schools are empowered agents in the production of students’ sexualised identities and seeks to understand how textual choices function as active discourse in that production. Through this analysis, an argument is made for expanding notions of what it means to ‘attend to’ gender and sexuality through textual choice and critical pedagogy.

Palliative care provision for patients with a haematological malignancy : can we do more?

This editorial depicts the current challenges in palliative care provision for patients with a haematological malignancy and the contribution of cancer nurses. There have been significant advancements in the care of patients with a hematological malignancy over the past three or more decades1. Despite this, there still exists a significant mortality risk in curative treatment and many patients with a hematological malignancy will die from their disease1. A growing body of research indicates patients with a hematological malignancy do not receive best practice palliative and end-of-life care2. Shortfalls in care include poor referral patterns to specialist palliative care services, lack of honest discussions regarding death and dying, inadequate spiritual care for patients and families, patients frequently dying in the acute care setting and high levels of patient and family distress2. There have been a number of efforts in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Sweden, and Australia demonstrating palliative and hematology care can co-exist, exemplified through clinical case studies and innovative models of care2. However, deficits in the provision of palliative care for patients with a hematological malignancy persist as evident in the international literature2. Addressing this issue requires research exploring new aspects of a complex scenario; here we suggest priority areas of research...

Vocational education in science technology, engineering and maths (STEM) : Curriculum innovation through industry school partnerships

Governments have recognised that the technological trades rely on knowledge embedded traditionally in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In this paper, we report preliminary findings on the development of two curricula that attempt to integrate science and mathematics with workplace knowledge and practices. We argue that these curricula provide educational opportunities for students to pursue their preferred career pathways. These curricula were co-developed by industry and educational personnel across two industry sectors, namely, mining and aerospace. The aim was to provide knowledge appropriate for students moving from school to the workplace in the respective industries. The analysis of curriculum and associated policy documents reveals that the curricula adopt applied learning orientations through teaching strategies and assessment practices which focus on practical skills. However, although key theoretical science and maths concepts have been well incorporated, the extent to which knowledge deriving from workplace practices is included varies across the curricula. Our findings highlight the importance of teachers having substantial practical industry experience and the role that whole school policies play in attempts to align the range of learning experiences with the needs of industry.

Why trust the head? Key practices for transformational school leaders to build a purposeful relationship of trust

Trust is widely recognized as one of the key qualities that a successful leader needs to bring about change within his/her organization. Literature has also shown that trust plays a pivotal role in effective school leadership. However, little research has been undertaken to identify specific actions of a transformational school leader enabling him/her to develop purposeful relationships of trust with his/her staff and Chair of the school’s governing body. Using a theoretical framework of transformational leadership in the context of the independent schooling sector in Australia, a multicase study of four highly trusted, transformational school leaders revealed 10 key trust building practices in the Head–staff dyad and three practices in the Head–Chair dyad. These practices were independent of the leader’s personal attributes. The study also revealed an inextricable link between trust and transformational leadership.

Retooling Chinese primary school teachers to use technology creatively to promote innovation and problem solving skills in science classrooms

This paper reports on the initial phase of a Professional Learning Program (PLP) undertaken by 100 primary school teachers in China that aimed to facilitate the development of adaptive expertise in using technology to facilitate innovative science teaching and learning such as that envisaged by the Chinese Ministry of Education’s (2010-2020) education reforms. Key principles derived from literature about professional learning and scaffolding of learning informed the design of the PLP. The analysis of data revealed that the participants had made substantial progress towards the development of adaptive expertise. This was manifested not only by advances in the participants’ repertoires of Subject Matter Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge but also in changes to their levels of confidence and identities as teachers. By the end of the initial phase of the PLP, the participants had coalesced into a professional learning community that readily engaged in the sharing, peer review, reuse and adaption, and collaborative design of innovative science learning and assessment activities. The findings from the study indicate that those engaged in the development of PLPs for teachers in China need to take cognizance of certain cultural factors and traditions idiosyncratic to the Chinese educational system. A set of revised principles is then presented to inform the future design and implementation of PLPs for teachers in China.

School literate repertoires : that was then, this is now

This chapter documents the literacy learning lives of two young Australians now in their early twenties. Both were originally informants in studies of literacy development. The original studies were longitudinal, so in each case there was already a story of change, especially in the young people’s identities as school. The case studies presented here, Tessa and Cruz, tell different stories of learning literacy at school, teaching that makes a difference and raise questions about predictable normative developmental trajectories. Both young people have taken up, albeit selectively, valuable literacy and learner dispositions from school and their wider everyday worlds.

The prevention of childhood anxiety and promotion of resilience among preschool-aged children : a universal school based trial

This study is the first to examine the effectiveness of the Fun FRIENDS programme, a school-based, universal preventive intervention for early childhood anxiety and promotion of resilience delivered by classroom teachers. Participants (N = 488) included children aged 4–7 years attending 1 of 14 Catholic Education schools in Brisbane, Australia. The schools were randomly allocated to one of three groups, the intervention, active comparison and waitlist control group. Parents completed standardized measures of anxiety and behavioural inhibition (BI), resilience, social and emotional functioning and behaviour difficulties in addition to parental stress and anxiety, at pre- and post- and 12-month follow-up. Teachers also completed a parallel measure of social and emotional strength at the three time points. Comparable results were obtained for the intervention and comparison groups; however, the intervention group (IG) achieved greater reductions in BI, child behavioural difficulties and improvements in social and emotional competence. In addition, significant improvements in parenting distress and parent–child interactions were found for the IG, with gains maintained at 12-month follow-up. Teacher reports revealed more significant improvement in social and emotional competence for the IG. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed, along with limitations and directions for future research.

Model-driven service engineering in home telecare

Health care systems are highly dynamic not just due to developments and innovations in diagnosis and treatments, but also by virtue of emerging management techniques supported by modern information and communication technology. A multitude of stakeholders such as patients, nurses, general practitioners or social carers can be integrated by modeling complex interactions necessary for managing the provision and consumption of health care services. Furthermore, it is the availability of Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) that supports those integration efforts by enabling the flexible and reusable composition of autonomous, loosely-coupled and web-enabled software components. However, there is still the gap between SOA and predominantly business-oriented perspectives (e.g. business process models). The alignment of both views is crucial not just for the guided development of SOA but also for the sustainable evolution of holistic enterprise architectures. In this paper, we combine the Semantic Object Model (SOM) and the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) towards a model-driven approach to service engineering. By addressing a business system in Home Telecare and deriving a business process model, which can eventually be controlled and executed by machines; in particular by composed web services, the full potential of a process-centric SOA is exploited.

A visual profile of Queensland indigenous and non-indigenous school children, and the association between vision and reading

This research investigated the prevalence of vision disorders in Queensland Indigenous primary school children, creating the first comprehensive visual profile of Indigenous children. Findings showed reduced convergence ability and reduced visual information processing skills were more common in Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous children. Reduced visual information processing skills were also associated with reduced reading outcomes in both groups of children. As early detection of visual disorders is important, the research also reviewed the delivery of screening programs across Queensland and proposed a model for improved coordination and service delivery of vision screening to Queensland school children.

Evidence based physical activity for school-age youth

Objectives To review the effects of physical activity on health and behavior outcomes and develop evidence-based recommendations for physical activity in youth. Study design A systematic literature review identified 850 articles; additional papers were identified by the expert panelists. Articles in the identified outcome areas were reviewed, evaluated and summarized by an expert panelist. The strength of the evidence, conclusions, key issues, and gaps in the evidence were abstracted in a standardized format and presented and discussed by panelists and organizational representatives. Results Most intervention studies used supervised programs of moderate to vigorous physical activity of 30 to 45 minutes duration 3 to 5 days per week. The panel believed that a greater amount of physical activity would be necessary to achieve similar beneficial effects on health and behavioral outcomes in ordinary daily circumstances (typically intermittent and unsupervised activity). Conclusion School-age youth should participate daily in 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity that is developmentally appropriate, enjoyable, and involves a variety of activities.

Teacher organizational citizenship behaviours and job efficacy : implications for student quality of school life

The present study investigated the impact of teachers' organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) on student quality of school life (SQSL) via the indirect effect of job efficacy. A measure of teacher OCBs was developed, tapping one dimension of individual-focused OCB (OCBI – student-directed behaviour) and two dimensions of organization-focused OCB (OCBO – civic virtue and professional development). In line with previous research suggesting that OCBs may enhance job efficacy, as well as studies demonstrating the positive effects of teacher efficacy on student outcomes, we expected an indirect relationship between teachers OCBs and SQSL via teachers' job efficacy. Hypotheses were tested in a multi-level design in which 170 teachers and their students (N=3,057) completed questionnaires. A significant proportion of variance in SQSL was attributable to classroom factors. Analyses revealed that the civic virtue and professional development behaviours of teachers were positively related to their job efficacy. The job efficacy of teachers also had a positive impact on all five indicators of SQSL. In regards to professional development, job efficacy acted as an indirect variable in the prediction of four student outcomes (i.e., general satisfaction, student–teacher relations, achievement, and opportunity) and fully mediated the direct negative effect on psychological distress.

School-based physical activity programs for adolescent wellness improvement : an investigation of the association between wellness and physical activity

This thesis by publication included seven manuscripts that advanced contemporary understanding of the association between physical activity and wellness among adolescents. The findings suggested that due to potential interrelatedness between various aspects of wellness, changes in physical activity may also influence co-existing wellness domains; highlighting the potential for physical activity interventions to have a broad range of benefits among youth. These findings also added to the body of literature supporting the potential inclusion of physical activity as a component within multifaceted youth wellness programs. Findings reported in this thesis have implications for those seeking to initiate youth wellness interventions.