Quality of education in Australia: report of the Review Committee, April 1985.
Quality of Education Review Committee ; Karmel Peter.
Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1985.
© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission
Report of the Review Committee
'1\ 1 Quality ofeducation in Australia
Report of the Review Committee
APRIL 1985
UIraIy NatiOnal CIIItIe far Voc:ItioneI EduI:atioII ResearcII a..v.t 11. 31IC1ngWiIiIM St. Adelaide SA 5000
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MLC Tower, Woden PO Box 34, Woden Australian Capital Territory 2606 Tel. (062) 89·7481; 89·7057 30 April 1985 Senator the Hon. Susan Ryan, Minister for Education, Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600
Dear Minister,
On 14 August 1984 you announced the appointment of the Quality of Education Review Committee to examine the effectiveness of present Commonwealth involvement in primary and secondary education with a view to assisting the Government to develop clear, more efficient strategies for directing its funds for school level education. We have now completed our task and are pleased to submit to you the unanimous report of the Committee. In the preparation of this document the Committee was greatly assisted by education and labour market authorities as well as by national interest groups. We express our appreciation for their cooperation. We wish to record our special gratitude to the Secretariat, and in particular to Ms Di Mildem and Ms Helen Allnutt, for the excellence of their work which, among other things, enabled the Committee to complete its task on time.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Karmel Chairman Hugh Hudson Peter Kirby Barry McGaw Helen Williams
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page CHAPTER I: THE TASK ...... I Approach ...... I Outcomes Orientation...... 2 Quality of Education...... 3 Equality in Education...... 3 Structure of Report...... 5 References ...... 6
CHAPTER 2: INPUTS - 1974 TO 1984...... 8 Distribution of Expenditure on Schools ...... ,...... 8 Recurrent Expenditure...... 10 Recurrent Expenditure per Student...... 10 Distribution of Commonwealth Funds...... 13 Resources Provided from Additional Funds...... 17 Capital Expenditure ...... ,...... 20 GDP 'and Public Outlay on Education...... 21 References ...... 24
CHAPTER 3: OUTCOMES - 1974 TO 1984...... 25 Assessing Effectiveness...... 25 Objectives of Increased Expenditure...... 26 Changes in Quality...... 26 Learning Outcomes...... 27 Curriculum Changes...... 30 Quality of School Life...... 34 Teacher Qualifications...... 36 Quantity and Coverage of Schooling Provisions...... 36 Educational Qualifications...... 37 Participation in Schooling...... 39 Participation in Post-school Education...... 41 Girls' Participation...... •.... 42 Aboriginal Participation...... 45 Provision for Handicapped Students...... 46 Participation and Socio-economic Status...... 46 Participation and Non-English Speaking Background...... 46 Services for Isolated Children...... 47 Participation by Younger Age Groups...... 47 Selected Commonwealth Policies...... 48 Equalizing Resource Inputs...... 48 Participation in Decision Making...... 48 Other Commonwealth Policies...... 49 Summary ...... 49 References ...... 50
v Page CHAPTER 4: THE CHANGING CONTEXT...... 52 The Economy...... 52 Labour Market for Youth ...... 52 Participation in the Full-time Labour Market...... 54 Participation in Part-time Employment...... 55 Unskilled Employment...... 57 Future Trends...... 57 Impact of Technological Change...... 57 Implications for Education...... 59 Social Changes Affecting Schools...... 60 Impact of Immigration...... 60 Changing Family Structures...... 61 Social Values...... 62 Changes in the Educational System...... 62 References ...... 67
CHAPTER 5: DESIRABLE OUTCOMES...... 68 Purposes of Schooling...... 68 Competence...... 70 General Competences ...... 70 Other Outcomes ...... 72 Work Place Role...... 72 Ongoing Education Role...... 74 Community Role...... 76 Personal Role...... 77 Importance of Education...... 78 References ...... 79
CHAPTER 6: CURRICULUM...... 80 Defining the Curriculum...... 80 Responsibility for Decisions...... 80 Scope of the Curriculum ...... ,...... 81 Defining Commonwealth Concerns...... 83 Primary and Secondary Schooling...... 83 Developing General Competences ...... 84 Technological Change...... 85 Curriculum for Girls...... 86 References...... 88
CHAPTER 7: CREDENTIALLING ...... 90 Current Methods of Credentialling ...... 90 Reports to Parents...... 90 Public Certification...... 91 A Single Secondary Certificate...... 92 Selection for Higher Education...... 93 Categorization of Subjects...... 93 Forms of Assessment...... 94 Selection Criterion...... 94 vi Page Considerations of Equity...... 95 Higher Education Admission Procedures...... 96 Creating a Preparatory Group in Secondary Education...... 96 Basing Admission on Part of a Student's Performance...... 96 Broadening the Base of Secondary Assessments...... 96 Using Sub-quotas...... 97 Delaying the Competition for Restricted Places...... 97 Using General Ability Measures...... 98 Developing a More Widely Useful Credential...... 98 References ...... 99
CHAPTER 8: MEASURING OUTCOMES ...... 101 Evaluating Programs...... 101 Monitoring the Educational System...... 103 Measurement of Student Achievement...... 103 Student Assessments and System Performance...... 105 References ...... 107
CHAPTER 9: ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE OF SCHOOLING ...... 109 Promotion Policies for Students...... 109 Zoning of Schools...... 110 Post-compulsory Schooling ...... ·...... 112 References ...... 115
CHAPTER 10: TEACHERS AND TEACHING...... 116 Priority Issues ..•...... '" . . . 116 Development of Competences ...... 117 Rigour in Teaching...... I 18 Curriculum Consistency...... 119 Educational Disadvantage...... 120 Raising Teacher Quality...... 121 Class Size...... 121 Consultant Services...... 122 Teacher Recruitment ...... 122 Teacher Qualifications...... 122 Rewards and Incentives...... 123 Pre-service Education...... 124 Present In-service Provisions...... 125 Commonwealth Programs...... 126 Future Directions ...... '" . . . 128 Individual Teachers and Whole Schools...... 128 Needs of School Systems...... 129 In School and Out of School Hours...... 129 Commonwealth Priorities...... 129 Raising the Status of the Profession ...... 130 References ...... 130
vii Page CHAPTER 11: NEEDS OF SPECIAL GROUPS...... 133 Students of Low Socio-economic Background...... 133 Present Commonwealth Programs...... 135 Students of Non-English Speaking Background ...... , ...... 138 Present Commonwealth Programs...... 140 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students...... 144 Present Commonwealth Programs...... 146 Geographically Isolated Student~ ...... 147 Present Commonwealth Programs;...... 148 Physically and Intellectually Handicapped Students...... 150 Present Commonwealth Programs...... 151 Gifted and Talented Students...... 155 Potential Early School Leavers...... 155 Present Commonwealth Programs...... 156 References...... 157
CHAPTER 12: PERSPECTIVES ON SPECIAL PROVISIONS ...... 161 Selection of Targets...... 161 Targetting on Schools...... 162 General or Specific Provisions...... 165 Delivery of Commonwealth Programs...... 166 Clarity of Purpose...... 166 Setting Objectives...... 167 Use of Special Purpose Funds...... 167 Commonw~::)lth ~mcl Other Prioriti~5...... 167 Program Overlap...... 168 Program Multiplication...... 168 Growth of Committees ...... 169 Accountability...... 169 Administration...... 170 References ...... 170
CHAPTER 13: STRATEGIES AND PRIORITIES...... 172 General Principles...... 172 Implementation...... 174 Delivery Mechanisms...... 174 Policy Objectives...... 174 Recurrent Expenditure ...... 174 Capital Expenditure...... 175 Recommendations...... 176 General Recurrent Grants...... 176 Capital Grants...... 178 Transfer of Specific Purpose Programs...... 178 Long Term Specific Purpose Programs...... 180 Limited Life Specific Purpose Programs ...... 181 Guidelines for Specific Purpose Programs ...... ,...... 183 Directly Administered Commonwealth Initiatives ...... 184 References ...... 185
viii Page CHAPTER 14: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 186 Conclusions...... 186 Decade of Expansion...... 186 Educational Outcomes...... 187 Changing Economic and Social Context...... 189 Desirable Outcomes...... 190 Curriculum...... 192 Credentialling ...... 192 Measuring Outcomes ...... '" ... 193 Organisation of Schooling...... 194 Teacher Development ...... '" ... 194 Special Groups...... 196 Strategies and Priorities ...... : ...... '. .... 198 Recommendations ...... 20 I
APPENDIXES A. Terms of Reference ...... '" .... 204 B. Organisations with which the Committee held Consultations...... 206 C. Organisations and Individuals Making Written Submissions or Presenting Written Material to the Committee...... 207
TABLES
CHAPTER 2 2.1 Public sector expenditure on schools in the States, selectcd years 1974-75 to 1982-83 2.2 Recurrent expenditure per student in government schools in the States, 1973-74 to 1982-83 2.3 Recurrent expenditure per student in non-government schools, selected years 1974-1983 2.4 Commonwealth Schools Commission general resources programs, 1974-1985 2.5 Commonwealth Schools Commission specific purpose programs, 1974-1985 2.6 Recurrent expenditure per student in government and non-government schools in relation to resource targets, 1974, 1977 and 1981 2.7 Numbers of students, 1972-1984 2.8 Teachers by level of teaching and category of school, selected years 1974-1983 2.9 Student/teacher ratios by level of teaching and category of school, selected years 1974-1983 2. IO Public outlays on education as a proportion of gross domestic product, 1973-74 to 1982-83 2.11 Public outlays on education as a proportion of all public outlays, 1973-74 to 1982-83
ix 2.12 Commonwealth outlays on education as a proportion of all public outlays on education, 1973-74 to 1982-83 2.13 Real public outlays on education, 1971-72 to 1982-83
CHAPTER 3 3.1 Participation in selected Year II and Year 12 subjects, South Australia, 1978 and 1984 3.2 Educational qualifications of full-time, full-year workers, 1968-69 and 1981-82 3.3 Distribution of 15 to 19 year olds in education, by single year of age, June 1983 3.4 Age participation rates, all schools, selected years 1972-1983 3.5 Apparent grade retention rates by sector, selected years 1972-1983 3.6 Higher education participation rates, by age and sex, selected years 1975-1984 3.7 Students commencing courses at universities and colleges of advanced education direct from school, selected years 1974-1984 3.8 Female enrolment rates in selected fields of study in universities and colleges of advanced education, 1975 and 1982 3.9 Retention of Aboriginal students in Years 11 and 12, 1976-1982 3.10 Year 12 completion rates by father's occupation and socio-economic status 3.11 Recurrent expenditure per student in non-government schools relative to recurrent expenditure in government schools, 1974, 1977 and 1981
CHAPTER 4 4.1 Unemployment rates by age, August 1972 to August 1984 4.2 Civilian population aged 15 to 19 years by employment status, selected years August 1966 to August 1984 4.3 Employment rates by age and educational qualifications, 1981 4.4 Employed persons by industry, August 1971 and 1984 4.5 School enrolments, actual 1982 and projected 1983-1992 4.6 Higher education, full-time equivalent enrolments, actual 1982 and projected 1983-1992 4.7 TAFE enrolments, actual 1982 and projected 1983-1992 4.8 Activities of persons agee 15 to 19 years, actual 1982 and projected 1992
x CHAPTER 1: THE TASK
1.1 The establishment of the Quality of Education Review Committee was announced by the Minister for Education, Senator the Hon. Susan Ryan, on 14 August 1984. The main aim of the Review was to develop strategies for the Commonwealth Government in its involvement in primary and secondary education, for raising the standards attained by students in communication, literacy and numeracy and for improving the relationship between secondary schooling and subsequent employment and education. The detailed terms of reference of the Committee are set out at Appendix A.
APPROACH
1.2 In carrying out its task, the Committee has relied largely on consultations with education and labour market authorities, on previously published reports, papers and data and on material presented to it. There is an extensive current literature about schooling in Australia, its perceived strengths and weaknesses and possible future directions. In the recent past most State and Territory education authorities have undertaken significant investigations of school level education. These reviews have ranged from an examination of the whole school system (in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia) to primary and junior secondary education (Australian Capital Territory), secondary educa tion (New South Wales) and the provision of services at the upper secondary level· (Victoria) (I). In Victoria and Tasmania, reviews have been conducted of the structure and operations of the Education Departments (2). In others, various working parties and subject committees have been set up to consider specific areas and issues (3). The Commonwealth Government has initiated a review of current labour market programs. The review committee's interim report was released in May 1984 and its final report in January 1985 (4). Also, during 1984, the Organization for Economic Development (OECD) prepared a report on Australian youth policies (5). At the same time, the Commonwealth Schools Commission began a review of the a!Tay of Commonwealth specific purpose programs in school level education. It commissioned individual reviews of all programs, except the Computer Education Program, the Participation and Equity Program and the Basic Learning in Primary Schools Program, which are new. Reports of the individual program reviews were available to the Comntittee which has taken account of them, particularly in Chapter II. The Commission's report is still in preparation. The Commission, in association with the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission. has also been engaged on a review of teacher education (6). Given all this material, together with the requirement that the Committee report by April 1985, the Committee itself did not undertake original research, nor did it attempt to visit school sites. 1.3 The Committee met for the first time on 12 September 1984 and met on II occasions for a total of 19 days. It held discussions with 24 organizations or their representatives. It received material from 67 organizations and individuals. Lists of organizations consulted, and of organisations and individuals making submissions or presenting material to the Committee, are included at Appendix B and Appendix C. OUTCOMES ORIENT ATION
1.4 The terms of reference indicate the desire of the Government to direct its funds towards specific objectives and at the same time ensure that its funding of the school sector is at a level consistent with other priority claims on the Commonwealth, including those for the. TAFE and higher education sectors. The Committee interpreted its primary task as the requirement to report on the effectiveness of the Commonwealth's involvement in primary and secondary education over the past decade, and to suggest strategies by which future Commonwealth involvement could be made more effective in terms of educational outcomes. 1.5 For the sake of clarity, the Committee has distinguished between goals, aims or purposes on the one hand and objectives on the other. The former are broad statements of desirable conditions or states, while the latter are statements of attainable outcomes, through which goals are pursued. Outcomes are results which may be compared with objectives. 1.6 Effectiveness is defined in terms of the achievement of educational outcomes: a program is effective to the extent that it achieves the outcomes for which it was initiated. Efficiency, on the other hand, refers to the level of achievement of outcomes resulting from a particular level of inputs: in empirical terms, the ratio of achievement to effort. Expressed simply, a program is judged to be efficient if its effectiveness is achieved with an economic use of resources. The effectiveness and efficiency of an educational program depend not only on the nature of the program and the skill of the teachers but also on the response of the students: a program not perceived by students to be relevant to their interests and needs is unlikely to be snccessfuL 1. 7 Because of its concern with effectiveness and efficiency, past and future, this report is outcomes oriented. One important set of outcomes identified in the terms of reference relates to the attainment by students of satisfactory standards, especially of communication, literacy and numeracy. Another lies with the relationships between secondary education on the one hand and employment and tertiary education opportunities and 'requirements on the other. Associated with both are concerns about the importance of the educational process in an increasingly competitive environment, the extent to which girls' choices of subjects affect their employment or tertiary education prospects and the student groups which are in the greatest need of specific forms of assistance. 1. 8 The focus on outcomes may be contrasted with the concentration on increasing educational inputs which has been characteristic of the past 10 or 15 years. Clearly the effectiveness or efficiency of educational programs cannot be measured in terms of inputs, but must be assessed in relation to outcomes. The deficiencies evident in educational provisions a decade or so ago produced an emphasis on expanding resources as a means of improving outcomes - indeed the 1973 report of the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, Schools in Australia (7), was largely input oriented. Many of the deficiencies in resources noted by the Interim Committee have now been overcome. When new programs to improve school effectiveness are proposed, it is no longer sufficient to concentrate on inputs: outcomes must be explored. 1. 9 This focus on outcomes should also be seen against a background of increasing concern on the part of governments to ensure value for money in a continuing climate of 2 public expenditure restraint. Outcomes may be examined for the extent to which they represent the intended results of programs (are programs effective?) and for the extent to which they are being achieved with an economic use of resources (are programs efficient?). For reasons set out in Chapter 3, the Committee does not pretend that it can answer these questions with any precision, but, in that chapter, it gives a broad conspectus of outcomes from the increased expenditures of the past decade. 1.10. Irrespective of the effectiveness or efficiency of programs, there is still the question whether their objectives are the most desirable in the present and emerging social context. New objectives and new strategies may be required. This raises the question of what are the desired outcomes.
QUALITY OF EDUCATION
1.11 The quality of education is a complex and diffuse concept, difficult to characterise and open to interpretation in a number of ways. As the OECD has stated: for some it appears to serve as a synonym for excellence or efficiency, others use it as a metaphor for good educational practice and others again equate it with material provision. For many it is no more than a short hard way of expressing value discontent with the present outcomes of education while covering up a lack of cogent policies and priorities for action, . . Quality will always remain a subjective entity, (8) 1. 12 The Committee has interpreted the quality of education as depending on the character of the set of elements that make up the educational system. In any given situation some of these elements may be of high quality and some of low quality. The overall rating of an educational system thus depends on the ratings given to the individual elements and the weighting (value) attached to them. Thus the 'quality of Australian education' depends on the selection of relevant elements, the assessment of the character of these elements and the weighting given to their relative importance. The assessment of quality of education is thus complex and value laden. There is no simple uni-dimensional measure of quality. In the same way as the definition of what constitutes high quality education is multi-dimensional, so there is no simple prescription of the ingredients necessary to achieve high quality education: many factors interact - students and their backgrounds; staff and their skills; schools and their structure and ethos; curricula; and societal expectations.
EQUALITY IN EDUCATION
1.13 Policies based on the principle of equality of provision of educational services operated in Australia for government schools from after the Second World War up to the 1960s. They stemmed from community pressures to make equal educational facilities at all levels available in all areas to all people. The assumption was that, by providing schools that were accessible, equal and free, students from all walks of life would have an 3 equal opportunity for success (9). Equality of provision is the provision of schooling to individuals on an equal or unifonn basis. However, depending on what measure one uses, for example, per student expenditure, equality of provision may not mean precisely the same provision, particularly if one takes into account the different costs of providing services in different areas or circumstances, for example, country and metropolitan schools, small and large schools. 1.14 Since the capacity to benefit from the provision of educational services is affected by the social and economic circumstances in which individual students find themselves, equality of provision will not necessarily give all young people the same opportunity to realise their potential. Equality of provision does not facilitate the same spread of social and economic opportunities to all groups. The principle of equality of opportunity implies unequal provision of educational services since, in order to achieve greater equality of opportunity, compensatory assistance may have to be provided to schools and students who are perceived to be at an educational disadvantage for socio economic, cultural, ethnic, gender, physical or other reasons. Many of the programs proposed in Schools in Australia stemmed from this principle. 1.15 Greater equality of educational opportunity has been the goal of the Common wealth Schools Commission since its establishment. There are those who argue that, in spite of policies of compensatory education, the life chances of individuals have not become more equal and the school system has served only to reproduce social differentiation from generation to generation. The principle of equality of group outcomes is a means of testing whether greater equality of opportunity has been effective in improving the life chances of those from disadvantaged groups. This principle argues that the distributions of the outcomes (for example, educational attainment, occupation, income) for defined groups should be the same and should not be arbitrarily related to the factors defining the groups, such as sex, ethnicity, or socia-economic status. For example, the range and pattern of occupations should be the same for men and women or for Australian-born and migrants. While talents cannot be equalised, environmental and social handicaps as they affect particular groups in the community may be able to be reduced. The principle of equality of group outcomes assumes that the distributions of the potential of individual members of defined social groups are the same. Greater equality of group outcomes is among the priorities of the Commonwealth Government. 1.16 Carried to its logical conclusion, greater equality of opportunity may lead to less equality of individual outcomes. For example, if gifted and academically able children are enabled to realise their potential, the gap in educational achievement between themselves and others may be widened. On the other hand, if the promotion of equality of opportunity is focussed on the most disadvantaged groups, the net result may be to produce greater equality of individual outcomes but at the expense of raising the general level of achievement because those who lie outside these groups may be denied their opportunity to develop fully. 1.17 Is the pursuit of excellence compatible with the pursuit of equality? The pursuit of levels of absolute excellence in academic or physical performance and the pursuit of greater equality in the life chances of the individual members of Australian society are not, in themselves, mutually exclusive objectives. It is not a question of seeking either one or the other: we can pursue both. However, because resources are finite, there may have to be trade offs at the margin between equality and excellence. There may be simply not
4 enough resources to maximise the absolute excellence of the very talented and to realise the potential of the disadvantaged. This need not prevent the adoption of both as goals. In all human activity there are many competing ends which cannot all be attained at the same time. We cannot have all of everything, but we can move towards some of most things.
STRUCTURE OF REPORT
I. 18 Chapter 2 describes the expansion of resources in primary and secondary education over the past decade. This was a period of sustained Commonwealth involvement in the school sector following the release of Schools in Australia. While that report was concerned with values, the nature of schooling and equality of opportunity, the original, intention of the programs it proposed was to increase resources and make them more equal overall while encouraging special measures for the disadvantaged; its emphasis was thus on inputs. Chapter 3 discusses the effectiveness of past programs stemming from the 1973 report. It examines some of the outcomes that have followed the additional expenditure by the Commonwealth, the States and non-government school authorities on primary and secondary education since these Commonwealth programs were instituted. I. 19 Chapter 4 sets out the economic and social context in which the education system is, and in the near future is expected to be, functioning. Chapter 5 examines desirable outcomes of education in the light of this context. The chapter includes discussion of the relationship that school bears to employment, tertiary education and adult life. 1.20 Chapters 6 to 12 address major aspects of the educational system which arise from the specification of desirable outcomes and to which future strategies should be directed: curriculum; certification; the assessment of outcomes and the monitoring of the effectiveness of educational programs; organisation and structure of schooling; teacher development; and disadvantaged groups. 1.21 In Chapter 13 the Committee establishes its priorities and sets out its strategies for the achievement of a higher quality education at primary and secondary schools in terms of desirable outcomes. Chapter 14 is a summary of the report and of the Committee's recommendations. 1.22 The Committee has expressed views on a range of issues related to the tenos of reference, but has confined its recommendations to questions of Commonwealth priorities in the use of its funds for primary and secondary education and of appropriate program structures to meet these priorities. In the terms of reference the Committee was asked for advice on five specific issues. These issues and the principal references to the Committee's responses are: • for primary schools, the priority of attaining higher basic skills standards for the generality of students (Chapters 5, 6 and 10 and particularly paragraphs 6.20 to 6.25 and 10.5 to 10.7); • for secondary schools, the need to ensure that strongly rising participation in Years 11 and 12 is associated with the attainment of appropriate standards relevant to 5 subsequent employment opportumtles and improved preparation for tertiary education (Chapters 5, 6, 7,9 and 10 and particularly paragraphs 6.14 to 6.19, 7.40 to 7.43, 9.15 to 9.25 and 10.11 to 10.15); • in each of the school systems, the need to encourage a greater proportion of girls to pursue subjects leading towards better employment prospects or greater oppor- tunities for tertiary education (Chapters 6 and 10 and particularly paragraphs 6.33 to 6.41 and 10.9 and 10.10); • means of improving awareness of the importance of the educational process in an increasingly competitive, including internationally competitive, environment (Chapter 5, particularly paragraphs 5.43 to 5.47); and • in relation to specific purpose programs, a review of which student groups are in greatest need of specific forms of assistance (Chapters II and 12) ..
REFERENCES
1. Committee of Inquiry into Education in South Australia, Final Report: Education and Change in South Australia, Adelaide, 1982. J P Keeves, Chairman. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, Report, Perth, Western Australia, March 1984. K E Beazley, Chairman. Committee to Review Primary Education in ACT Government Schools, Report: Primary rt.;lA ..f"', ; .. tt.f' ArT ~,..h""l" /l,.th".. it" 10s:!1 p r,.ll", ... rt.",i .. WJ"''' ...., .... ~.~ ...... ~ ...... ,~, "'-'~ArT ~~ .. ~~.u '~~"'~~H.J' r"''-'~"~~H~, ...... "" .... ., ~~~A''''''''r ...... _ •• _ •• , ....,. ___ ....~._. Department of Education, Queensland, Education 2000. Issues and Optiom'for the Future of Education in Queensland, Queensland, 1983. NSW Education Department, Report: Future Directions ofSecondary Education, New South Wales, (undated). Submitted to the Minister for Education by D Swan and K McKinnon. Parliament of New South Wales, Report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly upon the School Certificate, 1981. B McGowan, Chairman. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Discussion Paper, R C Fordham (Minister of Education), Melbourne, April 1984. J Blackburn, Chairperson. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Report, Melbourne (forthcoming). J Blackburn, Chairperson. 2. Education Department, Victoria, Discussion Paper: Green Paper on Strategies and Structures for Education in Victoria, A J Hunt, (Minister of Education) and N Lacey, (Assistant Minister of Education), May 1980. Education Department of Victoria, PA Consultant Report, The Rationale and Definition of the Proposed Organization Structure, Section 1 and 2, PA Consultant Services Australia, September 1981. Ministerial Review of Education in Victoria, White Paper on Strategies and Structures for Education in Victorian Government Schools, A J Hunt (Minister of Education) and N Lacey (Minister of Educational Services), 23 September 1981. Government of Tasmania, Report: Review of Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Education Department, Centre for Education, University of Tasmania, July 1982. P Hughes, Consultant. 6 3. For example: Education Programs Standing Committee to the Schools Authority, Report: Secondary Colleges, An Analysis of Registered Units and Low Demand Accredited Courses, ACT Schools Authority, April 1979. J Biles, Chairman. Ministerial Working Party on School Certification and Tertiary Admissions Procedures, Report: Assessment in the Upper Secondary School in Western Australia, Perth, April 1984. B McGaw, Chairperson. 4. Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs, Report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, January 1985. P Kirby, Chairman. 5. OECD Manpower and Social Affairs Committee, Review of Youth Policies in Australia, 1984 (unpublished). 6. In January 1985 the Commonwealth Schools Commission released a report it had commissioned ~ F Coulter and L Ingvarson, Professional Development and the Improve- ment of Schooling, Roles and Responsibilities. Shortly after, the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission published Issues for Action. A final joint report by the two Commissions, taking account of comments on these documents, is in preparation. 7. Interim Committee for the Australian SchopIs Commission, Report: Schools in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, May 1973. P H Karmei, Chairman. 8. OECD Education Committee, CERI Governing Board, Quality in Education, October 1983 (mimeographed). 9. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, op. cit. Pages 16 to 17.
7 CHAPTER 2: INPUTS - 1974 TO 1984
2.1 Direct Commonwealth support for school level education in the Australian States commenced in 1964 with the introduction of programs to assist government and non government secondary schools to build and equip science laboratories and to provide building and equipment grants for technical schools. This was followed in 1969 by a program to develop library facilities in government and non-government secondary schools. Commonwealth support for non-government schools was further extended in 1970 with the introduction of uniform per student recurrent grants as a contribution by the Commonwealth towards the cost of educating students in non-government schools. In 1972, provision was made by the Commonwealth for a five year capital grants program for government and non-government schools. 2.2 In 1973 the Commonwealth made a major commitment to school level education when it decided to implement the recommendations of the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission (I). Since that time it has more than doubled its outlays directed to schools. This chapter examines the way in which Commonwealth funds, together with the substantial increases in expenditure by the States, have been used to expand the quantity and types of resources available to school students since 1973. To assist in drawing comparisons over time, the effects of increases in the costs of materials and teachers' and other staff salaries have been eliminated by the adoption of a constant price convention. Wherever possible, expenditures are expressed in estimated December 1984 cost levels.
DISTRIBUTION OF EXPENDITURE ON SCHOOLS
2.3 In its report SCMals in Australia, the Interim Committee identified as priorities: the increased provision of resources to overcome serious deficiencies in the recurrent and capital resources available to the generality of schools and to achieve a more uniform standard of schooling; a scheme of supplementary grants to (disadvantaged) schools having a high proportion of children likely to require a greater than average share of educational effort; and measures designed to raise the quality of education: resources for special education, school libraries, teacher development and innovation. 204 Table 2.1 sets out public sector expenditure in real terms on schools in the States from 1974-75 to 1982-83. Over the period, total public sector expenditure has risen by 26 per cent - State expenditure by 29 per cent and Commonwealth by 15 per cent. Of the total increase the States contributed 88 per cent and the Commonwealth 12 per cent. Although total expenditures have risen year by year, expenditure on capital works has declined to less than one half since 1974-75:
8 TABLE 2.1: PUBLIC SECTOR EXPENDITURE ON SCHOOLS IN THE STATES, SELECTED YEARS 1974-75 TO 1982-83 (ESTIMATED DECEMBER 1984 COST LEVELS)
1974-75 1977-78 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1982-83 $m $m $m $m $m Base 1974-75 = 100
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS Recurrent State (a) 3521 4293 4683 4763 4893 139.0 Commonwealth (b) 347 466 475 493 490 141.2 Public sector total 3868 4759 5158 5256 5383 139.2 Capital State 589 559 392 311 272 46.2 Commonwealth 455 282 144 145 147 32.3 Public sector total 1044 840 536 455 419 40.1 Total State 4110 4851 5075 5074 5165 125.7 Commonwealth 803 748 619 638 638 79.5 Public se~tor total 4912 5599 5694 5711 5803 118.1 NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS Recurrent State (e) 143 228 283 288 323 225.9 Commonwealth (b) 264 352 466 532 623 236.0 Public sector total 407 579 748 820 946 232.4 Capital State Commonwealth 78 60 48 60 54 69.2 Public sector total 78 60 48 60 54 69.2 Total State 143 228 283 288 323 225.9 Commonwealth 342 412 514 592 676 197.7 Public sector total 484 639 797 880 1000 206.6 ALL SCHOOLS Recurrent State 3664 4520 4966 5052 5217 142.4 Commonwealth (b) 611 818 940 1025 1113 182.2 Public sector total 4275 5338 5906 6076 6329 148.0 Capital State 589 559 392 311 272 46.2 Commonwealth 533 342 193 205 201 37.7 Public sector total 1122 901 584 515 473 42.2 Total State 4252 5079 5358 5362 5489 129.1 Commonwealth 1144 1159 1133 12·30 1314 114.9 Public sector total 5397 6238 6490 6592 6803 126.1
(a) Excludes expenditure on scholarships, pre-service teacher education, transport, and repayment of Commonwealth loans. (b) Includes Commonwealth expenditure on school to work transition activities in schools from 1979-80 onwards. (c) Excludes expenditure on scholarships, pre-service teacher education and transport. Sources: COmmonwealth Department of Education and Commonwealth Schools Commission.
9 the increase in recurrent expenditure has been accordingly the greater, rising by 42 per cent for State governments and 82 per cent for the Commonwealth. Over the eight years covered by the data, public sector recurrent expenditure on schools rose at the average annual rate of 5 per cent in real terms. 2.5 As far as government schools are concerned, recurrent expenditure by State and Commonwealth governments has risen by 39 per cent. For non-government schools recurrent expenditure has risen 132 per cent. Of this increase the States have contributed one third and the Commonwealth two thirds. 2.6 Over the period the picture is one of very substantial real increases in total government expenditure on schools, with a clear shift from capital to recurrent expenditure and a relative increase in expenditure on non-government schools. Whereas, in 1974-75, 79 per cent of total expenditure was devoted to recurrent, the figure in 1982-83 was 93 per cent. Similarly, the proportion of total expenditure devoted to non government schools rose from 9 per cent to 15 per cent over the same period. 2.7 The Commonwealth's contribution to funding schools has become relatively greater for the non-government sector than for the government sector. In 1982-83 the Commonwealth contributed II per cent of public outlays on government schools (9 per cent of recurrent and 35 per cent of capital); for non-government schools it contributed 68 per cent (66 per cent of recurrent and 100 per cent of capital).
RECURRENT EXPENDITURE
Recurrent Expenditure per Student 2.8 Real recurrent expenditure per student has increased substantially since 1973-74. As shown in Table 2.2, between 1973-74 and 1981-82 per capita recurrent expenditure in the government sector rose by 58 per cent at the primary level and 44 per cent at the secondary level, representing average annual growth rates of 5.9 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively. Since that time, real expenditure per student has continued to rise. 2.9 Table 2.3 provides details of per student recurrent expenditure in non-government schools from 1974 to 1983. For Catholic schools, total real recurrent expenditure per student rose between 1974 and 1983 by 52 per cent in primary schools, by 50 per cent in secondary schools and by 56 per cent in mixed primary and secondary schools. Growth rates in non-Catholic non-government schools were lower; they were significantly lower in schools which were secondary, including those which had a primary component. 2. IO The preceding paragraphs indicate that since 1973-74 there has been a steady growth in real tenns in recurrent expenditure per student in primary and secondary schools. The rate of growth appears to have been somewhat higher in primary than in secondary schools and higher in government than in non-Catholic non-government schools. With the exception of non-Catholic non-government schools containing secondary classes, real growth has been within the range of 4 to 5 per cent per annum. Some further increases in real expenditure can be expected over the next eight years (see paragraph 2.13). On the other hand, it has been estimated by the Commonwealth Tertiary
10 TABLE 2.2: RECURRENT EXPENDITURE'" PER STUDENT IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN THE STATES, 1973-74 TO 1982-83 (ESTIMATED DECEMBER 1984 COST LEVELS)
NSW Vic Qld SA WA Tas Six States $ $ $ $ $ $ $ PRIMARY 1973-74 1216 1277 1147 1229 1192 1205 1219 1974-75 1384 1400 1326 1380 1389 1509 1382 1975-76 1474 1550 1607 1514 1496 1697 1528 1976-77 1520 1660 1695 1671 1632 1789 1622 1977-78 1538 1765 1792 1833 1697 1860 1695 1978-79 1584 1825 1741 1967 1768 1857 1738 1979-80 1659 1894 1767 2064 1889 1974 1809 1980-81 1720 1936 1813 2241 1916 1986 1868 1981-82 1800 2040 1833 2191 1948 na 1925'b)
1982-83 (d) (d) (d) (d) (d) (d) 2002'0'
SECONDARY 1973-74 2033 2252 1853 2310 2388 2212 2138 1974-75 2233 2410 2151 2566 2482 2570 2340 1975-76 2334 2644 2273 2752 2725 2670 2502 1976-77 2447 2729 2395 2832 2819 2772 2600 1977-78 2535 2916 2464 2960 2897 2928 2720 1978-79 2666 3079 2433 3078 2992 3056 2835 1979-80 2905 3229 2507 3117 3196 3188 3000 1980-81 3020 3114 2649 3210 3214 3247 3039 1981-82 3094 3175 2632 3153 3195 na 3075'b)
1982-83 (d) (d) (d) (d) (d) (d) 3124'0'
(a) Excludes costs of school transport, scholarships, repayment of Commonwealth loans and pre-service teacher education. (b) Estimate based on movements in five States. (c) Statistics derived from the new fonnat of financial statistics recommended by the Australian Education Council. These data are not strictly comparable with data derived from the old format (i.e. 1973-74 to 1981-82), (d) Not available for publication. Source: Commonwealth Schools Commission.
TABLE 2.3: RECURRENT EXPENDITURE PER STUDENT IN NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS, SELECTED YEARS 1974 TO 1983 (ESTIMATED DECEMBER 1984 COST LEVELS)
Primary Secondary Mixed Gath. Non-Cath. Gath. Non-Cath. Gath. Non-Cath. $ $ $ $ $ $ 1974 983 1436 1600 2550 1408 2556 1976 1107 1583 1768 2622 1612 2604 1977 1171 1660 1815 2726 1670 2678 1979 1256 1797 1988 2792 1797 2718 1981 1335 1892 2171 2829 1977 2840 1983'" 1493 2053 2401 3087 2190 2990
(a) Preliminary Source: Commonwealth Schools Commission. 11 ;::; TABLE 2.4: COMMONWEALTH SCHOOLS COMMISSION GENERAL RESOURCES PROGRAMS, 1974 TO 1985") (ESTIMATED DECEMBER 1984 COST LEVELS)
Sector/Program 1974 and 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1975(b)
$m $m $m $n $m $m $m $m $m $m $m GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS General Recurrent 506 339 327 319 323 326 326 319 332 332 354 Capita! 489 246 272 259 241 166 166 158 158 166 166 TOTAL 996 585 599 579 563 492 492 477 490 498 520
NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS General Recurrent 416 292 305 333 363 400 458 546 601 648 661 Capital 76 51 52 53 57 47 58 57 57 57 57 TOTAL 492 343 358 391 420 447 516 603 658 706 718
TOTAL General Resources 1487 928 957 97') 983 938 1007 1080 1148 1203 1238 Specific Purpose (c) 175 151 161 154 156 154 175 184 184 231 240
ALL PROGRAMS 1662 1079 1118 1124 1140 1092 1183 1264 1332 1434 1478
(a) Excludes expenditure OIl these programs in the Northern Territory up to 1980 and the ACT up to 1981. (b) 1974 and 1975 are tre Distribution of Commonwealth Funds 2.11 Contributing to the increases in expenditure on schools were significant amounts provided by the Commonwealth through programs administered by the Commonwealth Schools Commission. These funds were directed towards general recurrent grants, recurrent expenditure targetted on special groups or areas of concern, and capital purposes. Expenditure on special groups and areas of concern has been spread over a range of specific purpose programs. The Interim Committee recommended five - school libraries, disadvantaged schools, special education, teacher development and innovations. Funds for libraries were subsequently inCOlporated as an element within the general capital provision and the innovations program terminated. Tables 2.4 and 2.5 set out the program array and the amounts allocated over the period 1974 to 1985. Joint programs are those in which both government and non-government schools participate. 2.12 The priority given to grants for general recurrent purposes reflected initially the priority allocated by the Interim Committee to raising the quantity of resources available in resource deficient schools through difterential funding on a needs basis. The funding program was designed to achieve recurrent resource standards considerably above the 1970-71 real levels of average per student expenditure in government schools. By 1979, average expenditure per student was to rise by 40 per cent per student in real terms for primary students and by 35 per cent for secondary students. These targets were largely achieved in the mid 1970s by government school systems and, on average, by non Catholic non-government schools. As can be seen from Table 2.6, Catholic schools lagged behind. The significant increases in real terms in government grants to Catholic schools over the period 1974 to 1983 were absorbed to some extent by the decline in the proportion of staff from religious orders and by the movement of lay teachers' salaries towards parity with those of government school teachers. As observed by the Schools Commission in 1981, a further factor delaying achievement by Catholic schools of the resource targets was the parallel importance attached by Catholic authorities to extending services to their communities (2). 2.13 In August 1984 the Government announced that, from 1985 to 1992, Commonwealth general recurrent grants would be made to government and non-government schools on a per capita basis, related to a community standard of educational and financial resources. The community standard, the Commonwealth Schools Commission's definition of the target for future recurrent resource funding (3), was costed at $2195 per primary student and $3240 per secondary student (estimated December 1983 cost levels). Under the new scheme, the Commonwealth's contribution to the general recurrent funding of government schools will rise from 6 per cent per primary student and 4 per cent per secondary student in 1984, to 8 per cent of the community standard by 1992. Non-government schools will be categorised into one of 12 categories, each of which will be funded at a percentage of the community standard. Schools which 13 :;;: TABLE 2.5: COMMONWEALTH SCHOOLS COMMISSION SPECIFIC PURPOSE PROGRAMS, 1974 TO 1985 (.) (ESTIMATED DECEMBER 1984 COST LEVELS) Sector/Program 1974 and 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1975(b) $m $m $m $m $m $m $m $m $m $m $m GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS Primary Basic Learning 5.5 Participation and Equity 41.7 40.7 Computer Education 5.3 5.3 English as a Second Language(C) - General Support 33.5 33.7 33.2 34.4 36.9 46.6 42.5 42.5 42.5 42.5 - New Arrivals 11.4 10.1 10.0 10.0 Disadvantaged Schools 49.6 30.7 30.8 30.8 30.8 31.0 31.0 30.7 30.4 30.0 30.0 Special Education - General 29.7 18.6 19.0 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.4 20.5 18.8 - Integration 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.4 Early Special Education 1.7 TOTAL 79.3 82.7 83.5 84.1 85.2 88.2 99.1 106.2 104.5 151.4 155.9 NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS Primary Basic Learning 1.5 Participation and Equity 4.9 4.8 Computer Education 1.3 1.3 Short Term Emergency Assistance 1.6 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.6 0.6 0.6 English as a Second Language(c) - General Support 12.4 12.6 13.1 13.7 14.8 16.8 18.0 18.0 18.0 18.0 - New Arrivals 1.4 1.1 1.1 1.1 Disadvantaged Schools 7.0 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8 5.2 5.5 5.8 5.8 Special Education - General 8.9 6.8 6.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.2 4.8 - Integration 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 Early Special Education 0.4 TOTAL 15.9 24.0 25.5 24.4 25.0 26.1 28.3 31.2 30.9 37.4 38.7 JOINT PROGRAMS Participation and Equity 0.5 1.7 Early Special Education 1.8(d) Multicultural Education 0.9 2.3 4.9 5.0 4.6 5.0 5.0 Ethnic Schools .- 2.9 3.3 4.2 5.0 5.0 Country Areas 7.5 7.5 8.2 8.4 8.4 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.2 Residential Institutions 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 Severely Handicapped 3.0 3.0 3.7 3.7 3.7 Professional Development 59.9 33.0 30.9 26.1 25.5 19.0 18.8 19.0 19.0 11.3 11.3 Education Centres 5.3 2.9 3.0 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 Projects of National Significance(e) 14.4 8.1 8.3 6.9 6.7 5.0 5.2 1.7 2.1 1.8 1.8 TOTAL .79.6 44.1 51.9 45.2 46.0 39.4 47.9 46.9 48.5 42.3 45.2 ALL PROGRAMS 174.8 150.9 161.0 153.6 156.2 153.8 175.3 184.2 183.9 231.1 239.9 (a) Excludes expenditure on these programs in the Northern Territory up to 1980 and the Australian Capital Territory up to 1981. (b) 1974 and 1975 are treated as a biennium. (Includes programs administered by tile Schools Commission under the State Grants (Schools) Act 1973 and the States Grants (Schools) Act 1973-1974). (c) Incorporated the Child Migrant Program in -1978 and the Contingency Program for Refugee Children in 1981. (d) Amount transferred from the Office of Child Care to be administered by the Central Office of the Commission. (e) Up to 1981 this was the Special Projects Program and included the Innovations Program which ceased operation at the end of that year. Note: Any discrepancies between totals and their components are due to rounding. Source: Commonwealth Schools Commission. v. TABLE 2.6: RECURRENT EXPENDITURE PER STUDENT IN GOVERNMENT AND NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN RELATION TO RESOURCE TARGETS">, 1974, 1977 AND 1981 1974 1977 1981 Sector Prim. Sec. Prim. Sec. Prim. Sec. (Relatives: Target ~ 100) GOVERNMENT'b) NSW 93 87 103 99 121 121 Vic 94 94 118 114 137 124 Qld 89 84 120 96 123 103 SA 92 100 123 116 147 123 WA 93 97 114 113 130 125 Tas 101 101 125 115 133 127 Six States 93 92 113 106 129 120 NT na na 231 199 227 212 ACT na na 128 131 138 139 NON-GOVERNMENT Catholic 65 63 78 71 89 85 Non-Catholic 96 100 I I I 107 126 III (a) See para. 2.12. (b) For government schools, these amounts relate to fiscal rather than calendar years. that is 1974-75, 1977-78 and 1981-82. Source: Commonwealth Schools Commission. are able to operate above the community standard (Categories I and 2) will not be eligible for the betterments to be provided for schools which operate below the standard. By 1992, schools in Category 12 will be receiving grants at 45 per cent of the community standard. 2. 14 The Commonwealth stipulated that the additional funds were to be provided on the basis of satisfactory resource agreements being negotiated with State and non-government school authorities. These agreements were to follow receipt of the Report of the Quality of Education Review Committee and be in place for funding from 1986 onwards. 2.15 The trend has been to expand the number of targetted programs and program elements; their overall share of program funds administered by the Schools Commission has grown from 10 per cent in 1974 to about 16 per cent in 1985. Since 1976 most e~isting programs have been funded at about the same level in real terms each year. Exceptions are the English as a Second Language Program which was increased in 1981 and 1982, the Country Areas Program which received an increase of $1.7 million from the beginning of 1982 and the Professional Development Program which was substantially reduced in 1978, 1980 and 1984. Two new programs, the Participation and Equity Program (replacing the former Transition Education Program) and the Computer Education Program, commenced in 1984, and a third, the Basic Learning in Primary Schools Program, commenced in 1985. 2.16 The amounts provided by the Commonwealth under Schools Commission programs do not include the costs associated with the Office of the Commission. While 16 there is no set format under which these costs are presented and precise figures are therefore difficult to obtain, an analysis of the budget papers indicates that since 1974 administrative costs have averaged about 0.5 per cent of total program expenditure. The absorption of the Curriculum Development Centre within the Schools Commission increased the costs associated with administering Commission and curriculum development programs in 1983-84, but not beyond 0.6 per cent of total program costs. RESOURCES PROVIDED FROM ADDITIONAL FUNDS 2.17 Some of the additional funding by the Commonwealth and the States since 1974 has been required to support enrolment increases. In total, school enrolments have grown relatively slowly. This is shown in Table 2.7. In 1984 there were 1. 76 million primary school students and students in special schools and classes, which is fewer than there were in the early 1970s. Primary enrolments reached a peak at 1.89 million in 1979 and declined thereafter. Secondary students numbered 1.06 million in 1974, 1.12 million in 1977 and 1.26 million in 1984. TABLE 2.7: NUMBERS OF STUDENTS, 1972 TO 1984(') Primary(b) Secondary Total Govt Non-govt All Govt Non-govt All '000 '000 '000 '000 '000 '000 '000 1972 1451 363 I 814 773 247 I 020 2.834 1973 1447 357 I 804 788 254 1042 2846 1974 1452 357 1 808 802 261 1 063 2871 1975 1456 354 I 810 834 266 I 100 2910 1976 1475 354 I 829 848 270 I 118 2947 1977 1503 356 1 859 846 274 1 120 2979 1978 I 517 360 I 877 837 278 I 115 2993 1979 1517 367 1 885 819 283 1 102 2987 1980 1508 376 I 884 810 290 I 101 2985 1981 1485 386 I 871 814 302 1 116 2987 1982 1455 394 1 849 828 318 1 146 2995 1983 1411 398 I 809 870 337 I 207 3016 1984(') 1 359 406 1 764 902 354 I 256 3020 (a) Preliminary figures. (b) Includes ungraded special students not identified as primary or secondary. Note: Any discrepancies between totals and their components are due to rounding. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 2.18 The great bulk of the additional funds has been used to increase the number and types of staff working in or providing services for schools. Teachers, other professionals, para-professionals and ancillary staff have been employed in schools in increasing numbers. 17 2.19 Table 2.8 provides details of the number of primary and secondary teachers in both sectors over the period 1974 to 1983. During that time the number of teachers increased by 45 000 or by 32 per cent, compared with enrolment increases of just 5 per cent. In the government sector, while by 1983 primary enrolments were 3 per cent lower than in 1974, the number of teachers had increased by 17 per cent. At the secondary level the number of teachers grew by 28 per cent compared with enrolment increases of 8 per cent. Similarly, in the non-government sector the number of primary school teachers grew by 39 per cent compared with enrolment increases of II per cent; at the secondary level, the number of teachers increased by 69 per cent compared with enrolment increases of 29 per cent. TABLE 2.8: TEACHERS") BY LEVEL OF TEACHING AND CATEGORY OF SCHOOL, SELECTED YEARS 1974 TO 1983 1974 1975 1980 1982(b) 1983(b) PRIMARY Government 59387 64524 74698 70398 69569 Non-government 13 411 13 867 16582 17931 18676 Total 72 798 78390 91 279 88329 88245 SECONDARY Government 54092 58917 66508 66211 69 4jl2 Non-government 14530 15 124 18832 21364 22913 0'"' &.'...,~ n"'l ,.,~c 'I'otaI 68622 74041 OJ 340 01 .)/.) 7.t. .).)..J ALL(c) Government 114 360 123 441 141 206 142 157 145 908 Non-government 28010 28990 35414 39295 41 589 Total 142 370 152431 176 620 181 452 187 497 (a) Full-time plus full-time equivalent of part-time. (b) Total teachers for government schools in 1982 include 3428 special education teachers and 2119 teachers who had more than one area of activity. In 1983, there were 3704 and 3193 respectively. (e) For 1974 includes staff not classifiable as either primary or secondary. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2.20 The increase in the number of teachers has been reflected in student/teacher ratios which improved substantially over the period 1974 to 1983. Table 2.9 shows the trends by level of teaching up to 1983, the last year for which detailed statistics are available. The extra teachers have been deployed in many ways: to provide specialised help for target groups, to enable teachers to have more preparation time, to increase the range of curriculum offerings, to provide additional specialist services such as libraries and resource centres, to act as consultants to other teachers, to act as counsellors to students, to strengthen school administration and to free school principals from aspects of administration. The increase in teacher numbers has not therefore been wholly reflected in the size of classes in schools, although some of the increase has been used to reduce class size. 18 TABLE 2.9: STUDENT/TEACHER RATIOS(') BY LEVEL OF TEACHING AND CATEGORY OF SCHOOL, SELECTED YEARS 1974 TO 1983 Primary Secondary GOV! Non-gov! Gov! Non-gov! 1974 24.2 26.5 14.8 18.0 1976 22.0 25.2 13.7 17.3 1978 21.1 24.0 12.8 16.2 1980 20.2 22.7 12.2 15.4 1982(b) 20.7 22.0 12.5 14.9 1983(b) 20.3 21.3 12.5 14.7 (a) These figures represent ratios which, if presented fully. would be expressed as, say, 24.2 students to one teacher. (b) 1982 and 1983 data for government schools are not strictly comparable with those provided for previous years. Source: Australian Bureau of Stati~tjcs. 2.21 Insufficient data are available to be precise about the number of teachers provided for each of these activities. N~vertheless, there are indicative data on the changing patterns of teacher lise. In the Victorian government school system, for example, class sizes have been gradually decreasing. The average size of classes in primary schools fell from 30.6 students in 1974 to 25.5 in 1983. In secondary high schools, the average size of English classes fell from 28.8 in 1974 to 23.4 in 1983. In secondary technical schools, the average English class size was 24.4 in 1975 and 19.6 in 1983. In Queensland, the average class size at the primary level fell from 30.6 in 1974 to 25.9 in 1984; in secondary schools over the same period it fell from 26.7 to 24.3. 2.22 The last decade has also seen an expansion of the use of ancillary and support staff, both at professional and para-professional levels. Although direct comparisons are difficult, some indication of the magnitude of the change is available through a comparison of the findings of the Interim Committee and data published at a later date. In 1973 the Interim Committee noted that one ancillary person was employed for every 12 teachers in government systems and for every 30 teachers in Catholic parochial schools (4). A study of school resources conducted by the Schools Commission and State Departments of Education showed that, by 1979, there had been a significant increase in this proviSion, ratios of one for ten being common for primary schools and one for every five to eight being reported for secondary schools (5). By 1981 non-government primary schools reported one instructional or clerical/administrative person for every six teachers. In non-government secondary schools the ratio was similar. For 1978, the Schools Commission reported nearly 25 000 ancillary staff (instructional, clerical! administrative and caretakers and ground staff) in government schools compared with 14 120 in 1974. It also reported some IO 000 professional support staff for government schools, made up of teachers working in this capacity and other professionals and para professionals. In Queensland, the number of remedial/resource staff in government schools increased from 49 in 1973 to 377 in 1984. Over the same period, the number of teacher librarians more than doubled and the number of advisory staff increased fivefold in that State. 19 2.23 Some of the staffing increases have been directly associated with targetted programs. For example, under the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program, specialist teachers are provided to schools on a full-time, part-time or itinerant basis. In some States bilingual ethnic teacher aides have been appointed to undertake hamel school liaison. Some teachers provide intensive English language instruction in language centres set up to assist newly arrived students of non-English speaking background; others staff curriculum units undertaking the development of teacher oriented and student oriented material and research into the needs of special groups. There are also ESL advisers acting as consultants to schools, teachers and students. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2.24 As shown in Table 2.1, public sector expenditure on capital works in government and non-government schools declined substantially from 21 per cent of total public sector expenditure on education in 1974-75 to 7 per cent in 1982-83. State government expenditure declined by 54 per cent and Commonwealth expenditure by 62 per cent. The Commonwealth share of capital programs dropped from 48 per cent in 1974-75 to 33 per cent in 1980-81 before rising to 42 per cent in 1982-83. From 1974-75 to 1982-83 Commonwealth support for capital works in government schools declined by 68 per cent and in non-government schools by 31 per cent. 2.25 Details of the precise use of funds for capital expenditure are not available. Although total enrolments have increased only slowly since the early 19708 (at approximately 0.5 per cent per annum), the growth of cities has created requirements for new schools: inner city enrolments have declined and those in outer areas increased. Apart from providing new facilities, funds have been used for a wide range of specialist features in schools and innovations in school design. These include wet areas in primary school classrooms, gymnasia, withdrawal areas, open plan schools, playing fields and facilities for art, drama, music and industrial arts. Education authorities have also engaged in extensive programs of upgrading older schools through conversion and replacement of existing buildings which were considered as not meeting current educational require ments. Renovations and conversions have occurred, for example, to conform with current fire and health regulations and in response to policies of reducing class size. Expenditure has also been incurred in meeting the needs of special groups, for example, through conversion of facilities to permit access by disabled students. 2.26 In its report for the 1982-84 triennium, the Schools Commission noted that for the two years 1978 and 1979 States reported the application of Commonwealth capital funds towards the commencement of 100 new government schools. The Commission also provided details of planned capital works in government schools for the period 1980-81 to 1983-84. The projects, which included those to be funded from both Commonwealth and State sources, fell into three broad categories: new facilities; upgrading facilities; replacement facilities. Some 64 per cent of total expenditure was to be spent on facilities to accommodate students joining the system or changing location; 14 per cent on upgrading facilities; and 9 per cent on replacement facilities. The remaining 13 per cent was to be spent on composite works including a mixture of the three categories. The 20 Commission concluded, therefore, that the emphasis by the States had been on providing essential new places, rather than upgrading existing schools (6). 2.27 State and Territory governments do not provide capital funds for non government schools but, with the exception of South Australia, they assist non-govern ment school building programs through interest subsidies on capital debts. The Commonwealth is therefore the major source of public funds for capital works in the non government sector. 2.28 From 1974 to 1984 approximately one half of all non-government schools received a capital grant. The mean estimated cost of funded projects in non-government schools rose from $112 000 in 1978 to $279 000 in 1984 (current prices) with the mean grant size over the same period rising from $64000 to $176000 (current prices). On average, therefore, the Commonwealth was meeting about 60 per cent of the cost of each project. As in the government sector, increasing priority has been given by non government education authorities in recent years to the provision of new places in preference to upgrading and replacing facilities in existing schools. Whereas in 197836 per cent of capital grants were for new places, by 1984 this had risen to 52 per cent. However, while Commonwealth financial support has assisted significantly with the systemization and expansion of the non-government sector, non-government school communities still contribute the bulk of funds for their capital works. For example, in 1983 the Commonwealth was meeting 20 per cent of total expenditure by non government authorities on land and buildings (7). 2.29 Within the Capital Grants Program the Commonwealth has from time to time earmarked funds for particular purposes. In 1985, for example, the Capital Grants Program for government schools consists of five elements - general capital, upgrading, libraries, special education and secondary facilities. There are four elements in the Program for non-government schools, special education funds being available from within the general capital provision. School libraries have been a consistent element, following absorption of the Secondary School Libraries Program within the Capital Grants Program in 1975, with funds being used to improve library facilities and learning resources. GOP AND PUBLIC OUTLAY ON EDUCATION 2.30 Table 2.10 sets out trends in public outlays on education in relation to gross domestic product (GDP). The proportion of GDP devoted to public outlays on education, which had been 4.5 per cent in 1971-72, stood at 6.4 per cent by 1977-78, with the largest increase taking place in 1974-75 when the full effect of the rec,ommendations of the Interim Committee were felt. By 1980-81 this proportion had declined to 5.8 per cent, but it rose to 6.0 per cent in 1982-83. The earlier decline was largely accounted for by sharp reductions in outlays on construction in both the school and higher education sectors and by a reduction in recurrent outlays on higher education as a proportion of GDP. In the school sector, relative outlays for recurrent purposes appear to have continued to increase slowly. 2.31 As shown in Table 2.11, public outlays on education as a proportion of all public outlays peaked in 1974-75 at nearly one-sixth, and have since declined steadily. 21 This decline is reflected in the budgets of both the Commonwealth and the States. In the Commonwealth, the decline has been from 9.2 per cent to 7.5 per cent. For State budgets, educational spending looms much larger and still makes up nearly one quarter of total State public outlays. Its relative importance has, however, declined in the same fashion as for the Commonwealth. Governments continue to draw attention to the difficulties of funding education but, in fact, the experience of the last decade demonstrates that the budgetary problems of funding education have lessened. TABLE 2.10: PUBLIC OUTLAYS'" ON EDUCATION AS A PROPORTION OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, 1973-74 TO 1982-83 SChOO[(b) Post~school All Recurrent Total Recurrent Total Recurrent Total per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent 1973-74 na 3.2 na 1.7 na 4.9 1974-75 na 4.0 na 2.1 na 6.0 1975-76 na 4.2 na 2.0 na 6.1 1976-77 na 4.1 na 2.0 na 6.2 1977-78 na 4.4 na 2.0 na 6.4 1978-79 3.6 4.2 1.6 1.9 5.3 6.1 1979-80 3.7 4.1 1.6 1.8 5.2 5.9 1980-81 3.7 4.1 1.6 1.8 5.3 5.8 1981-82 3.8 4.1 1.6 1.8 5.4 5.8 1982-83 na na na na na 6.0(c) (a) Includes student allowances. (b) Includes school transport. (e) Estimated. Source: Derived from ABS, Expenditure on Education, Australia, 1975-76 to 1981-82, Cat. No. 5510.0 and earlier releases. TABLE 2.11: PUBLIC OUTLAYS ON EDUCATION AS A PROPORTION OF ALL PUBLIC OUTLAYS, 1973-74 TO 1982-83 Commonwealth State All per cent per cent per cent 1973-74 7.2 27.6 15.6 1974-75 9.2 26.1 16.2 1975-76 8.5 28.7 16.2 1976-77 8.8 26.5 16.2 1977-78 8.5 26.5 16.1 1978-79 8.4 25.2 16.0 1979-80 7.9 25.6 15.5 1980-81 7.8 24.9 15.2 1981-82 7.8 24.7 15.0 1982-83 7.5(a) 23.4'" 14.1 (a) (a) Estimated. Source: Derived from ABS, Expenditure on Education, Australia, 1975-76 to 1981-82. Cat. No. 5510.0 and earlier releases.' 22 2.32 The recommendations of the Interim Committee and the decision of the Commonwealth Government to fund fully higher education from 1974 raised the Commonwealth's share in public outlays on education. This is shown in Table 2.12. The Commonwealth's share, which had stood at 22 per cent in 1972-73, rose dramatically: by 1974-75 it amounted to 45 per cent. It then declined steadily to 1980-81. By 1981-82, the Commonwealth contributed 22 per cent of outlays on school level education and 78 per cent of outlays on higher education, technical and further education and other education activities. TABLE 2.12: COMMONWEALTH OUTLAYS ON EDUCATlON AS A PROPORTlON OF ALL PUBLIC OUTLAYS ON EDUCATION, 1973-74 TO 1982-83 School Post-school All Education Education Education per cent per cent per cent 1973-74 17.6 65.8 34.0 1974-75 26.5 80.3 44.8 1975-76 24.8 79.4 42.3 1976-77 24.8 80.4 43.1 1977-78 23.7 80.4 41.5 1978-79 23.0 79.9 40.8 1979-80 20.5 80.1 38.9 1980-81 20.5 80.5 38.6 1981-82 22.1 77.6 39.0 1982-83 na na 39.4(a) (3) Estimated. Source: Derived from ABS, Expenditure on Education, Australia, 1975-76 10 1981-82, Cat. No. 5510.0 and earlier releases. TABLE 2.l3: REAL PUBLIC OUTLAYS ON EDUCATlON, 1971-72 TO 1982-83 (AVERAGE 1979-80 COST LEVELS) Commonwealth State All $m $m $m 1971-72 906 3379 4285 1972-73 1 053 3625 4678 1973-74 1749 3352 5 101 1974-75 2726 3338 6064 1975-76 2681 3661 6342 1976-77 2804 3690 6494 1977-78 2793 3938 6731 1978-79 2775 4013 6788 1979-80 2612 4095 6707 1980-81 2610 4 141 6751 1981-82 2636 4 122 6758 1982-83 2740'" 4 213'" 6 953'" (a) Estimated. Source: Derived from ABS, Expenditure, on Education, Australia, 1975-76 to 1981-82, Cat. No. 5510.0 and earlier releases. 23 2.33 Table 2.13 shows movements in real public outlays on education over the period 1971-72 to 1982-83. Commonwealth outlays trebled in real terms from 1971-72 to 1974-75, since when they have fluctuated. State outlays increased by over one sixth from 1974-75 to 1977,78. Between 1977-78 and 1981-82, total real public outlays on education were roughly the same in absolute tenus, but there was a significant increase in 1982-83. REFERENCES 1. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, Report: Schools In Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. May 1973. PH Karmel. Chairman. 2. Schools Commission, Repottjor the Triennium 1982~84, Canberra, March 1981. Page 31. 3. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Funding Policies/or Australian Schools, Canberra, April 1984. 4. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, op. cit. Page 35, 5. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Schools Resources Study, Part 2, Canberra, 1983. 6. Schools Commission, ReportJor the Triennium 1982-84, op. cit. Page 299. 7. Report of the Review of the Commonwealth's Capital Grants Program, March 1985, (mimeo- graphed). G Hancock Chairperson. 24 CHAPTER 3: OUTCOMES -1974 TO 1984 3. I Chapter 2 traced the increases in expenditure on schooling over the past decade and described some of the resources made available with the additional expenditure. This chapter focusses on changes associated with increased expenditure over the period under review and what these say about educational quality and the effectiveness of educational programs. ASSESSING EFFECTIVENESS 3.2 There is no simple and objective way of measuring the outcomes of particular educational policies and programs or of the schooling process. Assessing the effectiveness of schooling is constrained by such things as the absence of unanimity about what students should achieve, by the lack of effective measures of achievement across the spectrum of objectives which might be pursued and by the difficulty of separating the effects of schooling from the effects of the complex of social processes experienced by learners. 3.3 There is also the time dimension. For example, the results of a program introduced with new school entrants aged five years may not be fully demonstrated until ten or more years have passed. Some of the disagreement about the effectiveness of programs designed to compensate for socio-economic disadvantage, such as the American Head Start Program (I), is due to the fact that those who have evaluated their effectiveness have waited only a few years, while the real benefits may not be seen until the students become mature members of the community. 3.4 Assessment depends on the availability of data - both quantitative and qualitative. In Australia, there are few data on outcomes. There are no established mechanisms for systematic recording of output information. Reports on the operations of government school systems are tabled annually in State parliaments. They contain financial statements and each year they have tended to provide more descriptive information. Except in those States where corporate planning and outcome assessment have been stressed by their governments, they have not been outcomes oriented. At the Commonwealth level, there have been somewhat limited attempts at regular monitoring or evaluation of Commonwealth programs for schools. The accountability arrangements for funds made available under the States Grants (Schools Assistance) and related Acts for government and non-government schools have, until fairly recently, been exclusively input oriented and have placed emphasis on the satisfactory reporting of expenditure in the traditional accounting sense. Since the States Grants (Schools Assistance) ActJ982, the Commonwealth has sought more information on how its funds are applied but its request falls short of requiring outcome data or information of sufficient detail to allow the application of all Commonwealth funds to be shown separately from State and school system funds. 2S OBJECTIVES OF INCREASED EXPENDITURE 3.5 In 1973, the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission (2) set out the priorities identified in paragraph 2.3. Since that time educational authorities have directed expenditures towards these priorities, together with others designed to improve the schooling process in general; for example, by providing for greater student/teacher contact through reduced class size; increasing the number and quality of resource materials; improving the physical surroundings in which formal learning takes place; and enhancing the skills of the teaching force. As well, efforts have been made to revise and adapt syllabus content to reflect the changing knowledge base. Another kind of change has been in the breadth of the curriculum as efforts have been made to incorporate within it new content and new approaches to managing the learning process. There has been some restructuring of school organisation. 3.6 Expenditure has also been directed at meeting the educational needs of special groups, partly in the form of changes in curriculum offerings and in types of support services. Underlying this expenditure have been the principles that schooling should be accessible to all and that the schooling process should offset as far as possible those background factors which lead to unequal group outcomes. 3.7 The Commonwealth has sought to bring about other kinds of changes through specific policies and programs, such as the equalising of resource inputs between sectors, the facilitation of parental choice of schooling, the encouragement of parental participation and the devolution of decision-making responsibilities. 3.8 Because of this variety of purpose to which increased expenditure has been applied, it is only possible, within the scope and timetable of this report, to provide broad brush comment. Such Comment is, however, a necessary prerequisite for any serious attempt to identify desirable future directions. The Committee has therefore sought indications of improvement in primary and secondary education from three broad perspectives: those of better education, more education and as a result of particular Commonwealth policies. The first part of this chapter concentrates on the evidence about 'better' education (improvements in quality). The second part examines the evidence that more resources have meant more education in terms of quantity and coverage. "More' education implies an increase in the quantity of education available to every student, for example, the achievement of universal participation in secondary education. Because of widely accepted social goals, more education also carries with it the implication of a more even distribution of educational opportunities. Thus, resources have been applied to increase access to, and effectiveness of, education for a number of groups of students perceived as receiving less education and less benefit from it than the generality of their peers. Finally, attention turns to some particular educational policies pursued by the Commonwealth, their objectives and their consequences. CHANGES IN QUALITY 3.9 As pointed out in paragraphs l.12 and 3.2 there are great difficulties in assessing the quality of educational processes and programs. The Committee has drawn 26 on the reports of the many committees of inquiry which have been set up over recent years, on published research reports and on material made available to it by education and other authorities. 3.10 Most of the inquiries tended not to dwell on the past but rather to suggest areas for future development or modification. However, they do provide limited comment on the quality of education. The report of the Committee of Inquiry into Education in South Australia (Keeves Report) (3), for example, commented specifically on the quality of provision of education in South Australia and cited as favourable evidence: • the high level of participation in educational programs; • the availability of accurate information from each of the educational authorities on both participation and the costs of education, supplied routinely to the public and the Parliament; • the constructive concern and support from parents and community members; • the professional approach to educational matters of the South Australian Institute of Teachers; and • the harmonious relationships between the government and non-government sectors. Others have had a curriculum or an organisation focus and some, like the Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia (the Beazley Committee) (4), have directly addressed questions of learning outcomes. Learning Outcomes 3.11 A key area in assessing educational quality relates to learning outcomes, that is, how well students acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which schools are expected to impart. In public discussion, literacy and numeracy standards have come to be the surrogate measures of the effectiveness of schooling. The question of basic skill standards has for a number of years been debated with great heat but little light, particularly as Australia does not have a tradition of standardised performance testing of students. Extensive media coverage has been given to allegations of falling standards and to the dissatisfaction of employers with the literacy and numeracy levels of young job seekers, including those with tertiary qualifications. During its deliberations, and particularly in its consultations with labour market authorities and interests, the Committee sought data to support these allegations. Anecdotal evidence is plentiful but there seems to be less quantitative information gathered from within the labour market than is available from schools and school systems. 3.12 In its submission, the Confederation of Australian Industry reported senior personnel and employment officers of major corporations as having expressed uniform concern about the inadequacy of literacy and numeracy skills evident in school leavers. With very limited success, the Confederation had sought specific data from a number of employers on actual literacy and numeracy skills of job applicants. It did, however, provide a report on the Whyalla Steelworks' 1982 mathematics apprenticeship pre selection test (5). For some years, Broken Hill Propriety has undertaken pre-selection testing of applicants for apprenticeships in the ten trades it offers in Whyalla. It has found that performance in mathematics is the best predictor of an apprentice's ability to cope with trade school studies and training in the Company's off the job training centres. In 1980, the median for the 304 applicants (191 school students and 113 others) who took the 27 mathematics test was 34 per cent. In 198 I, the median for the 193 school students and 93 others who took the test was 37 per cent. Because of criticism that employers test applicants on skills which are often not related to school programs, the Company revised its mathematics test in 1982 in an attempt to give the test a firm educational base. The test was then administered to 245 applicants (five Year \0 students, 165 Year II students, 22 Year 12 students and 53 others) and resulted in a median of 46 per cent. Dissection of the results for each test component led to the conclusion that the applicants performed best on manipulation of numbers but ability to solve non-routine problems requiring the application of mathematics was very poor (6). 3.13 Some small scale studies also demonstrate that employers perceive standards to be inadequate. A survey of 62 line managers in firms employing some 88 000 people (7), showed that 94 per cent of managers believed a literacy problem existed in schools, 31 per cent believing it to be a severe problem. Results were similar in respect of questions about numeracy. Managers tended to attribute these problems to insufficient teaching of literacy and numeracy in schools, a lack of support from parents, problems of literacy and numeracy in the home and the time spent watching television. Despite the concern, however, only a little over a quarter of managers reported their firms as administering literacy and numeracy selection tests. Only 10 per cent of firms provided training courses to cover deficiencies in these areas. Another small scale study involved interviews with personnel managers and with 20 year olds who had been employed for some time. Among the personnel managers, basic skills in reading, writing and numeration were mentioned only in response to probing by the interviewer and the responses were described as inconclusive. Oral skills were raised frequently as an area requiring attention. From the employee group there were suggestions that spelling, reading and vocabulary should receive more attention at school. Most of those interviewed addressed another aspect of skill: they saw speaking clearly and being able to express ideas as needing more encouragement and that oral skills should be assessed as part of the evaluation of students (8). On the other hand, a study of 1981 schoolleaver employment in the Goulburn area of New South Wales found that employers were less concerned with acquired skills than with prospective employees' sense of responsibility ~ cleanliness, respect for authority, interest in the job, manners, character, willingness to work hard, punctuality and ability to get on with other workers. Most of the employers surveyed thought that the quality of school leavers had not changed or had improved over the preceding five years (9). 3. 14 Within the education system, work on the assessment of literacy and numeracy has been done in recent years by the Australian Council for Educational Research and by several State Departments of Education .. In 1980, the Council assessed the literacy and numeracy of samples of more than 5000 students aged 10 years and 5000 aged 14 years in regular schooling throughout Australia (10). In almost every assessment made, the great majority of students was successful in performing given tasks and for many tasks the proportion of successful students was very high. When the results were compared with those of a similar 1975 survey, it was found that, at both age levels, students either had the same or a higher level of performance in 1980, depending on the nature of the task. In particular: • when reading a prose passage, approximately 5 per cent more students aged 14 years (representing about 12 000 of the age group) were successful in 1980; • when reading a newspaper, 26 per cent more of the 10 year olds (about 68 000 28 students), and II per cent more of the 14 year olds (about 26 000 students) were successful in 1980; • in the performance of computation using the four arithmetic operations. there was an improvement in 1980 on three quarters of the items by the 10 year olds, and on almost half the items by the 14 year olds. The average improvement was approximately 5 per cent for the 10 year olds (13 000 students) and 4 per cent for the 14 year olds (10 000 students); • in the reading of maps and scales, the calculation of volume and the use of percentages, there was an average improvement in 1980 for the 14 year olds by a margin of 6 per cent (14 000 students) over 1975; • when writing a personal message, 7 per cent more of the 10 year olds (18000 students) were successful in 1980; and • when writing a more formal letter, 27 per cent more of the 10 year olds (70 000 students) wrote a greeting at the beginning of the letter and 9 per cent more (23 000 students) wrote their name at the end. On all other tasks tested, there was no significant difference in performance between 1975 and 1980. In no case at either age level did performance decline between 1975 and 1980. 3.15 Other studies have produced broadly comparable findings. The Queensland Department of Education compared reading achievement of Year 5 students in Queens land government primary schools in 1971, 1976 and 1981. Students were assessed on reading comprehension, reading vocabulary and speed of reading. There was no statistically significant difference in implied, literal or total comprehension over the period but the results showed decreases in speed and vocabulary between 1971 and 1976. The Queensland Department also administered four tests of study skills to samples of Year 7 students in government primary schools in 1972 and 1978. There was no change in achievement between 1972 and 1978 in graph reading, index and dictionary tests but a slight decline on the map reading test. The Tasmanian Education Department has conducted a series of tests over time with the aim of providing diagnostic feedback to its schools on individual students. Analysis suggests a significant improvement in reading skills of 14 year old students between 1977 and 1979. 3.16 The Beazley Committee was specifically asked to report on; the extent to which the basic skills associated with literacy, numeracy and written and spoken expression are adequately established in primary schools, together with appropriate habits of learning, competence in study and research and attitudes towards continuing education. (11) It concluded that it was unable to state unequivocally that standards of literacy and numeracy were declining or improving as it had seen no conclusive research evidence supporting either contention. 3.17 In its review of the findings of the various studies and of the evidence presented to it, the Committee is in a position similar to that of the Beazley Committee. Perceptions of inadequacies are strongly held by employers and industry groups but the evidence is largely anecdotal. Education authorities are confident that there has been some improve ment rather than a decline, but their best evidence tends to address only the question of how many students fall below some level of minimum competence, not the levels of performance of the whole range of students. Hard data are extremely thin on both sides. 29 The Committee is not willing to draw strong conclusions from the available evidence. Many of the results presented as evidence by both educators and employers suffer from methodological weaknesses. There is no consensus about what constitute basic skills and therefore no resolution of the debate is possible. In any event employers who recruit direct from school are recruiting from aquite different group of young people compared with a decade or so ago, when relatively few school leavers proceeded to full-time tertiary education; and they are recruiting for quite different jobs. Similarly, average academic performance of senior secondary students is bound 'to be affected by the retention in school of more students whose abilities and backgrounds are of a less academic kind. In the Committee's view, the wrong questions are being asked. What is relevant is whether the school system is responding to demand for higher levels of attainment in the face of new needs. Curriculum Changes 3,18 In recent decades there have been substantial changes in the school curriculum. Most government school systems provided the Committee with information about changes which had been made. Although there is no comprehensive picture of the present situation across Australia, or comprehensive comparisons 0rer time, there is a good deal of indicative evidence to support the conclusion that the range of subject areas and emphases has been extended. 3.19 In primary schools the trend appears to have been to broaden curriculum content by changing the emphasis within traditional content areas and by the introduction of new subjects. For example, in New South Wales, new language syllabuses have been devised' as demand for different fonns of literacy have hecome evident. The 19fJ7 English SylJ::lhlls for primary schools was expressed for the most part in terms of specific content to be covered and classroom practice tended to be sets of exercises to be completed by students in sequence. Its 1974 successor placed much greater emphasis on encouraging students to talk, listen, read and write. Since that time, further revisions have flowed from accumulated research, in Australia and overseas, about how children acquire language skills. Much of this research challenges the assumptions on which earlier syllabuses were based and offers the prospect of enhanced learning outcomes when it is translated into practice. In 1981, the New South Wales Department of Education began work on a major project to examine the teaching and learning of writing from Kindergarten to Year 12 and it plans to issue a revised writing syllabus to all primary teachers at the beginning of 1986. 3.20 In Queensland, there is also a long history of curriculum adaptation. For primary schools, syllabuses for mathematics, social studies, art, health and physical education, music and language arts were revised between 1966 and 1974 and the mathematics syllabus was further modified between 1974 and 1976. The language arts curriculum guide produced in 1974 included heavier emphasis on listening and observing skills and on higher level critical thinking and research skills. As a result of evaluation of the teaching of science in primary schools, a series of in-service modules was developed to help teachers improve their science programs. Science in primary schools also received attention in Tasmania, where from about 1974 efforts were made to raise the profile of science teaching. 3.21 Ina number of school systems increased emphasis has been given to second language teaching. In South Australian government primary schools the number of 30 students receiving tuition in a second language (other than English) rose between 1970 and 1980 from virtually none to more than 16 000, or 13 per cent of the total enrolment. 3.22 New or expanded programs have been mounted in music, the performing and creative arts, the environment, health and nutrition and cultural understanding. The Select Committee on Education in Queensland, for example, noted with particular approval: the emphasis now being given to Drama, Vocal and Instrumental music, Arts and Crafts, and other items in the cultural dimension of primary schools. (12) and also commented on: the work of the Field Studies Centres which are making an important contribution in teaching children about the environment and the flora and fauna of our State, as well as providing a wide range of interesting and challenging experiences designed to develop self reliance. (13) 3.23 Not all comment has been equally favourable. The Beazley Committee noted that the range of subjects being taught in Western Australian primary schools had been progressively developed and adapted. It found unacceptably wide variations in the ways the curriculum was being interpreted and applied by principals and teachers and suggested that there be a stronger organisational framework for curriculum development and the educational growth of students. 3.24 In the junior secondary years, that is up to Year 10, curriculum offerings appear to have been extended by increasing the number of options available within a framework of core and elective subjects. The Beazley Committee reported that the core subjects of English, social studies, mathematics and science were allocated about 60 per cent of school time and that there had been submissions to it seeking the addition of a variety of subject areas, including health education, sex education, law studies, religious education, moral education, computer education, safety educationl...--Esperanto, peace studies, the introduction of life skills and a multicultural perspective across the curriculum. The discussion paper released as part of the Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling in Victoria (14) records that, in Years 7 to la, all students study English and mathematics, almost all study science and significant proportions study history and geography, home economics and graphic communications at every year level. Music, language studies, French, Gennall'and drama are strong at Years 7 and 8, consumer education and typing at Years 9 and 10. 3.25 There have also been extensive modifications to syllabuses and curriculum guides in many subject areas. Developments in Queensland provide one example. The raising of the school leaving age to 15 years in 1965 and the phasing out of public examinations by 1973 were accompanied by an intensive process of syllabus modific ation, trialIing and implementation. From 1975, syllabuses became sets of guidelines for the development of courses of study within schools, with major emphasis placed on the objective~ of the syllabus, that is, the skills and knowledge which the student was expected to be able to demonstrate at the end of a course. Following the 1978 review of school based assessment in Queensland secondary schools, syllabuses approved by the Board of Secondary School Studies were systematically redrafted. Objectives were specified in terms of cognitive skills, content, practical skills and attitudes, values and feelings with which courses of study were to be concerned. Core studies and criteria for assessment of student achievement were also identified. 31 3.26 It is in the senior secondary years in particular that there has been demand for an expansion of the range of offerings. This demand arises from criticisms of the academic orientation of senior secondary schooling and of the curriculum as lacking relevance to the interest of the students and the requirements of the labour market. An indication of the extent of offerings available to students in the senior years comes from a recent study of patterns of retention in government schools (15). Subjects available in sample schools in four of the States covered by the survey were identified and categorised as follows: English or English as a second language; Literature and languages (including journalism); Mathematics (including computer studies); Sciences (including biology, chemistry, physics); Arts (including art, craft, music, media, drama); Business and commerce (including accounting, business mathematics, secretarial studies, typing); Technical studies (including graphics); Social sciences (including social studies, economics, politics, legal studies, human development and society, geography, history, psychology); Physical education, outdoor education, driver education .and health education; and Work experience, community service, social development and career education. 3.27 Most schools offer only part of this extensive range and for most students choice is restricted within the range available at their school. The range is also more limited for Year 12 students than for those in Year Ii. In 1983, for Year 11 there was heavy concentration on the categories of English, mathematics, science and social science, almost all schools offering at least one subject from each and many offering three whhin each of {he malhemarics and science categories and four wiihin social science. h was common for schools to offer at least one subject from the arts, business and commerce and technical studies. Subjects from the languages and literature and physical education categories were offered in a majority of schools; only a few offered studies in the work experience and community service categories. These courses, like those in the physical education group, tended to receive a much smaller time allocation than those of the more traditional kind. For Year 12, the availability of subjects in the physical education and work experience categories was reduced, with subjects in the latter category generally not being available. 3.28 In New South Wales, the Board of Senior School Studies has approved new courses under its 'Other Approved Studies' category and some schools have moved in the direction of alternative fonns of senior level accreditation. The Department of Education reported that increasing participation has been accompanied by more emphasis on changing teaching modes in traditional subject areas rather than the addition of new subject areas. Enrolments in traditional subject areas remain strong. Table 3.1 sets out participation rates (the number of students enrolled for a subject as a proportion of the total number of students) in Years 11 and 12 in South Australia. The increased participation in mathematics at both Years 11 and 12 and in physics and chemistry at Year II are noteworthy. 3.29 Within the Catholic school system in Victoria, subject choice has been extended in secondary schools, particularly in respect of technical subjects and at Year 12 where a number of schools now offers subjects accredited by the Victorian Institute of 32 TABLE 3.1: PARTICIPATION IN SELECTED YEAR II AND YEAR 12 SUBJECTS"), SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 1978 AND 1984 Year 11 Year 12 1978 1984 1978 1984 per cent per cent per cent per cent English 98 100 69 73 Social Studies II 12 6 6 Geography 39 28 40 28 Languages 8 II 9 12 History 33 19 59 41 Economics/Commerce 75 73 35 55 Mathematics 75 82 51 55 Art 25 30 18 20 Biology 42 40 56 45 Chemistry 22 29 24 24 Physics 25 34 26 26 Physical Education 20 31 5 13 Technical Studies 6 12 2 13 Home Economics 13 23 4 8 Enrolments - February 16629 15984 '/502 8988 (a) The numbers of students enrolled for a subject or a subject group as a percentage of the total number of students in Year 11 or Year 12 in 1978 and 1984 respectively. Source: South Australian Department of Education. Secondary Education as the equivalent of those which are examinable for entry to higher education. In South Australia, IS Catholic secondary schools now offer technical studies and home economics and subject choice in the senior secondary years has been considerably broadened. 3.30 Some schools and school systems have developed high standards in specialized fields. In Western Australia, two specialist music senior high schools were set up within the government system in 1968 and 1972. Since that time, the number of concert bands has increased from two to 32, with students participating in public concerts and music festivals. The Western Australian Youth Concert Band has competed successfully in international competition, and bands and orchestras from two schools have toured in Europe and China. There is overseas demand for music curriculum materials produced by the Western Australian Department, as well as demand from other States. Some 300 specialist music teachers are employed in the system. Similar success has come from the formation of a youth theatre company in 1983, partly with support from Commonwealth funds. Drawing on high school students in the Perth metropolitan area, its major effort takes place in the summer vacation. It has achieved success in the 1985 Festival of Perth and has been invited to tour interstate and overseas. A special drama program introduced in a primary school servicing a low income area of Perth about seven years ago has had lasting benefit in that graduates of the program, now nearly 20 years old, still retain contact with the school. 33 3.31. South Australia provides another example of the development of specialist centres within high schools. It has four special interest music schools and has also set up a foreign language school. 3.32 The efforts to take account of significant research findings about learning and teaching and to modify the curriculum to meet changing needs have not lessened criticisms of opposing kinds. The Youth Affairs Council of Australia reported in 1984 that many students see the central issue as a need for more appropriate and relevant curriculum and perceive the present curriculum as being geared to an academic elite (16). Other critics have portrayed schools as offering smorgasbords of poorly designed and inconse quential courses. Nevertheless, it is clear that there is relatively strong control by education authorities over the school curriculum, especially in secondary schools. In most States and Territories, the Education Department or a statutory authority approves either syllabuses in individual subjects or the curriculum of individual schools. Where courses lead to public certificates, the control extends to both government and non-government schools. 3.33 System authorities are also active in the development of student assessment techniques and of diagnostic tools for classroom use. In Western Australia, for example, a bank of 300 test items for Stage 6 of the mathematics syllabus has been developed to assist primary teachers in assessing learning outcomes in their classrooms. A parallel bank of 400 items is in preparation for Year 7. From banks of test items teachers are able to compile tests which are tailored to their classroom needs and can ascertain their students' performance vis-a-vis State norms. In New South Wales, schools are provided with. batteries of tests which allow teachers to compare the achievements of their students with th", I\;!t<:>t"" 'II;rI", nr A •• "tr<:>I;<:> HI.rI"" nAn•• I<:>t;An" Af "t .. rI""nt" Af th"" "~TYlp ~(JP Ar (Jr~np 'T'P"t" ...... ~ ... ~ ...... ~ .... ~ •• ~~ ..... u~ ..~ ••• ~ .... y~y~'~U~""'" ~~ ...... ~~ ...... - ...... -0 ...... 0.--..... _ ...... are currently available, for example, in reading, spelling, study skills, listening skills and mathematics. The Australian Cooperative Assessment Program, which was set up in 1979 among government school systems, emphasises the development of test materials for diagnostic and assessment purposes and the development of assessment strategies. 3.34 Most school systems have been promoting school evaluation as well as student assessment. For example, a program of cooperative school evaluation was introduced into Queensland government schools in 1977 as an alternative to conventional inspectorate based school assessment. The Schools Commission operates a modest program in school evaluation within its Projects of National Significance Program to enable schools to evaluate themselves. Quality of School Life 3.35 Another perspective on the quality of schooling comes from the attitudes to it of students and recent ex-students. In a survey of the attitudes of Australians aged 15 to 24 years (17), young people were asked to nominate (unprompted) the best and worst things about their lives at present. Sixteen per cent nominated school and education as among the best things. Twelve per cent of the group included these in their specification of the worst things in their lives but among 15 to 17 year aids the percentage was much higher. On the other hand, 8 per cent of 15 to 17 year aids specified undertaking further education as the thing they most wanted to do in the next two to three years and 44 per cent of the total group hoped to undertake full-time or part-time study in the same period. A high 34 proportion, 69 per cent, thought that encouraging young people to stay at school until Year 12 was a good idea and a further 14 per cent were in favour if Years II and 12 could be completed in a special school or a technical college. Another study (18) showed that, for the 20 per cent of the 1983 Year 10 students who intended to leave school at the end of the year, employment and independence played a more important part in that decision than their level of satisfaction with school or the advice of parents, teachers or peers. Hoping to get a job, wanting to earn money, seeing advantages in entering the job market early, intending to start an apprenticeship and having a job to go to were the more important reasons given for planning to leave. An alternative view might well have been given by 45 per cent of the young people who left school between August 1981 and August 1982 without completing Year 12, who gave being 'fed up with school' as an important reason for leaving (19). Almost equally important was the response 'considered some subjects to be useless'. The Youth Affairs Council noted in 1984 that: many (students) speak bitterly about the negative experiences with teachers who deny them respect; and many students perceive that teachers favour only those who do well academically. (20) 3.36 Although much of the quality of school life depends on interaction among teachers and students, the physical environment cannot be discounted. The 19708 saw significant attention given to school buildings, plant and equipment. The experience of the Tasmanian government school system provides an example of the types of development which have occurred. In the late 1960s most new schools and colleges were built with large open areas, instead of the individual classrooms which had been traditional. Buildings designed since then include a combination of smaller open areas and classrooms in an attempt to provide flexibility and adaptability. The former is achieved by providing spaces which can be used for a variety of purposes by rearranging furniture and movable fittings, the latter by allowing the creation of new rooms by moving internal walls. The Department is also making extensive use of relocatable classrooms. They were introduced initially to give schools urgently needed, short term accommodation. Nowadays, permanent buildings are provided for the predicted stable population of a new school and relocatable facilities provided for the first few years when there is an enrolment peak in a new suburb. 3.37 Tasmania also provides an example of expanded provision of plant and equipment to raise the quality of educational provision. The Department's Elizabeth Computer Centre provides a network for schools and colleges, with all high schools and colleges and some primary and district high schools having at least one terminal. Its Media Centre provides assistance to schools in the use of their audio-visual equipment, distributes cassettes a9d films and provides production facilities. Thirty-eight new libraries were built during the 1970s and fully qualified librarians were appointed to all high schools and colleges and to larger primary and district high schools. Extra-mural centres have been provided for environmental and marine studies and for outdoor education. 3.38 Data from the 1978 study of comparative capital costs of government and non government schools (21) and the follow up 1983 study (22), both of which were commissioned by the Australian Education Council, provide further illustration of developments in the capital area. The 1978 study analysed a number of complete, or 35 nearly complete, government and non-government schools in Australia and made recommendations on areas and costs per student for new primary and secondary schools, as well as ranges for functional areas and costs which were considered to be compatible with current education philosophies. 3.39 Data from the latter study indicate that by 1983 average school building areas for new schools were almost the same as the maximum areas recommended in the 1978 study, that is, 6.13m2 per student for primary schools and 9.75m2 per student for secondary schools. Areas per student for school building extension projects were found to be on average 6 per cent larger than those for complete new schools. Comparisons between 1978 and 1983 also showed a reduction in average school building costs per square metre of between 14.5 per cent and 21 per cent in real tenns, at the primary and secondary levels respectively. This was attributed to cost effective designs for buildings. Teacher Qualifications 3.40 Paragraphs 2.18 to 2.21 described the increase in the number of teachers in schools in the 1970s and the expansion of services they were providing. In parallel with these changes, the qualifications of the teaching profession rose as people with three and four years of pre-service training joined it. One indication of the extent of the change was shown by surveys of the teaching force in 1963 and 1979 (23). Whereas the 1963 survey showed that 10 per cent of the force had undergone three years of pre-service training, the 1979 survey showed that 33 per cent had done so. Over the period the proportion with two years of initial training fell from 46 per cent to 24 per cent. Later information provided by. school authorities shows a continuation of the trend towards more extended training. 3.41 In Victorian Catholic schools in 1980, 46 per cent of teachers had received two years or less training and 48 per cent three years. By 1984 the corresponding figures were 24 per cent and 56 per cent. Of about 12 100 teachers in the South Australian government school system in 1973, 27 per cent held university degrees or diplomas and 38 per cent teachers college diplomas. In 1983, of approximately 16100 teachers, 27 per cent held university degrees or diplomas and 73 per cent held degrees or diplomas from colleges of advanced education. Over the period 1970 ·to 1980, the percentage of Tasmanian government school teachers with degrees rose from 24 per cent to 35 per cent. QUANTITY AND COVERAGE OF SCHOOLING PROVISIONS 3.42 On anyone of a number of indicators, there has been considerable increase in the output from the school system over the 1970s and early 1980s, representing evidence of increases in the provision of education. Indicators include: • educational attainment of the population; • participation in education by 15 and 16 year aids; • participation in Year 10, coinciding with the end of the compulsory schooling period; • apparent grade retention rates for Year 12; • participation in technical and further education; and • participation in higher education. 36 TABLE 3.2: EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF FULL-TIME, FULL-YEAR WORKERS, 1968-69 AND 1981-82 Persons Aged Persons Aged 35-44 years 15-64 years 1968-69 1981-82 1968-69 1981-82 per cent per cent per cent per cent MALES With post~school qualifications: 31.7 59.1 27.8 51.3 degree 4.3 12.1 3.7 9.1 certificate (non-trade)/ diploma 10.2 17.9 8.6 13.6 trade certificate 17.3 27.9 15.6 27.0 other{al (b) 1.2 (b) 1.7 Without post-school qualifications(C): 68.3 41.0 72.2 48.7 left school at 17+ years 7.6 6.5 10.1 11.6 16 years 9.0 8.7 11.1 10.6 14, 15 years 39.0 21.1 40.0 21.4 13 years or less 12.7 4.6 11.0 4.9 TOTAL ('000) 708.7 808.4 3 161.8 3 309.5 FEMALES With post-school qualifications: 12.6 43.3 14.7 40.5 degree 1.8 8.3 1.8 7.5 certificate (non-trade)! diploma 9.4 28.1 11.2 27.4 trade certificate 1.6 5.7 1.7 4.0 other(al (b) na(d) (b) 1.6 Without post-school qualifications(c) 87.4 56.7 85.3 59.5 left school at 17+ years 9.2 6.4 11.5 13.3 16 years 11.2 10.8 18.6 15.1 14, 15 years 51.0 32.1 45.9 26.4 13 years or less 16.1 7.2 9.4 4.5 TOTAL ('000) 173.6 214.0 1009.0 1 122.5 (a) Includes adult education and completion of secondary school qualifications. (b) No comparable category. (e) Includes persons who did not attend school. (d) Not available for publication. Source: ABS, Income Distribution, Australia: Individuals, Cat. No. 6502.0. Educational Qualifications 3.43 Table 3.2 shows that among those who work full-time and full-year the proportion of males with post-school qualifications rose from 28 per cent in 1968-69 to 51 per cent in 1981-82. For females the change was much greater, from 15 per cent to 41 37 TABLE 3.3: DISTRIBUTION OF 15 TO 19 YEAR OLDS IN EDUCATION, BY SINGLE YEAR OF AGE, JUNE 1983 Educational Age Activity 151a ) 161a) 17 18 19 per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent School 88.5 62.1 33.5 6.3 2.2 TAFElb) Full-time 0.5 5.2 6.0 5.0 3.0 Apprentices(C) na na 9.2 11.6 8.5 Other part-time na na 9.2 11.1 11.8 TOTAL 7.1 23.5 24.4 27.7 23.3 Advanced Education Full-time 0.1 2.0 5.0 6.0 Part-time 0.2 0.6 1.0 TOTAL 0.1 2.2 5.6 7.0 Universities Full-time 0.1 2.1 5.3 6.4 Part-time 0.1 0.3 0.5 TOTAL 0.1 2.2 5.6 6.9 Total in Educationld) Full-time 89.1 68.6 44.2 22.0 17.8 Part-time 5.6 15.5 17.3 22.0 22.0 TOTAL 94.7 84.1 61.5 44.0 39.9 Number ('000) 256.2 253.9 251.9 256.9 265.7 (a) Age data for tertiary institutions is collected as '16 and Under'. The distribution between 15 and 16 year olds in this table has therefore been estimated using other data. (b) Streams I to 5 (net) only. (c) Part-time enrolments in Stream 3a. (d) The discrepancies between the Sum of the components and the total are because the total includes students undertaking courses at non-government business colleges, and double counting of students enrolled in both school and T AFE has been removed. Source: Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission. per cent. The effects of increased educational participation are seen more clearly by a comparison of the patterns for 35 to 44 year olds over the period. The proportion of males with post-school qualifications almost doubled while there was a more than threefold increase for females. The proportion of those who left school at age IS years or less roughly halved. Population census data show a significant rise in the educational attainment of the population as a whole. Between 1971 and 1981, the proportion of the population over 15 years of age without post-school qualifications fell from 80 per cent to 64 per cent. 38 TABLE 3.4: AGE PARTICIPATION RATES, ALL SCHOOLS, SELECTED YEARS 1972 TO 1983 1972 1976 1978 1980 1982 1983 per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent Males 14 97,5 97.1 97.4 97.5 98.3 97.8 15 82.3 83.8 86.4 85.7 86.0 88.5 16 56.7 57.7 58.2 56.4 56.2 61.4 17 33.3 31.4 30.5 28.2 27.9 32.1 18 10.3 8.0 7.2 6.0 5.8 6.7 19+ 2.0 1.7 1.8 1.6 1.7 2.4 15-19 37.7 37.8 37.2 34.9 35.0 37.9 Females 14 96.7 97.6 96.6 97.3 97.7 97.6 15 79.2 83.6 86.5 86.5 86.9 88.5 16 49.5 56.9 59.6 58.5 59.6 62.8 17 25.8 30.7 32.5 30.7 31.9 35.1 18 5.5 5.7 6.1 5.4 5.0 5.9 19+ 0.8 1.4 1.8 1.9 1.7 2.1 15-19 32.6 36.6 37.5 35.8 36.2 38.5 Persons 14 97.1 97.4 97.0 97.4 98.1 97.7 15 80.8 83.7 86.5 86.1 86.5 88.5 16 53.2 57.3 58.9 57.4 57.9 61.9 17 29.6 31.1 31.5 29.4 30.2 33.5 18 7.9 6.8 6.7 5.7 5.4 6.3 19+ 1.4 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.7 2.2 15-19 35.2 37.2 37.3 35.4 35.6 38.2 Source: Commonwealth Department of Education. Participation in Schooling 3.44 Increased participation is not necessarily attributable to increased expenditure by either the Commonwealth or the States, although the quality of what schools offer may encourage students to persist with their schooling. Secondary and tertiary education extended during the last decade to greater proportions of 15 and 16 year olds than ever before. By 1983, about 90 per cent of this age group was undertaking full-time study at school or a TAFE institution or part-time, largely apprenticeship related, TAFE study, compared with only 74 per cent in 1975. As shown in Table 3.3, in 1983 some 95 per cent of the 15 year old age group and 84 per cent of 16 year olds were engaged in these forms of education or training. 3.45 Participation in schooling by 15 year olds has been rising, from 81 per cent in 1972 to 89 per cent in 1983. For 16 year olds, participation has grown less steadily, the rate falling slightly in the period 1978 to 198!. By 1983, 62 per cent of this age group 39 TABLE 3.5: APPARENT GRADE RETENTION RATES BY SECTOR, SELECTED YEARS 1972 TO 1983") Percentage retained to: 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1983 Year 10- Persons 83 82 87 89 91 93 94 Males 84 82 87 88 90 92 94 Females 82 82 87 90 92 94 95 Government 81 80 85 87 89 91 92 Non-government 90 91 93 95 97 100 100 Catholic 84 86 89 92 94 96 97 Other 107 105 103 106 107 109 109 Year ll- Persons 48 48 52 53 54 57 64 Males 51 48 51 51 51 54 62 Females 46 47 53 56 57 61 66 Government 44 43 48 49 49 52 58 Non-government 62 65 68 70 72 76 80 Catholic 49 52 56 58 61 66 70 Other 100 101 100 101 104 104 105 Year 12- Persons 32 33 35 35 35 36 41 Males 36 34 35 33 32 33 38 Females 29 32 35 37 37 40 44 GD'!e"!!!.!!'!.e"nt 28 27 30 30 28 30 34 Non-government 49 53 54 55 56 59 63 Catholic 35 39 42 43 45 48 51 Other 87 90 89 86 88 89 93 (a) These rates are measures of the tendencies of members of student cohorts to remain in school from the first secondary year to the third last (Year 10), second last (Year 11) and final year (Year 12) of secondary schooling. Inter-sectoral migration is one factor accounting for grade retention rates in excess of 100 per cenl. Source: Commonwealth Department of Education. was at school, compared with 53 per cent in 1972. Age participation rates are shown in Table 3.4. These changes may reflect the condition of the labour market as well as that of schools but it is inescapable that a greater proportion of young people now remain at school or in training than at any previous time. 3.46 About 94 per cent of students remain at school to Year 10; by which time more than 80 per cent of them have reached 15 years of age. Approximately 60 per cent of 15 year olds are in Year 10, with a further 10 per cent or so in Year 11. It is beyond the end of compulsory schooling that patterns of enrolment have shown the most marked changes. While by no means a perfect measure, apparent grade retention rates demonstrate that, in 1983,41 per cent of students were retained to Year 12, the principal means of access to higher education and nowadays an importallt pre-requisite for many forms of employ ment. As shown in Table 3.5 this percentage has risen since 1972, when only 32 per cent of students remained at school for Year 12. There was a particularly sharp rise between 1982 and 1983, from 36 per cent to 41 per cent, and preliminary indications are that there 40 TABLE 3.6: HIGHER EDUCATION PARTICIPATION RATES, BY AGE AND SEX, SELECTED YEARS 1975 TO 1984 (PER 1000 OF RELEVANT POPULATION COHORT) 17-19 20-24 25-29 30 years years years years and over Males 1975 109 111 50 10 1980 95 101 52 15 1981 92 99 53 17 1982 93 96 51 16 1983 95 98 50 16 1984 98 97 49 17 Females 1975 III 69 21 7 1980 101 78 33 14 1981 97 78 35 15 1982 100 76 34 15 1983 104 78 34 16 1984 109 79 34 16 Persons 1975 110 90 36 9 1980 98 90 43 15 1981 95 88 44 15 1982 97 86 42 16 1983 99 88 42 16 1984 103 89 42 16 Source: Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission. was a further rise between 1983 and 1984 to 45 per cent, as the rise in retention to Year 11 in 1983 carried through to the final year. In New South Wales, retention to Year 11 rose from 42 per cent in 1982 to 51 per cent in 1984, with increases in retention to Year 12 rising from 34 per cent to 41 per cent in the same period. 3.47 These recent rises have reversed a trend, evident in the mid 1970s, for retention among males, especially in government schools, to fall. Between 1972 and 1981, retention of male students to Year 12 fell from 36 per cent to 32 per cent. In the non government sector, the rate in Catholic schools rose to 44 per cent in 1973 and remained at about 45 per cent from 1974, but in non-Catholic schools there was a fall from 95 per cent to 84 per cent in 1978, rising to 87 per cent in 1981. In the government sector, the retention rate among males fell from 30 per cent in 1972 to 25 per cent by 1981. Participation in Post-School Education 3.48 Over the period under review provision for post-school education has also been expanding. Table 3.6 provides details of higher education participation rates over the last decade. Youth participation rates for universities and colleges of advanced education 41 reflect the increases in enrolments by young people which took place in 1983 and 1984. This reversed the trend of decline in youth participation from 1976 to 1981. There was a substantial decline in the participation of 20 to 24 year o.Id males in the period 1975 to 1980 and the rate has been almost constant since 1981. For females, the rate rose from 1975 to 1980 and has then remained static. By contrast, mature age participation (30 years and over) rose by about 70 per cent from 1975 to 1980. In both universities and colleges of advanced education the trend over the period 1975 to 1982 was for an increasing proportion of students to undertake studies on a part-time rather than a full-time basis. However, since 1982 this trend has been reversed. In 1984, 62 per cent of students enrolled in universities were studying full-time compared with 60 per cent in 1981. In colleges of advanced education the comparable figures were 49 per cent and 47 per cent respectively. The figures are, however, still well below the 1975 levels of 66 per cent studying 'full-time in universities and 61 per cent studying full-time in colleges of advanced education. 3.49 Between the mid 1970s and early 1980s, as shown in Table 3.7, there was a trend away from direct progression from school to higher education. The number of full time students proceeding directly to higher education declined absolutely from 41 900 in 1976 to 36 700 in 1982, but by 1984 there had been a return towards the 1976 level. As the table shows, the proportion of young people proceeding direct to higher education from school is still below its 1974 level, despite some increase in total numbers over the last two years. 3.50 Since 1975, the most dramatic increase in enrolments in tertiary education has taken place in the TAFE sector. From 1974 to 1983, TAFE enrolments in vocational and preparatory courses (Strenms 1 to 5) grevv' from approximately 330 000 to 790 000, that is, at an average annual growth rate of 10 per cent. Enrolments in leisure and general enrichment courses (Stream 6) also grew significantly. There has been a major growth in the number of full-time enrolments in TAFE from about 25000 in 1974 to about 74 000 in 1983. 3.51 With the expansion of educational provIsIOn and general improvements in educational participation, gains have been made by a number of groups whose educational participation has traditionally been low and for whom special programs have been provided by both the Commonwealth and education authorities in the States. Among these are girls, Aborigines, the disabled, those of low socio-economic status and children of migrant families. Girls' Participation 3.52 The last decade has seen a sharp rise in girls' participation in schooling. In 1976, female retention rates overtook male rates and they have continued to mQve ahead. By 1983, retention to Year 12 had risen to 44 per cent compared with 29 per cent in 1972. By 1984, females constituted 49 per cent of students commencing courses at higher education institutions, compared with 44 per cent in 1976. Whereas, in 1970 women accounted for 30 per cent of university enrolments, in 1984 they represented 45 per cent. In that year they were well represented in colleges of advanced education, accounting for 48 per cent of all enrolments. Table 3.8 shows changes in the patterns of enrolment by field of study. In 1982, the proportions of women undertaking courses in 42 TABLE 3.7: STUDENTS COMMENCING COURSES AT UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES OF ADVANCED EDUCATION'" DIRECT FROM SCHOOL, SELECTED YEARS 1974 TO 1984 1974 1976 1978 1980 1981 1982 /983 1984 Population aged 17 in previous year ('000) 231.5 245.5 253.1 263.5 261.8 261.2 255.0 251.9 Final year school population in previous year - Number 76860 82033 88421 90391 89038 88329 89645 98688 Students commencing direct from school Number 41720 41 908 40327 38 170 37336 36719 37571 40827 As a % of previous year final year school population 54.3 51.1 45.6 42.2 41.9 41.6 41.9 41.4 As a % of previous year 17 year old population 18.0 l7.1 15.9 14.5 14.3 14.1 14.7 16.2 (a) Excludes students attending RMC Duntroon, RANC Jervis Bay and advanced education courses in TAFE and non-government institutions. Source: Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission. t TABLE 3.8: FEMALE ENROLMENT RATES IN SELECTED FIELDS OF STUDY IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES OF ADVANCED EDUCATION, 1975 AND 1982 Females as a Percentage ofEnrolments Field of Study 1975 1982 per cent per cent COLLEGES OF ADVANCED EDUCATION Agriculture 17.3 30.5 Applied sciences 19.4 33.8 Art and design 53.8 60.0 Building, surveying and architecture \0.4 18.9 Commercial and business studies 16.0 28.5 Engineering and technology 1.2 2.5 Liberal studies 56.4 65.5 Music 67.4 59.4 Para-medical 69.1 73.2 Teacher education 67.9 70.2 Miscellaneous 47.6 TOTAL 44.4 48.1 UNIVERSITIES Humanities 57.3 63.8 Fine arts 58.5 9.6 Social and behavioural sciences 57.7 61.6 Law 23.4 38.3 Educ~tiGr:. 4.9.4- 57.9 Economics, commerce and government 17.9 28.8 Medicine 36.0 40.9 Dentistry 17.8 26.9 Natural sciences 29.5 35.5 Engineering and technology 2.1 6.2 Architecture and building 17.6 25.2 Agriculture and forestry 16.0 25.3 Veterinary science 23.5 41.7 Other and not stated 44.4 51.7 TOTAL'" 36.6 43.6 (a) Components do not add 10 totals because of double counting in 1975 and rounding of numbers in 1982. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. agriculture, applied sciences, dentistry and veterinary science were to to 15 percentage points higher than they had been in 1975 and similar changes had occurred in business studies. economics and law. Smaller increases were recorded in the proportions of females in medicine, natural sciences, engineering. surveying and architecture. 44 TABLE 3.9: RETENTION OF ABORIGINAL STUDENTS IN YEARS 11 AND 12, 1976 TO 1982 Proportion of Aboriginal students proceeding: 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent From Year 10 to Year 11 29.1 31.6 31.5 33.4 36.5 38.8 35.8 From Year 11 to Year 12 31.1 35.2 33.0 38.0 37.4 41.6 38.9 From Year 10 to Year 12 9.1(') 10.2 10.4 13.8 12.5 15.2 15.1 (a) Estimate. Source: National Aboriginal Education Committee. Aboriginal Participation 3.53 Aboriginal' participation in education is extremely low. Low proportions of the relevant age groups are enrolled beyond the compulsory years and few Aborigines enter post-secondary institutions. The last decade has, however, seen significantly improved participation. As shown in Table 3.9, between 1977 and 1982 there was a 50 per cent increase in retention from Year 10 to Year 12. Whereas, in 1976 there were 174 Aboriginal students undertaking tertiary study, preliminary data show that in November 1983 there were at least 617 enrolled in higher education award courses. 3.54 Increased participation of this order has been associated with direct measures taken by school systems. In New South Wales, where the number of Aboriginal students in Years 10, 11 and 12 of government schools has doubled since 1977, the Department of Education has issued several documents to assist teachers of Aboriginal students and to assist in the teaching of Aboriginal studies. Some 130 Aboriginal teachers' aides are employed in that State, 60 of them funded by the Commonwealth which also funds the State's Aboriginal Education Unit. South Australia also employs Aboriginal adults to assist Aboriginal students in their local schools. 3.55 As well as actual increases in school participation among Aborigines, there is some evidence that projects and programs in schools are leading to changes in effective outcomes. A transition education project in a Western Australian district high school, for example, involved Aboriginal students in a screen printing project which became a commercial success. An evaluation of this project reported positive student outcomes in tenns of student satisfaction, group cohesion and self esteem. * The Committee recognizes that there are two cultures indigenous to Australia - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. For convenience, the adjective' Aboriginal' is used in this report to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 45 Provision for Handicapped Students 3.56 The Interim Committee estimated that in 1972 there were some 33000 students receiving full-time education in special schools and classes for handicapped children. Measurement of the extent of provision of educational services for these children remains a complicated question but there is evidence of extended provision. The Schools Commission, for instance, estimated that in 1976 there were about 35 000 students in special schools or full-time special classes, some 21 000 in part-time special classes and a further 2500 receiving assistance through consultative visiting teacher services. There has been a considerable extension of facilities for handicapped children in Catholic schools. In Sydney, for example, about 65 schools provide services for mildly or moderately intellectually handicapped students. Services are also available in the same area for the learning impaired and visually impaired. Participation and Socio~economic Status 3.57 There is a strong correlation between educational participation and socio- economic status. Apart from the significant differences between Year 12 retention rates in government and non-government schools, and non-Catholic non-government schools in particular (see Table 3.4), there is research evidence to show that students in Years II and 12 are more likely to be drawn from higher socio-economic status groups. Statistics collated as part of the Australian Council for Educational Research's longitudinal study of youth demonstrate differences in Year 12 completion rates, as shown in Table 3.10. The study concluded that: no matter where a student lives, the kind of school he/she attends or how well he! she is doing there, those from socially and economically advantagedfamities and/or those from migrant famities not of English-speaking origin are more strongly committed to completing high school. continuing their education in a tertiary institution and entering a white collar occupation. (24) However, data are insufficient to draw any conclusions about relative chan'ges in participation of lower socio-economic groups. Participation and Non-English Speaking Background 3.58 Although the study referred to above noted the high educational aspirations of students from migrant families not of English speaking origin, there appear to be wide disparities among ethnic groups in the extent to which they are represented in post compulsory education. A longitudinal study of students in Sydney government high schools (25), for example, showed that 57 per cent of Greek students stayed at school to the end of Year 12, in comparison with 39 per cent of Italian, 27 per cent of Lebanese, 8 per cent of Maltese and 46 per cent of Yugoslav students. This study also reported that a higher proportion of children of migrant parents of non-English speaking origin aspired to the Higher School Certificate in comparison with children of Australian born parents. Analyses of the educational qualifications, as revealed by census data, of those born in Australia of overseas born parents (26) show that the proportions with formal educational qualifications, for most of the major birthplace groups present in the contemporary 46 TABLE 3.10: YEAR 12 COMPLETION RATES BY FATHER'S OCCUPATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS Males Females Persons per cent per cent per cent Father's Occupation Professional 62.9 62.8 62.8 Managerial 42.5 50.2 46.3 White collar 36.5 38.7 37.6 Craftsman/Skilled 26.3 34.6 30.4 Semi-skilled 20.4 21.5 21.0 Unskilled 29.9 29.7 29.8 Overall completion rate 36.3 39.9") 38.0 SES Quartile Highest 56.9 56.3 56.6 Third 27.1 40.7 33.4 Second 27.2 32.3 30.0 Lowest 31.5 32.4 32.0 Overall completion rate 36.3 39.0(a) 38.0 (a) Variations in totals are due to different amounts of missing data for each variable. Source: Australian Council for Educational Research. Australian population, approximate those of the population born in Australia of Australian born parents. Among the population aged 15 years and above in 1981, high proportions of some second generation groups were still at school. There is a clear pattern of these groups maintaining their children at school well beyond the compulsory period. Services for Isolated Children 3.59 For students who do not have reasonable daily access to schools, State Departments of Education provide correspondence lessons. Some other categories of students are also eligible to enrol. In general, schooling is available over the 12 or 13 year range that applies in the State concerned and secondary courses meet public certification requirements. Increasingly, audio and video facilities are available to correspondence students. Some school systems also conduct schools of the air which provide, for primary students, daily radio contact with a teacher and with other students. Participation by Younger Age Groups 3.60 During the past decade there has been expanded provISIOn of pre-school education. An increased proportion of students enrolling in primary schools for the first time has had pre-school experience. In Queensland, for example, the government pre school system now caters for about three-quarters of the appropriate age cohort. 47 SELECTED COMMONWEALTH POLICIES Equalizing Resource Inputs 3.61 The Interim Committee recommended that the Commonwealth make available funds for general recurrent expenditure purposes and that these be differentiated on a needs basis. The immediate objectives were to raise the quantity of resources and to reduce inequalities in their distribution among schools. As shown in Chapter 2, there has been a significant increase in the average level of resources available for recurrent purposes, achieved through increased expenditures by both the Commonwealth and the States. 3.62 The attempt to reduce inequalities in resource inputs has been less successful. Table 3.11 shows that, while the gap between expenditure per student in non-Catholic non-goverrunent schools and government schools had narrowed between 1974 and 1981, the gap between Catholic schools and government schools had widened, even though the States and the Commonwealth had substantially increased their expenditure on non government schools. TABLE 3.11: RECURRENT EXPENDITURE PER STUDENT IN NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS RELATIVE TO RECURRENT EXPENDITURE IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS, 1974, 1977 AND 1981 1974 1977 1981 per cent per cent per cent Primary Catholic 81 72 71 Non-Catholic 118 102 101 Secondary Catholic 75 70 71 Non-Catholic 119 105 93 Source: Commonwealth Schools Commission. 3.63 Over the same period, within the governrnent sector the range between the highest and lowest expenditure per student by individual States increased at the primary level but was reduced slightly at the secondary level. In this connection it should be noted that individual States have increased their expenditures at different rates, and in 1980 the Commonwealth abandoned differential funding of the States for general recurrent grants. 3.64 The Committee was also told that within systems, both government and non government, disparities had lessened. Participation in Decision Making 3.65 A recurring theme in Commonwealth guidelines for the administration of its programs has been the fostering of participation in the making of decisions about program operations by parents, teachers and other community members. In some cases, the 48 Commonwealth has imposed a legislative requirement that committees be established; in others it has used persuasion. In its submission to the Committee, the Australian Council of State School Organizations stated that one of the significant changes in education practice since 1973 was the upsurge in parental participation, which resulted in the growth of understanding about the nature and purposes of participation and its importance in promoting quality schooling. 3.66 In each of the States, at least eight committees, involving upwards of 120 people, are associated with the operation of Commonwealth specific purpose programs for government schools and joint programs for both government and non-government schools. As well, regional and local committees operate for some of these programs. There is a parallel arrangement for specific purpose programs operating in non government schools. The non-government capital grants program is administered by the Schools Commission with the advice of Planning and Finance Committees in each State and Territory. Other Commonwealth Policies 3.67 Since the setting up of the Schools Commission, the Commonwealth has also pursued educational policies through programs directed towards particular groups. The Committee has included its commentary on these programs in Chapters II and 12. SUMMARY 3.68 Major changes in schooling have occurred since the Commonwealth entered directly into the funding of schools. There is no incontrovertible evidence from either government or non-government schools that cognitive outcomes for students are either better or worse than they had been previously. The assessment of cognitive skills that has been undertaken suggests that there has been improvement; on the other hand, anecdotal evidence is to the contrary. In any event the context has been changing so rapidly that comparisons over time are hardly valid. Thus, no resolution of the debate about present as compared with past learning outcomes is possible. What is obvious is that the school system as a whole has been engaged in responding to new needs, including the need for higher levels of attainment by all students. Curriculum adaptation has been a continuous process over the past 15 years or so, as a response to the changing composition of the school population, to demands for coverage of new areas of knowledge and skill and to research evidence about how children learn. In the senior secondary years the range of offerings has been expanded, partly in response to a recognition that an academic orientation is not appropriate for all students electing to complete Year 12. School authorities have been fostering the use of improved student assessment and school evaluation techniques. 3.69 Substantial changes have occurred in educational participation during the period. Despite some falling off in participation by those aged 15 to 19 years in the mid 1970s (principally among males), by 1983 over 90 per cent of 15 and 16 year olds were undertaking full-time study in the school or TAFE sectors or part-time TAFE study. The 49 latest information shows that participation rates for Years 11 and 12 have continued to increase. Gains have also been made by a number of groups whose educational participation has traditionally been low, particularly girls and Aborigines. Provisions for physically and mentally handicapped students have been extended. 3.70 As indicated by changes to school building standards, the spread of library facilities and higher teacher qualifications, the provisions made for schooling are qualitatively better now than at any previous time. 3.71 Evidence of these changes is readily available in the array of factual information provided to the Committee about government school systems. It was presented with less information about the educational objectives, programs and achievements in the non government sector. 3.72 In the last decade schools have faced major pressures Ii'om external factors related to changes in the economy and society and from internal ones arising from changes in participation rates and the mix of students in the upper secondary years. At the same time, the schools have had considerably increased resources. The Committee's impressions are that schools have used these resources to respond to the changes and have produced results superior to those which would otherwise have been the case. Because the effects of educational changes take time to emerge, further improvements may be expected. REFERENCES I. Westinghouse Learning Corporation and Ohio University, The Impact of Head Start Experi- ence on Children's Cognitive and Affective Development, Springfield, Virginia, US Department of Commerce Clearinghouse, 1969. 2. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, Report: Schools in Australia, Australian Government 'Publishing Service, Canberra, May 1973. PH Karmel, Chairman. 3. Committee of Inquiry into Education in South Australia, First Report: Education and Change in South Australia, Adelaide, February 1981. J P Keeves, Chairman. Pages 2.1 to 2.2. 4. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, Report, Perth, Western Australia, March 1984. K E Beazley, Chairman. 5. C T Keily, 'Report on the B.H.P. WhyaUa Steelworks' 1982 Mathematics Apprenticeship Pre-Selection Test"; Included as Attachment C to: Confederation of Australian Industry Industrial Council, Submission to the Quality of Education Review Committee, March 1985. 6. ibid. Page 5. 7. L V Still and J M Jones, "Literacy and Numeracy: The Issues as Perceived by Managers and Their Implications for Personnel Practitioners", Human Resource Management Australia, Vol 21(2), May 1983. Pages 10 to 13. 8. C W Collins, M P Clark, P G Moran and P J Warhurst, Looking Backward, Views of Secondary Schooling Held by Recent School Leavers and those who work with them, research report prepared for the Schools Commission, September 1980. 9. S E King, School Leaver Employment in A Community Context: Expectations of Employers, School Leavers and Young Workers, a report to the Commonwealth Department of Education, March 1983. Vol I. Pages 87 and 92. 50 10. S F Bourke, Assessments of Student Performance in Literacy and Numeracy (mimeographed). Research commissioned by the Quality of Education Review Committee. 11. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, op. cit. Page xiii. 12. Parliamentary Select Committee on Education in Queensland, Final Report, Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1980. Page 10. 13. ibid. Page 10. 14. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Discussion Paper, R C Fordham (Minister of Education), Melbourne, April 1984. J Blackburn, Chairperson. 15. J Ainley, M Batten and H Miller, Patterns of Retention in Australian Government Schools, ACER Research Monograph No. 27, Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1984 (mimeographed). Page 75. 16. Youth Affairs Council of Australia, 'Creating Tomorrow Today': A Youth Policy Report Based on Nationwide Consultation, July 1983. Page 68. 17. ANOP, The New Traditionalism, A Special ANDP Study of Young Australia, July 1984; Research commissioned by the Commonwealth Government through the Department of the Special Minister of State. 18. J Ainley, M Batten and H Miller, op. cit. Pages 90 to 91. 19. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Reasons for Completion or Non-completion of Secondary Education, Australia 1982 (Preliminary), Catalogue No. 4217.0, Canberra, Noon 29 June 1983. 20. Youth Affairs Council of Australia, op. cit. Page 67. 21. Australian Education Council, Comparative Capital Costs of Government and Non- Government Schools in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1978. 22. Australian Education Council, The 1983 Cost Study; The Comparative Capital Costs of Australian Schools, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1983. 23. G W Bassett, Teachers in Australian Schools 1979, The Australian College of Education, Melbourne, 1980. 24. T Williams et. al., School ana-Work in Prospect: 14-Year-Olds in Australia, ACER Research Monograph No. 10, Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1981. Page 91. 25. P Meade, The Educational Experience of Sydney High School Students, Report No.2: Students', Teachers' and Parents' Perceptions of Schooling, Commonwealth Department of Education and Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1981. 26. D Wood and G Hugo, National Institute of Labour Studies, 1981 Census Study, Working Paper No.6: Distribution and Age Structure of the Australian Born with Overseas Born Parents, Population and Research Branch, Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Canberra, 1984. Pages 25 to 27. 51 CHAPTER 4: THE CHANGING CONTEXT 4. I This chapter examines some of the characteristics of the contemporary Australian situation and forecasts for its future. THE ECONOMY 4.2 Perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of contemporary Australia is concern about the current state of its economy and the economic future. After 30 years of economic growth the nation has, in the last decade, experienced sharp economic downturn, slow growth, inflation and high rates of unemployment. In the ten years to June 1984, real gross domestic product grew at only 2.5 per cent per annum, compared with an annual average growth rate of about 5 per cent for the preceding 20 years. The relatively weak growth after 1974 was accompanied by growing unemployment. From August 1974 to August 1984 the labour force grew by 17.9 per cent, employment grew by 1004 per cent and the unemployment rate rose to 8.6 per cent, having reached a peak of lOA per cent in February 1984. Over the decade the average duration of unemployment lengthened from 6.5 weeks to 45.5 weeks. 4.3 With this reversal of trends has come wide recognition that the Australian economy needs to adapt to changes in the economies with which it is closely related. These adaptations depend on the political process which determines the rate at which rhe government of the day is able to adjust patterns of resource allocation by altering existing protective devices. They aiso depend on the capacity of the private sector to develop new products and services and to develop new markets. Neither governments nor the private sector can bring about changes of these kinds without their acceptance by trade unions and without appropriately skilled entrepreneurs, managers and other members of the labour force. The economy is therefore highly people dependent. 404 Reshaping the Australian economy in the face of increasing international competition requires recognition of Australia's position as a small nation on the fringe of Asia and the Pacific and of its small domestic market. Restructuring requires changes in attitudes and the development of skills and ingenuity. The education system will need to enhance the capacity of individuals to bring it about and to maintain and further develop new directions. Moreover, high rates of economic growth are necessary if the resources are to be available to achieve the social objectives of an enriched quality of life and a redistribution of social and economic opportunities to the hitherto disadvantaged. LABOUR MARKET FOR YOUTH 4.5 One effect of persistent recession and high levels of unemployment has been the stimulation of detailed analyses of the behaviour of labour markets. From such studies have come greater understanding of the link between education and the economy and the 52 TABLE 4.1: UNEMPLOYMENT RATES BY AGE, AUGUST 1972 to AUGUST 1984 Difference PERSONS AGED (YEARS) between Teenagers As at August - 15-19 20-24 25 & over & Adult/a} Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent 1972 5.8 3.1 1.3 3.4 1973 4.7 2.3 1.3 3.4 1974 5.8 3.2 1.7 4.1 1975 12.9 5.9 3.0 9.9 1976 14.2 6.4 2.9 11.3 1977 18.0 7.6 3.3 14.7 1978 16.8 9.1 3.9 12.9 1979 17.3 8.2 3.5 13.8 1980 16.6 8.7 3.6 13.0 1981 13.9 8.5 3.7 10.2 1982 16.6 10.2 4.5 12.1 1983 22.6 14.7 7.1 15.5 1984 21.0 12.5 6.0 15.0 (a) Teenagers: aged 15-19 years Adults: aged 25 years and over Source: ABS, The Labour Force, Australia, Cat. No. 6203.0. effects of the behaviour of the economy on various social groups. These studies have also provided a framework in which to examine the likely consequences of industrial restructuring and of the more rapid introduction of new technology. The current and future behaviour of the labour market, especially for young people, has become a major consideration in the specification of the desirable outcomes of education. 4.6 The unemployment rate among 15 to 19 year olds seeking full-time work in August 1984 stood at about 24 per cent, or 10 per cent of the age group. As shown in Table 4.1, the rate varied from 54.3 per cent for 15 year olds to 17.2 per cent for 19 year olds. Only 4.2 per cent of all 15 year olds were seeking full-time work, compared with 10 to 12 per cent of 16 to 19 year olds. 4.7 High levels of unemployment, and youth unemployment in particular, are likely to be characteristic of the medium term future, unless there is significant government intervention in the labour market. Information provided by the Department of Employ ment and Industrial Relations suggests that, without such intervention, sustained economic growth of the order of 4 per cent per annum over a decade or more will be required to reverse the relative deterioration in the labour market situation of young people. 4.8 The persistence of chronic youth unemployment is only partly a product of lower rates of growth. It is primarily the result of gradual but significant changes in the labour market for youth which have been under way for many years. These changes and those that are expected in the immediate future are helping to call into q~estion the adequacy of our education systems and of our present arrangements for the transition from school to employment or further study. 53 TABLE 4.2: CIVILIAN POPULATION AGED IS TO 19 YEARS BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS, SELECTED YEARS AUGUST 1966 TO AUGUST 1984 August 1966 1974 1978 1984 '000 '000 '000 '000 Employed Full-time 615.0 547.7 502.9 418.1 Part-time 36.4 78.1 127.9 166.1 Total 651.4 625.8 630.8 584.3 Unemployed Seeking full-time work (,) 30.6 107.2 129.4 Seeking part-time work (,) 8.2 20.6 25.5 Total 21.7 38.9 127.6 154.9 Labour force 673.1 664.7 758.4 739.2 Not in labour force 365.1 514.2 519.2 542.7 Civilian population 15-19 years I 038.2 1 178.9 I 277.6 I 281.9 Unemployment rate(b) (per cent) 3.2 5.8 16.8 21.0 Participation rate(c) (per cent) 64.8 56.4 59.4 57.7 (a) Not separately recorded. (b) Unemployed as proportion of labour force. (e) Labour force as proportion of civilian population. Source: ABS, The Labour Force, Australia, Cat. No. 6203.0. Participation in the Full-time Labour Market 4.9 Over recent decades there have been considerable changes in patterns of full-time employment among young people aged 15 to 19 years. While the rapid rise in youth unemployment and its continuance at high levels have received considerable attention, underlying changes in the youth labour market have not been as readily recognized. As Table 4.2 shows, full-time employment of 15 to 19 year olds fell absolutely from 615000 in 1966 to 548 000 in 1974 and 418 000 in 1984. Thus by 1984 only 32.6 per cent of the civilian population in the age group was in full-time employment, compared with 46.5 per cent in 1974 and 59.2 per cent in 1966. Meanwhile, there were substantial increases in part-time employment and in unemployment. 4.10 The reasons for these changes lie in the structure of commerce and industry, differential growth rates among industries and changes in youth's share of employment within individual industries and within occupational groups. An analysis of employment patterns among young people undertaken by the Bureau of Labour Market Research (1) shows that, over the decade 1971 to 1981, the principal factor accounting for the deterioration in youth employment was the decline in its share of employment within industries in which it was concentrated. 54 4.11 The industries which have traditionally been major employers of young people are manufacturing, construction and wholesale and retail trade for males and wholesale and retail trade and community services for females; and in these industries youth's share has fallen. In the public sector, the Bureau of Labour Market Research estima.ted that, between 1971 and 1981, there would have been an additional 50 000 jobs for 15 to 19 year olds in 1981 had youth's share of public sector employment remained unchanged. Information provided by the Commonwealth Public Service Board shows that between 1966 and 1983 the number of permanent officers aged less than 21 years in the Australian Public Service fell substantially. Over the same period, the share of new appointments held by people under 21 years declined from 64 per cent to 30 per cent. These changes were attributed to several factors. The reduced growth rate of the Australian Public Service was accompanied by a decline in new recruits as a proportion of the total staff. The elimination of discriminatory employment provisions in 1966 was followed by a significant increase in the adult female share of permanent employment. The removal of upper age limits for new appointments, of some educational barriers within the Service and competition from educationally well qualified adults for base level entry were among other reasons cited. 4.12 In 1981, about 63 per cent of 15 to 19 year old male full-time employees were within the occupational group comprising tradespersons, production process workers and labourers (the 'trades' group). Among females ofthe same ages, about 68 per cent were employed as clerical workers or sales workers. The Bureau of Labour Market Research concluded that the share of employment held by 15 to 19 year old females fell in almost all occupational groups between 1971 and 1981. Males of the same age group did not fare as badly, since their share of employment in the 'trades' group increased over the decade, offsetting to some extent the significant fall in their share of other occupations, especially clerical work. Participation in Part-time Employment 4.13 Part-time employment among 15 to 19 year aids has grown much faster than for other age groups. In August 1984, 13 per cent of the age group held part-time jobs, compared with about 7 per cent ten years earlier. By 1984, part-time jobs represented 28.4 per cent of all employment for 15 to 19 year aids. There has been a marked trend towards the combination of full-time study and part-time work, students using part-time jobs as income supplements and as a source of some economic independence from their families. School students accounted for almost half ofthe 166000 young people aged 15 to 19 years in part-time work in August 1984 and tertiary education students (not including those in apprenticeships or in similar combinations of employment and training) accounted for a further 20 per cent or so. 4.14 Part-time work for young people is heavily concentrated in jobs of low skill content, especially routine sales work, lower level clerical work and labouring. It is typically temporary and short term and, since it is undertaken largely by full-time students, is not an alternative to full-time work for those who choose to leave full-time education. 55 v. TABLE 4.3: EMPLOYMENT RATES BY AGE AND EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, 1981 '" Higher Graduate Bachelor Diploma Certificate Certificate No Age Degree Diploma Degree - Other - Trade Qua/ifi(Oatiofl.',· per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent per cent per ceIt Males 20-24 75.7 930 84·.3 91.0 91.8 91.7 78.9 25-29 88.9 95.7 9::.8 94.6 94.6 93.1 86.2 30-34 94.3 96.4 95.4 96.6 96.1 94.4 89.3 35-39 95.2 97.1 9(,.2 97.1 96.4 94.3 89.7 40-44 96.6 97.6 96.3 96.9 96.0 93.7 88.7 45-49 96.1 96.9 96.0 96.5 94.9 92.2 87.3 50-54 95.6 97.0 9:;.0 94.6 92.8 89.4 84.2 55-59 92.4 90.9 90.8 87.3 84.6 80.8 76.1 60-64 74.4 65.7 6H.3 58.9 56.5 52.3 49.4 Females 20-24 74.2 91.2 80.0 87.9 78.4 73.0 59.1 25-29 76.5 80.7 77.6 71.1 62.3 51.5 45.8 30-34 74.3 71.2 6g.8 63.1 59.5 51.6 45.9 35-39 77.1 76.3 72.9 72.1 66.3 56.1 52.1 40-44 82.5 86.1 78.0 78.5 71.6 61.2 55.0 45-49 83.6 85.1 79.0 78.5 7 !.I 58.1 51.3 50-54 80.7 79.3 74.6 72.4 62.8 47.1 41.5 55-59 72.2 69.8 66.5 59.8 49.1 32.5 28.8 60-64 53.5 43.9 43.6 32.9 28.1 16.5 13.6 Source: ABS, 1981 Census. Unskilled Employment 4.15 As unskilled job seekers, school leavers are relatively disadvantaged. The unemployment rate among those who left school in 1983 or the early part of 1984 was 23.7 per cent in August 1984. As shown in Table 4.3, employment rates are lower in all age groups among those without post-school educational qualifications. For the civilian population as a whole, the average duration of unemployment is longer for those with lower educational attainment. The clear association of early school leaving and the lack of educational qualifications with long periods of unemployment is a cause of major concern, especially in the face of forecasts of continued shrinkage in the number of full time jobs for young people and in the number of unskilled jobs. Future trends 4.16 For the future, the types of employment most likely to grow appear to be those in installation, maintenance and repair, information processing, administration, clerical and other office activities, and personal services, both public and private. They are noteworthy because they are not tied to any particular industry or employer. Neither are they clearly associated with particular formal educational qualifications. At the same time they tend to involve high degrees of client contact and interpersonal skills which are not accommodated by traditional classifications of skilled and unskilled work, and they are not likely to provide many fUll-time job opportunities for teenagers. 4.17 The young are no longer competitive in a changing labour market and those without educational qualifications are the least competitive. It appears likely that while a large unemployment pool remains, the least skilled will face longer and more continuous periods of unemployment as the better qualified and more recent entrants to the labour market replace them in the jobs which are available. While the actual number of unemployed IS year olds is small, it seems probable that additions to their number in successive years will create a cadre of people which has had limited experience of work and for which prospects of work will further diminish with time. Impact of Technological Change 4.18 One of the major factors expected to influence the labour market for youth is the nature and direction of technological change. This has been a significant factor in the decline in the manufacturing sector's share of total employment, which fell from just under 25 per cent in 1971 to just under 18 per cent in 1984. Employment in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting has also shown a long term decline, falling from nearly 8 per cent to 6 per cent over the same period. These trends are shown in Table 4.4. The service industries are expected to continue to expand, particularly those using information technology. It is generally accepted that the nation's ability to concentrate on the markets and services it which it can develop and maintain comparative advantage will require substantial changes in the technological base and the rapid introduction of new technology in the design and production processes. The services sector in particular is increasingly dependent on the new technologies of information processing. 57 TABLE 4.4: EMPLOYED PERSONS BY INDUSTRY, AUGUST 1971 AND 1984 197J(a) 1984 per cent per cent Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 7.5 6.2 Mining 1.6 1.4 Manufacturing 24.7 17.7 Construction 8.5 6.5 Wholesale and retail trade 20.2 19.7 Transport and storage 5.3 5.5 Communication 2.1 2.0 Finance, property and business services 7.2 9.6 Public administration and services 5.7 7.3 Community services 11.2 17.6 Recreation, personal and other services 6.0 6.5 Total 100.0 100.0 (a) Revised Source: ABS, The Labour Force, Australia, Cal. No. 6203.0. 4.19 Few topics arouse such contradictory arguments as the prediction of the employment and social implications of technological change. Some evidence exists that technological change based on micro processors, computer systems and robotics is, on balance, deskilling of certain categories of jobs. The growth of expert systems, for example in medical diagnosis, which require not the intellectual skill of individual doctors. but the computer matching of the patient's symptoms with electronically stored data to generate a diagnosis and treatment, is seen as reducing the skill requirements of individual jobs. In some offices, the introduction of office automation has been found to make jobs more restricted and procedural. One line of argument is therefore that new technology leads to deskilling so that tasks demanded of workers become more routine, standardised, trivial and alienating. 4.20 A contrary view comes from those who maintain that there is nothing inevitable about the decline in skill requirements and that what actually happens depends on decisions taken by managers. They point to cases where the introduction of office automation has produced a higher skill profile and created more autonomous jobs. They forecast growth in jobs associated with the design and use of information technology. The number of such jobs has grown rapidly in recent years, albeit from a small base. It remains arguable, however, whether the growth in demand for people to perform highly skilled jobs of this kind will offset the reduction in skill requirements that information technology permits. For example, as more complex systems are developed, it becomes easier to fragment tasks and to recombine them in jobs with lower skill requirements. There is some suggestion that the development of more sophisticated computerized control systems and management information systems will not only reduce the demand for middle level managers but also reduce the intellectual skill requirements of those positions which remain. The report of the Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs (2), the Kirby Report, noted that the future content of jobs and related human resources requirements would depend heavily on the management objectives and philosophies adopted to cope with technological change. 58 4.21 The debate about deskilling relates to particular jobs. However, improved productivity in certain industries is likely to be accompanied by expansion of employment in others. Thus, the deskilling of particular jobs as a result of technological change does not necessarily imply a decline in the skill requirements of the workforce as a whole, particularly if an increasing proportion of people come to work in the service industries which require skills that may be qualitatively different from those of the past and of a high order. for instance in interpersonal relations and the management of people. 4.22 Forecasting the effects of new technology on the labour market, or on the labour market for youth, 10 or 15 years hence when current school entrants will be most affected, is hazardous. What does seem certain is that technological change will create changes in the traditional boundaries of occupations, in the range of jobs within occupations and the mix of skills required in jobs. If technological change occurs at the expected pace, both those who start school and those who begin their secondary schooling today will be confronted at the end of their schooling by a labour market in which the range of job prospects is different from that which currently exists. 4.23 There is another aspect of technological change, however, which is not always brought into debates about its likely consequences. Although there may be a certain inevitability about the spread of new technology, there must be the prospect of its creative use in ways which do not relegate humans to a subservient status. A more aware and educated society and a greater degree of industrial democracy must be expected to exert some influence on the way technology is applied. Further, any tendency for technological change to be deskilling cannot be an argument for reduced attention to skills development. On the contrary, the response should be to broaden the range of individuals' skills and raise the general skill level to achieve greater creativity and flexibility. In this respect, education systems appear to have a significant role in assisting society to harness the new technical means at its disposal. IMPLICA nONS FOR EDUCA nON 4.24 The changing economic, labour market and technological trends outlined earlier in this chapter have implications for the provision of education and training. The overall deterioration in the labour market, the level of unemploymment particularly amongst young people, the changes in the pattern of employment and the impact of technological change highlight the need for increased and broader education and training at the post secondary level. 4.25 This is confirmed by the view of the OECD Examiners in their draft report on Australia's youth policies. The review team found the education and training arrange- ments in Australia to be premised on the labour force needs of an industrial economy. These needs have been seen as a small minority of professional workers and highly skilled trade workers, and a large majority of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and skilled workers who learn their skills on the job. It saw this premise to be obsolete in a post industrial OECD economy where high technology and the service sector were increasingly important (3). A much greater proportion of young Australians will have to complete full secondary school and receive a broad general education as a foundation on which to build 59 the occupational skills necessary to operate in a labour market in a state of flux and in which the capacity to deal with people will become a growing requirement. 4.26 The Kirby Report (4) likewise recommended that priority be given to the provision of education and training for young people. In this context it expressed a clear preference for broadly based initial post-secondary training, focussed on general, transferable skills. Such an approach would enable people to cope more readily with technological and structural change and would provide a base for long tenn personal development and enhance job mobility and access to further training and credentials. 4.27 Changes to the occupational and industrial mix of employment in Australia, together with the changed nature of skills demanded in employment and the narrowing of boundaries between occupations, mean that further training and increased retraining opportunities for older people will also be necessary. Particularly affected are people who have experienced a narrow or job specific skill training applicable to an employment structure more relevant to that of a decade ago. Although giving priority to programs for young people, the Kirby Report referred to the need to assist the entry and re-entry of adults to education through formal recognition of previous training and experience and the provision of alternative routes, involving modular programs. 4.28 The aging of the population, the shorter working week and the lowering of the compulsory retiring age are contributing to a growing interest in tertiary education. As the population will continue to age, (it is estimated that 11.5 per cent of the population will be aged 65 years or over by 1991 compared with 10 per cent in 1983) this trend is likely to continue. For some people freedom from employment will provide the opportunity for a second chance at formal education. In May 1984, some 6 per cent of the popUlation aged frrorn.. _... ,)"-- tro-- f\d_ . .;----\IP~r<;: \AI!!';;:.. _- --'--'-'··0!'IttpnrlinO" !In-.. prillf'!ltirm!ll------.-.. -... inctitntir'ln_-_._-_.- ... Thio:;:" .. _- .-"._---rpfTpr'to:;: !l- 0------(Jrp.~tpr community acceptance of the importance of recurrent education and training. Adult enrolments in post-secondary education and training courses can be expected to increase markedly in future years. SOCIAL CHANGES AFFECTING SCHOOLS 4.29 Schools must respond to new demands for education, arising from economic and demographic changes, and the changing preferences which are manifested by changes in participation rates. They must also respond to significant social changes, the most important of which are highlighted in the following paragraphs. Impact of Immigration 4.30 According to the 1981 census, some 41 per cent of the population was either born overseas or born in Australia with at least one overseas born parent (second generation Australians). Although English speaking countries have been the principal source of migrants,. approximately 21 per cent of the Australian population is now of non-English speaking background. There has also been a widening of language back grounds among immigrants. In the 1950s and 1960s the main sources of migrants, apart 60 from the United Kingdom, were European countries. Countries in Asia and Oceania (including New Zealand) became an increasing source of migrants during the 1970s and early 1980s. For example, in 1966 persons born in Asia and Oceania represented 4.8 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively of the overseas born population. By 1981 these figures had increased to 12.4 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively. In 1982,54.5 per cent of settlers arrived from Europe compared with 25.4 per cent from Asia and 11.2 per cent from Oceania (5). 4.31 The patterns of immigration have affected the age profiles of settlers from overseas and second generation Australians. The present second generation population is a youthful one with 47 per cent being aged under 20 years compared with 33.7 per cent of the total population. Within this group a large proportion is from non-English back grounds, in particular from countries in Southern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, reflecting the decline in the relative significance of British immigration after the Second World War. In 1981, 35 per cent of the second generation British population was under 20 years, compared with 79 per cent of the Greek population and 81 per cent of the Middle Eastern population. 4.32 Some schools therefore find themselves with significant concentrations of students of non-English speaking background and a range of first languages. Current estimates of the number of students of non-English speaking background in schools are not readily available. The Commonwealth Schools Commission's 1980 survey showed there to be about 576 000 or about 19 per cent of total enrolments (6). The Australian Teachers' Federation, in its 1984 survey of conditions in government schools, reported at least 230 000 government school students from homes in which English is not the main language spoken, that is about 10 per cent of all students in government schools. Changing F amity Structures 4.33 Major changes have occurred in the composItIOn, nature and structure of Australian families over the last 15 years, bringing with them changed expectations of schools. Australians are now delaying marriage and divorcing earlier and more frequently; they are postponing the birth of their first child and are having fewer children. They are also entering increasingly into de facto relationships. The following statistics are illustrative of the changes (7): • divorces trebled between 1971 and 1981, rising from four per 1000 married females to 12 per 1000 married females; • in 1982, 20 per cent of marriages ended in the first five years of marriage compared with 10 per cent in the early 1970s; • in 1982, 53 000 children were involved with divorce proceedings, an increase of more than 100 per cent since 1974; • the number of single parent families with dependent children rose from 3.9 per cent of all families in 1969 to 7.7 per cent in 1982; • the total fertility rate declined from an average of 2.9 children per woman in 1971 to only 1. 9 children in 1980; • in 1982, 168900 couples, or 4.9 per cent of all those classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as married couple families, reported they were living in a de facto relationship; of these 35.8 per cent had dependent children; 61 • in 1982, nearly 12 per cent of married couple families with offspring present were families where one or both partners had had a previous marriage, and in about half of these families, offspring from a previous marriage were present; • by 1983, the number of people receiving supporting parent's benefit had reached 140 000 compared with 63 000 in 1979; and • in 1982 more than half of the female population aged between 15 and 59 years and having dependent children aged between five and 20 years was in the labour force. 4.34 These changes potentially affect schooling in a number of ways. While smaller families may place less strain on the economic distribution of resources within them, they provide less opportunity for children to experience sharing of responsibility for other and younger siblings or learning from and working cooperatively with them. Many children may not have the day to day experience of living with the opposite sex or seeing adult male and female roles. These include only children and those with single parents. Increased participation by women in the labour force has reduced the time available for assisting children with learning in the home and in homework preparation. Schools increasingly are being called upon to provide social support services formerly undertaken by families or communities. Similarly, responsibility for many social problems has shifted from the family to the school with the latter now being expected to handle such problems as drug abuse and sex education. Social Values 4.35 The range of attitudes and values finding expression within society is widening. The emergence of single issue political parties, the growth in religious diversity and the overt recognition of homosexuality provide exampies of increased diversity In VIews, beliefs and acceptable behaviour. There are many more. Their combined effect is to increase the range of attitudes, beliefs and values which children and teachers take with them to school and to widen community expectations of what schooling should do. CHANGES IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 4.36 Just as there are obvious signs of new production techniques, of a changing labour market for young people and of changing training demands, there are strong indications of significant changes in participation in education. Two trends are evident: rising retention in the two senior years of secondary school and rising demand for places in post-school educational institutions. Research on patterns of retention suggests that participation will continue to rise. A 1983 survey of retention in Australian government secondary schools (8) showed that the majority of Year 10 students intended to remain at school beyond the compulsory years, with 47 per cent intending to stay until the end of Year 12. About 70 per cent foresaw some continuing involvement in education after leaving school. 4.37 The Committee has prepared a scenario of enrolments in educational institutions for 1992. The scenario assumes that the Commonwealth Government's policy of raising participation in secondary education is successful over the period 1982 to 1992, increased participation already having been registered in 1983 and 1984. 62 TABLE 4.5: SCHOOL ENROLMENTS, ACTUAL 1982 AND PROJECTED 1983 TO 1992 Primary Secondary Total Years Year Year All 7 to 10 11 12 Years '000 '000 '000 '000 '000 '000 1982 I 849 917 140 90 I 146 2995 1983 I 812 948 146 96 I 190 3002 1984 1767 974 154 103 I 231 2998 1985 I 733 980 166 113 I 259 2992 1986 I 715 971 175 124 1270 2985 1987 I 709 943 189 135 1266 2975 1988 I 718 912 192 148 I 253 2971 1989 I 735 889 190 155 1 233 2968 1990 1 758 872 189 156 1 218 2976 1991 1 785 862 189 158 1209 2994 1992 1 849 858 190 161 1 208 3057 4.38 During the second half of the 1970s, after a long period of rising retention in secondary schools and increasing participation in higher education, retention to the end of secondary school among males declined significantly, as did the participation in higher education of both male and female school leavers. In 1983, the Commonwealth Government committed itself to raising participation in education among the young and the trends of the 1970s started to reverse, making thc year 1982 a suitable base for the Committee's calculations. 4.39 Table 4.5 sets out projections of school enrolments on this basis. Enrolments in primary schools and in secondary schools up to and including Year 9 were derived by applying the 1982 age grade participation rates to the latest population projections for Australia prepared by the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs' (9). For Years 10 to 12, retention rates from Year 7 were assumed to increase steadily over the ten year period as follows: 1982 1992 per cent per cent Year 10 92.9 95 Year 11 57.4 79 Year 12 36.3 65 * The major assumptions used in preparing these projections were: (i) Fertility assumption ~ the total fertility rate is expected to rise to 1962 per thousand females in 1985 before falling to a long tcnn level of 1900. (ii) Mortality assumption - life expectancy at birth at the end of the projection period (2020) is projected to be 73.4 years for male and 82.6 years for females, an improvement of 2.0 years for males and 4.2 years for females over present levels. (iii) Migration assumption - estimated net migration gain for the years 1983-84 to 1986-87 are 49 000, 51 000, 53 000 and 54 000. For the rest of the projection period the average annual net migration gain is assumed to be 70 000. 63 These increases are not unrealistically high: the actual retention rates for 1983 and 1984 were 94.3, 63.6, 40.6 per cent and 93.8, 65.5, 45.0 per cent respectively. 4.40 Over the entire period there are only small movements in total school enrolments. Primary enrolments are projected to decline until 1987. By 1992, the numbers are projected to be the same as in 1982. Total secondary enrolments rise then fall but not by large percentages. However, there is a significant decline in junior secondary enrolments from 1985, offset by substantial relative increases in enrolments in Years II and 12. Enrolments in Year II increase by about 35 per cent in the decade and those in Year 12 by 80 per cent. Actual secondary enrolments in 1984 were already about 25 000 ahead of the trend implied in the above projections. 4.41 Projections for enrolments in higher education follow from those at the school level. Enrolments of students aged 17 to 22 years follow the movements in the numbers of Year 12 students in secondary school, after suitable time lags. The proportion of the additional students in Year 12 (due to increased retention) who proceed to higher education was assumed to be half the 1982 rate of transition from Year 12 to higher education. This assumption is modest, particularly as the rate of transition from school to higher education in the early 1980s was significantly lower than it had been in the early 1970s (see Table 3.7); it implies that about 21 per cent of an age cohort proceeds directly to higher education from school, as against the former peak of 18 per cent in 1974. Enrolments of older persons were projected on the assumption of constant age participation rates. Table 4.6 sets out projections in terms of full-time equivalent students (part-time enrolments count as Olle half). It should be noted that the table takes no account of the current excess demand for places in higher education, estimated by The Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission at approximately 10 000 (10). TABLE 4.6: HIGHER EDUCATION, FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT ENROLMENTS, ACTUAL 1982 AND PROJECTED 1983 TO 1992 Aged Aged 17 to 22 23 & over Total '000 '000 '000 1982 148 114 262 1983 148 117 265 1984 148 119 267 1985 148 121 269 1986 151 123 274 1987 156 124 280 1988 164 125 289 1989 175 126 301 1990 184 127 311 1991 192 128 320 1992 198 129 327 4.42 It is important to emphasize that these figures are not forecasts, but represent a plausible scenario under certain assumptions. The actual outcome will depend on economic trends and the availability of funds. On this basis, enrolments of young people 64 in higher education are projected to increase by about one third. The increase in enrolments of the older students is smaller (13 per cent) - it follows demographic trends. Actual enrolments in 1983 and 1984 were already ahead of the trend, the total figures being 268 000 and 275 000 respectively. Over the period 1982 to 1992 total full-time equivalent enrolments are projected to rise by about 25 per cent. 4.43 For TAFE, full-time and part-time enrolments were projected separately. For 1983 to 1987, the intermediate projections of the TAFE Council of the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission were used, with enrolments in the Australian Capital Territory added (II). From 1987 full-time enrolments were assumed to have trends similar to those for the 17 to 22 year olds in higher education, and part-time enrolments were projected on the basis of constant age participation rates. TAFE enrolments do not include enrolments in adult education (Stream 6). The projections are set out in Table 4.7. TABLE 4.7: TAFE ENROLMENTS, ACTUAL 1982 AND PROJECTED 1983 TO 1992 Full-time Part-time '000 '000 1982 62 668 1983 72 728 1984 81 740 1985 87 753 1986 92 777 1987 98 796 1988 103 816 1989 109 834 1990 115 851 1991 121 863 1992 125 874 4.44 Full-time enrolments are projected to double, and part-time enrolments to increase by 30 per cent. The two columns have not been totalled because of lack of comparability with Tables 4.5 and 4.6, both of which are expressed in terms of full-time students. Actual enrolments for 1983 were 74 000 full time and 720 000 part time. 4.45 Comparison of the projections in Tables 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7 indicates where the pressure of numbers will be. Although there will be significant increases in enrolments in Years 11 and 12 of secondary schools, increases in total school enrolments will not in themselves justify large demands for additional resources in school systems. Within secondary systems there will have to be a shift of resources from junior to senior secondary; and, because senior secondary education has tended to require more resources per student, some additional resources may be required. However, it is in the tertiary sector, and particularly in TAFE, that pressures from strongly rising enrolments may be expected. The enrolment projections set out in Tables 4.5 and 4.6, if realised, will require significant increases in resources in higher education and TAFE over the next decade. 4.46 The Government's policy of raising participation of the young in education and of supporting the development of new training programs is in part a response to declining 65 full-time job opportunities for young people. It is aimed at providing educational and training experiences for young people as preferred alternatives to unemployment. The manner in which the trends set out in Tables 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7 relate to employment opportunities and the new training scheme proposed in the Kirby Report (12) is illustrated in Table 4.8. The Kirby Report envisaged 75 000 one year traineeships for 16 and 17 year aIds. In Table 4.8, the distribution of the 15 to 19 year old population among full-time education, full-time employment and unemployment in 1982 is compared with a possible scenario for 1992 derived from the Committee's educational projections which assume the implementation of the new training scheme and a continuation of the Government's participation policy. TABLE4.8: ACTIVITIES OF PERSONS AGED 15 TO 19 YEARS, ACTUAL 1982 AND PROJECTED 1992 1982 1992 Actual!") Scenario '000 '000 Full-time education 565 755 Full-time employment 390 200 Training - Apprentices 100 100 Kirby trainees 75 Looking for full-time work 105 30 Other (b) 130 130 Total Population 1290 1290 (1\) ASS Cat. No. 6227.0; Department of Employment and Industrial Relations, Apprenticeships SWliSlics 1972-73 to /98/-82. (b) Main components are: persons not in education and not in labour force (50 000); persons not in education but in part-time employment (34000); persons in permanent defence forces and in institutions (28 000). 4.47 In the 1992 scenario the numbers in full-time education are based on the educational projections and allowance is made for 75 000 Kirby trainees, although at a higher age because of increased participation of 16 year aIds in school. The number of apprentices in the traditional trades is assumed to remain unchanged. In the scenario the long term decline in full-time job opportunities for the young is assumed to continue. Full-time employment of 15 to 19 year aIds (including apprentices) declined from 58 per cent of the population in 1966 to 41 per cent in 1976 and 32 per cent in 1984; the 1992 scenario implies a further fall to 23 per cent (including apprentices but excluding Kirby trainees). The combination of increased educational participation and the training scheme brings youth unemployment under control: in the 1992 scenario teenage unemployment as a proportion of the teenage workforce is 10 per cent and of the teenage population is 2 per cent - the latter accords with the levels experienced in the 1960s. 66 REFERENCES l. Bureau of Labour Market Research, Youth Employment Patterns, Research Report No.5, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1985. Page 32. 2. Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs, Report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1985. P Kirby, Chairman. Page 59. 3. OEeD Manpower and Social Affairs Committee, Review of Youth Policies in Australia, November 1984 (mimeographed), Page 24. 4. Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs, op. cit. 5. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Social Indicators, Australia: No.4 1984, Canberra, 1984. Pages IO to 14. 6. Schools Commission, Report/or the Triennium 1982-84, Canberra, March 1981. Pages 148 to 151. 7. Australian Bureau of Statistics, op. cit. 8. J Ainley, M Batten and H Miller, Patterns a/Retention in Australian Government Schools: A Summary Report, Australian Council for Educational Research, 1984. 9. Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Population Forecasts 1982-85, with Projections for Selected Years to 2021, 1982. 10. Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, Report for 1985-87 Triennium, Vol. Part 2, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, April 1984. II. Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, Report for 1985-87 Triennium, Vol. Part 5, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, April 1984. 12. Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs, op. cit. 67 CHAPTER 5: DESIRABLE OUTCOMES 5.1 In commissioning the Quality of Education Review, the Government indicated that it wished: to develop clear, more efficient strategies to direct the increased funds in ways that ensure: • the attainment of a satisfactory standard by the great majority of students at successive stages of a general curriculum, with particular reference to communi- cations. literacy and numeracy; • an improved relationship between secondary education and employment and tertiary education opportunities and requirements; • improvement in these outcomes of education by funding at a level consistent with other priority claims on the Commonwealth, including those of the TAFE and higher education sectors. (I) 5.2 Narrowly interpreted. this may seem to represent an excessively utilitarian view of education. The Committee does not believe that the sole purpose of education is to fashion the young to the needs of the labour market; nor does it believe that this is the Government's intention. Nonetheless, employment. immediately after schooling or after further study, is an expectation for the great majority of people. Furthermore, the ability to gather, interpret, transmit and receive information, using symbols of many kinds, is important not only for employment but over a broad spectrum of human activity. PURPOSES OF SCHOOLING 5.3 Expectations of schooling are many and there is unlikely to be consensus at any but the highest level of generality about the goals, aims or purposes which should be pursued by schools. Statements of goals are plentiful. Most of these layout the general principles that schools are concerned with knowledge and skills (learning) and values and attitudes (personal development); some go as far as specifying desired sets of these. The Commonwealth Schools Commission, for example, in its Commonwealth Standards for Australian Schools described the specific responsibility of schools as being to assist students to acquire some 11 groups of attributes (2). Four years earlier, the Curriculum Development Centre listed, in its Core Curriculum for Australian Schools, ten basic learning tools and resources with which students should be equipped (3). A typical example of a statement of aims was that recommended by the Select Committee on Education in Queensland in 1980: The principal aim of education in Queensland Primary and Secondary Schools is to help and guide children to progress towards the full attainment of their potentialities as individuals and as adult members of our society. In particular, it is the duty and responsibility of our teachers and educational administrators - 68 (i) to help children develop lively, enquiring minds, gIVIng them the ability to question and to argue rationally, and to apply themselves to tasks; (ii) to help children to the maximum development of their physical qualities, giving them an understanding of the means of achieving and the benefits of physical fitness, health and hygiene; (iii) to help children to use language effectively and imaginatively in reading, writing and speaking; (iv) to provide a basis of mathematical, scientific and technical knowledge, enabling boys and girls to learn the essential skills needed in a fast-changing world of work; (v) to instil respectfor moral values, for other people andfor oneself, and tolerance of other races, religions, and ways of life; (vi) to help' children understand how our country is governed and to instil an awareness of the social, civic and political responsibilities and rights of adult citizenship; (vii) to teach children about human achievement and aspirations, and in particular to make them aware of the traditions and culture of Queensland and ofAustralia and of the heritage of our past; (viii) to help children understand the world in which we live, and the interdependence of nations; (ix) to help children to appreciate how the nation earns and maintains its standard of living and properly to esteem the essential role of agriculture, industry and commerce in this process; (x) to encourage andfoster the development of the children whose social, physical or environmental disadvantages cripple their capacity to learn, if necessary by making additional resources available to them; (xi) to help children develop an understanding of and sensitivity to the arts, and to become aware of the value of the arts in their own lives and in the lives of others. (4) 504 Few would disagree with such a statement. However, difficulties begin to appear in defining objectives against which outcomes can be measured. There are no ready agreements on the content of the curriculum, the manner in which schools should go about their tasks and the ways in which their success should be measured. Further, statements of goals tend to be all inclusive, with little sense of priority or differentiation among items in terms of the relative weight which should be attached to them at the different levels of schooling or as end products of the schooling process. Realistically, schools cannot be expected to pursue successfully a broad range of sometimes internally inconsistent .. objectives. Neither can they be expected to achieve satisfactorily an increasing range of objectives nor to encompass a steadily expanding curriculum. 5.5 Apart from resource limits, there are both human and physical limits to the amount of time the students themselves are able to devote to schooling and to learning processes. Even increases in the lengths of the school day and year and the average duration of schooling may not provide sufficient student time to permit schools to cover the extensive range of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which are from time to time 69 proposed as school responsibilities. When these limits are coupled with those of resource availability and human frailty, schools and school authorities must of necessity select the objectives they pursue and the vigour with which they pursue them. COMPETENCE 5.6 The Committee has approached the definition of desirable outcomes through the concept of competence, that is, the ability to use knowledge and skills effectively to achieve a purpose. This allows the emphasis to be placed on the results of learning, which should be purposeful and have demonstrable effects. It encourages a practical examination of desirable outcomes because it can be used to concentrate attention both on the purposes to be achieved and on the necessary knowledge and the abilities required to apply that knowledge. In the Committee's view, the five general competences set out in the section below are desirable learning outcomes for all students. 5.7 The setting down of competences provides a way of stating objectives to be pursued by schools and standards against which knowledge and skill acquisition can be judged. For instance, one test of whether communication skills are being developed is to ask whether, as a result of their school studies, students are able to convey information and to answer questions about it with ease and fluency. This is a key competence, involving knowledge of what is being described and communications skills. It might be expected of all students at all levels of schooling. What will change over a student's time at school are the range of content which can be described, the breaulh vf iauguage useu and the depths of insights perceived. General Competences 5.8 Acquiring Information The acquisition of information is an essential part of daily living. Information is acquired in many ways: directly from other people or from print and non-print materials and increasingly through electronic media. The skills are those of reading, listening, recording and analysing. 5.9 To extract meaning from information, individuals need to be able to identify the main ideas that are being presented, to paraphrase them as a way of clarifying them and to record them for future use. They need a facility with words, including the ability to use contextual clues, dictionaries, glossaries and other reference material to give meaning to unfamiliar words. They should be able to use source materials effectively, taking advantage of tables of contents, indexes and bibliographies in the case of books. They should also be able to recognize the various purposes of writers and speakers, to sort out opinion from fact and to ensure that they do not allow their own personal opinions or assumptions to prevent them from comprehending information being presented. 5. IO These skills, and others like them, are not the preserve of any particular subject discipline; their acquisition should be possible through many different subject areas, both academic and practical. Nor is the need for these skills confined to a particular group of students. They are required at higher levels for successful study at universities and 70 colleges of advanced education, but they are equally necessary for functioning in employment and in society generally, 5.11 Conveying Information The demonstration of 'competence in conveying infonmation, orally or in writing, also involves the use of a range of skills and knowledge. Conveying infonmation requires the ability to conceive and develop ideas about a subject, to organize information in ways that it will be easily understood and to ask and answer questions concisely and coherently. To interact effectively with listeners and readers, individuals should also be able to exchange ideas and engage in critical debate with others. They need to be able to follow widely held convelltions about sentence structure and punctuation and to vary their writing and speaking styles for different purposes and different audiences. 5.12 The above does not encompass all the skills and knowledge involved in conveying infonnation nor the differing degrees of complexity in expressing ideas and giving shades of meaning. Neither is it a prescription for the teaching of English. During their studies, all students should acquire skills like these and use them in their daily lives. They should be able to select the most appropriate skills for the particular purpose at hand. The outcome that is required from schooling is that students are able to convey information to other people and to answer questions about it with ease and fluency. 5.13 Applying Logical Processes All students need to be able to reason effectively, using a range of analytical skills. These include defining tenns, identifying assumptions, framing relevant questions, recognising ambiguities and using logical processes. The ability to arrange thoughts in a careful and orderly way is a necessary step in extracting meaning from daily experience, and in choosing ways of responding to it. 5.14 Number systems and mathematical concepts are essential elements in reasoning processes. Students should be able to perform tasks which involve computation and measurement and to forecast the results with a reasonable degree of accuracy. The emphasis should be on the development by students of the ability to use mathematical knowledge and skills in practical situations rather than on the acquisition of mathematical knowledge for its own sake. 5.15 Practical Tasks Individuals should to be able to plan, and then execute, practical tasks by marshalling ideas, materials and tools. In doing so, they will usually need to acquire infonnation and often to use mathematical reasoning. In addition, competence here requires the ability to analyse problems, work independently, monitor one's own performance, and exercise judgment about whether the final result is adequate. It is developed through the actual perfonnance of practical tasks. The current debate about the relevance of what is taught in schools may have more to do with the ways in which learning is expected to take place and the ways in which the results of learning are assessed than with the subject matter itself. Schools may be undervaluing this type of competence. 5.16 Group Tasks Few endeavours are divorced from contact with other members of a group. Students should be able to interact effectively with other people to achieve chosen or directed purposes. Collaboration with others is often the only way of achieving a particular purpose. Competence may involve showing tact, sensitivity, tolerance, strength of purpose and a sense of time. These require knowledge of people and how they interact 71 and the acceptance of both superior and subordinate roles. The school environment provides many opportunities for group tasks beyond the classroom: participation in sporting teams, hobby clubs, drama and music societies and bushwalking are examples. OTHER OUTCOMES 5.17 The five general competences are required by all individuals, but their development, however important, is not the sole task of schools. Schools have other obligations, because additional competences are needed by individuals as they undertake their various roles as members of society. These roles can be broadly categorised as: • the work place role, requiring entry to the economic system, either as an employee or in a self employed capacity, and effective performance in that system; • the ongoing education role, requiring the continued acquisition of knowledge and skills either formally or informally; • the community role, requiring participation in the cultural life of the community, the exercise of rights as a citizen, the discharge of obligations and the use of interpersonal skills to meet the needs of other members of society; and • the personal role, requiring the development and maintenance of personal physical and mental health, the use of interpersonal skills in the maintenance of family relationships, and the satisfying use of leisure time. Work Place Role 5.18 In spite of current employment difficulties, it remains a reasonable expectation that young people will at some time enter the production process either as an employee or in a self employed capacity. Those who become employees, that is the vast majority, will be required to demonstrate the ability to achieve purposes which are set by others. To do so, they will apply skills which they have acquired through education and training, and experience in other employment. What these skills are is not always clear because patterns of production are subject to change over the lifetime of each student. Nevertheless, the trends evident in the labour market, the forecast developments in the Australian economy and other evidence about present difficulties in the transition from education to employment provide pointers to the special requirements for competence in the work force. 5.19 One set of skills required in this role is that which involves selecting behaviour which is appropriate in the work place. When and how to accept authority, how to comply with directions and how to learn what is expected in different situations tend to be learned by experience and demonstrated in every day life. There is no formal test for them. Work experience programs and increasing employment of secondary students as part-time workers (see paragraphs 4.13 and 4.14) offer the prospect of spreading understanding of labour market expectations among young people well before they seek to become full time members of it. 72 5.20 Vocational Skills The perfonnance of work requires vocational skills and knowledge. The concept of vocational education serves, in many ways, to cloud the issue of desirable outcomes from schooling because it is subject to a wide range of interpretations. Traditionally, vocational education has referred to the acquisition of skills associated with specific occupations, especially the Ongoing Education Role 5.26 For most students schooling will be only one stage in their formal education: under present conditions some 71 per cent of an age cohort enrol in the higher education or technical and further education sectors before they turn 40 years of age (7). The continuity of the learning process is an attribute of human life. Schools have a duty to enhance the process by extending the base on which further learning occurs and by helping students develop ways of learning. For many, ongoing education will mean enrolment in a course at a tertiary institution; for others it will mean informal learning, sometimes self directed and sometimes supervised. For some, entry to tertiary education will occur soon after leaving school; for others it will be postponed until much later in life. All will need to have developed the techniques of learning. 5.27 Higher education studies require, at a high level, the application of written and oral communication skills, logical thought processes, numeracy skills and skills in 74 approaching and undertaking work tasks. A capacity for monitoring one's own perform ance and working with limited supervision are as important here as they are in employment. Increasingly, higber education studies also require the use of non-print learning materials, for example, computerised data bases. The penetration of higher education by information technology can be expected to place increasing pressure on schools to develop their students' skills in the retrieval and manipulation of information that is stored electronically. 5.28 For higher education, students also require an extensive knowledge base. In some disciplines, certain knowledge is assumed and students are expected to have acquired it during their secondary schooling. This applies in particular to mathematics, some languages and some areas of science. If higher education institutions cannot assume that this knowledge has been acquired, it may be necessary for them to establish preliminary, or foundation, years. Any such action would raise questions about the proper responsibilities of, and effective use of resources by, the higher education institutions themselves. For some courses there are prescribed pre-requisites. Use of pre-requisites sets more stringent conditions for entry than does the assumption of knowledge; again, such usage occurs largely in mathematics and the language and science disciplines. 5.29 In all but Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, there are final year external examinations through which student achievement is measured in at least a selection of subjects. These subjects are typically those which are considered for admission to higher education. They tend to have a relatively tight specification of course content, as do subjects recognised in Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory for entry to higher education. For schools not to provide these subjects, or to have them taught in ways which do not allow the acquisition of the knowledge base on which higher education draws, is to deny students the opportunity of direct progression from school to higher education. To concentrate on these subjects and to have them taught in ways which stress the acquisition of knowledge and the higher order analytical skills is to serve particularly the interests of those students preparing for direct entry to higher education, that is less than half of the Year 12 enrolment, or on current patterns, about 15 to 20 per cent of the age cohort. Nevertheless, the reality is that schools must meet the needs of these students. This issue is explored further in Chapter 7. 5.30 In the past, the primary emphasis in post-compulsory technical education was on manual skills and on the ability to read, to write and to calculate using basic arithmetic operations. With changes in industrial production processes, hand skills continue to be replaced by machine operations. The essence of technical occupations has become that of using information gathered from a technical manual or a computer screen to direct the work of machines. This may involve the recognition of the need for a particular mathematical formula and its application. Within technical education there is some shift towards the conceptual and design stages of production and their human interface, with stress on: • creativity and problem solving; • application, as well as acquisition of knowledge; • capability, cooperation, flexibility; • skills for life, work and leisure; • appropriate use of materials; • communication; 75 • design and realisation; and • posing new solutions. (8) To the extent that schooling is a preparation for study in the technical and further education sector as a prelude to, or in parallel with, full-time employment, it should provide students with skills and techniques which take account of these emphases. 5.31 Much ongoing learning will take place beyond the formal degree, diploma or certificate courses of tertiary education. It will take the form of recurrent education, mainly through informal courses. This is well established in Australia and its expansion is likely to accelerate. Schools must now recognise that the great majority of students will undertake periods of study at various times throughout their lives. Community Role S.32 As members of a community, individuals contribute to its cultural and social as well as its economic development. Students need not only skills and knowledge which will encourage them to make their part in cultural and social life an active one but also to appreciate the qualities which make for a rich culture. 5.33 Schools also play an important part in the socialisation of students. Essentially, students should understand the major beliefs and presumptions which make society operable; political democracy, the rule of law, respect for individual rights and opposition to discrimination on the basis of race, gender or belief are some of these common presumptions. 5.34 Fundamental to a democratic society is effective participation by its members in the major pOlitical processes. This depends on an understanding of contemporary political institutions, their origins and the basic ideologies and value positions represented by major political parties. The development of this understanding requires knowledge of the nation's history, of the cultural diversity which has developed within it, of common value systems and of contemporary social issues. It also depends on the capacity to make reasoned choices, depending in turn on the ability to analyse arguments and counter arguments. 5.35 Education which touches on contemporary values and beliefs has always been a difficult area for schools. The distinction between indoctrination and legitimate study is difficult. Probably for this reason, schools tended in the past to deal with contentious issues from a distant position, either in time or space. The political systems of other countries or the political system in the nineteenth century offered a certain safety. The proclivity of some members of the community to voice concern at any inclusion by schools of contentious topics is a deterrent to the consideration in the classroom of the ideologies of contemporary political movements. Yet a democratic society demands these understandings of its members. 5.36 Pressure on schools to add new subjects or areas of learning is persistent and cannot be met in all cases. However, the claim of political studies must be considered. With many young people born overseas or of overseas born parents, it is difficult to assume that political knowledge germane to Australia is transmitted in the family situation as readily as it could be in a closed, homogeneous society. It is also difficult to assume that young people will acquire knowledge and understanding of political processes from 76 their environment outside the school before they become eligible to vote at 18 years of age. 5.37 To develop the capacity to make reasoned judgments in this field, students should be able to separate fact from opinion, one of the important aspects of competence in acquiring information. They should also recognise that public media presentations of political matter assume basic knowledge among their audiences, as do political patties. There is some evidence to suggest deficiencies in this knowledge base. For example, a recent survey of young people (9) found that there is little awareness among them of how government affects their lives and that the Commonwealth Government, at least, is remote to them. Further, young people showed little desire to exert more influence or to be more involved in government. 5.38 This lack of awareness and lack of interest are not conducive to the maintenance of an effective democracy. They support a case for the inclusion of Australian political studies within the school curriculum, as a distinct subject or as important themes within traditional subject disciplines. Students should be made aware of the institutional framework within which individuals with particular political beliefs operate, and should be encouraged to analyse issues and to recognise partial truths, misrepresentations and illogical statements. 5.39 Community membership also calls for participation in group activities of various kinds and at various levels. Local community organisations, major interest groups, sporting clubs, artistic groups, work place associations and political parties represent but a few of the associations most students will join during their lifetimes. Some will exercise leadership roles; others will be satisfied with participation as members. All, however, will be required to display inter-personal skills. Personal Role 5 AD Concomitant with their roles as members of the work force, ongoing learners and effective community members, individuals should be able to lead satisfying personal lives. To a large extent the ability to do so may depend on satisfactory performance in these other roles. However, most people need other forms of stimulation and expression to gain self confidence and self esteem. These are important for the maintenance of personal physical and mental health, the formation and maintenance of family relationships and the use of leisure time. 5 Al The task of the school is therefore a complex one. It involves selecting activities which will assist the students to enhance their capacity to lead satisfying lives and, at the same time, ensuring that what it offers contributes to their general competences and their special needs. Many of the suggestions for new inclusions within the school curriculum represent areas of knowledge and experience which could contribute to the personal role, but there is little agreement about curriculum content. 5.42 Within the creative and expressive arts, consensus appears to have emerged that schools should offer opportunities for students to learn to play music at an appropriate age, and participate in a limited range of arts or crafts. In the physical domain, there is increasing emphasis on physical fitness but there are unresolved debates about the place of competitive .sport, about team sports as opposed to individual sports and about the 77 development of general motor skills as opposed to that of skills specific to particular sports. Health education, sex education and personal development courses are appearing more widely, in response to a perception that many families do not cope well with these subjects in the face of the exposure of young people to social pressure for ,sexual experiment and the use of drugs. IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION 5.43 The Committee was specifically invited to report on: means of improving awareness of the importance of the educational process in an increasingly competitive, including internationally competitive, environment. (10) 5.44 Rising participation in schools, a resurgence in the demand for higher education on the part of young people and accelerating growth in technical and further education suggest that some of the apparent disaffection with education which was evident in the late 1970s is being replaced by renewed interest, as individuals recognise the importance of education for themselves and their children. 5.45 Improvements in the level of education, associated with better management and greater efforts in research and development, can be expected to assist in increasing Australia's competitiveness in international markets. While education can improve the range of entrepreneurial, managerial and labour force skills to be brought to bear on Australian industry and commerce, raising general educational attainment will not in itself increase employment opportunities. This requires the generation of new mdustnes, the opening of new markets and the expansion of those which exist at present. Thus the connection between education and economic growth is indirect. 5.46 The school system alone cannot raise awareness of the national importance of education. The wider community must make a similar commitment. Clearly, some sections of the community do not value the attempts schools and school systems are making to provide adequate education for the young. It is regrettable, fqr example, to note the adversarial stance adopted by some labour market interests (including public sector authorities) when discussing schooling; or to observe the media presentations about schooling which search for negative aspects and frequently misrepresent the work of schools. Yet schools, school systems and teachers themselves may be indirectly contributing to the devaluing of education. Industrial relations within the school sector are characterized by confrontation. Schools in general are not particularly open about their objectives or their achievements, nor are they altogether willing to subject themselves to objective evaluation and assessment. Many of the major school interests with whom the Committee consulted did not readily identify the achievements of schools over the last decade nor indicate sources of easily accessible infonnation; some adopted a defensive stand; and others sought additional resources as the principal means of improvement. 5.47 The Committee believes that its priorities for improving the outcomes of education generally will lead towards a growing awareness of the importance of education. It believes that schools and school systems should provide more information about their achievements and should open themselves to the evaluation of them. The 78 . Committee also favours the adoption by governments of positive attitudes about the importance of education and schools and about the community's responsibility to assist schools in tackling complex and daunting tasks. REFERENCES 1. Quality of Education Review Committee Tcnns of Reference, published in: Department of Education and Youth Affairs, Commonwealth Schools Commission Guidelines 1985-88, Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Senator the Hon. Susan Ryan, Canberra, August 1984. Page 8. 2. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Commonwealth Standards for Australian Schools, Canberra, April 1984. Pages 32 to 33. 3. Curriculum Development Centre, Core Curriculum/or Australian Schools: What It Is and Why It is Needed, Canberra, June 1980. Page 11. 4. Parliamentary Select Committee on Education in Queensland, Second Interim Report: The Aims of Our Schools and The Future of Social Education, Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1979. Pages 1 to 2. See also: Parliamentary Select Committee on Education in Queensland, Final [ 79 CHAPTER 6: CURRICULUM 6.1 In Chapter 5 the Committee set out what it sees to be desirable outcomes of schooling. It expressed them as competences which it believes all students need to develop. This chapter indicates some of the implications for the school curriculum of these desirable outcomes. DEFINING THE CURRICULUM Responsibility for Decisions 6.2 Since the provision of education is constitutionally a State responsibility, the formal responsibility for defining the scope and content of the curriculum rests ultimately with the States. Objectives espoused by the Commonwealth Government can be articulated but any concerted action to give them expression in the curriculum will require collaboration between Commonwealth and State agencies. 6.3 For secondary education, boards or similar authorities supervise the curriculum offered in all schools. These authorities or related agencies also award the certificates of student achievement with which access to employment and further education is sought. For primary education there is less fcrmal contrel. No!:!.-go'.'e!!!!!!.ent sc:hools typic::.lly are strongly influenced by the curriculum decisions made for government primary schools. Clearly national objectives can best be pursued through collaboration between govern ment agencies such as the Commonwealth's Curriculum Development Centre, State and Territory Education Departments and the syllabus committees of the State and Territory secondary education authorities. As well, contributions can be made by nationally organized professional groups. The Academy of Science, for example, recently sponsored a national project to develop a new chemistry course for Years II and 12. 6.4 The potential avenues for collaboration have become more complex in recent years bec.ause within the State and Territory education systems there has been a developing pattern of devolution to schools of increased responsibility for curriculum decisions. This is in part a recognition of increases in the level of education of teachers and in part an expression of the view that increased diversity among schools allows them better to accommodate the backgrounds and interests of their students. On the other hand, not all teachers have the capacity or the desire to assume responsibility for such detailed curriculum development and there is some evidence of a reversal of the trend towards school based curriculum development. 6.5 Tensions have been created by these attempts to achieve more diversity among schools. Some parents fear that their children will be disadvantaged by divergences from standard curriculum provisions and that, in deciding what is appropriate for the students of a particular school, teachers may provide offerings which limit their students' subsequent options. This concern is evident in public expressions of parental dissatisfaction with the decision in a few Victorian secondary schools to cease offering the Year 12 courses 80 generally necessary for university admission. Another concern is that curriculum diversity may make student mobility from system to system, and even from school to school within a system, generally more difficult. Scope of the Curriculum 6,6 As noted in paragraph 3.24, there is continuing pressure for the addition of new material to the curriculum. Few of the potential additions are trivial but rarely are there corresponding suggestions of things which might be dropped. Driver education, political education, aspects of health education are just a few examples of claims for new or expanded space in the school curriculum. 6.7 At the same time, there are competing suggestions for a narrowing rather than a broadening of the curriculum. These reflect a desire to ensure that more is achieved on a limited set of fronts, particularly in the development of students' basic skills. For some critics of contemporary schools this appears to mean little more than the achievement of correct spelling and accurate arithmetic. The more general argument is that, without a positive narrowing of the focus of the curriculum, schools will attempt so much that they will be unable to do any of it well; in addition, students who can achieve high standards by specialising in certain subjects will be enabled to do so. 6.8 One way to focus the curriculum on the essential purposes of schooling is to define a core of studies for all students and to add to it various options from which students may choose. It is difficult to define what will be selected for the core. The Curriculum Development Centre's 1980 discussion paper identified the essential core in very broad terms (I). It actually consigned little to the optional category in an effort to prevent too restrictive a core being defined as the primary focus for schools, and perhaps to avoid altogether the problem of setting out a precise definition. 6.9 There are risks that the explicit specification of a core of mandatory studies will be counterproductive. By definition, a core contains only what is to be common for all students. However, there should be clear and strong expectations that students will develop their own capacities in more or less unique ways beyond the levels achieved through any core curriculum. The most serious risk in the specification of a core is that any studies which are not explicitly located within it will be seen to be non-essential. 6. IO In Western Australia, the Dettman Report (2) led to a major refonn of lower secondary education in 1970, replacing a system of streams (academic, commercial, industrial and home economics) with a pattern of core and optional studies. All students in Years 8 to IO studied a core of English, mathematics, science and social studies for six periods a week each and all studied health and physical education. Courses in each of the four core areas were offered at different levels and students were assigned to levels on the basis of their performances. For a further ten periods a week students chose among various options which included other languages, industrial arts, commercial studies, home economics, computer studies and so on. Courses in these optional areas were offered without differentiation of level of study. 6.11 The Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia (3) abandoned the Dettman system of core and options, on the grounds that it preserved a significant place in students' study for too narrow a set of concerns, that these concerns were 81 themselves too narrowly academic, and that subjects in the optional category had been downgraded. The Committee emphasised the importance of literacy and numeracy skills but did not limit the core of compulsory study to the development of these skills. It recommended that the 'core' be expanded to a seven-component structure with students being obliged to choose courses from each area. The designated components were language and communication, social studies, mathematics, science and technology, physical and health education, vocational and personal awareness, and practical and creative arts. The minimum number of course units to be taken from each area was to be prescribed but not specific courses within each area. 6.12 The terms of reference for the current Committee emphasize a concern about improving standards attained in communication, literacy and numeracy. In Chapter 5, the Committee indicated in general terms the educational outcomes which it believes to be desirable. These included five general competences requiring a range of communications and reasoning skills and personal and social skills. As well, students need to develop other competences which underlie effective participation in adult society. These require skills in applying knowledge, particularly in work settings, and the capacity to acquire new skills. The Committee sees expression being given to the pursuit of these outcomes in a rich curriculum of core and optional studies. 6. 13 The Committee does not seek to prescribe the details of the curriculum or, in any more precise way than is implied by Chapter 5, to declared what might be contained in a core of mandatory studies in the years of compulsory schooling. It is, however, of the view that some structure must be imposed on the choices which students exercise. It believes that the curriculum should not be reduced to a smorgasbord from which students choose with more or iess abandon. 6.14 In the upper secondary school freedom of choice should be greater than in the compulsory years. Many students are likely to seek relevance to subsequent employment in the subjects they choose. Nevertheless, the Committee believes that the subjects offered for their choice ought not to be too specifically vocational. The vagaries of the employment market will be likely to render particular training irrelevant even in the short term. With the recently proposed implementation of the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs (4), it is increasingly likely that almost all students will proceed to some form of further education or training, either in conjunction with their work or as a further fUll-time preparation for it. Primary and secondary education must prepare students for further education in both the short and long term. 6.15 By emphasizing that the school curriculum should not be narrowly vocational, the Committee is not declaring, or implying, that it ought not to emphasize practical skills or applied studies. In fact, the Committee has given considerable emphasis in Chapter 5 to the need for students to learn to apply their knowledge and skills in dealing with practical problems. This can strengthen their understanding and it can also provide motivation, particularly to those students less attracted by purely theoretical studies. 82 DEFINING COMMONWEALTH CONCERNS 6.16 In its tenns of reference, the Committee was asked to provide specific advice on: for primary schools, the priority of attaining higher basic skill standards for the generality of students; and for secondary schools, the need to ensure that strongly rising participation in Years 11 and 12 is associated with the attainment of appropriate standards relevant to subsequent employment opportunities and improved preparation for tertiary education. (5) Increased participation in the senior years and increased attainment among those who stay on at school are closely connected with early school experience. Raising general competences and improving those needed for effective performance in the work place and further education depends on there being a solid foundation on which to build. The laying of this foundation may be regarded broadly as a task of primary schooling. Primary and Secondary Schooling 6.17 The boundary between stages of schooling can be quite arbitrary and there is no single best division of responsibility. Nevertheless, given the importance of the general competences both as an end of schooling and as means of furthering knowledge and skill, it is essential that their development begin early in students' lives and that they are sustained and enhanced through later stages. The Committee regards primary schooling, and particularly junior primary schooling, as very important in the achievement of desirable outcomes from schooling. A failure to master literacy and numeracy skills at an early age is likely to produce subsequent poor school performance (6). Thus, primary schools should place greater emphasis on ensuring that none of their students progresses to the next phase of learning without having acquired adequate learning skills, a point taken up again in Chapter 9. This implies early identification of groups of children who are likely to experience difficulty, early recognition of children who are experiencing difficulty and the provision of assistance for them before patterns of failure become entrenched. Students must be assisted to develop the five general competences, and the skills which underlie them, from the earliest possible age. Their progress should be monitored, exceptional skills nurtured and weaknesses overcome. Since students spend the first seven years of their school experience in primary schools, these must bear the main responsibility. 6.18 The Committee's view is, therefore, that the Commonwealth should give high priority to primary education if it wishes to improve students' subsequent transition from school to employment or to higher education and other forms of education and training. In taking this view the Committee recognizes that better performance by primary schools, particularly junior primary schools, in developing students' competence will not alleviate the difficulties that present generations of secondary students are experiencing but it will have long term and permanent consequences. 6.19 The effectiveness of such a policy will depend in part on the capacity of secondary schools to sustain and further develop the levels of competence students have attained during their primary years. Accordingly, some attention will need to be given to 83 encouraging change in the approach of secondary schools. As well, they should offer remedial programs since there are, and will continue to be, secondary students who require additional assistance if they are to be encouraged to stay at school and to move on to post-secondary education. Developing General Competences 6.20 The development of high levels of attainment in acquIrIng and conveying information, in applying logical processes and in performing practical tasks as individuals and as members of groups depends on careful definition of curriculum objectives. The public debate often yields little more than 'better spelling' and 'better arithmetic'. The acquisition of the literacy and numeracy skills which underpin those competences is more complex than that. 6.21 Acquiring and conveying information require skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. According to the situation and the task, acts of communication vary in complexity. To extend each child's repertoire, teachers present progressively more demanding challenges to learners. The achievement of competence in any particular task depends on students having the opportunity to: • observe other people performing the task well; • interact with others in order to practise the task; • receive advice about the effectiveness of their performance and the task; • ask for advice or further demonstration; and • proceed, through progressive modification, to an effective level of proficiency. 6.22 The Committee lays no claim to specific expertise in curriculum design. It does find persuasive, however, statements that the requisite skills are best acquired in the process of attempting whole, purposeful tasks rather than through instruction and drill unconnected with purposes. It is also of the view that all teachers, irrespective of the level at which they are teaching or the content of their courses, have a responsibility to attend to the development of these competences and that curriculum design must proceed accordIngly. 6.23 The curriculum implications of seeking competence in applying logical processes are complex, especially as some of the knowledge and skills involved are drawn directly from mathematics. The use of number systems and mathematical concepts in reasoning processes requires more than the acquisition of some basic number skills. A common view is that mathematics learning is strictly sequential, with acquisition of basic skills a prerequisite for the mastery of all subsequent content. The curriculum which develops usually prescribes the teaching of computational procedures before real problems requiring the application of numerical skills and concepts are dealt with. This separates the acquisition of skills and concepts from the context in which they are likely to be useful. The consequence of this sequencing of mathematics studies is that, for students having difficulty, it prescribes more intensive and extensive practice of the computations themselves, without ever setting them in the context of practical problems. 6.24 There is no universal agreement about the mathematical knowledge and skills that should be required of the average student. In part, this is because there is little agreement about the mathematical needs of daily life, of employment and of tertiary 84 education. The Committee of Inquiry into the Teaching of Mathematics in England and Wales (Cockcroft Committee) (7) was distinctive in that it expended considerable effort on finding at least a partial solution to this question. It found that the mathematical content required by the bulk of the population at home or at work was small and, as a result of its investigations, it laid stress on practical applications, on reading, writing and talking about mathematics, on using a variety of methods of calculation and on familiarity with orders of magnitude and with relative sizes of the various units of measurement. 6.25 The Committee believes that the Commonwealth should expand its engagement in collaborative efforts to improve the curriculum through which the general competences are acquired. The current Early Literacy Inservice Course and the Mathematics Teaching in the Curriculum Project being sponsored by the Curriculum Development Centre appear to be moves in this direction. Technological Change 6.26 The structural changes in the labour market, discussed in Chapter 4, mean that different skills will be required in the work place. For schools, the question is what general skiIIs are required to make students best able to grasp the post-school education and training opportunities which will be available. One view is that the Commonwealth should give further attention to science and technology education, given the increasing role of technology in society. 6.27 In 1984, the Commonwealth introduced a three year Computers in Education Program, under which nearly $7 million is available in 1985. Funds may be used for professional development, curriculum development, software and courseware, hardware, support services and evaluation. They thus supplement expenditure by government and non-government school authorities. 6.28 In announcing details of the Program, the Minister for Education stressed that the aim was to develop a high standard of technological awareness and skiII among all students and that the Program was to be a broad educational one, rather than an exercise in hardware provision (8). 6.29 Concern with the impact of recent technological change and schooling has four aspects, and the Committee believes that education authorities should give attention to each of them. The first relates to the need for students to acquire skills in operating computers. All students will need to feel easy in using the new techniques of information technology, just as they should feel easy in writing and using print materials. However, all will not require sophisticated skiIls as the equipment becomes more user friendly. 6.30 Secondly, there are the possibilities of employing the new technology in the teaching process itself. For some purposes, computers show promise as teaching aids, for example, for teaching writing to children with learning difficulties (8). Such develop ments are slow, and it would be unwise to build expectations on computer technology as a route to greatly enhanced productivity in education. 6.31 The third aspect of technological change and schooling relates to the desirability of imparting to students an understanding of the role of technological change in social and economic development both from an historical perspective as well as in terms of likely 85 future trends. Such a study might well be undertaken as a component of the study of work referred to in paragraph 5.25. 6.32 Finally, if Australia is seriously to exploit technological developments, some people will need to develop high levels of expertise. To create the circumstances for them to continue to post-school studies through which their expertise can be developed, secondary education must offer an education in mathematics and science on which they can build. It is inefficient and unwise to delay substantial study of mathematics and science until higher education. Selective bridging courses may be necessary in higher education institutions for students who make a later decision to pursue advanced study in science and technology, but in general the foundation should be available in schools. Curriculum jor Girls 6.33 As well as expressing its interest in primary and secondary education generally, the Government has asked for advice on: the need to encourage a greater proportion of girls to pursue subjects leading towards better employment prospects or greater opportunitiesjor tertiary education. (10) 6.34 The Committee expects that efforts to improve the outcomes for individuals will be directed to all students - boys and girls. For girls this implies that additional effort and different approaches will be required. The Committee recognizes that girls who are members of a disadvantaged group may suffer double disadvantage, due both to their gender and that applying to the group as a whole. For example, girls of non-English speaking background or who live in geographically isolated areas are likeiy to experience greater disadvantage than boys who are members of the same group. The needs of special groups are discussed in Chapter 11. 6.35 As shown in Chapter 3, there have been substantial improvements in girls' participation in schooling and in the proportions of women enrolled in higher education. Yet there remains significant under-representation 9f girls in some school subjects and of women in many occupations. As the Office of the Status of Women pointed out in its submission, two thirds of female employees are concentrated in only three major occupational groups. The importance of education in redressing imbalances in the labour market is indicated in Table 4.3 which shows that it is the better educated females who are most likely to be employed. 6.36 A recent study for the Commonwealth Schools Commission (11) was critical of the efforts being made by schools and school systems to provide better opportunities for girls and to widen their access to employment and further education. It highlighted the continued absence of.women in leadership positions within schools and school systems, the limitations imposed on girls by the nature of the curriculum in many schools and the tendency of teaching practices to favour males. In its submission the Office of the Status of Women drew attention to significant research findings showing that: • less teacher time, space and equipment are allocated to girls than boys (12); • creativity and inquiry are encouraged less in girls (13); • girls participate less in mathematics, sciences and technical subjects and under- achieve in these subjects when they are taken at the senior secondary level (14); 8'5 • girls leave school with less confidence and self esteem than boys and often experience a marked reduction in self esteem during secondary education (15); and • there has been relatively little change in secondary students' patterns of subject choice (16). 6.37 A study of participation rates in subjects in government secondary schools in Western Australia in 1979 (17) confirmed the extent to which these generalizations held there within the last decade. On average, each school offered four Year 10 subjects taken exclusively by girls and six exclusively by boys. Overall, French, artlcraft, home economics and secretarial subjects were the domain of girls; manual arts, technological and scientific options were the domain of boys. The same study compared male and female representation among candidates sitting for Year 12 examinations in major subjects over the period 1972 to 1980. For Western Australia as a whole, including students from the government and non-government schools, the proportion of female candidates rose by more than 10 per cent in only four subjects - French, Indonesian, Italian and personal typewriting. Over the period, technical drawing, higher mathematics, physics, chemistry and economics remained essentially male preserves. Home economics, biology, French, German, English literature and history were subjects for females. 6.38 Similar marked gender differences in subject choice at Years 11 and 12 in Victoria were reported by the Blackburn Committee (18) for more recent years. It noted that in 1984, more males than females took two or more subjects in Year 11 in the mathematics and science areas and more females took two or more subjects in the English, humanities and commercial areas. At Year 12, specialisation in mathematics and science subjects was largely a male preserve while girls predominated among those taking two subjects in English and the humanities (19). 6.39 Nevertheless, there are signs of improvement in girls' participation in mathe matics and science. Statistics on the South Australian matriculation examination candida- ture, for example, show pronounced increases in the proportions of female candidates in mathematics, physics and chemistry, with females making up about a third of the candidature in 1982, compared with about a quarter in 1975 (20). 6.40 Since mathematics, physics and chemistry are fields in which the scientific and tec.hnical faculties in higher education institutions either assume previous knowledge or set pre-requisites, increased participation by girls in these subject areas in upper secondary education should give them access to these faculties and should go some way to widening girls' career choices. It should also enhance prospects for more girls to enter 'non- traditional areas of study in the technical and further education sector. However, reducing inequalities between males and females requires more than achieving greater participation in these subject areas. Broadening girls' educational and occupational choices requires changes in parental attitudes, community and media influences and discriminatory practices inside and outside the labour market. Schools alone cannot produce the kinds of changes that are required. They can, however, concentrate on eliminating sexist practices and selecting content across the curriculum which does not disadvantage girls. Bringing about changes in these areas will require the continuation of the efforts being made by some school systems and the commitment of other schools and school systems to the same goal. It will also require changes in the approach and attitudes of some teachers, an issue taken up again in Chapter 10. 87 6.41 The Committee believes that the effects of the necessary changes in teaching practice and in curriculum content will be most readily reflected in changes in the patterns of subject choice in secondary school. including patterns of participation in technical, mathematics and science subjects. The desirable outcome is approximately equal representation of the sexes in the major subjects offered in schools. The Commonwealth is able to playa direct part in this, through its support of the Curriculum Development Centre within the Schools Commission and through other work in the area of non-sexist education. It may also set conditions on its grants which reflect its concerns about the educational outcomes for girls, a practice it has recently adopted. The States Grants (Schools Assistance) Act 1984 provided that the benefits of Commonwealth funding in co-educational schools are, as far as practicable, to be equally available to male and female students. In its submission, the Office of the Status of Women argued for closer prescription by the Commonwealth, involving monitoring patterns of subject choice and student achievement. In Chapter 13 the Committee sets out its recommendations on Commonwealth strategies for the area. REFERENCES I. Curriculum Development Centre, Core Curriculum/or Australian Schools: What It Is and Why It Is Needed, Canberra, June 1980. 2. Committee on Secondary Education, Report, Education Department of Western Australia, Perth, February 1969. H W Dettman, Chairman. 3. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, Report, Perth, Western Australia, March i 984. K E Bt:aL:lt:y, Chuirmufl. 4. Committee of Inquiry into Labour market Programs, Report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1985. P Kirby, Chairman. 5. Quality of Education Review Committee Terms of Reference, published in: Department of Education and Youth Affairs, Commonwealth Schools Commission Guidelines 1985-88, Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Senator the Hon. Susan Ryan, Canberra, August,1984. Page 8. 6. T Williams et. aI., School and Work in Prospect: 14-Year-Olds in Australia, ACER Research Monograph No. 10, Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1981. Page 100. 7. Committee of Inquiry Into the Teaching of Mathematics in Schools, Report: Mathematics Counts, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, January 1982. W H Cockcroft, Chairman. 8. Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, News Release: Computer Education Program, 19 February 1984; published in: Commonwealth Schools Commission, Teaching, Learning and Computers: 1984 In/ormation Kit, Canberra, May 1984. Page 95. 9. M Lally, Computer Assisted Instruction/or the Development 0/ Basic Skills with Intellectually Handicapped School Children, Australian National University, Research School of Physical Sciences, Canberra, 1981. Report to the Education Research and Development Committee for the year 198011981. 10. Quality of Education Review Committee Terms of Reference, op. cit. 11. Commonwealth Schools Commission Working Party on the Education of Girls, Report, Girls and Tomorrow: The Challenge for Schools, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, April 1984. 88 12. T Evans, 'Creativity, Sex-role Socialisation and Pupil-teacher Interactions in Early Schooling; Sociological Review, Vol. 27, No. I, 1979. M Stanworth, Gender and Schooling: A Study of Sexual Divisions in the Classroom, Women's Research and Resources Centre, London, 1981. D Spender, Invisible Women: The Schooling Scandal, Writers and Readers, London, 1982. J Foster and P Waugh, 'Education and the "Down-Girl" Principle', Refractory Girl, May 1980. 13. T Evans, op. cit. L Parker, Access to the Physical Sciences; A Sociology of Knowledge Perspective. Depart ment of Education, University of Western Australia 1981. R Hacker and R Rogers, 'An Analysis of Preferred Classroom Activities in Primary and Secondary School Science Lessons', Filter, Vol. 54, 1982. 14. G Leder, 'Attitudes to the Teaching of Mathematics', Research in Mathematics Education in Australia, Vol. I, 1979. G Leder, 'Bright girls, Mathematics and Fear of Success', Education Studies in Mathematics, Vol. II, 1980. G Leder, 'Learned Helplessness in the Classroom?', Research in Mathematics Education in Australia, MERGA 1982. J Moss, 'Sex Differences in Achievement in Mathematics at Year 12 in Australian Schools. A changing picture; Research in Mathematics Education in Australia, ACER 1982. J Offer, Male/Female Achievement Certificate Awards for Each of the Four Core Subjects from 1972-1981, Discussion Paper, Board of Secondary Education, Perth, Western Australia. 1982. J Fitzpatrick, S Brown, 'Sex-Based Enrolment Patterns in Secondary School Subjects', Curriculum Perspectives, Vol. 3 No.2, October 1983. 15. M P Dynan, Do Schools Care, Co-operative Research Series No.6, Education Department of Western Australia, Perth, 1980. S Taylor, Secondary School Organisation and Aspects of Sex-role Socialisation, Unpublished PhD thesis, James Cook University of North Queensland, 1981. S Taylor, 'Schooling and Social Reproduction', Australian Journal of Education, 1982. 16. J Fitzpatrick and S Brown, op. cit. 17. S Brown and J Fitzpatrick, Girls, boys and subject choice, Discussion Paper No. II, Research Branch, Education Department of Western Australia, Perth, 1981. 18. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Report, Melbourne (forthcoming). J Blackburn, Chairperson. 19. ibid. 20. Material provided to the Quality of Education Review Committee by the South Australian Department of Education. 89 CHAPTER 7: CREDENTIALLING 7.1 Schools provide not only instruction for students, but also make judgments of the students' responses to that instruction in tenns of 'their academic performance, their willingness to learn, their cooperativeness and so on. Records of such judgments, by individual teachers or schools or by educational authorities, serve as credentials with which students seek access to further education or employment. 7.2 At the point of transition from secondary to tertiary education there have long been tensions. Some teachers in tertiary institutions claim that students entering from secondary education are not adequately prepared and that the certificates of their educational achievements do not provide a sufficient guarantee of quality. Teachers in secondary schools, on the other hand, claim that the academic requirements of higher education and in particular the requirements of the credential used to select students, exert an unreasonable influence on the secondary school curriculum. As participation rates in upper secondary education have grown much faster in recent years than those in higher education, the problems have worsened. A smaller proportion of students who remain to the final years of secondary education proceeds to higher education (see Table 3.7), yet the pressures for success are such that the great majority of all students in those years enrols in subjects which are clearly designed to prepare students for higher education. 7.3 There are also tensions between secondary schools and employers over the nature and use of the credentials with which students leave schools and seek employment. Se('ondary !ea('hers (,0!!!plai!1 rhflt emp!oyer.<;: too oftp,n llse information designed as a hasis for selection of students for higher education, thus reinforcing the status of that information while ignoring other potentially more useful material. Employers, on the other hand, are inclined to respond that the other forms of information are more difficult to understand and much more difficult to use in making comparisons among applicants. 7.4 The nature of the credentials issued is in need of review to ensure that students obtain adequate and useful statements of their achievements in school. The Curriculum Development Centre has sponsored such a review which will be published shortly to stimulate public discussion (I). In this chapter the Committee reviews the current situation and considers various options for changing it in the light of the need to improve the relationship between secondary education and further education and employment. CURRENT METHODS OF CREDENTIALLING Reports to Parents 7.5 Although schools' reports to parents are not public documents they provide the only regular record of students' progress through primary and secondary education. Parents' interpretations of the reports have traditionally been guided by the use of a form of reporting which indicates how their child's performance compares with those of others in the class or school. This type of reporting is said to be norm referenced because it 90 indicates a student's standing with respect to some norm or average. Comparisons can be made within a group taught by a single teacher or within larger groups. Common tests may be used to compare all students in a school taking the same subject. External examinations take the full group of students sitting the examination as the comparison group and allow comparisons across schools. 7.6 Nonn referenced assessment has been criticised for concentrating on differences among students in their achievements without consideration of the actual levels of those achievements. Students classified in the bottom or, at best, below average group may be judged to be performing poorly no matter how good their actual performance in relation to their potential. Those ranked at the top may be judged to be performing well no matter how poor their actual performance is. Many teachers use norm referenced marking techniques to stimulate and improve students' work but these techniques are most likely to be effective for the top performers. For others, such comparative assessment can create failure where perhaps it need not exist. 7.7 An alternative to comparing students' perfonnances competitively with one another is to compare them with defined criteria for performance. The assessments can then be said to be criterion referenced. The quality of such measures of achievement depends heavily on the appropriateness of the criteria themselves. In some cases, the criteria involve almost perfect mastery of what is learned - as is demanded, for example, in a driving licence test. The choice of critcrion levels against which to judge students' perfonnances must take some account of what students are able typically to achieve in order to set reasonable expectations. Thus, even when the judgments of achievement are criterion referenced, the choice of criteria is at least, in part, nonn referenced. 7.8 Whichever style of assessment is used, the reports to parents provide some grounds for judging how their children are progressing. Whether the reports actually become a credential with which a student's progress is controlled is a further point. If grade-promotion is not automatic, then the report can provide the measure in tenns of which a decision is made regarding the student's promotion to the next grade. The Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia recommended that grade promotion not be automatic and that criterion referenced measures of performance be used to determine a student's placement (2). This Committee also supported grade promotion related to performance (see paragraphs 9.4 to 9.7). Public Certification 7.9 Various forms of public certification of educational achievement have been developed under the authority of agencies external to the schools to mark key points of transition from education to employment or from one level of education to the next. Certificates once marked the end of primary education but they were abandoned when the period of compulsory schooling was extended to the secondary level. At the secondary level the Year 10 certificate has been the qualification most widely used as the one marking the stage at which the majority of students made the transition from school to work. In Victoria and South Australia, the provision of a Leaving Certificate at Year 11 encouraged deferment of this transition for one year and produced higher retention rates in Year 11 than those obtaining in other States. In all systems, the Year 12 certificate has been a prized credential for the minority who persisted to achieve it and the access to more selective employment or higher education which it allowed. 91 7. 10 As enrolments in Years II and 12 have grown and as fewer full time jobs have been available to Year 10 leavers, the Year 10 certificates have declined in value. If 12 years of schooling were to become virtually universal, the Year 12 certificates would become the key certificates of educational achievement for all students, while perhaps continuing as the qualifications with which a proportion seeks access to higher education. Various attempts have been made to cope with these two purposes which Year 12 certificates increasingly must serve. 7. II The most common approach has been to try to separate functions by maintaining a restricted set of subjects and a 'matriculation' certificate for the students expecting to seek admission to higher education and developing new subjects for the other students. In Victoria, results in the traditional subjects (Group I) and the new subjects (Group 2) are distinguished on the Higher School Certificate. In Western Australia, only results in the Tertiary Admissions Examination subjects have been reported on the student's tertiary admission statement, while these results (in a different form), together with results in any general subjects taken, are reported on the student's Certificate of Secondary Education. In South Australia, separate certificates have also been used for the Public Examinations Board subjects with which higher education admission is obtained and the new Secondary School Certificate subjects. Students receive one or other or both, depending on their choices of subjects. 7. 12 Another approach has been to use different documentation for the different purposes rather than for the different categories of subjects. In Queensland, the Senior Certificate provides the record of achievement; and a separate statement, based on differently collected information about student achievement, advises details of eligibility for admission to higher education. A similar approach is used in the Australian Capital Territory, although the Secondary College Record providing the record of achievement and the Supplementary Information for Tertiary Entrance are distinct sections of the same certificate. 7.13 The development of the various Year 12 certificates can obscure the fact that considerable numbers of young people obtain post-compuls0fY education and access to higher education through avenues other than upper secondary school. Many are in full time or part-time technical or vocational training through which they obtain an employment credential which may enhance their prospects for subsequent access to higher education as a mature age student. In Victorian T AFE colleges there is also a Tertiary Orientation Program operating as an explicit alternative to upper secondary education in preparing students for higher education. In fact, students in this program are treated less favourably than Higher School Certificate students for university admissions, but nevertheless, it stands as a discrete option for students and offers a distinct certificate. A Single Secondary Certificate 7.14 The post-compulsory education system operates, in effect, as a set of discrete streams and has the tendency to produce alternatives to the main certificate for the various streams. This diversification may be useful in providing courses more appropriate to many students than the traditional upper secondary ones, but there are problems in allowing the educational system to develop a set of mutually exclusive streams. One is that studies in the most sought after stream tend to be seen as more important than those in other streams, 92 with consequences for student attitudes and also the level of resources provided for the various streams. A second problem is that areas of knowledge may become fragmented, in particular separating what is seen as 'academic' from what is seen as 'applied' or 'practical'. A third problem is that streams impose early choices on students, probably from Year 10, and can limit subsequent opportunities to change. Fourthly, the production of alternatives to the main certificate creates confusion for those outside the education system who seek to use them, for example, in the initial selection for possible employment. 7.15 A single certificate at Year 12, able to accommodate the diversity of studies offered and the diversity of purposes to which the final year certificate is now applied, could be a significant way of alleviating these problems. There may be a diminishing need for such a certificate to accommodate the early years of technical and further education because increasingly students will complete 12 years of primary and secondary education before entering technical and further education. As full secondary participation becomes a reality and most students complete Year 12, the demand for a meaningful certificate for employment purposes will rise. Where TAFE institutions build up a general educational offering at Years 11 and 12 level as a direct alternative to the general education offered in secondary schools, the case for accommodating such an offering within a single certificate is much stronger. SELECTION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION Categorization of Subjects 7.16 Reference has been made in Chapter 3 to the development of new subjects, not specifically preparatory for higher education, in an effort to cater for the broadening student group in upper secondary education. Enrolments in these subjects have remained small in virtually all systems, so they have failed in their purpose of broadening the curriculum. Their failure to attract students is more a reflection on the structure within which they are presented than a consequence of any inherent weakness in them. Some schools simply do not offer mallY of the new subjects and so restrict their students' choices (3). Even where a wide range of subjects of both types is available, students may choose exclusively among those which count for admission to higher education simply to keep open the option of admission. Students with no intention of exercising that option may also make the same choice in the belief that potential employers will rate those subjects highly because of their endorsement by universities. 7.17 There have been several responses to the failure of these new subjects to attract students. One has been to seek the transfer of some of the new subjects to the category which may count for admission to higher education. If such subjects are altered significantly to tailor them to their new category's purpose they can become of less value to the students who might best be served by them. A second response has been to argue for the removal of any distinction among subjects and to allow all of them to count for admission to higher education. A third response has been to encourage higher education institutions to consider performance in some subjects from the new grouP. without formally changing the categorization of the subjects. In Tasmania, students may count 93 two non-approved Level III subjects or two Level II subjects, together with their four approved Level III subjects, for university entrance. In South Australia the colleges, and in Victoria the colleges and some universities, are willing to consider performances in some subjects which are not in the traditional 'category. A fourth response, being implemented in Western Australia, is to base admissions to higher education on as little as half of a student's Year 12 study while still requiring satisfactory performance in the other half. The number of subjects in the category which may count for higher education admission has been reduced to encourage all students to consider seriously subjects in both sets. Farms of Assessment 7. 18 All systems include a component of school assessment in the final results recorded on students' certificates. Except for subjects explicitly designated as school subjects, some attempt is made to ensure comparability of assessm'ents across schools. These attempts range from visits to schools by moderators who scrutinise students' work and teachers' assessments, through meetings of teachers at which assessment standards are compared, to the use of external assessments against which the school assessments are first scaled before the two are combined. 7. 19 As a general rule, external assessments are used for subjects which may count directly for admission to higher education while the other forms of moderation are used for the newer subjects. The external measures are subject examinations on the content of syllabuses, except in Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, where the Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test is used as a measure of general academic ability. In Victoria and South Australia, curr~nt discussion papefs canvass th~ possibility of abandoning or reducing the use of external examinations in favour of the other forms of moderation of school assessments (4). When Queensland abolished external examinations in 1970, there was considerable overtesting of students as teachers sought sufficient infonnation to protect themselves against challenge and there was significant inflation of grades awarded as teachers sought to enhance their students' prospects of a place in higher education. Queensland persisted with the use of these moderated school assessments for reporting subject results on the Senior Certificate but, for determining admission to higher education, replaced them with assessments scaled against the Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test. Selection Criterion 7.20 The criterion for the selection of school leavers to enter higher education, derived from the various measures of their achievements in a range of subjects, is typically a single index. The usual index is an aggregate of assessments in the separate subjects and it allows a rank-ordering of all school Ieaver applicants and an automated selection rule that involves simply working down the order until a quota is filled. 7.21 In the calculation of aggregates there are difficulties which have generated calls for the abandonment of aggregation. Chief among these is the use of scaled subject results in the aggregates. Abandonment of scaling by secondary education authorities would simply divert the problem, not avoid it, if the higher education institutions were themselves to do the scaling and aggregating. If no scaling at all were undertaken, the 94 higher education institutions may try to avoid aggregating elements which are not comparable by restricting eligible subjects to a small group of relatively similar ones. These institutions would then be exercising increased control over upper secondary students' subject enrolments through the establishment of a restrictive set of pre requisites. In addition, in the absence of scaling but the presence of aggregation, student subject choices may alter to take account of the strength of the competition for marks. 7.22 There is also another serious risk with the use of any single index such as an aggregate, the risk that it will be invested with far more status than its level of validity and reliability justify. Other users of the certificate, such as employers, may also use the admissions aggregate and ignore the information available in the full set of subject results. The ready availability of an index can demean other forms of assessment and certification of achievement in secondary education. 7.23 Despite the heavy dependence on an aggregate for selection of school leavers, many students are now selected by other means. In 1983, 6200 new university undergraduates, or 15 per cent of the total number of commencing students, were admitted without a Year 12 credential. Also, alternative Year 12 certificates are being used increasingly. Considerations of Equity 7.24 As enrolments in upper secondary education grow and the demand for places in higher education increases, the equity with which those places are allocated becomes increasingly important. With syllabus based external examinations there is the risk that students from different schools will be unequally prepared. In one study students from government schools were shown to achieve as well at the University of Melbourne as did students from non-government schools with higher aggregate scores on the Higher School Certificate (5). Although they were apparently equally well prepared for higher education, those from non-government schools were apparently better prepared for the Higher School Certificate examinations. 7.25 In the scaling of results to take account of differences in the quality of candidates in different subjects, sub-groups of students can be inequitably treated by the method of adjustment. The most notable cases are in those language subjects in which the majority of students has native fluency where their results are scaled to the level of their performances on an aptitude measure or in their other subjects, performances which are likely to be inhibited by their lack of fluency in English. 7.26 Abandonment of syllabus-based examinations may remove the inequitable effects of variations in schools from the variations in students' performances but may introduce other sources of inequity. General ability measures, for example, may be independent of the syllabuses and even relatively insensitive to schooling but may be sensitive to differences in home background and thus to socio-economic status. 7.27 There is no ready solution to the problems for the upper secondary school of the requirements of the transition from secondary to tertiary education. Each solution currently being proposed has its own risks. That is no reason to maintain the status quo but it is reason to consider carefully the full implications of any new policy proposals and to monitor the effects of any changes which are made. 95 HIGHER EDUCATION ADMISSION PROCEDURES Creating a Preparatory Group in Secondary Education 7.28 The general approach to upper secondary education in Australia has been to stream students into courses of study which satisfy the admission requirements for higher education and into other courses which do not. This is an attempt to restrict the impact of the admission requirements to those students who choose to enrol in courses designed to prepare them for higher study. The major weakness of this approach is that most students will not opt for streams which exclude the subsequent possibility of higher education even though those streams might be appropriate for them. Enrolments in those streams then often become non-viable. Where the streaming does effectively create distinct groups of students, it is likely to operate strongly in favour of the socially advantaged since they are the ones most likely to have clear and early aspirations for higher education and the ones most likely to be granted by their schools the opportunities to enter the restricted stream. Equitable participation in higher education is more likely if precise decisions about how to prepare for entry can be delayed. 7.29 A more flexible approach than general streaming would be for the higher education institutions to set limited but specific prerequisites through which they define the assumed knowledge on which particular courses build. If bridging courses were available for students without the prerequisite knowledge, those who satisfied the general admission requirements but who did not have a particular prerequisite would not be arbitrarily excluded. Basing Admission on Part of a Student's Performance 7.30 The most general way to reduce the impact of the admission requirements for higher education is to do so for all students, not just for those willing to opt for a stream which renders the requirements irrelevant. There are essentially two ways in which this can be done. One is to remove all categorIzation among subjects and to consider performances in whichever subjects a student studies. The other is to maintain categoriz- ation of subjects, allowing only one category of subjects to count in admission decisions. but to oblige students to take only some of their subjects from this category. Each of these approaches has the potential to broaden the range of subjects available to students who wish to keep open the option of higher study. 7.31 The first approach is being canvassed in current discussion papers in Victoria and South Australia (6). The second is being implemented in Western Australia: students will still study six subjects in Year 12 but will be able to gain' admission to higher education with as few as three of their six subjects being from the set which may count for that purpose. Broadening the Base of Secondary Assessments 7.32 Where assessment at the end of secondary schooling involves external examinations. the effects on students' study can be restrictive. Teachers tend to emphasise those aspects of the course which can be assessed by an external examination and to ignore aspects which cannot. Adding a component of school assessment will broaden the 96 range of assessments but not necessarily reduce the preoccupation with the external examination. Removing external examinations of the syllabus content may effectively remove direct external control over the school's teaching in a particular subject but may not remove all restrictions. The Queensland and Australian Capital Territory practice of scaling school assessments against performances on a scholastic aptitude measure introduces the restriction, not of an external assessment of what the students have learned at school, but of an external assessment of capacities which may be somewhat unaffected by schooling or may have a socio-economic bias in any event. 7.33 Removing all external testing, of syllabus based performance or of general aptitude, could bring more flexibility to the schools. Some general restrictions on teaching and within school assessment could be retained through specifications in syllabuses, and comparability of assessments across schools could be sought through moderation by consultation among teachers. Where the enrolments are relatively small, there probably would be the greatest chance of providing the teachers with sufficient opportunity for effective consultation and of winning public confidence equivalent to that in external examinations. Using Sub-quotas 7.34 A different approach to the reduction of the constraints upon the upper secondary school would be to use performance assessments as only part of the requirements for admission to higher education. They could, for example, be coupled with a sub-quota system to establish a rank ordering of candidates for admission within the sub-quotas. The sub-quotas could be established on any criteria, other than assessed performance in secondary education, which are judged to be relevant to higher education enrolment policies. Sub-quotas could be based on gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, region of residence or any other characteristic which could identify groupings believed to be inappropriately or unequally represented in higher education. 7.35 An alternative would be to establish an overall ranking of all students as at present on the basis of the performance assessments but, within bands of scores of say ten points, to treat the performances as effectively equal and to give priority to members of under-represented categories. This could be justified on the grounds that the errors of measurement involved in an admissions aggregate are such that distinctions among students within the band cannot validly be made on the aggregate itself. Category membership would then be a supplementary index with which to discriminate among them. Using rankings within sub-quotas would be to apply a rigid quota system. Using quotas within bands on a performance based ranking would be to adopt a target rather than a fixed quota. Delaying the Competition for Restricted Places 7.36 Perhaps the most dramatic way of reducing the pressure of the selection process on the secondary school would be to transfer the pressure of the most competitive selections to the higher education institutions themselves. It is the intense competition for entry scores sufficiently high to gain admission to very selective faculties like medicine which provide the most powerful distortion of the upper secondary curriculum. Selection into such programs could be based on the students' performances in a general but relevant 97 first year, for example in biological sciences, for those seeking entry to medicine, veterinary studies or health sciences. 7.37 Implementation of the proposal would necessitate dealing with applicants who had completed first year in a range of different institutions. Some comparability of assessments across institutions of higher education would have to b~ achieved for the selection to be equitable. A further difficulty is that recent curriculum reforms have tended to bring more specialist professional study into the first year of degrees making common first years across professions difficult to attain. Such a change would also increase costs and the funds required are difficult to justify in current circumstances. Using General Ability Measures 7.38 Another way to reduce the constraints of higher education admissions require ments upon school curricula and assessments would be for the institutions of higher education to use measures of student capacity which are not directly dependent upon secondary school instruction. Admission could be based on some general assessment of scholastic aptitude or some relatively general tests of performance in specific subject areas. The United States College Entrance Examination Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test and its subject specific tests provide examples of these two approaches. The University of Melbourne appears to be moving in this direction. 7.39 Such tests were developed in Australia in the 1960s in the Tertiary Education Entrance Project to supplement external examinations because of concern about high failure rates in higher education among students selected on the basis of external eX3.minatiens alene. Research en the .A.ustraEan tests has established that, whilE:- take·n alone, they do not correlate with performance in higher education as well as do Year 12 external examinations, school assessments of performance rescaled against the tests do (7). DEVELOPING A MORE WIDELY USEFUL CREDENTIAL 7.40 The preoccupation in upper secondary school with preparation for higher education is evident in the low status attaching to any other purpose served by those final years of secondary education and in the lack of serious concern for users of the certificates other than the institutions of higher education. The other users, predominantly employers selecting among job applicants, are themselves partly to blame because they too readily adopt the criteria of the institutions of higher education as the basis for their own choices. 7.41 One of the serious consequences for students is that there is no indicator of success in secondary education other than to gain admission to some higher education program. With quotas operating on most courses in higher education, this is a fairly arbitrary indicator. Even 'matriculation' in the days when there were few courses with quotas was still relatively arbitrary. 7.42 What could be valuable would be. a definition of a set of requirements for secondary school graduation so that students who satisfy the requirements could receive a 98 credential which deems them to have earned this status. Two recent inquiries in Western Australia proposed the introduction of the concept of secondary school graduation. This has now been adopted in that State for students commencing Year II in 1985 (8). The precise requirements for graduation may be varied by the new Secondary Education Authority, a body on which the tertiary education sector will be represented but not dominant, but the requirements initially involve both the achievement of a satisfactory standard of literacy and the achievement of passing level performance in at least 10 of 12 year-long units taken in Years 11 and 12. Graduation, defined with these minimum requirements, will not be sufficient for admission to higber education but it will be necessary. The important point is that the secondary education sector will playa key role in defining the requirements for graduation. 7.43 The Committee wishes to encourage the current reviews of certification being undertaken by the various system authorities and the discussions being sponsored by the Curriculum Development Centre of the Schools Commission. It sees the development of a single broad certificate of secondary education within each State and Territory as a mechanism that will operate more efficiently and more fairly in school leavers' transition to further education or employment. The Committee also urges serious consideration by education authorities and employer groups of the development of criteria for the award of secondary school graduation. A graduation certificate has the potential of gaining employer support and of reducing the misuse of those parts of the current secondary school certificates which are intended as credentials for admission to higher education. Finally, the Committee believes that institutions of higher education should continue to develop admission policies which take into account more factors than the simple aggregate score at the completion of secondary school. REFERENCES I. B McGaw and W Hannan, Certification in Upper Secondary Education, Curriculum Develop- ment Centre, Canberra, December 1984. 2. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, Report, Perth, Western Australia, March 1984. K E Beazley, Chairman. 3. Victorian Institute of Secondary Education, Senior Studies Options: Reality or Myth, Working Paper No.1, Transition Policy Unit, VISEC, Melbourne, 1984. 4. Victorian Institute of Secondary Education, Towards a Revised Policy on Curriculum and Assessment in the Victorian Year 12 HSC Program: A Paper for Discussion, VISEC, Melbourne, 1984. Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia, Curriculum and Assessment Policy at Year 12. A Discussion Paper Inviting Your Response, Adelaide, 1984. 5. T Dunn, 'An Empirical Demonstration of Bias in HSC Examination Results', Australian Journal of Education, Vol. 26, 1982. Pages 190 to 203. 6. Victorian Institute of Secondary Education, Towards a Revised Policy on Curriculum and Assessment in the Victorian Year 12 HSC Program, op. cit. Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia, op. cit. 99 7. B McGaw, 'The Use of Rescaled Teacher Assessments in The Admission of Students to Tertiary Study', Australian Journal of Education, Vol. 21, 1977. Pages 209 to 225. B McGaw, R Warry and B McBryde, 'Validation of Aptitude Measures for the Rescaling of School Assessment', Education. Research and Perspectives, Vol. 2, 1975. Pages 20 to 34. 8. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, op. cit. Ministerial Working Party on School Certification and Tertiary Admissions Procedures, Report, Assessment in the Upper Secondary School in Western Australia, Perth, April 1984. B McGaw, Chairman. 100 CHAPTER 8: MEASURING OUTCOMES 8.1 Chapter 3 marshalled evidence about the educational outcomes which appear to have flowed from the increases in expenditure on education since 1973. It began with a brief review of the difficulties of determining criteria by which to identify and evaluate outcomes and a comment on the relative lack of relevant data for such purposes in Australia. The chapter provided a range of evidence of benefits from the educational initiatives of the 1970s but this evidence is not systematic and certainly not exhaustive. 8.2 This chapter looks ahead. It is concerned with the question of whether more systematic evaluation procedures should be established to monitor either the general progress of education in Australia or the consequences of specific initiatives. EV ALUA TING PROGRAMS 8.3 The specific purpose programs administered by the Commonwealth Schools Commission have had specific and relatively limited purposes. They have had more or less explicitly stated goals in terms of which their effectiveness might be judged. Such programs provide a better opportunity for evaluation than do more general efforts to improve the quality of schooling. such as increasing the general recurrent resources of school systems and schools. That is not to say, however, that specific initiatives are necessarily to be preferred to general ones. Relative ease of evaluation is not an adequate criterion for choosing among initiatives. 8.4 Even with the specific purpose programs of the Schools Commission the task of evaluation is complex. The adequacy and appropriateness of the programs themselves must be evaluated. The variations in implementation across the range of school systems must be monitored. Both intended and unintended consequences must be assessed and their importance judged. Evaluations of this type are summative, undertaken to offer a final summing up of what a program's impact has been and what it is worth (I). 8.5 Whether the magnitude of any net beneficial outcomes justifies the magnitude of the inputs which yielded them is to a large extent a matter of judgment. Similarly, to decide whether the same inputs put to some other purpose might have yielded more or less benefit requires a judgment of both relative. quality and quantity of benefit. For example, a given resource level in a music program might yield a particular increase in the number of students skilled sufficiently to move to professional careers as musicians. The same resources directed to instruction in spelling might yield a better general performance in the spelling of irregular English words. The choice between programs, even if the evaluative data were as clear as this illustration suggests, would be unlikely to be unanimous. 8.6 The complexity of the judgments involved in summative evaluations of this kind does not necessarily appear where formative evaluation is used. This involves neither the comparative judgment of one program against another nor absolute judgments about the ultimate benefits of a program. Instead, programs are evaluated to establish how well they 101 are operating. In this process, program objectives are usually, but not always, taken as given and the evalaution tends to focus on identifying measures which might be implemented to improve program operation. In many respects, formative evaluation is little more than an extension of sound program administration, that is, the continuous monitoring and modification of a program's operation to ensure that it is working well in relation to set objectives. 8.7 Summative evaluations are more clearly feasible if a program is limited in its scope and relatively quick to yield noticeable consequences. Commonwealth specific purpose programs have tended to be broad thrusts with benefits more likely to be mid to long term than short term. The Schools Commission has commissioned evaluations of these programs at various times in the last decade and the evaluators, themselves independent of the programs, have tended to offer fonnative, not summative, evaluations. They have certainly identified successful and unsuccessful aspects of the programs but their purpose has been to suggest modifications which might improve program efficiency or effectiveness. As evaluators, they have generally not attempted to answer the question of whether the benefits a program has yielded justify its continuation or abandonment. 8.8 Much public debate about education, and the Committee's terms of reference, presume that questions about the value of programs can be answered adequately. In practice, the answers can seldom be straightforward. For example, the American Head Start Program referred in paragraph 3.3 had its federal funds reduced on the strength of a major evaluation which reported that the program was not effective (2). New analyses, based on performances of the children involved ten years later, show that the program in fact produced at least some of the intended results. Significant gains were reported precisely where the funds were targetted: in reading and writing rather than mathematics or science; among disadvantaged groups and initiaiiy iow achievers rather than others; among blacks more than whites; and in the southeast more than in other areas. The program appears to have worked in a way that a major early evaluation failed to detect because it was conducted too soon. 8.9 The Committee believes that the Commonwealth should evaluate its programs for schools and seek evidence of the outcomes arising from them. With the specific purpose programs there should be formative evaluation in terms or-the programs' objectives, carried out by those who manage the programs and, periodically, through the appointment of external evaluators. These evaluators may also be used to undertake summative evaluation once a program is well established and longer term effects can be investigated. However, the final judgments about the worth of any particular program are likely to require assessments of it in comparison with other programs and a consideration of whether the objectives being pursued through it are themselves worthwhile. These are essentially judgments to be made following formal evaluations of either the formative or summative kind. In the Committee's opinion an agency like the Schools Commission can playa major role in informing judgments of this kind. 8.10 The question of evaluation of the more general Commonwealth initiatives is more complex. The objectives of the General Recurrent Grants Program are diffuse and, furthermore, the Program operates under the control of government and non-government systems and individual non-government school authorities. In some cases the funds are directed by the recipient authority to specific programs within a system or school. In others, they provide a relatively large proportion of the total recurrent expenditure by the 102 school or school system. Elsewhere they provide general supplementation for programs already operating. 8.11 In many cases the Commonwealth funds form a small proportion of the total expenditure, for example, in government school systems and in those non-government schools eligible for only the lowest rates of Commonwealth subsidy. They are neverthe less important for the flexibility they provide. Evaluation of their impact is relevant and necessary but a precise demarcation between their effects and those of the resources provided by the school authority concerned is difficult to establish. The Commonwealth might oblige the recipient authorities to undertake and then report their own evaluations. Alternatively, it might set more prescriptive guidelines for the way in which its funds are to be used and seek evaluative information accordingly. It might also choose to reserve the right to conduct its own evaluations as a condition of its funding. MONITORING THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 8.12 The evaluation question most evident in public discussion of education is not concerned with the efficacy of specific programs but with the total effects of education, that is, the general consequences of all the separate programs which contribute to the education of a person in our society. Some of the criticisms of schooling expressed in public debate reflect an informal evaluation of the total educational system using student achievement as the criterion for judgments. Much of that criticism takes a narrow view of student achievement in terms of basic skills or the way in which public examination results are interpreted and uses personal experiences or others' anecdotes to judge the performance of the educational system. Measurement of Student Achievement 8.13 Assessment of students is a routine activity in education. Teachers assess students' performances to diagnose misunderstandings and other weaknesses in order to plan further instruction. This type of diagnostic assessment is formative in its purpose. It is not intended to make some summary judgment of a student's progress but to make it clear how best to promote the student's further development. The assessment itself may involve the teacher's own observations of the student working in class or the use of more structured tasks in tests designed by the teacher or SOme external agency. Particularly useful in this regard are item banks, or stocks oftest items from which teachers are able to construct tests appropriate to the purpose they have at a particular time or with a particular student. Developed by subject and test design experts, item banks have the advantage of allowing teachers to compare their students' attainment with an expected pattern and to devise remediation exercises where necessary. They are being used in most government school systems (see paragraph 3.33). 8.14 Assessment of students may also be summative. External examinations at the end of Year 12 attempt to provide assessments of the levels students have reached in the subjects they have studied. These assessments have virtually no diagnostic function since they are seldom used by teachers in post-school education to decide what individual 103 students next need to learn. The assessments are summary statements of students' achievements. Similar statements are made to parents on students' school reports, although sometimes those assessments and the reports are given a diagnostic orientation as well. 8.15 To interpret a summative assessment of a student's performance, some point of reference or comparison is needed. As indicated in Chapter 7, the reference is most commonly normative, allowing each student's performance to be compared with those of other students. Rank in class reported to parents gives them a basis for judging their child's performance in comparison with others in their child's class, but without some knowledge of how that class compares with other classes, the parents may seriously misinterpret the information. 8.16 Assessments at the end of Year 12 are USed to produce an overall ranking of all students to help higher education institutions choose the students to whom they might offer places. By using the State-wide group of candidates a large reference group is obtained. Nevertheless, the assessments still give no indication of the actual levels of achievement. A student's performance is judged only against the performances of others in the same year. If standards of performance were actually rising or falling over time, the annual assessments of each new group would not reflect that in any systematic way. Chief examiners for the external examinations at Year 12 have from time to time sought to vary pass rates in order to reflect what they perceive to be shifts in overall levels of performance from previous years. A serious technical problem is that they cannot identify separately causes of the perceived variations in levels of performance from year to year. One may be attributable to changes in the levels of students' ability in the subject ("'o!!~e!!!e"d. Another m~y be ~ resnlt of changes in the level of difficulty of the examination. If student performance in one year appears much better than that of the previous year it could be that the examination was easier, the students superior, or that the examiners' standards of evaluation changed. 8.17 To avoid the inadequacies of comparative assessments of this type two approaches have been adopted in the reports parents receive from teachers. Some teachers offer parents assessments of the extent to which their child is achieving to capacity. This does not, however, give parents an uncontaminated judgment because it depends on the teacher's initial judgment of what is the student's capacity. If that assessment is seriously wrong, quite inappropriate expectations of what the student can do will be developed and misleading reports of whether he or she is working to capacity will be produced. Furthermore, the basis on which capacity is judged is likely to be performance on school tasks, not some more general measure of ability, so that a student's early levels ·of achievement may set the limits on what is expected subsequently. 8.18 The other alternative to the use of norm referenced measurement is the use of criterion referenced measurement to allow comparison of students' performances with explicitly defined standards of performance. Some schools use curricula with such definitions and then seek to report to parents their child's level of performance in relation to them. The national assessments of performance in numeracy and literacy (3) attempted to define and use such standards as criteria for judging the performances of a national sample of 10 and 14 year olds. The Board of Secondary School Studies in Queensland is implementing this approach with Year 12 assessments (4). The Schools Year 12 and 104 Tertiary Entrance Certificate in Victoria attempts it also for those students choosing that option for their final years of study in secondary education in Victoria. 8.19 As stated in paragraph 7.7, defining criteria for performance and assessing actual performance in those terms is not without problems. The selection of the criteria itself requires some normative considerations. Defining the mathematical tasks a student in Year 7 ought to be able to complete satisfactorily, for example, depends on there being some expectations about what Year 7 students on average can do. Judgments of standards and the establishment of the criteria by which the judgments are to be made are inevitably related. The higher criteria are set, the more likely it is that performance will be low. Furthermore, the more completely the criteria are defined the greater is the risk of reducing the goals of the educational task to those things which can most readily be stated as specific performance criteria. The less. readily measurable and the more long term and diffuse goals may be lost from sight in the teaching as well as in the testing. Despite these difficulties, however, the Committee's preference is for criterion referenced tests because they place emphasis on absolute achievement, avoid the automatic attribution of poor results to many students and make the nature of the tests and the standards applied explicit. Student Assessments and System Peiformance 8.20 It is clear that none of the current regularly obtained measures of student achievement can provide a basis for monitoring levels of achievement over time. Whether the first system-wide attempt to use criterion referenced assessments at Year 12 in Queensland will provide a picture with sufficient comparability from year to year and sufficient public acceptance remains to be seen. 8.21 The only systematic attempts at monitoring Australia-wide levels of achieve ment in any educational domain were the surveys of literacy and numeracy levels of 10 and 14 year olds. The first was conducted in 1975 for the House of Representatives Select Committee on Specific Learning Difficulties (5) and the second was conducted in 1980 for the Australian Education Council (6). These and other attempts to monitor levels of achievement within single educational systems were discussed in Chapter 3. 8.22 The Australian Education Council decided in October 1979, that the second of the national surveys of literacy and numeracy would begin in 1980 and that it would be the first in a pattern of annual monitoring of achievements of students across a wider range of subject areas. Before this first assessment was conducted, plans for the regular series had been abandoned. The Directors-General of Education had been opposed to the plans and their advice was heeded at a subsequent meeting of the Council. Although the full system of regular monitoring had been dropped, it was too late to abandon the first testing scheduled for October 1980. Before that testing was conducted, the Australian Teachers' Federation announced a boycott which affected sample sizes, but not sufficiently to prevent statistically sound comparisons with performance levels achieved in the 1975 survey. 8.23 The objections of the Directors-General and the Australian Teachers' Feder ation were based primarily on the narrow range of performance to be monitored and the likelihood that a continuing regular focus on such restricted objectives would distort \05 teaching in schools. Other objections were that intersectoral comparisons and those based on ethnicity would be socially divisive and that interstate comparisons were undesirable. 8.24 These objections had been fuelled by the press treatment of the results of the earlier 1975 survey of numeracy and literacy levels. That survey had reported the proportions of students able to complete satisfactorily each of the tasks used in the tests. Press reports had concentrated on the proportions which could not complete the tasks adequately. They claimed that these were sufficiently large to support a conclusion that Australian schools were failing to provide an adequate education. The data were not capable of showing whether the state of affairs reported was any worse than it had been before. Nevertheless, the press reports were clearly based on the assumption that it was and that the study had not only monitored levels of educational achievement but also had shown that a decline had occurred. 8.25 The 1980 survey of numeracy and literacy levels, as reported in Chapter 3, showed that levels of achievement had risen or remained constant but not declined. This result went largely unremarked in the press, as an evaluation of the survey revealed (7). The lack of interest by the media on this occasion confirmed for many the view that only what can be construed as bad news about education is extensively reported. 8.26 National monitoring is undertaken in some other countries. The National Assessment of Educational Progress Program has been conducted in the United States since the 1960s. The Assessment of Performance Unit in the National Foundation for Educational Research has monitored performance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1976. Both programs were designed to monitor a wider range of subject areas than numeracy and literacy and both were concerned with assessment over a range of of the two Australian studies of literacy and numeracy. In the United States, the testing pattern was designed to produce no school, district or State comparisons. Neither the United Kingdom nor the United States programs could claim, however, to monitor more than a narrow range of the educational goals which schools pursue. 8.27 In the United States, the debate about whether educational standards are declining has revolved not around the National Assessment of Educational Progress program but around analyses of scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test taken at the end of Year 12 by potential college and university entrants. A new emphasis has recently been given to the National Assessment of Educational Progress Program. Comparative analyses are being used in the hope that differences in performance levels might be related to differences in schools and school systems in ways which will identify the more successful schools and systems, or at least their characteristics (8). 8.28 The use of national assessment data to provide long term evidence of the efficacy of the educational initiatives of the 1960s and early 1970s is an example of a productive use of such data (9). However, the data give only a general indication that there has been improvement for certain groups without showing which features of any particular programs yielded the gains. They are thus of limited value in the detailed shaping of any new policy initiatives. 8.29 The Committee does not believe that general monitoring of the type undertaken through national assessment programs could ever be sufficiently specific in relevant areas to provide the definitive measure of the quality of schooling. The range of purposes of 106 schools is too broad to be encapsulated in a few test sc'ores and, as discussed in paragraphs 1.11 and 1.12, the assessment of quality is subjective and value laden. A large scale national assessment program may in fact distort judgments about the quality of education because people presume that the results say all that is to be said about the outcomes of schooling. Further, a national program may only be possible on a limited range of data. Tests must be designed so as to give no advantage to any particular school or school system. The diversity of curricula associated with diversity in school administration and control creates a challenge for test designers. The resulting tests would have to be at a level of generality which avoided giving advantage to any particular system by reflecting its specific curriculum requirements in the tests. 8.30 Notwithstanding this, the Committee strongly favours evaluation of the conse quences of new initiatives in education, formatively to guide their implementation and, from time to time, summatively to determine whether they ought to be extended or terminated. Thus, where the Commonwealth establishes priorities and directs funds to their achievement, it should expect to set up measures of the success of its activities. A Commonwealth focus on the assessment of general competences should accompany Commonwealth initiatives seeking to enhance their development. In Chapter 13, the Committee makes recommendations about areas to which the Commonwealth might afford priority. Programs mounted as a consequence of those recommendations should be systematically evaluated and this may require some testing of student achievement. 8.3.1 However, in those evaluations, care should be taken to investigate both intended and unintended outcomes of the programs. In particular, if the indicators of program effectiveness include measures of student attainment, the consequences of any reduction in attention to other outcomes should be monitored. Care should also be taken to ensure that evaluations of programs dealing with literacy and numeracy skills are not presumed in public discussions to be evaluations of the whole educational enterprise. 8.32 The Committee is not proposing a regular program of nation-wide assessment and is therefore not following recommendations of earlier inquiries (10). The Committee believes that this is justified by a review of the achievements of the attempts at national assessment which have been made in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. By supporting both formative and summative evaluations of all Commonwealth programs for schools, the Committee seeks to ensure careful definition of the objectives of educational initiatives and careful monitoring of their outcomes. REFERENCES 1. M Scriven, The Methodology of Evaluation, AERA Monograph Series on Evaluation No.1, Rand McNally, Chicago, 1967. 2. Westinghouse Learning Corporation and Ohio University, The Impact of Head Start Experience on Children's Cognitive and Affective Development, Springfield, Virginia, US Department of Commerce Clearinghouse, 1969. 3. J P Keeves and S F Bourke, Australian Studies in School Performance: Vol. I, Literacy and Numeracy in Australian Schools: A first report. ERDC Report No.8, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1976. 107 SF Bourke and R Lewis, Australian Studies in School Performance: Vol. II, Literacy and Numeraty in Australian Schools: Item Report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1976. SF Bourke and J P Keeves (eds), Australian Studies in School Performance: Vol. Ill, The Mastery of Literacy and Numeracy: Final Report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1977. SF Bourke, J M Mills, J Stanyon and F Holyes, Performance in Literacy and Numeracy: 1980, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1981. 4. EScott et. al. Review of School Based Assessment in Queensland Secondary Schools. Board of Secondary School Studies, Brisbane, 1978. 5. J P Keeves and S F Bourke, op. cit. S F Bourke and R Lewis, op. cit. S F Bourke and J P Keeves (eds), op. cit. 6. S F Bourke, J M Mills, J Stanyon and F Holyes, op. cit. 7. C~o-wer et. aI., National Assessment in Australia: An Evaluation of the Australian Studies in --Student Performance Project, ERDC Report No. 35, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1982. Page 98. 8. S Messick, A Beaton and F Lord, National Assessment of Educational Progress Reconsidered: A New Design for a New Era, NAEP, Princeton, New Jersey, 1983. 9. A E Lapointe, 'The Good News About American Education', Phi Delta Kappan Vol. 65, No. 10, June 1984. 10. House of Representatives Select Committee on Specific Learning Difficulties, Report, Learning Difficulties in Children and Adults, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1976. A G Cadman, Chairman. Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training, Report, Education, Training and Employment, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1979. B R Williams, Chairman. 108 CHAPTER 9: ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE OF SCHOOLING 9.1 The pursuit of the desirable outcomes described in Chapter 5 has implications for the organisation and structure of the institutions within which learning takes place. This chapter addresses some aspects of school organisation and structure which are significant in this connection. 9.2 Changing economic and social demands have led to successive modifications to schooling arrangements. Since the 1950s major structural changes have taken place in Australia, in relation to the length and organisation of schooling, the types of schools and in the provision of services, particularly for special groups. Some of these changes have been noted in Chapter 3. Twelve, and in some States 13, years of schooling are now available to all students, organized as six or seven years primary and five or six years secondary schooling. The minimum school leaving age has been raised to 15 years in all States, except in Tasmania where it is 16 years. In general, there is automatic progression from primary to secondary school. Victoria still operates a dual system of high schools and technical schools, but other States have adopted a system of comprehensive secondary schools. Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory have adopted a system of separate institutions at the upper secondary level, catering for Years 11 and 12. There has also been a considerable expansion in pre-school services and in the provision of services for physically and intellectually disabled students. 9.3 Organisational and structural issues have been addressed in recent State reviews of education (I). The general conclusions of these reviews have been that, if the school system is to serve better the longer term needs of Australian youth, some changes in the organisation of schools and the way they operate are desirable. PROMOTION POLICIES FOR STUDENTS 9.4 Current practice for promotion through the school system favours automatic progression. Students generally move through the school by promotion of one grade each year and from primary to secondary school without reference to their success or otherwise during the year. Repetition of a grade is unusual and is particularly difficult at the transition from primary to secondary school, since separate institutions are usually involved and separation from the peer group becomes obvious. While promotion with one's peers has desirable social benefits it may have unfortunate consequences for student learning. It is possible that in most school structures there is sufficient overlap between successive grade levels for most students not to be disadvantaged by being promoted with their age peers, even though they might not have learned some of the basic skills taught in the previous year. It is also possible that students promoted in this way never learn what was taught in the previous year and are set to be failures in subsequent years. Williams (2), for example, in his longitudinal study of 10 and 14 year olds found a clear 109 association between early school leaving, poor performance at age 14 and poor performance at age 10. There is a trade off between the persistence of academic failure through automatic promotion and the behaviour problems which may eventuate from the repetition of school grades. Of course, academic failure may also lead to behaviour problems when promotion is granted. For some students repetition of a grade may be the only way in which they will attain adequate achievement standards at each level of education and acquire the competences necessary for satisfactory performance later in life. 9.5 Schools use a variety of approaches in their attempt to cater for the range of learning abilities and levels of perfonnance among their students. Some group students of about the same age according to intellectual ability. In many secondary schools, subjects at particular grades are offered at several levels of difficulty, allowing students to be placed in advanced courses in their stronger subjects and more basic courses in those subjects in which they are weakest. Other schools use ability groups, with a wide age spread of students studying a given subject at a particular level of difficulty. None of these arrangements is a guarantee that students will achieve an adequate level of knowledge or skill in a particular subject before proceeding to the next level of study. 9.6 The report of the Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia (3), in its proposals for major organisational change in Western Australian secondary schools, recommended the replacement of year long courses with a system of course units of one term's duration, units in any subject area to be sequential and available at different levels of difficulty. Students' progress would depend on their having met the pre-requisites for entry to each unit in a sequence. Having completed a unit successfully a student would be able to elect the next unit at the same level of difficulty or a unit at a higher level. A student failing a unit would be able to repeat it or elect to take an appropriate umt at a lower level. The aim of the proposal was to encourage students to work through subjects at optimum rates and at an appropriate level of difficulty. To operate effectively, such an arrangement requires vertical timetabling, which allows subject units in a sequence to be scheduled at the one time and enables a student to undertake a given subject at an appropriate level of difficulty. 9.7 Effecting large scale change in the way students are graded, and school timetables arranged, requires the acceptance by the teaching profession of new practices. There will also need to be greater recognition by teachers and by the community generally that grade or subject repetition may be essential for some students if they are to benefit from schooling. The Committee believes that schools and school authorities should give serious consideration to increasing timetable flexibility so that students can proceed at appropriate speeds in the subjects they are studying, and by that means obviate the need for repetition. ZONING OF SCHOOLS 9.8 With the exception of Queensland, a common feature of school organisation in government systems in Australia since the 1950s has been the practice of zoning, whereby children have been required to attend particular government schools according to their place of residence. Generally zoning occurred because of the difficulty education 110 authorities had in providing enough places in schools for all students and because of the policy of education systems to provide, as far as possible, equally for all. 9.9 Recently, however, some systems using zoning have relaxed or abandoned the practice. For example, in South Australia where primary schooling had never been zoned, secondary school residential entry restrictions were lifted at the beginning of the 1980 school year. Tasmania has a policy of 'controlled dezoning' for primary and secondary schools and, in Victoria and New South Wales, various regional initiatives have been taken to loosen zoning requirements. Other moves made by systems to free up choice of schools involve forming associations of schools as groups to work collectively towards providing comprehensive schooling services for the wider geographic areas they serve. 9.10 Several arguments are advanced in favour of dezoning. It is claimed that parents should be free to choose their child's school and the child's best interest should be the prime criterion for initial and later choice of school. There will be schools which, for a variety of reasons are not suited to particular children, and requiring them to attend and remain at those schools will be detrimental to all concerned. It is claimed that dezoning leads to greater diversification of provision within a system because it becomes easier for individual schools to develop their own special features. 9. II It is also suggested that abolition of zoning of government schools would make them more competitive, because no longer would they have a captive clientele. Dezoning of schools is seen as one way of improving the operation of the education market, enabling government schools to develop their own special characteristics in the way non- government schools are able to do and encouraging students and their parents to vote with their feet to promote good performance. 9.12 A good school i~ usually a reflection of its principal and ~taff. When there are staff changes, perceptions about, and indeed the performance of, the school may well change. In the government systems, where teachers are employed by central authorities, staff movements between schools are substantial and provide less opportunity to develop the continuity found or perceived in non-government schools. However, much lower resignation rates of teachers in more recent years have stabilised staff in government schools and reduced staff movements. 9.13 In government systems the teachers and facilities have to be used to the best advantage overall. While dezoning might improve the performance of some schools, substantial numbers of students would still have to attend the schools seen as having a poorer performance. The margin between the good and the not so good schools could, in fact, increase to the detriment of the staff and students in the second order of schools; this would be contrary to the original intention and could lead to greater inequalities among students. On the other hand, in schools that become less preferred in a dezoned, or partially dezoned system, departmental action could be taken to strengthen staff, facilities and options available. Offsetting action of this nature could be a means of protecting the position of students in an initially less preferred school, where school closure is not an option. 9.14 In the Committee' s vi~w, turther modification of the present zoning arrange- ments might well make a contribution to improving the quality of schools. However, given the responsibility that government systems have for the provision of educational services to all children, dezoning arrangements have to be constrained by giving a right of III entry to students resident in the school district and by setting maximum levels of enrolment for individual schools. Care needs also to be taken to ensure that schools do not commit resources to excessive promotional activity. POST-COMPULSORY SCHOOLING 9.15 Curriculum changes associated with rising participation at Years 11 and 12 and the need to cater for a more heterogenous student population may necessitate some new arrangements for post-compulsory schooling. Schools, as presently organised, appear not to be congenial to, or appropriate for, some students at the post-compulsory level. This has led to the development of new school structures, to students undertaking post compulsory education via other avenues, for example at TAFE institutions, and to cooperative ventures between schools and the TAFE sector. 9.16 Attempts to reform organisational and structural arrangements at the post compulsory level to provide a more effective education for senior secondary students are not new. Changes in structure have been proposed as ways of overcoming problems of fragmentation, small numbers of students on individual sites and the provision of an appropriate educational atmosphere for post-compulsory students. Initiatives which have been taken or proposed include: • the establishment in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory of separate structures catering for Years 11 and 12. The matriculaiion colleges in Tasmania initially offered an academic curriculum and their principal aim was to prepare students for entry to higher education. However, in response to the changing composition and needs of their students they now offer a broader and more diversified curriculum. including transition education and leisure and community education programs. The comprehensive secondary colleges in the Australian Capital Territory offer a broad and diversified curriculum including a number of 'vocational' subjects, some of which are accredited for tertiary entrance; • the establishment of structures catering for both Years 11 and 12 together with courses presently conducted in TAFE, for example the 'community colleges' which operated briefly in Tasmania in the early 1980s; • the establishment of a new type of mUlti-purpose post-compUlsory institution which would bring together senior secondary school students and TAFE students, including those engaged in occupationally specific education. Some courses offered in the early years of universities and colleges of advanced education might also be included; • increased use of TAFE by students as an alternative to Years 11 and 12; • development of cooperative arrangements across levels and institutions involving - development of link and cooperative courses between schools and TAFE; - amalgamation of several adjacent post-primary schools into complexes of schools, one campus of which would cater for senior secondary students. Curriculum planning would encompass the full secondary years and teachers would be appointed to the whole complex rather than to an individual campus and might, over their working lives, teach students at all year levels (4); 112 - location by some large schools of senior classes on separate campuses, offering subjects which are recognised for entry to higher education, alternative Year 12 courses and the first year of T AFE certifIcate courses; - formation of clusters or networks of schools in which students are encouraged to move between schools to pursue curricular specialisms offered at Years 11 and 12; - building of special purpose facilities including libraries and music blocks for joint use of adjacent schools; and - collective sponsoring by networks of schools of special projects directed at long tenn change in the curriculum. 9.17 There are strengths and weaknesses in all these arrangements. The perceived educational advantages of large and separate institutions at the senior secondary level are that they can offer a wider and more diversified curriculum incorporating considerable student choice; they are more adult oriented and provide students with greater independ ence and responsibility for managing their own learning. Although initial establishment costs are high, it is argued that bringing together a large number of students at Years II and 12 can provide a more efficient use of resources. An analysis (5) of the proposal in The Ministerial Review of Postcompulsory Schooling Discussion Paper (6) for a broadened curriculum at Years 11 and 12 in Victoria concluded that a modest increase in the average size of Years II and 12 groupings would result in reduced recurrent expenditure per student or permit a further expansion of curricula offerings at no additional cost. 9.18 An evaluation of the secondary colleges in the Australian Capital Territory in 1980 indicated strongly supportive and favourable views of students in Years II and 12 towards the education they were receiving. This compared with the very negative attitudes of students in Years II and 12 revealed in a similar study conducted at traditional high schools some years earlier (7). 9.19 Separate provision at the upper secondary level has implications also for the junior secondary level. For example, in a Year 7 to 10 institution opportunities for teachers will be more limited and promotion prospects and mobility may decline. The power of truncated institutions of this kind to attract the highest calibre staff may therefore be diminished. Again, it may be more difficult to accelerate the development of junior secondary students in fields in which they excel, and to encourage specialist activities such as music where performance ability is not directly correlated with the year of schooling, than if there were a full six year structure. It is feared by some that a structural break at Year 10 might encourage students to leave at this point, but the experience of the Australian Capital Territory college system does not support this view. 9.20 The strengths of merging Years II and 12 with courses presently conducted in TAFE or of establishing multi-purpose institutions catering for Years II and 12, TAFE and some higher education courses lie in increased flexibility of provision, greater responsiveness to student needs and the potential for rationalisation of resources. 9.21 However, there may be practical problems involved in merging into a single institution speCialised functions carried out by separate institutions with different career structures for teachers and lecturers. For example, attempts to merge Years II and 12 and TAFE into a single institution in Tasmania resulted in industrial problems, largely because 113 of perceived advantages enjoyed by TAFE teachers in relation to salary, access to promotion positions and conditions of service and because of the failure to negotiate a common award for all teachers employed in the system. This led ultimately to abandonment of the concept in 1982. Similarly, difficulties could be experienced in negotiating adequate credentialling arrangements for students choosing from a range of courses with diverse purposes (see Chapter 7). The creation of a small number of large institutions would also exacerbate the existing problems in providing reasonable access for students in rural areas and smaller urban centres. Furthermore, there can be no guarantee that a single institution could cope simultaneously with a multiplicity of courses for diverse purposes, a student population with an extremely wide age spread and all the combinations of full-time and part-time study which might be sought. 9.22 To date, except for Tasmania, proposals for multi-purpose post-compulsory colleges have not proceeded beyond the initial conceptual phase. However, the Queens land discussion paper Education 2000: Issues and Options (8) proposes the establish ment on a trial basis of colleges incorporating Years 11 and 12 and TAFE at Hervey Bay and Alexandra Hills, the former to open at the beginning of 1986 and the latter the following year. Similarly, the Report of the Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling in Victoria (9) recommends that two examples of community colleges, incorporating senior secondary, TAFE and perhaps higher education courses for students of all ages, should be established by the earliest possible date in areas currently educationally disadvantaged and that priority be given to establishing a post-compulsory community college in conjunction with the proposed Western Melbourne Institute of Post-Secondary Education. 9.23 The development of cooperative arrangements between the school and TAFE sectors facilitates more flexible provision at the upper secondary level anti iw.;rt;a~t::s the educational opportunities available for students. Such arrangements also maximise the use of existing facilities. For some students the opportunity to study TAFE subjects for part of the day, taught to T AFE norms in an environment which is adult and oriented to the world of work, is clearly attractive. However, the disadvantages of such cooperative arrange- ments lie in the problems of moving across sites, timetabling difficulties, coordination of credentialling arrangements and the limitations of local institutions. 9.24 The development within TAFE of the capacity to provide alternative Years 11 and 12 has already occurred. While such provision has proved attractive to many students who would not otherwise have participated, there would be disadvantages if a major movement in this direction were to place heavy additional responsibilitities upon the TAFE sector at a time when it is having to cope with strong enrolment growth in other areas. A significant expansion of full-time course provision in TAFE at secondary level could change fundamentally the character of TAFE institutions and, as a consequence, might limit their ability to respond flexibly to labour market requirements. 9.25 In the Committee's view the widening of educational opportunities for students at the upper secondary level will have to come primarily through diversification of curricular offerings, differentiation among schools to provide curricular specialisations, cooperative arrangements among schools and TAFE institutions and through experiments of the kind at present under consideration in Queensland and Victoria. Any major restructuring of the school system, for example, by the nation-wide adoption of the Australian Capital Territory arrangements, would be extremely costly, particularly in a 114 period of enrolment stability or decline. Diversification of curricula and institutional arrangements, both within and among school systems, seems to be a more promising approach than independent and uniform structural changes. REFERENCES 1. Committee of Inquiry into Education in South Australia, Final Report: Education and Change in South Australia, Adelaide, 1982. J P Keeves, Chairman. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, Report, Perth, Western Australia, March 1984. K E Beazley, Chairman. Committee to Review Primary Education in ACT Government Schools, Report Primary Children in the ACT, ACT Schools Authority, Canberra, 1981. C P Cullen, Chairman. Department of Education, Queensland, Education 2000, Issues and Options for the Future of Education in Queensland, Queensland, 1985. NSW Education Department, Report: Future Directions of Secondary Education, New South Wales, (undated). Submitted to the Minister for Education by D Swan and K McKinnon. Parliament of New South Wales, Report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly upon the School Certificate, 1981. B McGowan, Chairman. The Ministerial Review of Post-compUlsory Schooling, Discussion Paper, R C Fordham (Minister of Education), Melbourne, April 1984. J Blackburn, Chairperson. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Report, Melbourne (forthcoming). J Blackburn, Chairperson. 2. T Williams et. aI., School and Work in Prospect: 14 Year Olds in Australia, ACER Research Monograph No. 10, Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1981. 3. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, op. cit. 4. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Report, Melbourne, op. cit. 5. P McKenzie, Patterns of School Organization: Design and Analysis - Part 2, Australian Council for Educational Research, September 1984. 6. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Discussion Paper, Melbourne, op. cit. 7. D Anderson, M Saltet and A Vervoorn, Schools to Grow In: An Evaluation of Secondary Colleges, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1980. D S Anderson and D G BeswiCk 'Secondary School Student Survey'. In Working Party on College Proposals for the Australian Capital Territory, Secondary Education for Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1973. R Campbell, Chairman. 8. Department of Education, Queensland, Education 2000, Issues and Options for the Future of Education in Queensland, Queensland. op. cit. 9. The Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Schooling, Discussion Paper, op. cit. liS CHAPTER 10: TEACHERS AND TEACHING 10.1 In Chapter 4, the Committee drew attention to the need for continued upgrading of the workforce. Employer and industry groups with whom the Committee consulted stressed the need for a better educated and more adaptive and innovative workforce. Most education and labour market authorities predicted that shifts of occupation and retraining would become customary for many members of the labour force over their working lives and that once only initial training would be inadequate to meet contemporary needs. 10.2 What is required for the labour force as a whole is equally necessary for that part of it which is the teaching force. Improved outcomes from schooling are dependent on well educated, adaptive and innovative teachers who must be able to provide high quality schooling and to do so in the face of a changing economic, social and cultural framework. To the extent that investment in people improves economic performance there is a strong case for higher, and sustained, investment in teacher development. The achievement of desirable outcomes from schooling must depend on the calibre of teachers. They are the major resource in tenus of influence and cost. Any changes in objectives, credentialling and assessment arrangements, the curriculum or school organis- ation generally, depend on the ability of teachers to carry them out. It is this dependence on teachers for educational outcomes that brings sharply into focus the need for measures to improve the quality of teachers and teaching. 10.3 This chapter is confined to issues in teaching and teacher development which are most directly related to the ~tt~inment of the desirable outcomes identified in Chapter 5. Teacher development has been comprehensively reviewed in the recent past. The National Inquiry into Teacher Education (I) was complemented by reviews in each State in the late 1970s and early 1980s (2). More recently, the Commonwealth Government called on its two education commissions to report on aspects of teacher education. Their joint report is not yet completed. PRIORITY ISSUES lOA Teacher development affects the 190 000 people who are already teaching, most of whom having undergone at least three or four years of formal teacher education. Experienced teachers make up the majority of the teaching staff in each school and occupy the leadership positions. Although teacher turnover rates reached 12.5 per cent in the early 1970s and may reach this level again as the employment situation improves, new entrants to teaching each year currently represent in the order of 5 per cent of the total teaching force. Improvements which might be made in pre-service training will take too long to be generalised through schools to change outcomes for the bulk of the students already at school or expected to begin schooling in the immediate future. It is with the in service education of teachers that this chapter is principally, but not exclusively, concerned. 116 Development of Competences 10.5 The development of competence in acquiring and conveying information, in applying logical processes and in performing practical tasks as individuals and as members of groups, is a prime teaching responsibility. Improvement in the levels of competence among students depends on the competence of teachers in these develop mental tasks. There are several reasons why teachers need further assistance in this area, despite the changes in the teaching force noted in Chapter 3. 10.6 For many teachers, initial training does not include detailed attention to the ways in which students learn to read, write, converse and calculate. Knowledge of how these learning processes occur is increasing but no simple. formula has been developed for either teaching teachers to teach or students to learn in these fields. For many teachers, too, the time spent during their initial training on teaching methodologies associated with these processes is restricted. The pre-service education curriculum is crowded. being subject to similar pressure to that exerted on schools for increases in the fields to be covered. Among secondary teachers, a common pre-service education pattern has been one year's teacher education subsequent to the completion of a degree course. Where concurrent courses exist, for either primary or secondary teacher trainees, much of the course time is devoted to extending the trainee's own education. 10.7 Many teachers do not have the range of skills necessary to assist students experiencing difficulty in reading, one of the skills fundamental to competence in acquiring information. A recent small study of poor readers in primary schools in Western Australia (3) found that while teachers had identified students who were having difficulty in reading, they were not skilled in using diagnostic tests or confident about developing remedial programs for individual students. A study in Tasmania of six schools where there had been a significant improvement in reading among 10 year olds between 1976 and 1978, showed that the availability of a reading consultant was one of several important factors to which the improvements were attributed (4). The consultant assisted class teachers in the diagnosis of reading problems, with reading methodologies, with the selection of materials and with evaluation procedures, that is, in areas of teaching skill. The recent introduction in some government school systems of a reading scheme, devised in New Zealand for six year old students who are developing their reading skills more slowly than their peers, has been accompanied by a need to train teachers in the use of the method. 10.8 In secondary schools, the curriculum is generally organized along traditional subject lines, leading to a terminal certificate at the end of Year 10 or Year 12. The assumption is usually made that students entering secondary schools have acquired the communication skills necessary for study in subject disciplines. There appears to be no tradition that secondary schools as a whole have the responsibility of furthering these skills, although there has been considerable discussion of the need to teach language skills across the curriculum. 10.9 To the extent that there is a direct link between levels of competence and career aspirations, there is a special need to enhance general competences among girls. Research evidence suggests that teachers, particularly in secondary schools, need to modify their classroom practices if they are to meet the needs of girls. The Commonwealth Schools Commission's Working Party on the Education of Girls noted the accumulation of 117 evidence that some of the differentiated teaching practices adopted for boys and girls were likely to affect girls adversely (5). For example, teachers spend more time talking to boys than to girls in their classes and boys take up most of the students' talking time. Science classes in which girls are in the majority are reported as being likely to concentrate on lower order intellectual activities. A predominance of boys in the class is, however, associated with greater attention to abstract problem solving, analyses. inference and hypotheses generation. 10.10 In education more than anywhere else, girls have had before them role models who might have been expected to shape their career aspirations. since teaching has proved an attractive career to women. However,females predominate at the lower levels and in primary schools. Even though in 1982 women made up 57 per cent of teachers in government schools and 63 per cent of those in non-government schools, a recent study of Australian school principals reported that only 23 per cent were female (6). Only in Catholic primary schools were women more likely than men to be principals. The majority of these women were serving as principal in their capacity as members of religious orders and tended to be older than their male counterparts. Women were least likely to be principals of government schools. The reasons for this imbalance have been explored in some depth (7) and most employing authorities are addressing the problem of imbalance, not only in terms of the importance of positive role models for female students but also of equal employment opportunity. Rigour in Teaching 10.11 As stated in Chapter 7, there is no definitive body of knowledge which all students shuuhi ,'urriculum Consistency 10.17 Effective schooling requires continuity of learning and the cohesion of the courses being followed by particular age or ability cohorts. The primary school, where individual teachers tend to be responsible for a group of students for the major portion of their school year, is conducive to the programming of learning in ways which ensure cohesive programs for students. Teachers in secondary schools are not so well placed. They teach several classes and students have several teachers, each in a particular subject area. In schools organized on subject lines there is scope for neglect of some areas. overlap and discontinuities. For example, responsibility for the development of language skills may be left with the teacher of English; and teachers of mathematics, science and geography may teach the same numerical concepts to the same students but do so at different stages and from different bases. 10 .18 The progressive development of the general competences depends on' the acknowledgment by all teachers of the part that they must play in it. This in turn depends 119 on teachers having skills in these areas, knowledge of what they should expect of students at particular stages in their education and what others teaching the same students at the same stage are doing. It may require some agreed specialisation, not all teachers being equally expert in developing the full range of competences. Because of the practice of reallocating classes at the beginning of each school year, and the movement of students from primary to secondary schools, it certainly requires adequate recording of completed learning programs. Given that there is a change to subject specialisation at the boundary between primary and secondary schools, primary and secondary teachers need to share understanding of their respective roles. Educational Disadvantage 10. 19 Reference was made in paragraph 10.7 to teachers' lack of confidence in using diagnostic tests and in the development of programs of additional assistance for students with particular learning difficulties. Teaching the educationally disadvantaged requires more than diagnostic skill. The needs of special groups are. discussed in Chapter 11, which also examines the major findings of a recent series of reviews of current Commonwealth provisions for special groups. In several instances, these reviews drew attention to the desirability of changes to teaching practice in order that the educational needs of students from particular social groups are met. The major reviews of teacher development, referred to in paragraph 10.3, covered similar ground. 10.20 The extent to which teachers are able to make these changes in teaching practice depends, in part, on their underlying value systems, a point frequently made in discussions about teaching children of different ethnic backgrounds. The present teaching force is not representative of the socio-economic and cultural backgrounds within the general population, although it is more representative than most otherprot'essions. A 19'/9 profile of the teaching force showed that a typical pre-service teacher education student was a young Australian born female of lower middle class family and that this pattern was reflected in the teaching force as a whole (9). The Chapman study (10) found that 90 per cent of principals were Australian born and that, of those born overseas, the majority had been born in the United Kingdom or Eire. There are some signs that a proportion of the children of first generation migrants arriving in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s are now moving through the school system as teachers. A 1978 survey of teacher education students at Sydney Teachers College (11) found that more than 50 per cent had either or both parents born outside Australia. Fourteen per cent had themselves been born overseas. At the University of Wollongong in 1984, approximately 30 per cent of pre-service trainees came from non-English speaking, predominantly Italian or Greek, backgrounds. 10.21 The lack of representation of major social groups within the teaching force is evident in the field of Aboriginal education. Increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers has been an important goal for Aboriginal communities for many years. The National Aboriginal Education Committee has set a target of 1000 Aboriginal teachers by 1990, but present trends indicate that it cannot be reached through existing practices. This desire for increased Aboriginalization of the teaching force stems not only from the principle that Aboriginal teachers will better understand the cultural framework of Aboriginal students; the presence of Aboriginal teachers in schools is regarded as a component in the education of' non-Aborigines about the culture, lifestyles, values, aspirations and needs of Aborigines. The National Committee has declared teacher education as a priority area 120 within tertiary education and advocated measures to increase the student capacity of enclave programs, develop external or off campus facilities, train people living in traditional communities as teachers and increase the number of secondary teachers. 10.22 There have been several teaching responses to the perceived failure of schools to provide adequately for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These range from proposals for positive discrimination at the point of entry to teacher education for members of these social groups, to the expansion of the curriculum during pre-service education, to the mounting of new types of pre-service course arrangements and to intensive in-service education programs for teachers in schools with high proportions of disadvantaged students. At the same time there has been pressure on school systems and teacher education institutions to provide more specialist teachers, for example, of English as a second language and of remedial reading. 10.23 Positive responses to these pressures will go some way to meeting some forms of educational disadvantage where there are concentrations of students with these characteristics. They cannot be expected, however, to provide the whole solution. Ordinary teachers in ordinary classrooms will have within their classes students who are educationally limited by their own intellectual capacity or personality. They will also have students whose disadvantage lies in their social background, and others whose cultural backgrounds are different. Because there are limits to the availability of specialist assistance, it is the classroom teacher on whom the future of educationally disadvantaged students most depends. There is thus a strong case for in-service education to assist all teachers to cater, with greater confidence and competence, for the educational needs of disadvantaged groups. RAISING TEACHER QUALITY 10.24 The priority issues discussed in the preceding section imply changes in classroom teaching practices and extension of the knowledge and skill base from which teachers operate. Possible ways of bringing about these changes include attention to class size, consultant services, teacher recruitment, teacher qualifications, rewards and incentives, in-service education and pre-service educ'ation. As already noted, the last does not yield immediate benefits and it is thus the present teaching force which should initially be the focus. Class Size 10.25 It is commonly claimed that the quality of learning outcomes depends on the size of classes in which students are taught. Research evidence is ambiguous. It has recently been comprehensively reviewed for the Schools Commission (12). The weight of studies suggests that, all other things being equal, a reduction of class size from 40 to 20 students would have relatively little effect on learning outcomes but a reduction to below 20 students might have a major impact. Clearly, reducing all classes to this size is well beyond present economic capacity and alternative less costly means of raising the quality of teaching have to be found. Nonetheless, at present staffing levels, there is scope 121 for operating some classes in the size range in which learning outcomes are said to show a pronounced rise. Most students could spend some of their school week in small classes of 15 or so, even if this meant that for some other lessons they were in classes of 35 to 40 students. Consultant Services 10.26 One of the features of recurrent resource use by school systems over the past decade has been the increased number of consultants who assist teachers to change classroom practice, implement new curricula and meet the requirements of students with special needs (see paragraphs 2.20 to 2.23). Consultants tend to be experienced teachers with particular expertise or skill who are withdrawn from schools to provide advisory services to other teachers. They are an important source of new ideas and knowledge for classroom teachers and thus actively promote improvements in teacher quality. Given a choice between making a marginal reduction in average class size or increasing the size and quality of consultant and advisory services, the Committee's preference is for the latter. Teacher Recruitment 10.27 The main entry path to teaching is from school to a higher education institution offering teacher education and then to the classroom. The dominant criterion currently used in the selection of students for teacher education, as with other courses in higher education, is academic ability. For school leavers this is measured by performance in subjects recorded on their Year 12 credential. As career choices for Year 12 students have broadened, and with the elimination of teaching scholarships, teacher education has found itself in even greater competition with other occupations for the available recruits. 10.28 A review of teacher education in Victoria commented unfavourably (13), and later the Beazley Committee noted (14), that the tertiary admittance examination performance of the majority of entrants to teacher education courses is below that of students entering courses for other professional occupations. The Beazley Committee also claimed that, in order to reach planned targets, tertiary institutions grant places to students whose preference for teaching courses is low. Thus, there are new entrants to the teaching force whose potential for effective teaching must be regarded as marginal. 10.29 While teaching's ability to compete for school leavers at the point of entry to training remains low, there may be advantages in offering entry to more people from older age groups. This has been done in the past in times of acute teacher shortage and is being used as a means of attracting science graduates (see paragraph 10.37). Widening entry has the potential to attract committed people with employment experience in other occupa tions and industries and people from social groups currently not well represented in the teaching profession (see paragraph 10.20). Teacher Qualifications 10.30 As already noted in paragraph 3.40 the teaching force now has higher formal qualifications than a decade ago. Teachers in primary schools have usually had two or three years of general teacher training while most of those in secondary schools have 122 degrees or three year diplomas. This pattern of staff deployment reflects the organisation of the two levels of schooling. In primary schools a single teacher is responsible for most of the educational program of a class; in secondary schools, there is subject specialisation. 10.31 One of the disadvantages of this arrangement is that it puts heavy responsibility on primary teachers. They are expected to have some expertise over a wide range of content areas, to be experts in the fannation of language and number skills and to have a thorough knowledge of children's social development process. The introduction of specialist teachers to primary schools, for instance in music and foreign languages, recognizes that some tasks of the primary school are beyond the capacity of most individual teachers. While the notion of increasing the number of subject specialists in primary schools is superficially attractive, there are pedagogical and practical drawbacks. 10.32 One of the advantages of requiring the one teacher to cater for the learning needs of a class over a wide field is that the teacher is able to ensure cohesion and coordination of the curriculum. Another is that children have stability in their relation ships with classmates and teacher. The introduction of more specialists would mean some sacrifice in both areas. It may also reinforce the notion that the provision of specialists absolves the generalist from responsibility. A more appropriate response is to provide advisory services and in-service education. 10.33 The separation of primary and secondary teachers by years of training is creating a new problem as the balance shifts between primary and secondary enrolments. In essence, increasing secondary and decreasing primary enrolments within a stable school population offer the prospect of a surplus of primary teachers and a shortage of secondary teachers. This imbalance would be overcome if some teachers were trained to teach at both levels, that is, a higher degree of flexibility established within the teaching force. Occupational rigidities, including the lack of a common teaching qualification, may make this difficult to achieve and some costs are likely to be incurred if present primary teachers require different qualifications. Rewards and Incentives 10.34 Among the measures to improve teacher quality suggested from time to time are those of improving the reward system for good teachers and offering incentives for better performance. The majority of teachers, in both the government and non government sectors, now work under industrial awards. Seniority remains important in promotion decisions. Particularly in the large systems, covering a range of physical and social environments, incentives of a limited kind are already used to attract teachers to schools unpopular because of their location or character. These incentives have not proved very successful, as evidenced by staff turnover rates in remote localities. 10.35 One measure of keeping good teachers in classrooms rather than seeking preferment by moving into administrative positions is the creation of special promotional positions. Posts for exemplary teachers were introduced in the Commonwealth Teaching Service, which formerly staffed government schools in the Territories, at its inception. Teachers who were assessed as excellent classroom practitioners and potential advisers to other teachers became eligible to apply for promotion to the position of 'master teacher'. In this way they were able to obtain one promotion outside the usual promotional route. 123 10.36 The creation of more such positions, perhaps with wider margins, and the expansion of positions in consultancy pools provide some incentives for good teachers to maintain close classroom contact. These measures may represent the practical limits of action open to most school systems to provide differential rewards and incentives to raise general teacher quality. 10.37 Incentives may also become necessary for the recruitment of teachers in some subject areas. In early 1983, the Australian Education Council noted national shortages in mathematics and science teachers, with some variation among States. It decided to set targets for enrolments in these areas of teacher training. In New South Wales, authorities are attempting to set up bridging courses to overcome the shortage. Some authorities are exploring the relaxation of traditional criteria to permit greater entry by mature age students. On the New South Wales south coast, graduate science trainee teachers have been drawn from geologists, chemists and other scientists retrenched from the local iron and steel plants. The problem of shortage in particular fields is, however, a long standing one, to which no complete solution has been found. The growing significance of science and mathematics based technology seems certain to exacerbate the problem. One solution may be the creation of entry points above the base salary level to attract both recent graduates and mature age entrants; another may be to institute a system of loadings. These might not be without industrial difficulties. Pre-service Education 10.38 The content of pre-service education was comprehensively reviewed in the various reports on teacher education conducted from 1978. A recent overview of the content of these reports (IS) showed that they recognised the impossibility of pre-service training spanning aU the knowiedge and skiiis which would be required by teachers in their professional careers. The National Inquiry recommended a core of studies for all teachers; most of the others sought new emphases. Areas of general agreement about pre service course content were reported as: • institutions should examine and evaluate their pre-service course content in collaboration with professional bodies (unions) and employers; • the content of some pre-service courses tended to be static, out of phase with or unresponsive to changes in school systems, and was therefore in need of ongoing evaluation of the kind proposed above; • all teachers should have academic training (as distinct from their pedagogical studies) in at least one of the disciplines, although the exact length of that study was not always specified; • provision should be made to ensure that all teachers attained acceptable levels of literacy and numeracy and where such standards had not been reached during schooling, they should be inculcated as part of general tertiary education; and • the content of pre-service courses should be relevant to the actual task of teaching. (16) Among extensive lists of items for greater emphasis, the more frequently mentioned were: • studies in reading and mathematics curricula; • teaching English as a second language, Aboriginal studies, multicultural studies, community languages and studies of social disadvantage; 124 • special education, including diagnostic and remedial skills (particularly in the areas of language and mathematics), education of the gifted, and counselling. (17) Considerable emphasis was given to the need for better arrangements for the practical teaching segment of teacher education. 10.39 The Commonwealth has played little part in shaping the content of pre-service education courses, although it funds all such courses. It has consistently argued that this is a matter of arrangement among employing authorities, the profession, the institutions and State coordinating authorities. From the Committee's perspective, pre-service teacher education can undoubtedly be improved and the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission should give active leadership forthwith towards that end. However, for the next five to ten years, the priority should lie with in-service education. PRESENT IN-SERVICE PROVISIONS 10.40 All school systems now engage actively in in-service teacher education activities. This is a relatively new development, arising largely from the significant changes in curriculum introduced in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before that time there was little official realisation that the implementation of change, through new syllabuses or new materials and equipment, required training for the people who were going to use them. The Commonwealth, for example, did not initially provide funds for in-service education when it began its program to upgrade science facilities in 1964. 10.41 In-service provisions serve many purposes. Among them are: the introduction of new syllabuses or curriculum guides; the induction of new teachers; improvements in areas of skill and knowledge seen to be deficient; increasing knowledge in particular subject areas; developing new teaching approaches to the needs of particular groups of students; and upgrading qualifications. 10.42 In-service education is provided in many ways. Individuals may enrol in award and non-award courses at tertiary institutions and courses conducted by school and other authorities. They may also attend seminars and conferences arranged by subject and other professional associations. Groups of staff and whole school staffs may undertake in-service activities within their schools, using people from within their own number or invited experts as leaders. 10.43 In-service education takes place both within and outside normal school time. The recent review of the Professional Development Program estimated that in-service education in teachers' own time accounted for 35 per cent of the total in 1983, when allowance is made for the widely accepted principle of 'time and a half for evening, weekend and other after hours work (18). The review also noted that teachers made a contribution of similar magnitude to activities held in school time by accepting extra supervisory and teaching responsibilities in order to release other teachers where no replacement teacher was provided (19). 10.44 Most in-service courses are of short duration, from a few hours to two or three days. Attempts to establish a pattern of full-time release for award courses, including 125 postgraduate study, have been limited by financial constraints. The extent of these constraints is illustrated by the South Australian experience. The Department of Education's Release Time Scholarships Program, which provides for retraining of teachers over extended periods of up to a year of full-time release, was reduced from a peak of 256 full-time equivalent positions in 1975-76 to a current level of about 12. Commonwealth Programs 10.45 The Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission in 1974 attached high priority to in-service education, initiated by employing authorities and by teachers themselves (20). To give effect to this priority it recommended that funds be provided for both types: courses organised in each State by a committee composed of representatives of school authorities; and the establishment and operation of non-profit making education centres sponsored by locally based groups of teachers. The present Professional Development Program and the Education Centres Program are the outcome of these recommendations. The Commonwealth provides further funds for teacher development through other specific purpose programs, including the Participation and Equity Program and Computer Education Program. 10.46 Professional Development Program This Program is designed to: improve the knowledge and skills of teachers, principals and educational support staff; and to enhance the capacity of parents and other members of the community to contribute to the education of their children. (21) In 1985, some $11 million is available under the Program to support Commonwealth specific purpose programs, projects in which the Curriculum Development Centre is involved and other curriculum projects as agreed between the States and the Common- wealth. Up to 35 per cent of funds may be used to cover teacher replacement costs but this use is subject to negotiation between the Commonwealth and the individual authorities administering the Program. An amount of almost $200 000 is reserved for the Schools Exchange and Travel Scheme which supports short term working visits by teachers, parents and others associated with schools to other schools or school systems within Australia or New Zealand. This scheme is administered by the Western Australian Department of Education. 10.47 The Professional Development Program has been significantly reduced in scale since its inception (in fact, by two thirds) and its emphasis changed. Funding has been reduced from $33 million in 1976. The use of funds for teacher replacement has been curtailed and the Program has become more closely tied to the specific purpose programs. A review set up by the Commonwealth Schools Commission estimated that in 1983, the Professional Development Program contributed about 20 per cent of expenditure by government and nOll:-government school system authorities on professional development. The largest areas of expenditure from Program funds were related to school admin istration, secondary curriculum, special education, curriculum areas not specifically primary or secondary, primary curriculum and computer education (22). The review also noted that while there was a considerable degree of commonality across the States and Territories in the major expenditure categories, there was special emphasis on student assessment and evaluation in Queensland, gifted and talented students in Western Australia, parents and community in Queensland and Tasmania, and English as a second 126 language in the Northern Territory. Whereas about half the cost of courses could be directly related to areas which the Commonwealth had identified as educational priorities, some areas received little support. For example, the review estimated that expenditure from Professional Development Program funds on in-service education for the teaching of English as a second language amounted to less than I per cent of the value of the Commonwealth's expenditure on its English as a Second Language Program. IOA8 The review strongly favoured the notion of Commonwealth support for professional development being related to Commonwealth priorities but drew attention to difficulties in the operation of the Program. These included: • the dislocatory effects of abrupt changes in Commonwealth policy and the confusion created by superimposing new priorities and by poor timing of advice about changes; • the perceptions held by some authorities that the Commonwealth was responsible for funding in-service education; • the susceptibility of funding to fluctuations because of budgetary circumstances; • the reluctance of school systems to develop administrative structures for the coordination of in-service education policies while the Commonwealth's specific purpose programs are administered by broadly representative committees external to these systems; • the conflict between the immediate priorities of the Commonwealth and those of authorities administering schools; and • the lack of opportunity for effective consultation and negotiation in the setting of Commonwealth priorities. It went on to recommend comprehensive changes to the Program. IOA9 Education Centres Program In 1985, 33 non-profit making incorporated education centres are being supported with $2.4 million. These centres, which are complemented in some States by similar centres conducted by system authorities, provide courses, facilities and resources for teachers to discuss new ideas on teaching content and method, to initiate courses to increase teachers' skills and to plan and implement curriculum changes. Recent activities of one centre in Victoria, for example, include a series of workshops on school based curriculum decision making, a parents in education program, a two day seminar on the implications for the curriculum of technological change, a ten day course on language across the curriculum and seminars on girls, schooling and society. Centres have developed extensive libraries and offer reprographic and audio visual production facilities. 10.50 A review of the Program in 1984 noted the broad range of activities undertaken by these centres (23). Their programs are decided by their management committees in response to local needs, the priorities of the Commonwealth and, where States are also contributing funds, their priorities. The need to balance these sometimes competing demands creates tensions for the centres. Their recurrent grants from the Commonwealth were seen by the review to be insufficient to meet both local needs and Commonwealth priorities. Many centres reportedly sought funds for Commonwealth priority activities by SUbmitting proposals to grant programs, for example, the Projects of National Significance Program, and to State Professional Development Committees. The review suggested that changes in funding arrangements were necessary if the centres were to be fully effective in mounting in-service courses to meet Commonwealth priorities. 127 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 10.51 The teacher and teaching quality issues for the future arise from the priorities discussed in paragraphs lOA to 10.23. Ways must be found to encourage more teachers to: • direct their efforts to raising their students' general competences; • adopt rigorous approaches to the treatment of curriculum content; • plan consistent and coordinated approaches to the curriculum; and • identify, and feel confident and competent in their teaching of, students suffering educational disadvantage. 10.52 In-service education will be of prime importance and a combination of approaches will be necessary. Balances must be struck among a number of factors: the needs of individual teachers and whole school staff; the requirements of school systems and individual schools or teachers; the use of in school and out of school time; and the priorities of the Commonwealth as compared with those of education authorities. As well, it is desirable that the profession attract and retain able people; in-service education should be accompanied by action to raise the status of teaching. I ndividual Teachers and Whole Schools lU.Jj Developrnenl aclivilies fur iuuiviuual teachefs will contiiiue to be required for the types of purpose outlined in paragraph lOA \. They will also be needed as the absence of promotional opportunities and an aging work force require the revitalization of a static teaching force. Enrolment in courses leading to regular degrees and diplomas, and in specialized courses offered by educational authorities themselves, are possibilities. Closer collaboration between schools and tertiary institutions in the provision of in-service education is desirable. In particular, the offering of non-award courses should be facilitated. These could be offered by higher education institutions either on their own initiative or under contract to school authorities. Use of the former mechanism has been inhibited by restrictions on the institutions' ability to use funds for non-award courses, and the latter has been constrained by the limits on funds available to school systems for this purpose. Contracting for courses has the advantage of making the provision of the courses sensitive to the requirements of schools and teachers. 10.54 Whole school activities have advantages over provisions for individuals where the intention is to change a school's approach or to develop better coordination of programs. They also ensure that all staff members participate, in contrast to provisions for individuals, where self selection tends to operate and there is the likelihood that those most in need of assistance do not seek it. 10.55 Whole school activities, however, may depend for their success on a school's capacity to draw upon outside expertise. Consultant and advisory services are particularly important here, as is access to funds to assist in meeting the costs of obtaining services from universities, colleges of advanced education and other sources. 128 Needs of School Systems 10.56 The Commonwealth and most school systems have given explicit recognition to the desirability of school and teacher initiated development activities. The Education Centres Program is a direct product of this recognition by the Commonwealth, as is the Schools Exchange and Travel Scheme. System willingness to grant leave to teachers for self chosen activities and the availability of project funds for individual school initiatives are other reflections of the importance attached to locally devised activities. Nonetheless, school authorities have a direct need to mount in-service activities to achieve particular objectives. The introduction of new curricula and new forms of school organization, mentioned in paragraph 10.41, are cases in point. In School and Out of School Hours 10.57 One of the arguments advanced in support of the reduction of Commonwealth funding of the Professional Development Program and of imposing constraints on the extent to which funds could be applied to the costs of teacher release was that professional development is a professional responsibility and that it should take place largely beyond school hours. Raising teacher quality is intrinsic to the development of education nationally. Furthennore, it is difficult to imagine any modem, large employer con templating the introduction of major structural or operational change without providing some training for those who will manage and implement the reform. Neither is it realistic to expect that an industry will prosper unless it gives some attention to staff training. Where the industry's workforce is not particularly mobile, and there is lifetime employment within it, training provisions become more important. 10.58 Nonetheless, most industries have the capacity to release staff for training purposes without incurring the additional cost of replacing them. The incorporation within teachers' industrial awards of provisions for replacement during teacher absences has meant that their employers have had to curtail in-service activities in school time. The cost of buying sufficient teacher time to mount all necessary development activities is beyond their financial capacity and alternatives have to be found. 10.59 Not all teachers are willing to engage in professional development activities out of school hours or at their own expense. There are, however, some indications that their Willingness to do so rises where the activities on offer have intrinsic merit, are well organized and are perceived to be of direct professional benefit. Given the length of the school year and of the school day, as well as the importance of in-service education to teachers, the Committee believes that greater use of non-school time for in-service activities is reasonable. It does not favour either mandatory attendance at out of school hours activities or the suspension of in school hours activities but supports the mounting of more activities out of term, particularly during the long summer vacation, perhaps with credit towards a tertiary qualification. Commonwealth Priorities 10.60 Increasingly the Commonwealth has sought to have the funds it provides for professional development used in support of its priorities, although it has had some difficulties, as suggested in paragraph 10.47. As well it has adopted the practice of 129 allowing funds under specific purpose programs to be used for related teacher develop ment. An extension of these arrangements, so that specific purpose programs are accompanied by adequate teacher development activities, seems highly desirable. RAISING THE STATUS OF THE PROFESSION 10.61 The relative status of the profession and employment prospects in it are important determinants of who come forward as prospective teachers. Forecasts of oversupply in the mid to late 1970s appear to have discouraged many who chose alternatives which offered better employment prospects. Nowadays, future employment prospects, prospective financial rewards and t~e perceived status of the profession appear to be affecting the choice of teaching as a career. The Beazley Committee (24), for example, received evidence that some school counsellors and teachers were advising high ability students not to consider teaching. Competition for training places for the more lucrative and higher status professions is keen. The broadening of the career horizons of women, which has been associated with the opening to them of non-traditional occupations, has reduced a major source of supply. The status of the teaching service seems to have fallen relative to other occupations. Certainly the last few years have seen widespread negative publicity about teachers. The tendency in the late 1970s to blame schools for youth unemployment reflected on the teaching profession. The combination of a poor public image, the constrained opportunities for advancement associated with the aging of the teaching force and alternative avenues of employment seem likely to restrict the profession's capacity to attract and retain high calibre teachers. 10.62 In summary, the Committee believes that attainment of the desirable outcomes of schooling set out in Chapter 5 is heavily dependent on improving the quality of the teaching force. The Committee sees the expansion of consultant and advisory services and of in-service education for teachers as the most fruitful strategies in the short and medium terms but believes that they should be accompanied by efforts on the part of the profession itself, education authorities and governments to raise the status and reputation of teaching as a career. REFERENCES 1. National Inquiry into Teacher Education, Report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1980. J J Auchmuty, Chairman. 2. New South Wales: Committee to Examine Teacher Education, Report, Teachers For Tomorrow: Continuity, Challenge and Change in Teacher Education in NSW, Government Printer, Sydney, November 1980. PM COffey, Chairman. Queensland: Committee Appointed by the Board of Advanced Education and the Board of Teacher Education to Advise on Desirable Developments in Teacher Education in Queensland, Report, 1978 Review: Teacher Education in Queensland, Brisbane, October 1978. G W Bassett, Chairman. 130 South Australia: South Australian Enquiry into Teacher Education, Report, SA Department of Education, Adelaide, November 1980. K R Gilding, Chairman. Victoria: Committee of the Victorian Enquiry into Teacher Education, Teacher Education in Victoria: Interim Report, Government Printer, Melbourne, February 1980. K J A Asche, Chairman. Committee of the Victorian Enquiry into Teacher Education, Teacher Education in Victoria: Final Report, Government Printer, Melbourne, September 1981. K J A Asche, Chairman. Western Australia: Committee of Inquiry into Teacher Education, Report, Teacher Education in Western Australia, WA Education Department, Perth, November 1980. R L Vickery, Chairman. 3. P Deschamp and A Markey, Weak Readers in Primary Schools, Discussion Paper No. 16, Research Branch, WA Education Department, 1983. 4. F M Broadby, Case Studies of Six Schools Demonstrating a Significant Improvement on Test lOR, 1976-1978, Research Study No. 59, Research Branch, Education Department of Tasmania, September 1980. Page 96. 5. Commonwealth Schools Commission Working Party on the Education of Girls, Girls and Tomorrow: The Challenge for Schools, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, April 1984. Pages 32 to 36. 6. J D Chapman, The Selection and Appointment of Australian School Principals, Report to the Commonwealth Schools Commission Working Party on the Professional' Development of Principals, September 1983. 7. Commonwealth Schools Commission Working Party on the Education of Girls, op. cit. Pages 23 to 26. 8. Curriculum Development Centre, A Curriculum Development Centre Council Response to Questions Raised by the Quality of Education Review Committee, March 1985. Page 12. 9. G W Bassett, Teachers in Australian Schools 1979, The Australian College of Education, Melbourne. 1980. 10. J D Chapman, op. cit. 11. A Hodge, 'Student Teachers and Ethnic Identity' in The Forum of Education, Vol. XXXIX, No.2, Junc 1980. 12. M J Angus, S K Brown, B McGaw and G Robson, Target Recurrent Resource Standards Study, Discussion Paper No.2: Setting Standards for School Resources - The Contribution of Research, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, 1983. Pages 33 to 40. 13. Committee of the Victorian Enquiry into Teacher Education, Teacher Education in Victoria, Interim and Final Reports, op. cit. 14. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, Report, Perth, Western Australia, March 1984. K E Beazley, Chairman. 15. F Coulter and L Ingvarson, Review of the Commonwealth Professional Development Program, Professional Development and the Improvement of Schooling: Roles and Responsibilities, A Report to the Commonwealth Schools Commission, November 1984. Pages 31 to 36. 16. ibid. Page 34. 17. ibid. Page 35. 18. ibid. Page 87. 19. ibid. Page 91. 20. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, Report: Schools in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, May 1973. PH Karmel, Chairman. 131 21. Commonwealth ,Schools Commission, Program Guidelines /985, Canberra, March 1985. Page 45. 22. F Coulter and L Ingvarson, op. cit. Page 80. 23. Committee of Review of Commonwealth Sponsored Education Centres, Report to the Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, December 1984. L Shears, Chairperson. \ 24. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, op. cit. 132 CHAPTER 11: NEEDS OF SPECIAL GROUPS 11.1 The Committee was asked to provide advice on the student groups in greatest need of specific forms of assistance. Against the background of Chapter 3 which describes the development in schooling over recent decades, this chapter describes the needs of, and current provisions for, special groups. The Committee's views on future pOlicies for special groups are set out in Chapter 12. 11.2 The identification of groups most in need of specific forms of assistance involves close examination of educational outcomes and the social and cultural factors which impinge upon students' ability to benefit from schooling. It also involves the formulation of conclusions about the efficacy of measures taken within schooling to ameliorate the effects of these factors. The Committee has adopted as a framework the categorisation of student groups with special needs used by the Commonwealth Schools Commission. It has concerned itself with the possible needs of, and priorities among, the groups in the following list. The Committee believes that all important categories are encompassed by this list but recognises that the groups are neither homogeneous nor mutually exclusive: • students of low socia-economic background; • students of non-English speaking background; • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students; • geographically isolated students; • physically and intellectually handicapped students; • gifted and talented students; and • potential early school leavers. The particular aspect of girls' education on which the Committee was asked to advise has been discussed in Chapters 6 and 10. In the following discussion of special groups it is assumed that it is already accepted that girls within these groups are doubly dis advantaged. II .3 While attention has been drawn wherever possible to the range of current Commonwealth provisions, there has been no detailed examination of allowances paid to or for individuals or of programs whose administration lies outside the education portfolio. STUDENTS OF LOW SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND II A In Schools in Australia, the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission discussed at some length the ways in which low socio-economic status was associated with poor educational attainment. It found higher drop out rates and lower average levels of educational attainment in schools serving areas of relative poverty (I). It recommended the provision of supplementary recurrent and buildings grants to improve the quality of educational services and of life in schools identified as being disadvantaged 133 on the basis of the socio-economic characteristics of the neighbourhoods from which they drew their students. 11.5 The Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission in 1982 reviewed the educational and employment opportunities for young people (2). As part of this study, analysis of research findings on the factors affecting progression from school to higher education and to technical and further education showed that factors such as Year 12 results, parental encouragement, high socia-economic family status, knowledge of occupational and financial rewards of further study, and attendance at a non-Catholic non-government school, were associated with progression to higher education. It led to the conclusion that: much of the social sorting process which leads to the social bias. . . in higher education takes place within secondary schooling ... (3) From its analysis of the data from the Australian Council for Educational Research's Study of Youth in Transition (4), the Tertiary Education Commission concluded, inter alia: • even by age 14, there is a strong and positive relationship between socia-economic status (as measured by father'S occupation) and measured levels of school achievement. Some 40 per cent of high-SES students were placed in the highest achievement quartile on the ACER tests of 1975, for example, compared with only 18 per cent of students from low-SES backgrounds; • persistence to the end of secondary education is also strongly associated with socia-economic background. Even with adjustment made for the relationship described above, a young person from a high-SES background is substantially more likely than other young people to proceed to Year 12. Considering only those studenis in the highest achievement quurtile, ihe /HujJufiiun jJer'8isiinf; iv Year' 12 ranged from 62 per cent for the low-SES group to 81 per cent for those from high- SES backgrounds. A similar variation is evident in other quartiles; and • beyond the end of secondary school, progression to university educatio'n is once again heavily stratified along socio~economic lines, even when allowance is made for both of the relationships described above. For the total ACER sample, a student from a high-SES background was three times more likely than his low-SES peer to have undertaken university study by age 19. (5) 11.6 Among 10 year olds who participated in the Australian Council for Educational Research's 1975 survey of literacy and numeracy, the findings were similar. There was a clear association between mastery of literacy and numeracy and socio-economic status, as measured by a composite of father's education and occupation and mother's education. 11.7 A commitment to more equal group outcomes is a commitment to redress a situation in which a large group of school students is limited in its access to the social and economic rewards of schooling by the nature of its own social and economic circum- stances. The challenge lies in selecting the measures through which such a commitment is given practical expression. 11.8 To some extent, low educational achievement has its roots in poverty. Poverty tends to exclude those affected by it from customary living patterns because of their inadequate command of resources. At its extreme, it is characterised by poor diet, poor health, insecurity of income, poor housing, unemployment, lack of savings, low self 134 esteem, lack of knowledge of social rights and suspicion of authority. These interact to produce a social environment in which the goals, values and customs of the school may have little force. Factors such as poor diet and health, poor housing, low income and low family educational attainment may severely limit students' ability to cope with the school environment and the school's expectations of students. 11.9 Even where students of low socio-economic background are not living in poverty, the school itself may be influential in limiting participation. The school curriculum - what is taught, how it is taught, how schools are organised and the overt and covert signals about acceptable values - is a powerful screening device. Present Commonwealth Programs 11.10 The Commonwealth operates two major programs designed directly to ameliorate socia-economic disadvantage. The Secondary Allowances Scheme adminis- tered by the Commonwealth Department of Education is an income tested scheme paying benefits to individuals to assist in the completion of Years II and 12. In 1984 there were 61 495 students, or nearly one in four of total enrolments in Years II and 12, assisted under the Scheme (preliminary figures) and total expenditure was $54.7 million (current prices). 11.11 The Disadvantaged Schools Program, administered by the Schools Com mission, arose from the recommendations of the Interim Committee (6). A third small program, the Children in Residential Institutions Program, has a focus on socially deprived children living in a non-family setting. 11.12 Disadvantaged Schools Program In recommending supplementary grants for disadvantaged schools the Interim Committee set three objectives. The first related to equality of opportunity, emphasising the reduction of differences in the educational performance of socially disadvantaged children and the rest of the school population over the traditional gamut of schooling, defined in tenns of the intellectual, practical and expressive arts. The second related to ensuring that the ten years or more of life that students devote to school be spent in congenial surroundings, in a satisfying community and in a program of meaningful and relevant activities. The third was a more general objective, expressed as a hope that through successful interaction schools would become less alienated from their communities. 11.13 The Disadvantaged Schools Program has an allocation of nearly $36 million for 1985, funds being available for recurrent expenditure and minor works. Participant schools are those which have been declared disadvantaged on the basis of the nature of the community they serve, not because of the level of resources they command. State Ministers of Education determine which government schools will be declared and advise the Commonwealth Minister of any changes to the list of eligible schools. The Commonwealth Minister declares non-government schools, after recommendations from agencies located in the States - system authorities, State Disadvantaged Schools Program Committees and the Commission's Planning and Finance Committees. For the Northern Territory, schools are declared following advice from the Northern Territory Schools Commission Programs Committee. The Commission has asked that once declared, schools remain in the Program for at least three years, in recognition of the time 135 required to achieve Program objectives. Education authorities in the States also provide substantial funds from their own resources. For example, in New South Wales the differential staffing formula introduced to provide additional resources in disadvantaged schools is estimated to cost in excess of $9 million (current prices) in 1985. Further support is available at central, regional and school level at an estimated cost of over $1 million (current prices). 11.14 Funds are distributed among government and non-government school systems according to a formula based on an index of disadvantage derived from national census data. Enrolment ceilings for the Program are set by the Commission in each State and sector. The current national ceiling is a little over 420 000 students, that is about 14 per cent of all enrolments. The enrolment ceiling is set to concentrate resources in particular schools, in line with the Interim committee's and later the Commission's belief that this concentration aids in the achievement of the Program's objectives (7). The funds available under the Program represent, at the national level, approximately $85 per student in disadvantaged schools. However, funds are allocated to schools for specific projects submitted for funding, and not on a per capita basis. 11.15 The index of disadvantage currently used by the Commission in resource allocation decisions was derived from 1976 census data, using 32 variables shown to discriminate between Census Collection Districts in terms of concentrations of dis- advantage. The variables relate to occupation of the male and female work force, educational qualifications, family structure, housing and services, ethnicity and income (8). 11.16 Most school authorities have developed their own indicators to derive their recommendations on schools to be declared, although three relatively small systems - the government systems in the Territories and the non-government system in Queensland - assess degrees of school disadvantage through the personal knowledge of system personnel. Where indicators have been developed, the variables used are broadly similar to those used nationally. Most use family occupational status, community socio-economic status, migrancy, Aboriginal students and single parent family variables. Added variables include such things as isolation, unemployment, retention rates, achievement test scores, pensioners and student turnover. There is some question as to whether lack of uniformity in selection devices is appropriate in a nationally targetted program but the Interim Committee acknowledged that local knowledge would be important in the actual selection of schools and the Schools Commission has maintained this principle. 1I.l7 During 1984, the Commission arranged for an independent review of the Program, to evaluate and report on its operation and to recommend future directions. Among other things, the review was to provide: a general assessment of changes in the quality of schooling which can be attributed to the operation of the Disadvantaged Schools Program (including those qualities identified by the Karmel Committee - basic skills, enjoyable and fruitful schooling, relevant curricula and staff and community involvement). (9) 11.18 The review (10) drew upon previously published reviews and studies and consulted extensively with people and organisations involved in the Program throughout Australia. It presented a picture of a successful program. Fundamental skills, whether defined broadly as school attainment or as language, number and social skills, were seen 136 to have improved. The Program was seen to have brought about substantial real gains, particularly in primary schools, in the development of self confidence and self esteem. Tangible measures of more enjoyable and fruitful schooling were reduced playground violence and vandalism as well as improved attendance. The number of parents involved in the Program was reported to be small although it was claimed that parents in disadvantaged communities have a better understanding of schooling as a result of the Program. Alienation, unemployment, a diversity of languages and cultures, a high proportion of single parent families and insufficient financial resources are real deterrents to active participation in school affairs. 11.19 The review identified two factors as having been fundamental to the Program's success: school based program development and selectivity in choice of projects for funding. The former requires the analysis of the school's existing program and the community's strengths and needs, and the development of strategies to meet those needs. This was seen to be valued by those associated with the Program more than any other element. In the administration of the Program, emphasis is placed on funding only those projects which set out an analysis of needs, a rationale for action and proposed action in the light of the Program's objectives. This emphasis is reported to have ensured the allocation of resources to projects most likely to succeed. The review also identified improvements in teaching practice, including a better understanding of planning, continuity and sequence and of the need for specific objectives, as well as improvements in teacher morale and motivation. 11.20 While highlighting the Program's success, the review was not unreserved in its praise. Several aspects drew critical comment and proposals for change. Some schools were reported to show a concern with process at the expense of the pursuit of specific objectives. Gender, Aboriginality and non-English speaking background were seen as factors needing particular attention. Other concerns related to the identification of disadvantaged schools, accountability requirements, the lack of national leadership, community participation, overlap among specific purpose programs and the paucity of funds in the face of the level of relative poverty in Australia. 11.21 Children in Residential Institutions Program This Program is included here because it is concerned with social deprivation, that of children living in welfare institutions and remand homes. It does not necessarily focus on children with intellectual or physical handicaps or on children of low socio-economic background. II. 22 The Program was introduced in 1977 following recognition by the Schools Commission (11) of the inadequate, and in some cases non-existent, educational services provided for children living in welfare institutions and remand homes. The 1985 administrative guidelines set out the aims of the Program as being: • To provide educational and related services for institutionalised children, leading to more satisfactory levels of school achievement. • To bring the life experiences of institutionalised children closer to those of children living in family surroundings. • To provide special opportunities of a social, recreational and educational nature for such children which can help to compensate for some of their handicaps. • To maximise the potential of such children to lead normal lives when they leave the institution. (12) 137 Large traditional institutions (whether schools exist within them or not) as well as small family group homes come within the scope of the Program; while foster homes, hostels, boarding schools and women's refuges are excluded. Apart from a small increase in 1979 to cater for the provision of services in residences which had not existed in 1977, funding under the program has remained constant in real terms. In 1985 a little over $2 million is being provided. II. 23 A review of the Program in 1984 (13) noted that it represented a shift from providing educational services for children within schools to educational support for a group of disadvantaged students outside schools. It also involved a range of government departments as well as a number of voluntary agencies. 11.24 The conclusion of the review was that the Program was delivering much needed and valuable support to a group of children at severe educational and social risk. It was also enabling many residential staff to deliver child care services with better range and depth of coverage. Given the funds available, the Program had a significant impact on those children and staff in participating residences. The impact on children had been greatest in the area of normalisation of life experiences and least in the enhancement of school experiences, although the latter was the prime area of need targetted by the Program. Impact on the potential for independent living was also comparatively low. In this context it was suggested that projects aimed at improving children's school performance and their potential for independent living could be given greater priority in some States. 11.25 The review commented that while the lists of residences held by the Commission were in general accurate and up to date there was no single source of information on the number of children in residential care. It suggested that, because growing numbers of children and residences are being identified as falling within the Program guidelines, it might become necessary for the Commission to define priorities among participating residences. The review stressed that above all the Program should remain responsive to changes in patterns of residential care alild changes in the needs of children requiring residential alternatives. STUDENTS OF NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING BACKGROUND 11.26 Within this broad category there is a wide range of educational need. At one end of the scale some students require substantial assistance because they speak no English; at the other are those who are proficient English writers, readers and speakers. The problems of identifying non-English speaking background students most in need of assistance, assessing the extent of their need and of defining categories of students to whom special assistance should be directed are of long standing. These issues have been addressed by several Commonwealth Departments, by the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs, the Commonwealth Schools Commission and State government authorities (14). Recently, the Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts examined the teaching of English as a Second Language in the context of its enquiry on national language policy (15). It found no adequate indicator of the extent of the need for instruction in English as a second language but drew attention to the Schools 138 Commission's study to identify the factors affecting the development of English competence. 11.27 This study set up by the Commission (16) arose from the Commonwealth's acceptance in 1982 of a recommendation in the report of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs on its evaluation of post-arrival programs and services for migrants (17). It was designed to identify the factors which affect the development of English language competence and to develop an index which could be used by the Commonwealth to allocate funds for language instruction among students of non-English speaking background. The study concluded that the best single indicator of need for assistance is proficiency level in English, but level of schooling, scholastic ability, literacy in the mother tongue and refugee status are other significant factors. It proposed a weighted index of need which would require assessment of the proficiency in English of individual students and could be used to allocate Commonwealth funds (18). 11.28 The study identified four levels of proficiency in English, ranging from nil or minimal to advanced, and five categories of students, defined in terms of their level of proficiency in English, level of schooling, scholastic ability, literacy in the mother tongue and refugee status. It proposed that the heaviest weighting within any index be given to students with minimal or no proficiency in English and one or more of the following characteristics: slow learning; refugee; above eight years of age and illiterate or semi- literate in their mother tongue; or in the last two years of primary schooling or in secondary schooling. 11.29 The immigration program brings to Australia each year a sizable number of students who have minimal or no proficiency in English on their arrival. Their need for intensive instruction in the English language is immediate and obvious. Without access to English they are deprived of acceSS to education and to an alien culture. Within the group there are those whose pressing needs extend beyond English language instruction because they are illiterate in their mother tongue. These tend to be young people with refugee status who have received no schooling in their homeland or whose schooling has been seriously interrupted. These students face almost insurmountable obstacles in surviving let alone in operating as effective members of society. The plight of those in the older age groups - about 14 to 17 years of age or older - who have received little or no schooling, have spent several years in refugee camps and have arrived in Australia without family or friends is extreme. Many of the groups consulted by the Committee or making representations to it attached very high priority to this group of students and to measures which they saw as necessary for the group to be able to cope with living in Australia. These included not only the development of literacy and numeracy but also induction to the culture, and psychological and financial support. 11.30 Low levels of proficiency in English among students of non-English speaking background are not confined to recent arrivals. Factors such as scholastic ability. degree of literacy in the mother tongue and age at which English is introduced affect students who were born in Australia or have had long residence. The need for special assistance extends therefore beyond the newly arrived group. It may also extend to students who can use English effectively but who experience difficulty with language that is subject specific or abstract. Such students may be less able to participate in education than native speakers of similar intellectual capacity. 139 Present Commonwealth Programs 11.31 A number of the programs administered by the Schools Commission have as their sole or principal focus students from non-English speaking backgrounds. In total, funding of these programs is about $82 million in 1985. 11.32 English as a Second Language - General Support This is the largest in financial terms ($61 million in 1985) and the oldest. It has evolved from the Child Migrant Education Program set up by the Commonwealth in 1970 and transferred to Commission administration at the beginning of 1976. Funds are distributed according to State and school systems' share of students born in non-English speaking countries or born in Australia with one or both parent(s) having been born in a non-English speaking country. The earlier program had been confined to migrant students born in a non-English speaking country. Education authorities also contribute funds from their own resources; for example, in 1984 the Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority provided $1.8 million (current prices) to develop the English language competence of students of non English speaking background in government schools in the Australian Capital Territory. 11.33 The goals of the Program have changed over time. The recent review for the Commission (19) commented on the changes in emphasis which appear to have occurred since the Program's inception and on the absence of a clearly stated rationale. It discerned a recent movement towards the identification of proficiency in English as an important factor in achieving social cohesion, whereas the rationale of the period 1976 to 1982 had laid greater stress on equality of access in an ethnically diverse society and on the need for a multicultural perspective across the curriculum. The review concluded that the Program had been successful in terms of heightening the 2'...,are!!ess in edu(,fl.t!O!! of the needs of students of non-English speaking background, in assisting students reach a coping or survival level of English and in helping them make personal and social adjustments. However, it found no widespread acceptance by mainstream teachers of responsibility for the language development of students from non-English speaking backgrounds. More over, because many students do not proceed beyond the coping level, there is considerable unrealised potential. 11.34 With its emphasis on general competences involving the use of communication skills as desirable outcomes, the Committee is concerned at the finding that mainstream teachers by and large did not accept responsibility for the language development of students from non-English speaking backgrounds. Of particular interest is the observation that: In the great majority of the education authorities, ESL is located within multicultural education which, in its turn, is located within directorates of Special Programs. These directorates frequently comprise what looks like a grab-bag ofCommonwealthJunded Programs, together with some authority ones that are outside mainstream education. This location of ESL away from the major curriculum agencies of the authorities is likely to leave established orientations and philosophies unchanged, and it generates an impression that ESL is a temporary phenomenon which could disappear if Commonwealth funding were to be withdrawn. ESL, at least as we conceptualize it, would be more effective if co-ordinated with curriculum agencies, as, indeed, it is in a small number of instances. (20) 140 11.35 In an ethnically diverse society (see paragraphs 4.30 to 4.32) this seems a most unsatisfactory situation. It is not consistent with the desirable individual outcome of ensuring adequate communication skills, with the desirable social outcome of promoting equality of group outcomes or with the propositions about the teaching role advanced in Chapter 10. 11.36 The review commented on the wide variations in the methods used by schools to identify students in need of assistance and by systems in distributing funds to meet those needs. Schools, for example, use combinations of: • consultation between the school administration, ESL teachers, guidance staff and mainstream staff; • interviews with parents and students; • diagnostic tests for English language proficiency; and • liaison with intensive language centres catering for new arrivals. Many students are not identified on initial entry to school, their need being recognised when they fail to perform academically or in behaviour terms. Others are not recognised at all, their problems being identified as discipline or ability related. Education systems tend to rely on schools to initiate requests for additional resources and then to use a variety of methods to decide among competing claims, from visits and assessments by consultant staff to standard questionnaires. Much therefore depends on the skills and attitudes of school staff. 11.37 The lack of clarity about the Commonwealth's intentions, its circumscribed power to enforce its requirements on education authorities and the considerable degree of autonomy enjoyed by schools in respect of English as a second language teaching, point to a need to re-examine the strategy employed in program delivery. When these factors are coupled with difficulties in obtaining sufficient information, as a matter of routine, to target the Program and about its effects, this becomes even more pressing. The review report contained suggestions for a more highly structured program. 11.38 English as a Second Language - New Arrivals This evolved from the Contingency Program for Refugee Children, set up in 1975 under the administration of the Commonwealth Department of Education, to assist refugee students to enter Australian school systems effectively. Administration was transferred to the Commission in 1981 and the New Arrivals element replaced it in the following year. 11.39 An evaluation of the Contingency Program conducted in 1980 (21) concluded that the results justified the expenditure. The main justification given was that, by agreeing to accept refugees, Australia accepted the responsibility of integrating refugee students into its schools. Further, without such funding for initial programs and continued funding for English as a second language instruction, school systems would face a burden in coping with refugee students while continuing to meet their responsibilities to mainstream students (22). On the question of cost effectiveness, the evaluation report was more equivocal. It noted that greater effectiveness may have been obtained if all the teachers had an accredited qualification in teaching English as a second language and permanent teaching positions, if higher levels of English proficiency had been required for employment of ethnic aides and if aides had been used more extensively in classroom contact with students and in language study. The report also observed that the achievement of cost savings, by increasing class size or other means of reducing inputs, would probably have had negative consequences for the student's acquisition of English. 141 11.40 Under the New Arrivals element, funds are provided on a per capita basis for intensive English language programs for students of non-English speaking background who are newly arrived in Australia. In 1985 an estimated $11 million will be provided for some 12 000 students. The operation of this program was encompassed within the review of the English as a Second Language Program referred to above but it is distinctive in several ways. According to the review, the bulk of the funds are directed towards students in special intensive language units typically located near migrant reception centres, in metropolitan suburbs where 'family reunion' is operating or in densely populated low rent areas. All government school systems and one Catholic school system have established such centres. Some students, particularly at the primary level, are placed directly in mainstream classes and given intensive instruction on a withdrawal basis. Schools which have no English as a second language staff but small groups of new arrivals, may be allocated a part-time or itinerant teacher. Students in isolated country areas are most likely to be deprived of intensive assistance. For the majority of students at intensive centres or units, there is a limit of six months intensive instruction which is regarded as generally sufficient to enable them to reach a coping level of proficiency, provided that classes remain small and there are adequate resources. There are other students for whom six months is demonstrably inadequate. Some of these are assisted by the diversion of funds from the General Support element or from other funds of the education authorities. ll.41 The program delivery system is much more closely targetted than that for the General Support element, and the information flow much better, largely because the per capita payment depends on the submission of detailed claims by education authorities. This increases the direct cost to the Commonwealth of program administration but this must be weighed against the effectiveness of the Program in meeting its limited aims. 11.42 Hthnic Schools Program ThiS Program was set up in 1981 as a result of government acceptance of a recommendation from the Australian Institute of Multi- cultural Affairs. Costing an estimated $5 million in 1985, it provides per capita grants to approved ethnic education authorities providing supplementary community language and culture programs, either in regular schools as insertion classes or out of school hours. The stated aims of the Program are to help maintain the languages of people from non-English speaking background and to further opportunities for all Australians to gain access to the different languages and cultures within Australian society. To this end, ethnic education authorities are required to accept enrolments from students who may not be from the ethnic backgrounds to which the language imd culture programs apply. 11.43 In 1984 the Schools Commission released a commissioned report on the operation of the insertion class element of the Program (23). The distinguishing features of insertion classes are that the teachers are employed by ethnic education, rather than school, authorities and that the Commonwealth is the main source of funds. By the end of 1984 about 76 000 students, mostly in primary schools, were expected to be learning a language other than English under the insertion class model. In 1983 there were 56 000 students, 54 000 of them learning Italian. They were heavily concentrated in Victoria, and in the Catholic education system within it. Of 296 programs, 172 were in Victorian schools, 114 of them in Catholic schools. No insertion classes operated in Tasmania or the Northern Territory. 11.44 According to the review, school communities saw the aims of insertion classes to be substantially different from those identified by the Commonwealth. In practice, the 142 classes aim to promote tolerance and understanding of cultural diversity and of the linguistic difficulties faced by people of non-English speaking background. They have become limited duration language awareness programs and only a relatively small proportion of students in them is from the ethnic background of the community language offered. They tend to be compulsory for all students in year or grade levels nominated by the school in which they are set up. There appears to be a good deal of overlap with projects funded under the Multicultural Education Program, also administered by the Commission. 11.45 The review noted that insertion classes appear to have met a demand for the teaching of community languages, as evidenced by the rapid increase in enrolments over the Program's life and the high level of satisfaction expressed by school communities. However, among those connected with the Program, but not directly engaged in operating classes in schools, doubts were expressed about the continuation of the Program in its present form. Although they appeared to hold the general view that arrangements for community language teaching should become more formalised within the school curriculum, there was lack of agreement about whether ethnic education authorities should continue to be responsible for them. I 1.46 After hours classes conducted under the Program operate quite differently. In 1983, there were 80 000 students studying 50 languages in after hours classes conducted by 640 education authorities, 245 of which were in New South Wales and 216 in Victoria. They are conducted on an open access basis, but after hours classes are largely attended by students of a particular ethnic background on a voluntary basis. Class duration is determined by the ethnic education authority and tends to be longer than for insertion classes. There have been criticisms of the Program in relation to the qualifications of teachers and the nature of the curriculum materials available to them (24), but it appears to be faithful to the aims expressed by the Commonwealth at its inception. 11.47 Multicultural Education Program Although it has a broader focus than students of non-English speaking background, this Program is included here because it was designed not only to improve education for the culturally different but also to stimulate Australia's adaptation to the existence of minority groups and to foster a cohesive, tolerant and understanding society. It came into operation at the beginning of 1980 as a result of recommendations from a review of post-arrival services and programs in 1978 (25); in 1985, $5 million is being provided for it. As far as possible funds are to be distributed equally between community language teaching programs and other general multicultural education projects. Included within it is an element reserved for support at the national level of innovative educational activities of national significance. 11.48 A comprehensive review of the Program undertaken for the Schools Com mission in 1984 (26) found that those working in and close to the Program, including ethnic community leaders, saw intercultural understanding as the primary objective, although there was strong support among ethnic community leaders for its use as a vehicle for language maintenance. In practice funds were being used for the purposes for which the Program was designed although the review had some reservations about the effectiveness with which they were applied. 11.49 The review detailed the significant achievements of the Program. It also raised some substantive issues related to the identification of groups in special need and about effective strategies for meeting these needs. 143 11.50 Under the heading of 'community language projects', the review found a variety of projects. Some were concerned with teaching a language other than English to enhance proficiency in English among students of non-English speaking background, or to maintain their first language. Some sought to increase intercultural understanding among monolingual English speakers while others aimed both to maintain language and to increase intercultural awareness among mixed groups of students. It also noted that of the languages selected, some were chosen because of their relevance to the local community, some because they are regional languages of importance to Australia (for example, Indonesian and Japanese) and some because they were traditionally taught in schools (for example, French, German and Italian). I 1 .51 Diversity in educational approaches is welcome and necessary and the Program addresses important goals. Nonetheless, there is a question of whether it is appropriate to use it as a vehicle for overcoming the language disadvantage of students of non-English speaking background. The Commonwealth is supporting programs directed specifically at developing proficiency in English as a second language (English as a Second Language Program) and the maintenance of language and culture (Ethnic Schools Program). The Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts noted five purposes of teaching languages other than English: • acquisition of the language skills required for effective communication with non- English speakers; • development of an understanding of other cultures; • maintenance of ethnic (including Aboriginal) languages and cultures; • development of cognitive, and general linguistic capacities; • development of personality and a sense of individual identity. ("2/) The Multicultural Education Program and the three programs dealt with above appear to be supporting projects directed at some or all of these. There is overlap and a confusion of purpose: some clarification of the primary goals of the four programs would seem desirable. ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER STUDENTS 11.52 Although the last decade or so has seen improvements in Aboriginal participation in education at all levels, the outcomes for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders remain seriously inadequate. In 1982, had Aboriginal retention been the same as national average retention to the final year of schooling, there would have been about 1600 Aborigines in Year 12; there were 454 (28). The Aboriginal popUlation suffers a disproportionate share of unemployment and is grossly under represented in higher education. Further evidence of Aboriginal disadvantage is plentiful and need not be cited here. 11.53 There can be no doubt that policies directed towards reducing inequalities in group outcomes require- the provision of specific assistance for the education of Aboriginal students. The challenge lies in the selection of the measures. The group is not 144 homogeneous and is geographically dispersed. There is a large number of schools with Aboriginal enrolments. For example, in New South Wales there are more than 175 government schools with 20 or more Aboriginal students. There are over 200 non government schools throughout Australia with some Aboriginal students, at least 70 of them with 20 or more. Schools with predominantly Aboriginal enrolments are found mainly in Queensland (over 30), Western Australia (over SO) and the Northern Territory (over 90) (29). There is also a small number of independent Aboriginal community schools which are wholly Aboriginal in their enrolments. I I .54 A common bond among Aboriginal communities is their demand for educa tion. The National Aboriginal Education Committee stressed this point during its discussions with the Committee. Other enquiries have confirmed this (30). Important elements in a satisfactory education are the preservation of the Aboriginal heritage through language and culture, as well as access to the dominant culture. Pre-requisites for an adequate education process are seen by the National Aboriginal Education Committee to be the preservation of a consultative framework and direct Aboriginal community participation in decisions about the curriculum. 11.55 Two recent reports have made comprehensive recommendations on programs and projects which the Commonwealth should support. The Working Party on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, set up by the Schools Commission in 1984 in response to a Government request, recommended the establishment of a Commonwealth Aboriginal Education Program with four components: • supplementary recurrent grants; • language and cultural studies; • a development scheme to assist Aboriginal community schools, student develop- ment and school based initiatives, regional language and culture resource centres, parent, community and staff development, and curriculum development and policy research; and • teachers in Aboriginal community schools (31). 11.56 The Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts recommended: • resources for the preservation of endangered Aboriginal languages; • the support of 'two way' Aboriginal schools;* • the use of the teaching techniques of English as a foreign language and as a second language; • maintenance, as opposed to transitional, bilingual programs; • the inclusion of Aboriginal studies, Aboriginal language studies and English as a foreign and second language teaching techniques in training courses for teachers for Aboriginal schools; • the promotion of Aboriginal studies, including Aboriginal languages, in all schools; * As reported by the Senate Standing Committee in its report, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs described 'two-way' schools in the following manner: .. . the two-way school is one which goes further than merely using the mother tongue . .. it is intended by the Aboriginals as a two-way process, so the school is an integral part a/the community and each culture is reasonably equally represented, with each learning from the other and each having its part to play without eventually excluding the other . .. (32) 145 • the recognition of Aboriginal languages at matriculation level and in higher education; • an increase in the number of Aboriginal teacher trainees and teachers; and • the employment of more Aboriginal professionals and para-professionals in education in the fields of linguistics and curriculum development (33). It stressed that Aboriginal people should be guaranteed the major role in decision making about Aboriginal language issues. 11.57 The thrusts of these sets of recommendations are broadly similar. They show a demand for more resources for schooling and for changes in the forms of assistance currently provided. They also have considerable implications for the nature of training provided for teachers. Present Commonwealth Programs 11.58 The Commonwealth Department of Education administers three educational assistance schemes for Aboriginal students - the Aboriginal Secondary Grants Scheme, the Aboriginal Study Grants Scheme (for post-school study) and the Aboriginal Overseas Study Awards Scheme. All involve grants to individuals. In 1983-84, expenditure on these programs amounted to $45 million (current prices). In 1984, there were an estimated 23 650 participants in the Secondary Grants Scheme, and an estimated 12 100 in the Study Awards Scheme. Ten overseas study awards were approved during 1983-84. The Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs administers grants to schools, school systems and non-government organisations and institutions for educational programs. In 1983-84, expe!1diture by this Department on e(h.!c:at!o!1 prognuns w~s. estimated at ahout $14 million (current prices), of which some $9 million related to schools. 11.59 In 1984 the Commonwealth, through the Schools Commission, began a program to support capital projects in schools enrolling a majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Aboriginal language and culture projects may be supported under the Multicultural Education Program and the teaching of Aboriginal languages is eligible for support under the Ethnic Schools Program. The Commonwealth funded the establishment and initial operating costs of the Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups in the States and Territories. In 1985 it is providing some $0.5million for this purpose. Also in 1985, 2.5 per cent of the $47 million provided for the Participation and Equity . Program has been set aside for projects for Aboriginal students. The Curriculum Development Centre has also undertaken a number of curriculum projects in Aboriginal education. There is, however, no Commonwealth program directed exclusively to the alleviation of educational disadvantage among Aboriginal students. GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED STUDENTS 11.60 Scattered throughout Australia are small numbers of geographically isolated students who qualify for assistance under the Commonwealth's Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme or other schemes of assistance to individuals operated by most States. 146 These schemes are designed to ensure that such students have access to schooling through correspondence lessons, through living away from home in hostels or boarding schools, or through the setting up by their families of second homes during the school year. The Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme began in 1973, based on the principle that all children are entitled to a place in a government school without regard to their parents' income (34). This entitlement scheme caters for only a small fraction of the population which attends schools in rural areas or small urban centres, a group which may suffer disadvantage because of the character of the schooling available to it. 11.61 The Interim Committee noted that, in some isolated rural areas and in regions where itinerant and unskilled workers gathered seasonally, schools faced serious challenges in producing desirable educational outcomes for their students (35). The Committee also distinguished between major urban and other neighbourhoods in the derivation of the scale of socia-economic disadvantage it used to recommend differential grants to government and non-government school systems for disadvantaged schools. It suggested that the Schools Commission give early consideration to the need for education facilities for isolated children. 11.62 In 1975 the Commission identified students attending country schools or enrolled in correspondence schools as a disadvantaged group (36). It saw their dis advantage to lie in a matrix of factors including isolation, lack of access to cultural facilities, the level and range of local employment opportunities and the educational levels and incomes of families. It also noted considerable difficulties in defining the group precisely. It recommended action to upgrade services in country schools. The General Recurrent Grants Program was to be supplemented for this purpose. Funds were to be allocated within the Capital Grants Program to upgrade boarding houses in non government schools. to improve residential facilities for students attending government schools and to provide housing in the States and the Northern Territory for teachers in government schools. 11.63 During the 1970s and since, the nature and level of rural educational disadvantage has been explored. A study of 23 year aIds in Tasmanian urban and rural areas (for the Commission of Inquiry into Poverty) (37) demonstrated considerable rural disadvantage in both schooling and employment. This finding was endorsed by subse quent Tasmanian studies (38), with comparatively low retention beyond Year 10 and high unemployment among school leavers, particularly females, being characteristic of rural areas. The Tertiary Education Commission noted in 1982 (39) that a number of surveys had revealed a greater likelihood for metropolitan rather than country young people to enter higher education and that the discrepancy appeared to have widened since the mid I970s. 11.64 Research evidence of differences in educational performance between rural and other students is inconclusive. The Tasmanian studies showed that, in the rural areas studied, lower percentages of students achieved Year 10 passes at higher levels in English and mathematics than for the State as a whole. A South Australian study (40) showed that, as measured by matriculation examination results, the academic perfonnance of rural students was not greatly different from that of their urban counterparts, although there were substantial differences according to geographical location within each group and between those attending area schools and high schools. Williams et at reported: 147 Students attending primary schools in rural areas seem disadvantaged as far as achievement in basic skills is concerned. Other things equal, the more rural the school the lower the achievement of lO-year-old students in the basic skill areas measured by the literacy and numeracy tests. We cannot be completely certain that the substantial influence shown is due to what happens, or does not happen, in rural primary schools. However our findings are consistent with the conventional wisdom that attributes this disadvantage to isolation, reduced access to extra-school learning facilities, a high proportion of inexperienced teachers, rapid teacher turnover, and the reduced range offacilities that small schools can offer. It is worth noting that we were unable to find these disadvantaging effects at the high school level (cf. Williams et al., 1980a:60) which suggests to us that rural disadvantage has its most marked effects on learning in the early years of school. .. (41) 11.65 While this study suggested that educational disadvantage is most marked at the primary level, there is a good deal of anecdotal evidence that undertaking secondary education in a country area is limiting. Progression to higher education, for example, may be restricted by narrow subject 'choices or by the quality of teaching available in country schools, as well as by the cost factors identified by the Tertiary Education Commission (42). The Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia (43) noted that in the Western Australian government school system about 70 per cent of employed teacher graduates receive a first posting to country schools, with the proportions being higher for pre-primary and primary teachers. It commented that these new teachers were likely to find themselves with composite classes, classes with high proportions of Aboriginal students, classes in subjects for which they have no background or expertise and with leadership responsibilities beyond those normally expected of newly appointed teachers. Turnover rates are high. Simiiar observatiun:s aft; l;Ur'llaiile:d-in a. recent report on the operations of the Country Areas Program administered by the Schools Commission (44). 11.66 All States provide special facilities to supplement regular provisions in country schools. The correspondence facilities described in paragraph 3.59 are available under some circumstances to students in country schools who wish to pursue higher school certificate subjects not available in their own schools. Most States provide supplementary services to rural schools through such things as itinerant specialist teachers, sponsoring travelling arts groups, subsidising camps and recreational centres. At the time the Assistance to Isolated Children Scheme was being drawn up the States are reported to have signified that for them the provision from State sources of better educational services in rural areas was a more important priority than the maintenance of their own existing student allowances (45). Present Commonwealth Programs 11.67 The Commonwealth Department of Education administers the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme. It provides cash benefits to some 20 000 students each year at an annual cost of about $23 million (current prices), the greater proportion of students receiving assistance with the costs of attending boarding schools. The Department also administers the Loan Video Program, under which funds are provided to State Depart ments of Education to improve the access of isolated primary children to educational 148 video or other audio visual facilities. The Program involves slightly over $1 million in 1984-85 (current prices). 11.68 Under the Capital Grants Program administered by the Schools Commission, funds may be used by government systems to provide teacher housing in remote areas. They may also be used to provide or upgrade boarding houses and hostels for students attending government and non-government schools. In determining the size of grants for capital purposes to non-government schools, the Commission allows for increased building costs associated with non-metropolitan locations. Most of the funds available under the Capital Grants Program for schools with predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander enrolments are at present going to remote communities. The 1975 recommendation for supplementation under the General Recurrent Grants Program to improve educational services in country areas was not implemented. Instead a Disadvan- taged Country Areas Program was introduced in 1977. 11.69 Country Areas Program This Program is directed towards the improvement of educational services in country areas and $10 million is available for this purpose in 1985. The present Program has evolved from the Disadvantaged Country Areas Program, gaining its separate identity in 1982, when the Commission sought to distinguish 'rural disadvantage' from 'socia-economic disadvantage'. Under the Program, State Ministers of Education may prescribe geographical areas to be 'country areas' for the purposes of the Program, without limit to the number of areas or their extent. There are now some 40 declared areas, Tasmania having II and the Northern Territory one. All schools, goyernment and non-government, within the boundaries of the declared areas are eligible to participate and cooperative effort is encouraged. The Commission stresses that the Program is area based and that parental and community participation should be a feature of the planning and implementation of all projects (46). 11.70 A review of the Program undertaken in 1984 (47) noted that a rich array of projects had been supported under the Program and that it had widespread acceptance in all States and the Northern Territory. It has funded itinerant music teachers, mobile manual arts workshops, two way radio programs, outdoor schools and a wide variety of other activities as part of the enrichment of the educational experience of country children. The review nominated several areas for extension of the Program, for example, in the collection and dissemination of information about country education, in improving educational opportunities for country girls and in the recruitment and retention of teachers for country schools. 11.71 The review also drew attention to several complex problems associated with the Program's operation. The existing formula for the distribution of funds among States and the Northern Territory was seen to disregard cost differentials deriving from distance and sparsity of population. There is a tendency for projects and services to become institutionalised and dependent on recurrent funding, with the result that few new initiatives can be supported each year. The provision of itinerant music teachers was cited as an example and the rhetorical question posed as to whether their services would be withdrawn if Commonwealth funding ceased. This problem has been exacerbated by increases in the number of declared areas during a period of limited growth in available funds. The number of schools in the Program rose from 770 in 1982 to 1023 in 1984. Schools therefore face either withdrawal of, or a significant decrease in, support while the 149 funding of the Program is constrained. Attention was also drawn to the practical overlaps of the Disadvantaged Schools and Country Area Programs which were seen to be predicated on different assumptions of educational disadvantage, one directed at allevi ating the consequences of socia-economic deprivation and the other of restricted access to educationally relevant services and facilities in country areas. The review noted that, although in Western Australia government schools may not participate in both, elsewhere it is possible for schools: to receive double compensation for the same manifestations of disadvantage, but from programs which have ostensibly different foci. (48) 11.72 Another issue identified in the report is that of the imposition of Common wealth values or priorities on education authorities in the States, using as an example the Schools Commission's espousal of parent and community participation in Program decisions. It noted the existence in all States of participative structures for the administration of the Program but reported that the hierarchical structure of committees and their membership allows in all States, except Victoria, organisational controls which ensure that: the Country Areas Program remains in step with the institutionalised education system while outwardly meeting the administrative expectations of the Schools Commission. (49) 11.73 The report took up the theme which had been expressed in the report of the review of the Assistance of Isolated Children Scheme (50), conducted three years earlier, of the difficulties of designing a national compensatory program which effectively takes account of considerable variations among States in the distribution and degree of factors 'Nhkh are ~ss0('.!ated with eclnc.MionHl dh.arlvantage. It posed several options for the future of the Program including the subsuming of the educational disadvantage aspects within negotiated agreements and the use of the Country Areas Program funds for development rather than disadvantage. Its preferred option was the creation of two new programs ~ a Country Areas Program and an Urban Areas Program ~ from the consolidation and reassignment of funds currently allocated to the Country Areas and Disadvantaged Schools Programs. The new country program would focus on improving the access of country children and their families to social and cultural activities and services, and the affirmation of the positive values of life in country areas and of education in country schools. PHYSICALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS 11.74 All children vary in their physical and intellectual abilities. The children who are the subject of this section are those whose physical handicap or intellectual impairment is such that they require special provision for their education beyond that usually available in an ordinary school or classroom. The Interim Committee noted that there was little agreement about the incidence of clinically identifiable disabilities or about the range of those arbitrarily defined through intelligence testing as requiring placement in segregated 150 groups. Children regarded as requiring special attention by authorities in some States were not so regarded in others. This situation has not changed, despite efforts by the Schools Commission, education authorities in the States and the Australian Education Council. A survey of handicapped persons conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 1981 (51) provided indicative data on the extent of limiting handicaps affecting the school age population. The survey had a number of limitations' but the Bureau estimated that some 100 000 young people, aged between 5 and 20 and attending school or generally within the compulsory schooling age range, were handicapped in their schooling. This represents about 3 per cent of the school population. A further 40 000 children aged less than 5 years had some form of handicap. Among handicapped 5 to 14 year olds, some 63 000 were reported as handicapped in relation to self care, mobility or communication, almost two thirds of them severely, as opposed to moderately or mildly, handicapped. 11.75 The group poses considerable challenge in the implementation of policies designed to reduce educational disadvantage. S6me members of it are ineducable; for them the question is not so much equality of opportunity but fairness of treatment. Some, once they have assistance with a physical disability, have an educational potential equal to their age peers. For others, alleviation of their disadvantage is complex, requiring extensive and continuous support services. As a principle, nonetheless, all should have the opportunity to participate fully in education. Public education and welfare authorities have a responsibility to ensure that these opportunities are created and that assistance is available. The Commonwealth is currently heavily involved in such provisions through its welfare agencies and through programs administered by the Schools Commission. Individual States provide substantial funds from their resources, South Australia for example, estimating that, in 1984-85, expenditure on special education from State sources will amount to $4.6 million (current prices), compared with Commonwealth expenditure in that State of $2.3 million (current prices). 11.76 Educational services for intellectually and physically handicapped are provided in a variety of ways. Special schools are conducted by government and by non government authorities, including voluntary agencies, other private organisations and a limited number of non-government school authorities. Special units or classes operate in regular schools, both government and non-government. Some students' needs are met in regular classes by the provision of special assistance; for others, educational services are provided in their homes or in institutions. Present Commonwealth Programs 11.77 The Special Education Program is one of the larger specific purpose programs of the Commonwealth Schools Commission. Since its inception in 1974, the Program has undergone a number of modifications, including the introduction of several related, but' separate, elements. In 1974, the Program included supplementary recurrent support for special education as well as provision for teacher training and new and replacement capital facilities. The last two were subsequently absorbed by the Services and Development (now Professional Development) and Capital Programs respectively leaving the Special * Scverity of handicap in relation to specific tasks and activities was not determined for children aged less than 5 years, because the qucstions were not appropriate for young children. Severity was also not determined for persons whose handicap(s) were limiting in respect of employment and schooling but not in respect of self care, mobility or communication, since there were insufficient questions asked to do this (52). 151 Education Program primarily concerned with recurrent support. Teachers working with handicapped children may receive support under the Professional Development Program but no funds are earmarked specifically for this purpose. Funds for the construction of facilities for handicapped children in government regular and special schools are currently provided under an earmarked element of the Capital Grants Program. In 1985, $14 million is available. Non-government authorities may receive assistance for the construction of facilities for handicapped children under the General Capital element of the Capital Grants Program for non-government schools. 11.78 Special Education Recurrent Grants These are supplementary to general recurrent grants in both the government and non-government school sectors and are directed to both special and regular schools. Types of recurrent costs funded include salaries of teachers, specialists and support staff and services; equipment, materials and library books; travel and transport of handicapped children; and playground equipment and teaching aids. In 1985, $24 million is available for these purposes. About $19 million will be paid to government school systems for allocation according to their priorities. The remainder will be available to non-government special schools, to non- government regular schools conducting special units or classes, to private organisations conducting special schools and, as the lowest priority, to non-government schools with other arrangements for handicapped students. Special arrangements operate in Queens land, where the State accepts responsibility for the education of handicapped children in both sectors, using both Commonwealth and State funds. In New South Wales, the State has accepted the principle of government support and is progressively assuming responsibility for non..,government special schools. 11.79 Special schools. conducted by private organisations and by non-government school authorities, and meeting State criteria for recognition as special schools, also participate in the Commonwealth General Recurrent Grants Program, under which they receive annual per capita grants. For 1985, basic per student grants at the rate applicable to Category 8 primary and secondary students ($768 and $1211) will be payable to non government special schools through the General Recurrent Grants Program. 11.80 Integration Program In 1981, following a national survey of special education conducted for the Commission by the Schonell Educational Research Centre at the University of Queensland (53) two new program elements were introduced - the integration element and the Severely Handicapped Children's Program. Under the former, funds are provided to support services, equipment and minor works which enable handicapped children to be integrated into government and non-government regular schools. A minimum amount of nearly $2 million has been made available for this purpose in 1985 but school authorities may spend additional sums from within their allocations for special education. 11.81 Severely Handicapped Children's Program This provides funds to government and non-government authorities and to individuals for education services for children with severe developmental disabilities and for whom such services are either not available or are very limited. These children are generally in long term residential care or are living at home. The Program aims to assist severely handicapped children to realise, through education, their potential for independence and self esteem. According to the 1985 administrative guidelines this may involve: 152 • Coordination of multi-disciplinary services to children and young persons aged 0- 18, and to their families. • Identification. refinement and sharing of appropriate resources. • Improving the skills of persons who help to educate severely handicapped children and young persons. (54) The Program is administered on a joint government and non-government basis by committees in the States and Territories appointed by State and Territory Education Departments. To facilitate stability, planning and the provision of improved services, allowance was made in 1984 for up to 70 per cent of the funds available in 1984 to be forward committed for 1985 and 1986. In 1985, an amount of almost $4 million is available to assist the education of severely handicapped children. 11.82 Early Special Education Program In 1983, eli!;ibility for assistance under the various elements of the Special Education Program was extended to include children below school age. However, no additional funds were allocated to cater for the increased numbers of children involved. In 1985, early intervention was established as a separate element - the Early Special Education Program. In the same year, the Commission assumed responsibility for the early intervention services formerly administered by the Commonwealth Department of Social Security. An amount of nearly $4 million is allocated for the new element for 1985. There is also provision for a two year forward commitment capacity of 70 per cent per annum. Despite the establishment of the new program, assistance for children of below school age can still be obtained under the Children in Residential Institutions and Severely Handicapped Children's Programs. I I .83 A review of the operation of the Special Education Program in 1982 and 1983, excluding the Children in Residential Institutions element, was undertaken in early 1984 (55). The review was critical of many aspects of the operation of the Special Education Program. It concluded, for example, that the Program lacked clearly defined objectives and that there was a need for a more coherent view of special education to be established at the Commonwealth level. The Schools Commission was seen to have become ambivalent about its national policy role in relation to special education. On the one hand it seemed to be concerned with base level support for existing provisions; on the other it was attempting to stimulate change through targetted elements, for example integration, early intervention and support for severely handicapped children. The negative comments were tempered by a recognition of the significant differences among States in terms of the range of provisions available, the agencies responsible for their operation and the priorities afforded to particular groups of students. Criticism was also levelled at the Commission for its perceived failure to consult adequately with interest groups involved in special education, especially parent groups. 1 I. 84 The review concluded that strong support existed for the special purpose elements of the Program, namely integration, severely handicapped children and early intervention. The establishment of a separate early intervention program was also recommended. While integration was widely hailed, the point was made that it was not a universal panacea but rather one option for meeting special education needs. Particular criticisms of the Integration Program were that: • the level of funding was inadequate; • the concept of seeding money made assumptions about State pnontIes and capacities of systems to continue support when projects cease to be funded; 153 • while the tendency was to support primary school children, the Commission had given insufficient attention to the changing needs of those children as they move from primary to secondary and the implications for resources; and • the need to effect changes in attitudes of teachers and other personnel through in service provision for regular school teachers to help them modify their teaching practices. 11.85 The level of funding under the Severely Handicapped Children's Program was seen to be inadequate and in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory to be so small as to be ineffectual. In particular, the level of funding did not allow adequate provision to be made for the therapy and related services which are essential for many of the children included in the Program. While it addressed the needs of a group of children and young persons who, in a number of States, had not previously received an educational priority, a major defect was seen to be that it envisaged the severely handicapped as simply another group of school attenders rather than a special group with quite specific needs. The lack of uniformity within States on the upper age limit also needed correction. 11.86 In accordance with its terms of reference, the review identified a number of gaps in coverage under the Program. These were remedial provisions for children in regular schools; for children with emotional/behavioural disorders at upper primary and secondary levels; and children with severe learning disabilities and severe language disabilities. The provision of services to geographically isolated children with special education needs and the matter of residential provision were also considered to warrant attention. 11---_. R7 Thp.---~ --r--rp;nnrt r.nnr.ll1r1p:rI-. . with a nllmher of nronosals.~ ~ The Commission was advised to adopt a more active role in consulting with education systems with the aim of identifying ways in which the objectives for the Program might be achieved in each State. The Commission, through the Curriculum Development Centre, should also promote the development of curricula in special education and dissemination of technical information. Thirdly, in view of the high costs involved, the Commission should encourage a high level of coordination between sectors as a means of rationalising services. Finally, the report proposed significant changes to the present funding arrangements, notably the aggregation of all special education funds into single allocations for the government and non-government sectors. Funds would be applied to targelled initiatives by negotiation between the Commission and the education authority through a contractual arrangement. This was seen as a way of giving recognition to State priorities and providing the Commission with more precise information about the application of funds. It was also suggested that the integration element might be absorbed within the General Recurrent Grants Program and that part of the funds be targelled to meeting the needs of children with special education difficulties in regular schools against specific performance objectives. 11.88 The needs of geographically isolated handicapped children were taken up in the review of the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme (56). The report contained recommendations for the establishment of a separate scheme for children with disabilities. The existing scheme was not meeting the needs of the parents of country children who were seen to face acute difficulties because of lack of resources, lack of direct assistance and lack of informed advice. The reviewers recommended a re-examination of the total 154 provisions for children with disabilities with a view to coordinating and rational ising the various forms of assistance provided by Commonwealth agencies and State Governments. GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS 11.89 The principle of enabling all children to realise their potential implies that for those who have exceptional gifts or talents, special provision should be made. As discussed in paragraph 1.17, this may create a tension between conflicting goals, involving a trade off between realising the potential of the disadvantaged and maximizing the absolute excellence of the very talented. II .90 Future economic growth and the enhancement of society call for the harnessing of the best intellects and talents. They also call for a better educated society as a whole and thus for action directed at the generality of students. Present Commonwealth programs administered by the Schools Commission are directed at the latter. The amount of support for the gifted and talented under the Projects of National Significance Program ($110 000 in 1985) is modest in the extreme. Funds have been applied to such projects as a national advisory committee on the gifted and talented, a national conference, a summary of current provisions for the gifted and talented and a project on the teaching of exceptional children. POTENTIAL EARLY SCHOOL LEA VERS 11.91 The participation of young people in schooling is rising. Continuation to Year IO is almost universal. In 1983,89 per cent of 15 year aIds and 62 per cent of 16 year aIds were at school, compared with only 57 per cent and 20 per cent respectively in 1960. Some 66 per cent of 15 to 19 year aIds were in some form of education by 1983 but the focus of this section is on that group of young people which is not in education and which leaves school before completing Year 12. 11.92 The Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs (57) estimated that, of the 250 000 young Australians who reach the school leaving age each year, there may be as many as 100 000 ( over half of whom are females) who seek to enter the labour force with no substantial vocational preparation and without completing Year 12. In its report, the Committee noted the desire for a job (and what that brings) and dissatisfaction with schooling as factors which produce early school leaving. Its recommendation on the setting up of a system of traineeships combining work and formal education, initially targetted on 16 and 17 year aids, was designed largely to meet the needs of the early school leaver. At the same time it stated: it is vital that the present efforts to make school more attractive and relevant to young people be maintained, and that the Government's aim of increasing participation, particularly among the most disadvantaged, continues to be strongly supported. (58) 155 II. 93 The traineeship system proposal is strongly supported by the Quality of Education Review Committee. It hopes that the scheme will develop to the point where many, if not most, of the trainees will have completed at least Year II, if not Year 12, where the period of traineeship will be two or three years and where most employers, public and private, will accept a responsibility for workforce training. The Committee's concern is with the changes that are necessary within the school system to increase participation and thus to give access to the proposed traineeships to older teenagers. The clear association between early school leaving, low educational attainment and low socia-economic background is well documented. Early schoolleavers must be considered as a group requiring special assistance. II .94 Measures to cope with early school leaving are of four kinds: those which are introduced early in students' school life; those which operate in the junior secondary school; those which come into play at the point of leaving; and those which provide a second chance later in life. The first kind can be expected to have long term results and lay the foundation for effective labour market participation ten years hence. It involves not only early recognition and corrective action but also targetted increased resources. Collectively, these should reduce the number of children exhibiting early signs of failure to master fundamental skills, including skills in literacy and numeracy. The second involves both changes to the school environment so that its holding power rises and remediation for those young secondary students most likely to leave because of their lack of success in school. The traineeship proposal represents the third kind. Present Commonwealth Programs 11.95 Two new programs address these issues: Participation and Equity and Basic Learning in Primary Schools. 11.96 Participation and Equity Program Introduced in 1984, this Program provides funding to both the school and the technical and further education sectors. Its aims are directed at students and at schools: to encourage all young people to participate in education or training until they have completed a full secondary education or its equivalent; and to ensure that the education and training offered provides all young people with equal opportunities to develop their individual talents and abilities. The Common wealth undertook to provide funding over the three years to 1986. In 1985, $47 million is available for the schools sector. A separate element, the secondary facilities element, is also earmarked within the Capital Grants Program for government and non-government schools to complement projects designed to enhance students' general learning environ ments and the prospect of a longer period of secondary education. In 1985, $13.7 million is available for government schools and $4.7 million is available for non-government schools for this purpose. 11.97 The form of the schools element of the Program was determined following advice from the Commonwealth Schools Commission, contained in Participation and Equity in Australian Schools: The Goal of Full Secondary Education (59). It is administered by joint Commonwealth-State committees, one for each of the government and non-government sectors. The former are appointed by State Ministers, the latter by the Commonwealth Minister. Approximately 75 per cent of the funds are devoted to projects or activities in target schools or groups of schools, the balance being available for 156 use by systems and authorities for central initiatives. The target group in the government sector in 1984 was about 40 per cent of secondary schools, nominated on the basis of the socio-economic circumstances of the community, their retention rates, the concentration of disadvantaged groups and other relevant factors. For the non-government sector, similar criteria were suggested for selection but the size of the target group was not defined. For 1985, the Commission has recommended the direction of support to nine major areaS: curriculum; assessment, accreditation and credentiaIling; teacher! student!parent interaction; teacher renewal and support; school structure and organis ation; post-school links; education and the arts; groups with particular needs; and public support for education. In addition, a sum of $531 000 has been reserved to support projects at the national level. Excluding the national allocation, 2.5 per cent of the total funds for the schools sector has been set aside for initiatives to assist Aboriginal students. 11.98 Basic Learning in Primary Schools This Program began this year with the allocation of $7 million. In announcing its creation, the Government noted: that many of the unsatisfactory outcomes at the end of schooling have their origins in the experience of the student at the primary level . .. (60) and stated its intention of implementing a program for primary schools: to provide extra assistance for children in their basic learning, with the objective of raising the minimum competencies achieved during primary schooling. Emphasis in this program will be given to the acquisition of language skills and numeracy in the early primary school years . .. (and to) meeting the basic skill requirements of those groups in the community that have most difficulty in acquiring learning skills in the early stage of primary schooling. (61) 11.99 The selection of student groups most in need of specific forms of assistance cannot be divorced from consideration of how that assistance is best provided. Issues related to program delivery are therefore addressed in the following chapter. REFERENCES 1. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, Report: Schools in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, May 1973. P H Karmel, Chairman. Page 92. 2. Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, Learning and Earning: A Study of Education and Employment Opportunities Jar Young People, Vol. 2: Appendixes, Australian Govern ment Publishing Service, Canberra, 1982. 3. ibid. Page 135. 4. The ACER Study of Youth in Transition commenced as a three year project initiated in 1978 by the Education Research and Development Committee (ERDC). The program of research was based on a follow-up of nationally representative samples of 10 year old and 14 year old students involved in the literacy and numeracy study conducted by ACER in 1975. In 1981 the ERDC grant terminated and since that time the continuation of the study has been supported by a consortium of Commonwealth funding authorities, including the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission under its Evaluative Studies Program, the Department of Education, the Commonwealth Schools Commission and the Bureau of Labour Market Research. 157 5. Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, op. cit. Pages 180 to 181 (Vol. 2). 6. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, op. cit. Chapter 9. 7. Schools Commission, Reportfor the Triennium 1982-84, Canberra, March 1981. Page 372. 8. ibid. Appendix III. Pages 470 to 481. 9. A Ruby, J Reddin, J Sobski and E Wilmot, Report of the Panel to Review the Disadvantaged Schools Program, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, January 1985. Appendix I. 10. ibid. II. Schools Commission, Report for the Triennium 1976-78, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, July 1975. Page 173. 12. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Program Guidelines 1985, Canberra, March 1985. Page 38. 13. J Ward, S Bochner, Y Center and C Ferguson, A Review of Children in Residential Institutions Program, Special Education Centre, Macquarie University, June 1984. 14. For example: Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs, Review of Multicultural and Migrant Education, September 1980. Education Commission of New South Wales, Research in Multicultural Education: An Overview, 1984. 15. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts, Report on A National Language Policy, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1984. 16. W J Campbell and M McMeniman, The English as a Second Language (ESL) Factors and Index Study, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, November 1984. 17. Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs, Evaluation of Post-Arrival Programs and Services, May 1982. 18. W J Campbell and M McMeniman, op. cit. Page 136. 19. W J Campbell, A Review of the Commonwealth English as a Second Language (ESL) Program,. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, June 1984. 20. ibid. Page 100. 21. Department of Education and Youth Affairs, Schooling for Newly Arrived Indo-Chinese Refugees: An Evaluation of the Contingency Program for Refugee Children, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra 1983. D Spearritt and J M Colman, Consultants. 22. ibid. Page 264. 23. J Harris, Study of Insertion Classes under the Commonwealth Ethnic Schools Program, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, November 1984. 24. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Report on the Commonwealth Ethnic Schools Program, Canberra, June 1983. 25. Review of Post-arrival Programs and Services to Migrants, Report, Migrant Services and Programs, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, May 1978. F Galbally, Chairman. 26. D Cahill et al., Review of the Commonwealth Multicultural Education Program, Common wealth Schools Commission, Canberra, November 1984. 27. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts, op. cit. Page 136. 158 ------~--- ~--- 28 National Aboriginal Education Committee, Aborigines and Tertiary Education, A Framework for the 1985-87 Triennium, Canberra, 1984. Page 8. 29. Working Party on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, First Report, Common wealth Schools Commission and National Aboriginal Education Committee, Canberra, April 1984. R J Andrews and P Hughes Co-Chairpersons. Page 4. 30. For example: Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, Report, Education in Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, March 1984. K E Beazley, Chairman. Pages 322 to 336. 31. Working Party on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, op. cit. Page 47. 32. Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts, op. cit. Page 87. 33. ibid. Pages 227 and 228. 34. D G Tomlinson and P D Tannock, Review of the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme, University of Western Australia, 1981. Page 4. 35. Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, op. cit. Page 92. 36. Schools Commission, Reportfor the Triennium 1976-78, op. cit. Pages 73 to 81. 37. N Behrens, Schooling and Work, Education Department of Tasmania, Hobart, 1975. 38. N Behrens, et al., The Huon Valley Study, Education Department of Tasmania, Hobart, 1978. R Stoessiger, Leaving School in Rural Tasmania, Research Study No. 54, Education Department of Tasmania, Hobart, 1980. 39. Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, op. cit. Page 155 (Vol. 2). 40. E R Cawthron, The Country School and School Leaver: Research Project, Roseworthy Agricultural College, South Australia, 1980. 41. T Williams et. aI, School and Work in Prospect: 14-Year-Olds in Australia, ACER Research Monograph No. 10, Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1981. Page 95. 42. Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, op. cit. Page 155 (Vol. 2). 43. Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia, op. cit. Page 357. 44. D Tomlinson et al., Review of the Country Areas Program, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, November 1984. Page 35. 45. D G Tomlinson and P D Tannock, Review of the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme, op. cit. Page 4. 46. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Program Guidelines 1985, op. cit. Pages 49 to 50. 47. D Tomlinson et. aI., Review of the Country Areas Program, op. cit. 48. ibid. Page 36 49. ibid. Page 12. 50. D G Tomlinson and P D Tannock, Review of the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme, op. cit. 51. R J Cameron, Australian Statistician, Social Indicators, Australia, No.4 1984, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, 1984. Pages 70 to 80. 52. ibid. Page 100. 53. R J Andrews et a!., A Survey of Special Education in Australia: Provisions, Needs and ~riorities in the Education of Children with Handicaps and Learning Difficulties, Fred and Eleanor Schonell Educational Research Centre, Department of Education, University of Queensland, July 1979. 54. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Program Guidelines 1985, op. cit. Page 39. 159 55. G Ashby and J Taylor, Responses to Policies: Review of Commonwealth Schools Commission Special Education Program, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, October 1984. 56. D G Tomlinson and P D Tannock, Review of the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme, op. cit. Pages 121 to 133. 57. Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs, Report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1985. P Kirby, Chairman. Page 61. 58. ibid. Page 115. 59. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Participation and Equity in Australian Schools: The Goal of Full Secondary Education, Canberra, March 1984. 60. Department of Education and Youth Affairs, Commonwealth Schools Commission Guidelines /985-88, Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Senator the Hon. Susan Ryan, Canberra, August 1984. Page 6. 6!. ibid. Page 6. 160 CHAPTER 12: PERSPECTIVES ON SPECIAL PROVISIONS 12.1 The Committee's task in relation to special student groups has been interpreted as requiring the identification of disadvantaged groups of students for whom the Commonwealth should make special provisions and of the specific measures which this assistance should entail. In Chapter 5 arguments were advanced for an increase in the educational attainments of all students. Groups of students in need of specific assistance will therefore be among those who currently do not attain desirable outcomes from successive levels of schooling and who could be comparatively disadvantaged by a general rise in overall attainment. The purposes of any special assistance from the Commonwealth to specific groups are seen to be the creation of more equal group outcomes from education and the assurance of a socially acceptable experience of school life for students, consistent with raising the educational attainment of the generality of students. 12.2 There are major bamers outside the domain of the intellect to the attainment, by a higher proportion of students, of the desirable outcomes of schooling. The existence of social and cultural factors which adversely affect students' capacity to gain the benefits of schooling lies at the heart of disadvantage and of policies to promote equality of opportunity in response to it. Although it is not universally accepted, there is a substantial body of literature from around the world which upholds this view. The underlying assumption (and it is an assumption) is that intellectual ability is evenly distributed among social groups. In an ideal world, therefore, any differences in individual educational outcomes which remain, after successful compensatory measures have been taken, would be attributable to intellectual differences. 12.3 Disadvantage in special groups is demonstrated by the extent to which individuals in the group fail to attain access to further education, employment, high status occupations and high incomes in broad conformity with the rest of the community. Within schools its earlier manifestation is most often poor educational performance. SELECTION OF TARGETS 12.4 On the face of it, targetting special programs on individuals may seem likely to be effective and efficient, since it ensures that special measures are directed at those in greatest need of them. For example, the Campbell and McMeniman study (I) suggests that the only effective way of ensuring help for students of non-English speaking background in greatest need is to begin with the assessment of the proficiency in English of individual students. Targetting on individuals also ensures that it deals with all those with educational deficiencies without directing resources to those who do not manifest educational disadvantage. 161 12.5· Targetting effort on individuals who already demonstrate low educational attainment does not take account of the fact that it is desirable to provide assistance before the damage is done. The achievement of better overall outcomes thus requires the prior identification of those most at risk of poor perfonnance and making additional assistance available to them early as a preventive measure, rather than as a corrective one at a later stage. 12.6 The prediction of potential poor school performance involves examining the characteristics known to be associated with low educational attainment. Beyond intellectual ability and individual personality, they are group characteristics - low socia-economic status, ethnicity and geographic isolation - to name those more commonly identified. 12.7 Powerful educational arguments exist for programs to be delivered to groups rather than to individuals. A central issue is that of labelling or stigmatising and the negative consequences which this has on children's educational and social development. The branding of a student as deficient in a particular dimension serves to overshadow the strengths the student may otherwise possess. It also tends to shift the blame for disadvantage to children rather than to their circumstances. 12.8 Targetting on individuals also fails to recognise the importance of group processes in education. Additional attention paid to all members of the group should stimulate those who are not obviously in need of special assistance, with the ultimate result of extending the horizons of the group as a whole, as well as improving the educational attainment of those most in need. This phenomenon has been reported by school systems which have operated special programs with a group focus (2). 12.9 An exciusive conceniratiull Ull imiividuals has other weakncsscs. Iildividual targetting based on narrowly defined educational achievement criteria concentrates too much on one aspect of educational disadvantage. It fails to take account of the multiple objectives of schooling. It may encourage excessive concentration within schools on one aspect, for example, reading. It may reward incompetent schools or teachers by attracting funds for poor student performance; and it may relieve the ordinary classroom teacher of responsibility for the labelled students. 12.10 In practice, individual targetting is administratively costly. In the United States, where federal programs of compensatory education were targetted on individuals, elaborate audit requirements developed. Most of the extra teachers provided were permitted to deal only with the disadvantaged individuals; these teachers could not contribute to the work of the school as a whole and the students had to be withdrawn from their normal classes to work with them. Targetting on Schools 12.11 Once groups become the focus of special measures to overcome poor school performance, a decision is required on whether these provisions are to be made for members of particular groups within schools or for whole schools with high concentrations of groups shown to be educationally disadvantaged. 12.12 Unless members of the group are self identifying, for example, because of inability to speak English or because of a visible handicap, to target on groups within 162 schools is administratively difficult and may be invasive of privacy. To illustrate, the identification within a school of Aboriginal students or students of low socio-economic background must involve either identification by school authorities or the collection of personal or family data. Moreover, where a particular group within a particular school is small in size, the question arises as to why the school should not be able to cope with the needs of those students. Schools should be expected to deal with the normal range of intellectual and social variability in the community. Special assistance should be reserved for schools with a disproportionate share of disadvantaged groups. 12.13 The Committee favours targetting on schools with high concentrations of the groups in question. Such targetting encourages a response from the school as a whole to the range of factors seen to affect educational performance adversely. It should enhance the performance of all students within the selected schools. There are also advantages in focussing on whole schools because the school is the basic organisational unit. Any program is most likely to be effective in schools which function well. School authorities are more readily able to make adjustments in, say, school leadership or staffing patterns in a few schools which may have been selected for targetting than in all schools within a system. 12.14 Many of the specific purpose programs of the Commonwealth Schools Commission are targetted in this way. The whole school is the reference point in the Disadvantaged Schools Program, the emphasis is on schools in the Participation and Equity Program and the focus is on communities in the Country Areas Program. 12.15 While the whole school approach has much to commend it, there are still difficulties in identifying schools as targets and in designing specific measures to assist groups. In considering which schools to target, there is the problem of the exclusion of students whose needs may be equally great but who attend non-targetted schools: low socio-economic background is not confined to students who live in communities served by declared disadvantaged schools; potential early leavers are not necessarily poor; there are Aboriginal students for whom English is a second language with which they need assistance; some students live outside welfare and remand homes but suffer equal or more severe social deprivation than those who are catered for by the Children in Residential Institutions Program. As noted in paragraph 12.12, however, where a particular group is small it is easier for the school to cope with its needs without additional assistance. 12.16 Targetting on whole schools may also carry with it the notion that schools which are not targets for special assistance do not need to make provision for students who are disadvantaged. All schools have such students. They are required to cater for the total range of students enrolled in them. 12.17 A further challenge in the detennination of targets is coping with multiple membership. As noted in paragraph 6.34, females may be doubly disadvantaged. There is likely to be, for example, some correspondence of membership of groups identified as requiring assistance because of low proficiency in English as a second language, low socio-economic background, early school leaving potential, mental andlor physical disability and rurality. Several of the reports on reviews of programs discuss possible overlaps with other programs. 12.18 The largest single issue associated with positive discrimination in education is whether it is effective. Are schools able to redress imbalances arising from social and 163 economic background factors? Most proponents of intervention in schooling recognise that background factors are powerful influences and that schools have limited effects (3). Some scholars have taken the view that what schools do makes little or no difference. The 1969 evaluation of the United States Head Start Program, a major compensatory program established in 1965 designed to lift the cognitive and affective development of poor children through intervention in their pre-school years, concluded that the effects were small (4). Subsequently a body of literature, carrying similar messages, accumulated, particularly in the United States. 12.19 These results need to be tempered by more recent research on Headstart and similar programs. Attention has now turned to the assessment of the long term effects of intervention in pre-schools and primary schools, based on the notion that such programs may not demonstrate results until the children involved have reached young adulthood. It is then that any differences in life chances will begin to show. Strong support for this notion comes from a longitudinal study of 123 black children in Ypsilanti, Michigan, from the time they entered pre-school at age 3 or 4 until they reached 15 (5). Under this project, which began in 1962, the children were selected on the criteria of low socio-economic status and low IQ. A unique feature of the study was the use of a carefully matched control group which did not receive the benefits afforded the experimental group. The researchers claim significant differences between the two groups by age 15, the experimental group having higher school achievement, greater commitment to schooling, fewer years spent receiving special education services, greater satisfaction with schooling and aspirations for the children on the part of their parents, decreased deviant behaviour and higher rates of employment (part-time). A continuation of the study, to the stage where the groups reached 19 years, was released late in 1984 (6). It confirmed the trends itie.ntified earlier. 12.20 Also in 1984, a study of the accumulated statistics of the United States National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that, between 1970 and 1982, educational performance improved in those curriculum areas, among those groups of students, in those schools and at the levels of schooling and in the regions of the United States that had been targetted for federal funding (7). 12.21 Moreover, a comprehensive study of secondary schools in the United Kingdom concluded that secondary schools do have an important influence on student attainment and behaviour (8). Differences among schools in student behaviour, attendance, examination success and delinquency were shown to exist after taking account of differences in background factors among their student intakes. 12.22 In Australia, compensatory educational programs have had a relatively short history. There is nevertheless encouraging, though limited, evidence of improvements in educational attainment within declared disadvantaged schools. A study of the school performance of students in these schools in South Australia over the period 1974 to 1981 showed that there were major improvements in students' confidence and reading attainment (9). 12.23 The Committee is wary of drawing conclusions from such a slender base. Nonetheless, it would seem from the above studies that positive outcomes from compensatory programs addressing deep seated educational disadvantage depend on the sustained application of additional resources. Further, irrespective of the length of time 164 ------ for which additional resources are provided, it is only in the long term that the effectiveness of a compensatory education program can be judged in terms of group outcomes or in tenns of levels of literacy and numeracy. On these grounds it may be some years before the full effects of the Disadvantaged Schools Program become evident. 12.24 The Committee has confidence in the power of schools to have positive effects on the life chances of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, the Interim Committee's objective of ensuring that children live their 10 to 13 years in school in congenial surroundings and in purposeful and satisfying activities has even more relevance in 1985 than in 1973 in the face of substantial youth unemployment. GENERAL OR SPECIFIC PROVISIONS 12.25 State governments have the responsibility of ensuring that there are education services to cater for all students, that is, for the full range of intellectual ability and social background. The schools which they conduct, or permit non-government school authorities to conduct, are responsible for providing adequate learning experiences for their students. The identification by the Commonwealth of specific groups of students for whom it makes provision implies that these school authorities are not catering adequately for them. This may occur either because their special needs are not recognized or given a high priority or because the capacity of school authorities to respond to their needs is limited. 12.26 The boundary between the need for special treatment and satisfaction of needs through normal provisions has particular relevance from a Commonwealth perspective. The statements of educational goals discussed in Chapter 5 are inclusive of all children. Most refer to the meeting of individual needs or the recognition of individual differences, following the principle that schools should cater for all as part of their normal operations. 12.27 Nowadays all schools have a range of students with diverse educational needs and there is a considerable measure of agreement about the existence of students for whom the general provisions are not enough to ensure the attainment of desirable outcomes. There is broad consensus that there are schools that have a disproportionate share of disadvantaged students and that special assistance should be provided to these schools. There are also students whose intellects are so impaired as to preclude acquisition of the knowledge and skills which are basic to competence; at the other end of the continuum, there are students of outstanding intellect who may not be sufficiently challenged, through general provisions, to realise their full potential. The Commonwealth has, over the last decade, responded to this range of need with specific purpose programs. 12.28 The greater recognition of special needs does, however, carry with it the danger that expectations about what can be catered for within regular provision are narrowed. The reported failure of mainstream teachers to accept responsibility for the development of English language proficiency among students of non-English speaking background is one manifestation of this phenomenon. The slowness with which notions of multicultural education have been adopted by schools with few, if any, students of non- 165 English speaking background is another. The creation of a wide range of special programs may tend to accentuate the shrinkage of expectations about Donnal provisions and their outcomes. The reviews of specific purpose programs discussed in the previous chapter discerned signs of this process. The Committee is inclined to support a reduction in the number of specific purpose programs and believes that there needs to be a greater recognition by education authorities of the responsibilities of the ordinary school for the wide range of student abilities and backgrounds that is now normal in Australia. DELIVERY OF COMMONWEALTH PROGRAMS 12.29 The concept of equality of opportunity and the objective of more equal group outcomes are now commonplace in the educational philosophies of Australian education systems. The question therefore arises as to the level of responsibility, if any, the Commonwealth should accept for the support of programs directed at the alleviation of disadvantage. This is a recurring theme in a federal system where responsibility for the conduct of schools resides in the States. It is an issue which arises in relation to the development of strategies for all special groups identified as requiring specific assistance. 12.30 The reviews of individual programs have generally favoured their continuation or expansion, albeit with some modification. Fairly consistently they have also shown up difficulties in program delivery. Despite the variety of authors and review procedures there are SOme common themes. One of them is the desirability of the Schools Commission ~ s actively promoting, ieading and couniiuaiillg its P(Ogfl:ul"IS. Similarly, there is a perceived need for the Commission to act as a broker, clearing house or dissemination agency for good practice, new ideas or recent research. There is also direct criticism of the Commission for failing to allocate adequate staff to operate a number of the programs. The Commission has been criticised for not providing direction or coordination in the Special Education Program, for not disseminating information about funded national multicultural education projects and for not maintaining stable and effective staffing in the Disadvantaged Schools Program. Clarity of Purpose 12.31 Wherever special provlslOn is made, clarity of purpose is important. Commonwealth assistance for special groups is a response to one of two situations: where there are obligations and where the Commonwealth has particular policy objectives. The Commonwealth has obligations in relation to immigrants and Aborigines. However, there is no clear line between any Commonwealth obligations to meet these speciaL educational needs and those of State governments to ensure that there are educational provisions for all students. Students whose needs arise from immigration policies provide an example. A migrancy related label may be a persuasive argument for Commonwealth assistance, but it does not, in a strict sense, oblige the Commonwealth, rather than the States and other education authorities, to assume total funding responsibility. In practice, many school authorities, as well as the Commonwealth, actively pursue policies to improve the education of these students and of Aboriginal students. 166 12.32 The second motivation for specific assistance is the pursuit of Common wealth policy goals. There are two kinds of provision here: those which relate to long term goals and those which are set up with limited objectives. Of the former kind are those which address important principles such as equality of opportunity or the development of a multicultural society. Ideally, these should illuminate the practice of all schools and school systems. The second kind of provision is that which is made for a limited objective and is therefore terminal. Setting Objectives 12.33 Some of the current Commonwealth programs exemplify the widespread practice of setting goals, aims Or purposes of such multiplicity and at such levels of generality as to defy the development of effective strategies for their pursuit. In such circumstances, the goals are not only usually unattainable but also there is no effective way of assessing progress towards them. To this extent, they encourage the substitution of concern with process for concern with outcome, a criticism which was made, for example, of some schools in the Disadvantaged Schools Program. This is not to deny the importance of either goals or process; it is to stress the need for objectives as an intermediate step in the attainment of outcomes through programs which have been tailored to achieve particular ends. Special programs which do not have clearly defined objectives must lack integrity as special programs. If their purposes are expressed as multiple goals, confusion in their operation is almost inevitable. Where they exist to produce greater equality of opportunity, they should in fact achieve better outcomes for their target group. There is considerable scope for improvement in the specification of objectives to be achieved and of the measures, quantitative or otherwise, which should be used to gauge whether progress is being made, within the broad framework of goals. Process objectives may, within this configuration, have considerable weight. Use of Specific Purpose Funds 12.34 A tendency for programs for specific purposes to become sources of general recurrent funding for school systems is noted, for instance, in the reports on the Country Areas and Multicultural Education Programs. The use of Ethnic School Program funds to set up compulsory community language programs for a particular class is another instance of a marked departure from original program intentions. Where these were seen to be seeding or pilot programs, concerned to foster a limited number of new initiatives, to raise awareness, or to encourage change in practice, the growing dependence on program funds to maintain projects on a recurring basis must raise doubts about whether the original aims of the programs are being met. Commonwealth and Other Priorities 12.35 A closely related concern is with the apparent flexibility in interpretation of Commonwealth aims. The Special Education Program review observed the disparate approaches of the various systems; the Multicultural Education Program review commented on State and system variation; and the Disadvantaged Schools Program report noted that there are, in effect,fifteen Disadvantaged Schools Programs in operation (10). 167 Education authorities, nonetheless, brought to the Committee's attention their long- standing disquiet at the Commonwealth's proclivity to set priorities which were not in accord with their own and at its expectation that they would assume responsibility for continued funding at the end of any seeding or pilot period. 12.36 Their wariness is understandable in situations where Commonwealth initi- atives have assisted the development of cOflstituencies, or lobbies, or the creation of new administrative ~tructures, as in the case of the English as a Second Language Program. Such developments are, however, logical outcomes of seeding, awareness raising and dissemination activities. Program Overlap 12.37 As originally conceived by the Interim Committee (1\), the two general resource and five specific purpose programs to be administered by the Schools Commission were to be complementary. That Committee sought to order its priorities among needs in ways which would allow flexibility in the use of resources but would preserve some areas of widely acknowledged needfrom erosion in the general competition for funds (12). It supported overall planning at the national level but not the entry of the Commonwealth into policies or structures which would subject individual schools or school systems to remote control. 12.38 With the passage of time, more programs and program elements have been added by successive governments and emphases and priorities have changed. The array of Commonwealth programs for schools has become complex and confused. The directness ..... f th", Tnt",r;-rn I'r..-rn ...... ;tt"'''''c> "n-n. .. ",,,,..h "",,,,-rn,, t ..... h""", h",,,,n A:;""; ... "t,,,.:1 Th", ",vt", ... t r..f th;" ...... u ...... a ...... u ...... " ..1'1' ...... " ...... "".1' ...... & ...... a ...... & ...... problem is simply illustrated. For example, the Commonwealth has made significant efforts to ensure that the needs among students of non-English speaking background are met. In particular, it has funded programs for the acquisition of English language skills for direct communication. It has also funded programs for the development of understanding of ethnic groups. Again, it has supported the maintenance of ethnic heritage and the preservation of a sense of identity by students who are linguistically and culturally different from native English speakers. To do these things, it has developed an array of individual programs which overlap and whose objectives are not always clear or ordered with any sense of priority. 12.39 In introducing the Participation and Equity Program and the Basic Learning in Primary Schools Program the Commonwealth has taken steps to meet emergent needs. However, by increasing the number of specific purpose programs with objectives which are similar to those of existing programs, the Government has given point to concerns about the array of programs and the overlap of target groups. Program Multiplication 12.40 The five specific purpose programs of the Interim Committee have now increased to some 18 programs and principal elements. Specific purpose programs, once established, are difficult to merge with others or eliminate because of the vested interests they create. The more programs, the less flexible funding arrangements can be. Thus, 168 there is a tendency for more small programs to develop. If money is tight, programs are pruned but not eliminated and rationalisation becomes increasingly difficult. Growth of Committees. 12.41 As noted in paragraph 3.66, many of the present specific purpose programs are administered with the aid of representative committees in the States and Territories, funded as part of program costs. These committees are appointed by State Ministers of Education or by system authorities. They generally include among their members representatives of teachers, parents, school authorities and in some cases other major interest groups. The committee model was instituted as a way of ensuring active participation by interested parties in decision making. 12.42 Committees have, in this sense, been successful. However, there may now be too many of them for effective administration and achievement of objectives, given the number of programs and their overlapping aims. There is, for example, no way to guarantee that any two program committees will adopt consistent approaches when dealing with their respective but complementary programs or will adopt approaches conducive to achieving program objectives. Unless committees work within focussed guidelines and are subject to regular monitoring they may, by their very structure, stray easily from the pursuit of the program's objectives. Some rationalization, therefore, seems highly desirable. Accountability 12.43 As shown in Chapter 3, present formal accountability conditions for Commonwealth funds are largely concerned with mapping of inputs. While Common wealth funds must be accounted for, accountability in the fiscal sense does not provide a mechanism for ensuring that program objectives are realised. What is required is a way of ensuring that the efficacy of funding can be assessed. This in tum requires close specification of the objectives of special programs, as already discussed, and a monitoring system to examine progress. In the abstract, this is a simple principle. 12.44 In practice, as has been shown in the preceding discussion, objectives have not been clearly stated and there has been a multiplicity of them. From a school or a school system's point of view the proliferation of programs, in combination with complex monitoring mechanisms, may require a significant diversion of effort. What the I tommonwealth might require in return for the general resources it provides for schools is evidence that the general level of education is rising in the school or system concerned and that the relative position of the special groups with which it is most concerned is improving. Where it provides special assistance to meet particular objectives, it might require evidence that the desired outcome is being obtained. As a relatively minor funding partner overall (although there are significant differences between its position with respect to the government and non-government sestors), the Commonwealth should be selective in choosing the type of assessments whicn-wlTl satisfy these requirements. 12.45 As discussed in Chapter 8, there is an argument for the Commonwealth to seek evidence of the outcomes of its specific assistance for special groups. To do so it must engage in, or require, summative evaluation, making its objectives explicit at the outset 169 and reaching agreement with school authorities on the indicators that they will use and the frequency of their reporting. At the same time. the Commonwealth should itself engage in continuous review of the operation and effectiveness of its programs. Such formative evaluation should be used to adjust and improve the way the programs are being implemented and to respond to difficulties which emerge. From time to time it may involve external evaluators. It should usually be carried out within organisations like the Schools Commission, administering programs on the Commonwealth's behalf. Administration 12.46 There are several weaknesses in the administration of the Commonwealth's present provisions for special groups. One of these is fragmentation of responsibility, as evidenced by the administrative arrangements for the provision of educational services for Aboriginal students. Two portfolios are directly involved - Aboriginal Affairs and Education, and within the latter, each of the Commissions and the National Aboriginal Education Committee have some responsibilities, together with the Department. Another is the provision of administrative support, either in tenns of staff or funds. Where, as in the Disadvantaged Schools and Country Areas Programs, there is a national program, there must be sufficient support services at the national level to ensure that the national perspective is maintained. The reviews of individual programs suggest that this has not happened. If there are difficulties in providing administrative resources, for example, because of concerns about the size of the Commonwealth Public Service, the number of programs should probably be reduced and available administrative resources concentrated on the remaining programs. Some types of program, for example, those concerned with individual students and individual schools, are relatively costly in basic administration. nth",,..,, nIh",,..,,, '> ",...hAr.J """t",m i" th", fA,..."" m'>u r",nllir", mnrp Ip.~rlp.r,""hin I1nrl infnrTTl~tinn ..... ~ ••~~v, •••• ~~~ ~ v~ ...... ~ vJ ..... ~~u.~ ..... ~ ••~ ~ ..... ~~ ..... , u'-J A~""~"~ ... ~.- ·----·-... r _ .. _ .... _ .... _ .. _ .. dissemination rather than routine administrative resources. 12.47 A further issue arising from present administrative arrangements is the extent to which the legislation under which programs operate empowers the Commonwealth Minister to consider projects and proposals before funds are authorised. Over the past decade, requirements that the Minister approve projects and proposals under the various specific purpose programs have been relaxed. This is in the interests of administrative efficiency and gives school authorities a high degree of flexibility in the way program funds are used. Given this, however, the Commonwealth should adopt a tighter strategy in relation to objective setting and outcome assessment if it wishes to ensure the effective- ness of its programs for schools. REFERENCES 1. W J Campbell and M McMeniman, The English as a Second Language (ESL) Factors and Index Study, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, November 1984. 2. For example: comments included in material provided to the Quality of Education Review Committee by the Western Australian Education Department illustrated this phenomenon. 170 3. For example; • Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, Report Schools in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, May 1973. PH Karmel, Chairman . • Schools Commission, Reportfor the Triennium 1976-78, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, July 1975 . • This statement was also supported by comments included in material provided to the Quality of ~ducation Review Committee by the Australian Teachers' Federation. 4. Westinghouse Learning Corporation and Ohio University, The Impact of Head Start Experience on Children's Cognitive and Affective Development, Springfield, Virginia: US Department of Commerce Clearinghouse, 1969. 5. L J Schweinhart and D P Weikart, Monographs of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, No.7: Young Children Grow Up: The Effects of the Perry Pre-school Program on Youths Through Age 15, High/Scope Press, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1980. 6. 0 P Weikart, monograph: Changed Lives: The Effects of the Perry Pre-school Program on Youths through Age 19, High/Scope Press, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1984. 7. A E Lapointe, 'The Good News About American Education', Phi Delta Kappan Vol. 65, No. 10, June 1984. 8. M Rutter et a!., Fifteen Thousand Hours: Secondary Schools and Their Effects on Children, Open Books, London, 1979. Pages 177 to 179. 9. J F Haden and D J Waters, Educational Improvements in Priority Projects Schools: A Summary of Findings from Program Monitoring Data 1974 to 1981, South Australian Education Department monograph, November 1982. Page 2. 10. A Ruby, J Reddin, J Sobski and E Wilmot, Report of the Panel to Review the Disadvantaged Schools Program, Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra, January 1985. Paragraph 1.8. 11. Interim Committee for the Australian SchoolS Commission, op. cit. Pages 53 and 54. 12. ibid. Page 52. 171 CHAPTER 13: STRATEGIES AND PRIORITIES 13.1 Having examined trends in schooling over the last decade, the likely social and economic context of the next decade and the specific issues to which it was directed by the terms of reference, the Committee sets out in this chapter its recommendations for future Commonwealth government involvement in primary and secondary schooling. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 13.2 The Commonwealth's involvement in primary and secondary schooling has been associated with positive changes in the character of schooling, the ways in which it is provided and the extent to which the community and individuals are able to benefit from it. The examination of the ways in which the Commonwealth's involvement has been effected in respect of both general resources and specific purpose grants has led the Committee to make four major observations. 13.3 First, the current funding arrangements are too rigid to allow effective redeployment of resources by the Commonwealth, the States and non-government school rruthcrities to meet changi!lg priorities. Given higher rates of partir:ipation in post- compulsory schooling there will have to be additional expenditure on tertiary education where the pressure of numbers will be felt over the next decade. This additional expenditure will fall largely to the Commonwealth. It cannot be assumed that additional resources will be available from the Commonwealth for schools. Some flexibility in the deployment of resources is necessary to support high priority objectives and to meet needs that were evidenced in most of the reviews of specific purpose programs commissioned by the Commonwealth Schools Commission in 1984. 13.4 The second observation is that too little attention has been given to an ongoing review of the objectives and effectiveness of Commonwealth programs. Programs have continued after they have achieved their original objectives or have been shown to be incapable of doing so. For example, the General Recurrent Grants Program for government and non-government schools, which was designed to lift school resources to particular target levels, was continued without review after government school systems and non-Catholic non-government schools had, on average, reached those levels and after it had become clear that Catholic schools would not reach them under existing resource management policies. After a gap of some years the present Government adopted the community standard as the basis for future recurrent resource funding, and new targets, exceeding current resource levels, have been set. 13.5 Thirdly, although the Commonwealth has collected detailed information on expenditure from non-government schools and is seeking more information from both sectors as to how its funds are applied, it has little infonnation. either descriptive or 172 quantitative, about changes which have been effected through its funding, Where neither the rationale for the provision of funds nor the Commonwealth'8 expectations of outcomes are clear, the flow of information is likely to be unsatisfactory. On the other hand, since schools and school systems are important social institutions which are either public enterprises or heavily subsidised by public funds, they have an obligation to provide public information about educational outcomes. The Committee believes that there is considerable scope for improvement in this area. 13.6 Finally, the lack of clarity apparent in program objectives is matched by confusion about which objectives can be achieved in the short run and which require long term commitments. Real improvements in the quality of education come from sustained efforts to introduce change and to maintain the momentum of change until it has affected the whole school system. Attempts at providing remedial instruction for secondary school students and for early school leavers typify short term measures whose effects on the whole school system are transient. Valuable for the students who are involved, they nevertheless do nothing to prevent successive waves of students with similar learning deficiencies, and they may make it seem that remedial action to overcome these problems is a Commonwealth responsibility. In setting up new programs, therefore, the Common wealth should be clear both about the time scale within which benefits should occur and about the extent of long run commitments which it is willing to make. Within this context, the Committee believes that long run objectives should be emphasised. In particular, it supports policies seeking to improve the learning outcomes for primary school students, as these have long run effects. Similarly, it supports staff development through which large scale qualitative changes can be expected to take place over a long period. 13.7 In the light of these considerations and the discussion in Chapter 12, the Committee has adopted the following general principles in formulating its recommenda tions for Commonwealth funding of programs in primary and secondary education: • a limited number of concisely stated national objectives should be pursued at any one time; • effort should be focussed on elements of the school population or schools, and not spread thinly over the full gamut of schooling; • priority should be given to the support of activities whose benefits, although accruing in the long run, are likely to be continuing; • apart from continuing commitments to a few areas where there are long term obligations, there should be sufficient flexibility in funding arrangements to permit the redeployment of resources to meet changing priorities; • direct Commonwealth involvement in program administration should be limited in favour of greater review and evaluation and improved flow of information to the public about activities in schools; and • a smaller number of programs, but with better administrative support, should be funded. 173 IMPLEMENTATION Delivery Mechanisms 13.8 The Committee proposes that the Commonwealth use a combination of four types of delivery mechanism: negotiated agreements; long term specific purpose programs; limited life specific purpose programs; and directly administered activities or projects. In each of these mechanisms, including initiatives managed by the Common wealth itself, clear objectives and effectiveness indicators should be specified at the outset. Each of the first three should be associated with a set of firm, clear and simple reporting requirements. These should be such as to allow a ready flow of information about progress towards the objectives and to facilitate the assessment of the effectiveness of the use of Commonwealth funds. 13.9 Negotiated Agreements The Commonwealth would specify the objectives of general funding and arrange with recipients, through negotiated agreements, for its funds to be applied to the achievement of these objectives. The detailed administrative arrangements become matters largely for the recipients. 13.10 Long Term Specific Purpose Programs The Commonwealth would operate long term programs, each with its own administrative structure and operating guidelines. Specified funds would be allocated to them, usually under specific, rather than general, provisions of the annual States grants legislation. The present specific purpose programs administered by the Schools Commission have, in effect, been programs of this type. Long term specific purpose programs would appear to be most suitable in situations in which the Commonwealth is meeting long term obligations. 13.11 Limited Life Specific Purpose Programs The Commonwealth would operate specific purpose programs, but for a limited term, such as four to six years. Reviews would be conducted before the expiry of the period to determine whether the program should be subsumed within negotiated agreements, extended or terminated. Again, funds would be specifically identified in legislation and the intention to limit the program's life would be made explicit. 13.12 Directly Administered Initiatives The Commonwealth would mount its own projects or activities with specifically identified funds, rather than use a program format. The Schools Commission's activities in the areas of girls' education and Aboriginal education have been of this kind, as have the activities of the Curriculum Development Centre. POLICY OBJECTIVES Recurrent Expenditure 13.13 The development of general competences is one of the universal goals of schools and school systems. The Committee suggests that the prime policy goal of the Commonwealth in schooling should be the raising of the capabilities of all students in these competences. This must not be taken to imply that the Committee is urging sole 174 concentration by schools on this goal or, in popular parlance, on basic skills. There are larger and more comprehensive responsibilities for school authorities. 13.14 Real improvements in quality in the long run depend on ensuring that primary students move into secondary education with high levels of attainment in the general competences. This in turn depends on providing special care and assistance for the potentially disadvantaged at an early stage and on ensuring that early sex role stereotyping does not preclude girls from later obtaining approximately equal representation in secondary subject areas. The achievement of such changes in primary schools requires the commitment of teachers to the task and the enhancement of their skills in these areas. 13.15 To ensure that participation in Years 11 and 12 continues to rise, attention should focus on those groups which are currently under represented. In the short run, one of the greatest needs is to equip all teachers to cater more adequately for students from special groups whose educational needs are being met imperfectly. Equally, there is need to sustain present efforts to encourage girls to broaden their choice of secondary school subjects and to raise their -levels of attainment in non-traditional areas. 13.16 Staff development activities, at both primary and secondary levels, should be directed at the following four priority areas identified in Chapter 10: • encouraging more teachers to direct their efforts to raising their students' general competences; • encouraging more teachers to adopt rigorous approaches to curriculum content; • assisting teachers to plan consistent and coordinated approaches to the curriculum; and • assisting teachers to identify, and feel confident and competent in teaching students suffering educational disadvantage. In particular, teachers' capabilities in teaching Aboriginal students, students whose first language is not English and handicapped students must be enhanced if members of these groups are to be accepted as the responsibility of all teachers as a normal part of teaching. 13. 17 Staff development should include both in-service education, and consultant and advisory services. In-service education ranges from whole school activities to courses for individual teachers, along the lines set out in paragraphs 10.42 to 10.44. The provision of consultant and advisory services is equally important, as it assists classroom teachers trying to change their practices. Capital Expenditure 13.18 In emphasising measures involving recurrent funding, the Committee is giving recognition to the absence of growth in total school enrolments, at least until the early 1990s (see Table 4.5) and the consequent decline in the demand for new capital facilities due to enrolment growth. Demographic trends are quite different from those which obtained when the Commonwealth first entered the direct funding of school capital facilities. The total school population is stable and the pressure for new capital facilities is coming from changes in geographic location and in the distribution between primary and secondary schools, as well as, the shift in population between the sectors. Nevertheless, pressures for additional places from population growth are, and will be, much less than during the big growth period of the 1960s and 1970s. 175 13. 19 The separation of demand generated by changes in population distribution and by inter-sectoral change is not always possible. Since both the government and non government sectors are experiencing demand for new places generated by enrolment shifts, the Committee believes that, to the extent that the Commonwealth is providing capital funds for new places, there should be a reasonable balance (in terms of community needs) in Commonwealth provisions for the two sectors. Nonetheless, there is a danger that provision of facilities to meet inter-sectoral changes of distribution within the school population will lead to duplication of effort and, in some cases, the creation of new places in schools unable to offer either satisfactory physical facilities or a comprehensive educational program. In this connection, it should be noted that the Commonwealth has recently modified its funding arrangements to reduce the possibility of duplication. 13.20 Another source of demand for capital funds is the physical state of present facilities and their aptness for present uses. While the worst deficiencies of the 1960s have been overcome, there remains a continuing demand for upgrading. Many schools are old and have had inadequate maintenance programs. 13.21 Upgrading is likely to be required to support the increased participation in senior secondary schooling. Senior classes tend to be smaller than junior secondary classes and some require complex and expensive equipment. As well, new technology and new teaching practices render some existing facilities obsolete. 13.22 There is also the need to modify facilities for handicapped students. As one of the effects of Commonwealth involvement in special education has been the encourage- ment of these children to pursue their studies, there is a residual demand for the upgrading of facilities to cater for them. 13.23 Funds for the construction of libraries have been provided by the Common wealth since 1969. Libraries remain as an earmarked element in the Capital Grants Program. The recent review of the Capital Program observed that most school libraries were now housed in buildings approximating the standards the Commonwealth had set (I). Special provision for library buildings and major equipment may no longer be necessary. I3.24 The Committee has not included the Capital Grants Program among its highest priorities. Overall, school enrolments will not grow. Increasingly, the demand for places generated by population mobility should be able to be met by education authorities. Some transfer of resources from the Capital Grants Program to higher priority recurrent needs seems appropriate. The Capital Grants Program might then give priority to upgrading of school buildings to accommodate new teaching technologies, increased participation in Years II and 12 and the modification of facilities for handicapped students. RECOMMENDA nONS General Recurrent Grants 13.25 Since the Commonwealth is not directly engaged in school administration, except in the Australian Capital Territory, and is not in a position to determine'the precise ways in which the prime goal set out in paragraph 13.13 will be pursued, the Committee 176 believes that general recurrent funding should be provided through formal agreements negotiated with government and non-government school authorities. Under such agree ments, school authorities would undertake to apply the funds for defined purposes and to enter into reporting arrangements which would meet Commonwealth requirements. 13.26 Recommendation J Commonwealth general recurrent grants to government and non-government schools should be directed, by way of negotiated agreements, towards the priority areas of: • improving among students in primary. and particularly junior primary, schools, the development of the general competences of" - acquiring information; - conveying information; - applying logical processes; - performing practical tasks as individuals; and - performing practical tasks as members of a group. • improving the attainment of competences among disadvantaged groups as a basis for raising their participation in Years 11 and 12; • obtaining approximately equal representation and attainment of girls in major subject areas; and • enhancing the competence of teachers in bringing about the necessary improve- ments. 13.27 To complement the clarification of Commonwealth objectives and the introduction of negotiated agreements, the Committee believes that reporting require- ments should be altered considerably. Certification of expenditure must, of course, be required and, in order to be placed within the present subsidy scheme, non-government schools must continue to provide income and expenditure details. Beyond these requirements, the Committee proposes that information requirements be more closely tied to Commonwealth objectives than they have in the past. 13.28 If the prime goal is raising the general competences of all students, reporting should be of progress towards this goal in terms of indicators identified as relevant by the Commonwealth. The Committee has considered whether reporting requirements under negotiated agreements might be satisfied by a national testing scheme. In the light of the discussion in Chapter 8, it has concluded that the balance of advantage is against such a scheme. Instead it proposes that the Commonwealth identify a limiteq range of indicators relevant to the improvement of the general competences and the raising of participation. 13.29 These indicators should relate both to attainment and to participation. Attainment measures should be criterion referenced. Emphasis on their use should be on incremental change within school systems rather than on comparisons across systems. In these circumstances a limited amount of periodic testing, with results cross classified by student characteristics, should suffice. 13.30 The Committee recognises that the attainment of all the general competences is not easily measured; for instance, the assessment of competences in the performance of practical tasks, individually or in groups, is more likely to be effected through classroom observation than through any written test. It suggests that the.Commonwealth confine its requirements to a limited range of attainment measures in recognition of school and school 177 authorities' responsibilities for reporting on the broader achievements of schools and of the impracticability of the Commonwealth's becoming involved in detail. The Committee also recognizes that new tests may need to be developed in some areas and by some authorities, This will take time and funds. It may not be unreasonable for the Commonwealth to assist by permitting its general recurrent funds to be used for this purpose. 13.31 Recommendation 2 Recipients of Commonwealth general recurrent funds should be required to provide every three years: • evidence of levels of student attainment in areas of skill associated with the general competences, as measured by criterion referenced tests and cross class(fied by principal social group, that is, socio-economic status, gender, rurallurban location, English speaking background and Aboriginality; • post-compulsory participation rates by socio-economic status, gender, urbanI rural location, English speaking background and Aboriginality; and • statistics on post-compulsory subject choice by girls and on the number and proportions presenting for major examinations or certificates in each major subject. Capital Grants 13.32 To support the main thrusts of Commonwealth policy in respect of school level education, some capital expenditure will be necessary. The discussion of capital funding in paragraphs 13.18 to 13.24, indicated that such expenditure should be dIrected to specific purposes. 13.33 Recommendation 3 In continuing to provide capital funds, the Commonwealth should increasingly afford priority to: • upgrading school buildings to accommodate new teaching technologies; • upgrading existing schools to support increased participation in Years 11 and 12; and • modifying existing schools to meet the needs of handicapped students. Transfer of Specific Purpose Programs 13.34 The Committee believes it appropriate that funds currently applied through some specific purpose programs be added to those provided for general recurrent purposes and form part of negotiated agreements extended to cover the principal aims of these programs. The following programs and part programs lend themselves to combination with the General Recurrent Grants Program and coverage under formal agreements: English as a Second Language - General Support Element Multicultural Education Ethnic Schools Program - proportion currently devoted to insertion classes Country Areas Program 178 Special Education Program - Recurrent and Integration Elements Professional Development Program 13.35 In suggesting the use of agreements negotiated with school authorities as a means of pursuing Commonwealth priorities in these fields, the Committee is seeking to ensure that program overlap is reduced, Commonwealth priorities are acknowledged by those who accept its funds and that universally accepted programs (for example, multicultural education) become part of the general schooling provision. 13.36 Given the importance of people of non-English speaking background in the Australian population, the Committee believes that it is incumbent on schools and school systems to provide for students from this group as part of their regular operation. Closely related to this issue is that of the other measures which should be taken to facilitate the achievement of desirable schooling outcomes by those of non-English speaking back ground. Apart from the teaching of English as a second language to achieve a degree of mastery of English, strong arguments have been advanced for maintaining first languages and culture and for other related measures to develop or maintain individual identity and self esteem. Many authorities conducting schools or school systems have introduced, or encouraged the use of Commonwealth funds for, programs directed at these needs - language maintenance programs, cultural awareness programs, home/school liaison through ethnic aides, bilingual education programs, homeland studies. The Committee's view is that, however important these programs may be, the Commonwealth should give priority to the development of an adequate degree of proficiency in English among newly-arrived students of non-English speaking background. Its efforts in other directions should be made by providing financial assistance to school authorities prepared to enter formal undertakings that they will pursue the policy objectives in question as an element of their mainstream activity. 13.37 The achievement of multiculturalism, at least in terms of increasing tolerance and intercultural understanding and creating a more cohesive society, appears to require attitudinal changes on a large scale. Many school authorities have developed their own comprehensive multicultural education policies. More might be encouraged to do so if they were required to negotiate agreements with the Commonwealth about how they will allocate funds provided by the latter for school purposes. 13.38 Similarly, the development of school services in country areas should be a concern, principally, of individual education systems. Local requirements vary and there are major differences among States and Territories in the ways the infrastructure is arranged. All recognise that the provision of services outside major urban centres requires their attention and therefore they could be expected to be interested in applying funds available from the Commonwealth for this purpose. 13.39 Arguments for providing Commonwealth assistance for most physically and! or intellectually handicapped students within negotiated agreements also give recognition to the diversity of provision across Australia and to the responsibility of school authorities for ensuring that services are provided for them, as far as possible in the mainstream. 13.40 The Professional Development Program should also be transferred because of the high priority the Committee is proposing for staff development as a means of effecting the priority changes in student outcomes that are the objectives of general recurrent grants. 179 13.41 Implementation of this proposal for the modification of program arrangements is not straightforward and is likely to take some time to be fully effected. The objectives to which funds are to be directed will need to be carefully devised and outcome indicators determined. Some school authorities will be better placed than others to participate immediately in the new arrangements. Some of the programs are joint programs, administered by government school authorities but with participation by government and non-government schools. Each program has its own basis for the allocation of funds among States and sectors. Further, the Commonwealth will need to ensure that it develops an administratively simple device for determining allocations among States, if it is to gain benefit from reducing its direct control over previously targetted funds. The Committee therefore envisages that"there will be a phasing in period of up to two years. 13.42 The Committee does not expect that each school or school system necessarily will agree to pursue each of the Commonwealth's policy objectives with the same force. There may well be situations in which a school system seeks to stress some more than others. The Commonwealth should therefore allow some flexibility. 13.43 Recommendation 4 Within the next two years, funds currently allocated to the following specific purpose programs should be added to those presently legislated for general recurrent grants and the programs' principal objectives added to those already recommended for inclusion under formal agreements to be negotiated with school authorities: English as a Second Language - General Support Element; Multicultural Education; Ethnic Schools - proportion currently devoted to insertion classes; Country Areas; Special Education - Recurrent and Integration Elements; and Professional Development. Long Term Specific Purpose Programs 13.44 The Commonwealth has obligations to Aborigines and newly arrived immigrants and it should conduct specific purpose programs to meet them. The programs should operate along the lines the Committee is suggesting for all educational funding. Thus, objectives should be clear and few in number and effectiveness indicators and reporting requirements set. Funds should be available for the development of staff catering for these students and the Commonwealth should ensure that it supports adequately the administration of the programs. 13.45 Aboriginal students as a group require special assistance if their outcomes from education are to approach those of the generality of students. There is no program which is directed specifically at increasing participation by Aboriginal students in the mainstream of education. Neither is there a program which signals that Aboriginal students have as much stake in the educational process as other disadvantaged students from low socio- economic or non-English speaking backgrounds or from remote areas. The efficacy of such a program would be enhanced if administrative responsibility were to be located within the education portfolio, where there can be a concentration on educational issues and closer coordination between school and teacher education provisions. 180 13.46 Another difficulty in the area of Aboriginal education is the existence of wide ranging proposals for Commonwealth action. Reference has been made in paragraph I I .56 to the extensive proposals of the Senate Standing Committee of Education and the Arts. The Working Party on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education also proposed four new programs. The Committee foresees difficulties in embarking on all of these activities and suggests that from them a restricted number of high priority measures be selected for action through closely specified projects. 13.47 The very low participation of Aboriginal students beyond the compulsory years suggests that for many of these students the last few years of schooling represent little more than a time of waiting to reach the age at which they can officially leave school. The Committee sees the priority to lie with changing this situation. It suggests, as one measure among a series of measures to be effected over time, a program initially targetted on regular schools with concentrations of Aboriginal students. Such a program should be designed to improve the quality of school life for Aboriginal students in their late primary and early secondary years and to assist schools develop ways of encouraging them to engage more actively in schooling. 13.48 Recommendation 5 To ensure that expenditure on Aboriginal education is coordinated with other initiatives to increase educational participation by under represented groups, Commonwealth responsibility for Aboriginal education policy and programs should be located within the education portfolio. Within this framework, priority should be given to an element to increase retention in the post-compulsory years. 13.49. The present New Arrivals element of the English as a Second Language Program does not provide sufficient funds to allow protracted assistance to immigrant youth whose proficiency in English is non-existent and whose chances of achieving mastery are limited by their age and background. There are those who are of an age which places them in upper primary or secondary schools and are illiterate in their own language, or have had seriously interrupted schooling, or suffered the trauma of war. Increased funds, if necessary by reallocation, may be needed if these students are to have sufficient instruction to enable them to acquire enough English to reach coping levels of proficiency. 13.50 Recommendation 6 The Commonwealth should continue to operate a specific purpose program to assist the development of proficiency in English for newly arrived students of non-English speaking background. Limited Life Specific Purpose Programs 13.5 I Several of the present specific purpose programs are directed towards meeting particular Commonwealth concerns or are the primary source of support for particular groups. The Committee believes that, with some modifications to the way in which they operate and the reporting requirements applying to them, they should continue as limited term programs. A major modification involves the setting of a time for a comprehensive review of each one, with a view to its coverage under negotiated agreements, its extension or its termination. 181 13.52 The programs which fall into this category are: Disadvantaged Schools Participation and Equity Basic Learning in Primary Schools Computer Education Children in Residential Institutions Severely Handicapped Children Early Special Education Ethnic Schools - proportion devoted to out of hours classes 13.53 The Disadvantaged Schools Program addresses low socio-economic status and there are arguments for including it with the programs to be handled through negotiated agreements. On balance, the Committee believes that it should continue so that four or five cohorts of children have had the opportunity of participating in it throughout their school lives. A date for its review should be set some four or five years hence. 13.54 The Participation and Equity and Basic Learning in Primary Schools Programs are new, instituted essentially as seeding ventures to stimulate action towards the achievement of high priority Commonwealth policy objectives. It would be logical to subsume them within the negotiated agreements, since both address priority areas of those agreements. Both are three year programs. The Committee believes that the Participation and Equity Program should be reviewed towards the end of its present life with that in mind. It suggests that the Basic Learning in Primary Schools Program be modified. 13.55 Elsewhere, for example in paragraph 13.6, the Committee has drawn attention to the importance, in the quest for educational improvements, of efforts which will yield lOflg Hhi. beiiefits. OnG of the ways iii which r:.ev,.' approaches are de'/e!0ped 2nd spre~_d is through the setting up of demonstration centres where new practices are put into operation in actual school situations, their effectiveness monitored and their advantage!) and disadvantages documented. The new practices might include not only new ways of teaching but also new curriculum content and new equipment. Demonstration centres with this character are important elements in a seeding process. 13.56 The Basic Learning in Primary Schools Program has the potential to foster a small number of such centres as support for schools and school systems committed under negotiated agreements to raising general competences and, in parallel, to enhancing the capacity of the teaching force. The amount currently available is unlikely to have a significant direct impact on all primary schools, especially if it is not accompanied by strong central support. The Committee believes that the funds would be better concentrated on a few demonstration projects extending over several years and designed to have a long term impact on schooling. 13.57 Such projects might be jointly sponsored by the Commonwealth and individual school authorities, draw upon the best expertise in the chosen field of endeavour and be open to observation by teachers, school administrators and teacher educators. In keeping with the priority attached to the maintenance of strongly rising participation rates, there is a case for a similar arrangement to be funded under the Participation and Equity Program, a proposal which might be taken up during the review foreshadowed in paragraph 13.54. 13.58 The Computer Education Program was set up in 1984 as a three year program to give added stimulus to the development of effective ways of using computers in 182 teaching and learning and raising students' awareness of computing technology. The actual introduction of computers, the development of curricula, teacher development and the preparation of software are matters largely within the control of school systems. Most are making significant financial commitments in these areas. The Committee believes that the Program should be reviewed in 1986, with a view to its being subsumed within negotiated agreements. 13.59 In including children in residential institutions, severely handicapped children and handicapped children of below school age as foci for limited term specific purpose programs, the Committee is guided by the apparent absence of structures within schools and systems to cater adequately for these children. It believes that the situation should be reviewed some four or five years hence. 13.60 The provision of out of hours classes for the preservation of ethnic language and cultures appears to be a useful mechanism. The Committee is less supportive of the teaching of community languages through insertion classes. Accordingly, it has included this latter element for incorporation within general recurrent funds as a way of providing choice for education authorities about how community language teaching occurs. The Committee suggests that the Commonwealth's involvement with out of hours classes be reviewed after the new arrangements for community language teaching have operated for several years. 13.61 Recommendation 7 The following programs should be subject to a comprehensive review within the next few years to establish whether they should be subsumed within negotiated agreements, extended or terminated; in the meantime, they should operate on the revised basis set out in Recommendation 8: Disadvantaged Schools; Participation and Equity; Basic Learning in Primary Schools; Computer Education; Children in Residential Institutions; Severely Handicapped Children; Early Special Education; and Ethnic Schools - proportion devoted to out of hours classes. 13.62 Recommendation 8 The funds provided under the Basic Learning in Primary Schools Program should be . focussed on a small number of demonstration centres or projects designed to develop and extend good teaching and curriculum practice. Guidelines for Specific Purpose Programs 13.63 Because of the importance it is attaching to ensuring that Commonwealth funds are directed to the achievement of Commonwealth policy goals and the concerns it has about weaknesses in the operation of existing programs, the Committee proposes the prescription of guidelines for the operation of specific purpose programs. 183 13.64 Recommendation 9 All specific purpose programs should operate on the basis of: • a small number of simply stated objectives; • a small number of pre-determined effectiveness indicators; • reporting arrangements which allow progress towards objectives to be noted; • the use of some funds for staff development; and • ongoing evaluation and adequate administrative support. Directly Administered Commonwealth Initiatives 13.65 Under the preceding recommendations most of the Commonwealth's involve ment in primary and secondary schooling will occur through negotiated agreements, long term specific purpose programs and limited life specific purpose programs. In some fields, however, such arrangements are inappropriate. For example, Commonwealth efforts to improve the school curriculum take place largely through the work of the Curriculum Development Centre. The Committee considers it essential that the Centre should continue to work in collaboration with other agencies to effect curriculum changes, in parallel with efforts to improve primary and secondary schooling and as a means of increasing participation in the post-compulsory years. In particular, the Committee would accord priority to curriculum development initiatives in communication skills; mathe- matics; science and technology; the study of work; and Australian studies, including the political system. Most of these are already receiving attention through the Centre. The Australian Bicentennial Authority is supporting the development of Australian studies. 13.66 The Commonwealth Schools Commission has had sustained interest in the education of girls and in student assessment and certification issues. The Commission has, with a small amount of funds, also stimulated interest in the education of the gifted and talented. 13.67 The Committee believes that directly administered Commonwealth activities of this kind should continue. It also supports suggestions made in some of the reviews of specific purpose programs fOf' greater dissemination of information about developments arising from Commonwealth activities. It therefore sees as desirable a closer link between the Commonwealth and the education centres directly funded under the Education Centres Program and their greater involvement in dissemination activities related to curriculum development and special themes which the Commonwealth adopts from time to time. Similarly, the Committee supports the continuation of the Projects of National Significance Program as a source of support for relatively small scale initiatives in which the Commonwealth is a direct participant with agencies in the States and Territories. These projects have the capacity to exert a profound influence on educational practice; this has been the case in respect ofthe education of girls and the place of arts in education. 13.68 Recommen4ation 10 The Commonwealth should administer directly and at least sustain its efforts in curriculum development, with particular reference ·to communication skills, mathe- matics, science and technology, the world of work and Australian studies. 184 13.69 Re-commendation 1 J The Commonwealth should administer directly a small number of major educational initiatives related to its priorities. REFERENCES I. Report of the Review of the Commonwealth's Capital Grants Program, March 1985. G Hancock Chairperson, (mimeographed). 185 CHAPTER 14: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14.1 The Quality of Education Review owes i.ts existence to the Commonwealth Government's concern to ensure the effectiveness of its involvement in primary and secondary education. The Committee has seen its task as being to report on the extent and results of the Commonwealth's funding and to suggest strategies by which future Commonwealth involvement could be made more effective in terms of educational outcomes. This chapter summarises the Committee's conclusions and sets out its views on a range of issues as well as listing its formal recommendations. CONCLUSIONS 14.2 Because of its concern with effectiveness and efficiency, past and future, this report is outcomes oriented. This is in contrast with the concentration on increasing educational inputs which has been characteristic of the past 10 or 15 years. 14.3 An appraisal of the quality of Australian education depends on the selection of the relevant elements that make up the educational system, the assessment of their character and the weighting given to their relative importance. Such an appraisal is therefore complex and value laden. There is no simpie measure of quality. in the same way as the definition of what constitutes high quality education is multi-dimensional, so there is no simple prescription of the ingredients necessary to achieve high quality education: many factors interact - students and their backgrounds; staff and their skills; schools and their structure and ethos; curricula; and societal expectations. 14.4 In undertaking its task, the Committee has subscribed to the goal of greater equality of educational opportunity. The extent to which greater equality of opportunity has been effective in improving the life chances of those from disadvantaged groups can be tested by whether group outcomes have become more equal. Greater equality of group outcomes is an important priority of the Commonwealth Government, and the Committee has paid attention to this throughout its work. Decade of Expansion 14.5 Over the period 1974-75 to 1982-83, real public sector expenditure on schools increased at the rate of 3 per cent per annum. Capital expenditure declined sharply, with expenditure for recurrent purposes rising by 5 per cent per annum. Over the same period the picture is one of very substantial real increases in total government (Commonwealth and State) expenditure on schools, with a clear shift from capital to recurrent expenditure and a relative increase in expenditure on non·govemment schools. The Commonwealth's contribution to funding schools has been relatively greater for the non-government sector. In 1982-83 the Commonwealth contributed II per cent of public outlays on government 186 schools (9 per cent of recurrent and 35 per cent of capital); for non-government schools it contributed 68 per cent (66 per cent of recurrent and 100 per cent of capital). 14.6 Since 1973-74 there has been a steady growth in real terms of recurrent expenditure per student in primary and secondary schools. The rate of growth has been somewhat higber in primary than in secondary schools, and higher in government schools than in non-Catholic non-government schools. With the exception of non-Catholic non- government schools containing secondary classes, where the growth rate has been lower, real growth has been within the range of 4 to 5 per cent per annum per student. Some future increases in Commonwealth real recurrent expenditure up to 1992 have been announced. In contrast with patterns of school expenditure, over the period 1975 to 1984 there was a decline in real recurrent resources per full-time equivalent student in higher education of about 8 per cent. Broadly, real recurrent expenditure in TAFE has moved parallel with student enrolments. 14.7 The great bulk of the additional funds has been used to increase the number and type of staff working or providing serviCes for the schools. Teachers, other professionals, para-professionals and ancillary staff have been employed in schools in increasing numbers. 14.8 Over the period the number of teachers increased by about one-third, compared to enrolment increases of 5 per cent. This large increase in the number of teachers has been reflected in student/teacher ratios which improved substantially over the period 1974 to 1983. Class sizes have fallen, but many ofthe extra teachers have been deployed outside the formal classroom: to provide specialised help for target groups; to enable teachers to have more preparation time; to increase the range of curriculum offerings; to provide additional specialised services such as libraries; to act as consultants to other teachers; to act as counsellors to students; to strengthen school administration; and to free school principals from aspects of administration. 14.9 During the 1970s the proportion of gross domestic product devoted to public outlays on education, which had been 4.5 per cent in 1971-72, rose to 6.4 per cent by 1974-75 before declining to 5.8 per cent three years later. In 1982-83 it stood at 6 per cent. 14.10 Public outlay on education as a proportion of all public outlays peaked in 1974-75 at nearly one-sixth. Since then it has declined steadily in the budgets of both the Commonwealth and the States. For the Commonwealth, the proportion has declined by almost one-fifth. Governments continue to draw attention to the difficulties of funding education, but, in fact, the experience of the last decade demonstrates that the budgetary problems of this funding have lessened. 14.11 The Commonwealth's share of public outlays on education rose sharply in 1973-74 and 1974-75. Since those years there has been some decline but the Common wealth now funds rather more than one-fifth of school education in Australia and almost four-fifths of post-school education. Educational Outcomes 14. 12 Because of the variety of purposes to which increased expenditure has been applied and the difficulty of measuring qualitative outcomes, it is possible to provide, 187 within the scope and timetable of this report, only broad brush comment. Assessing effectiveness of schools is constrained by the absence of unanimity of what students should achieve, the lack of)' effective measures of achievement across the spectrum of educational objectives and the difficulty of separating the effects of schooling from those of the complex of social processes experienced by learners. 14.13 There is no incontrovertible evidence from either government or non- government schools that cognitive outcomes for students have become either better or worse since the early 1970s. Perspectives of inadequacies are strongly held by employers and industry groups but the evidence is largely anecdotal. Education authorities are confident that there has been some improvement; certainly the national sample surveys of literacy and numeracy conducted in 1975 and 1980 showed improvements in minimum competence. Hard data are thin on both sides, and are inconclusive. Employers who recruit employees direct from school are recruiting from a quite different group of young people compared with a decade or so ago, when relatively few schoolleavers proceeded to full-time tertiary education; and they are recruiting for quite different jobs. Similarly, average academic performance of senior secondary students must be affected by the retention in school of more students whose abilities and backgrounds are of a less academic kind. 14.14 The school system as a whole has been engaged in responding to new needs. Curricular adaptation has been a continuing process over the past 15 years in response to the changing composition of the school population, to demands for coverage of new areas of knowledge and skill, and to research evidence about how children learn. In the senior secondary years, the range of offerings has been expanded, partly in response to a re<::ogr!.it!on th~t an B.(':ademir. orientation is not appropriate for all students in Years 11 and 12. School authorities have been fostering the use of improved student assessment and school evaluation techniques. 14.15 There is little doubt that the physical provIsIOn made for schooling is qualitatively better now than at any previous time. The standard of school buildings has risen and facilities, such as libraries, are of a better standard. At the same time the qualifications of teachers have improved: the proportion of two year trained teachers has fallen by at least one half over the last 20 years. On the other hand the sentiments of students and recent students to schooling are mixed. While many have positive attitudes to their schools, too large a proportion feels alienated from them and regards much of school life as without relevance. 14.16 In the last 15 years the educational qualifications of the population have increased dramatically. Between 1971 and 1981 the proportion of the population aged over 15 years without post-school qualifications fell from 80 to 64 per cent. 14.17 In spite of some decline in retention to the completion of secondary schools among males, which appears to have been temporary, retention in the upper years of secondary schooling has increased significantly since the early 1970s. In 1983, 94 per cent of young people remained at school to Year 10, compared with 83 per cent in 1972; 64 per cent remained to Year II compared with 48 per cent in the earlier year; and in Year 12 there were 41 per cent in 1983 compared with 32 per cent in 1972. Preliminary figures in 1984 indicated a further rise to 45 per cent. 188 14.18 Between 1975 and 1982 there was a significant decline in the proportion of young people commencing higher education. This decline has now been reversed. Participation among the older age groups (those aged 25 years and over) has risen, particularly for women. Since 1975 there has been a dramatic increase in enrolments in technical and further education. 14.19 Gains have been made by a number of groups whose educational participation has traditionally been low, particularly girls and Aborigines. In 1976 female school retention rates overtook male rates and they have continued to move ahead. By 1984 females constituted 49 per cent of students commencing courses at institutions of higher education compared with 44 per cent eight years earlier. Whereas women accounted for 30 per cent of university enrolments in 1970, they represented 45 per cent in 1984. There was a 50 per cent increase in the retention of Aborigines from Year 10 to Year 12 between 1977 and 1982; and the number of Aboriginal students undertaking tertiary study has increased sharply. On the other hand, data are insufficient to draw conclusions about relative changes in participation of the lower socio-economic groups in general. 14.20 In adopting the recommendations of the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission, the Commonwealth Government sought to increase the level of resources available to schools for recurrent purposes and to reduce inequalities among schools in the distribution of these resources. As indicated above (paragraph 14.6) the average level of resources increased significantly. The attempt to reduce inequalities in resource inputs was less successful. While the gap between expenditure per student in non-Catholic non-government schools and government schools narrowed between 1974 and 1981, the gap between Catholic schools and government schools widened even though the States and the Commonwealth increased substantially their expenditure on these schools. 14.21 In the last decade schools have faced major pressures from external factors related to changes in the economy and society and from internal ones arising from changes in participation rates and the mix of students in the upper secondary years. At the same time, the schools have had considerably increased resources. Schools have used these resources to respond to the changes and have produced results superior to those that would otherwise have been the case. Because the effects of educational changes take time to emerge, further improvements may be expected. Changing Economic and Social Context 14.22 After 30 years of economic growth Australia has, in the last decade, experienced sharp economic downturn, slow growth, inflation and high rates of unemployment. With this reversal of trends has come recognition that the Australian economy needs to adapt to changes in the economies with which it is closely related. Some restructuring of the economy is essential. This requires changes in attitudes, the development of skills and ingenuity. The education system will need to enhance the capacities of individuals along these lines. 14.23 Employment in manufacturing has fallen sharply and agriculture has con tinued its long term decline as a source of employment. The service industries have expanded. These trends may be expected to continue. Technological change will create J89 changes in the traditional boundaries of occupations, in the range of jobs within occupations, and the mix of skills required in jobs. Many of the new jobs will involve a high degree of client contact and interpersonal skills. 14.24 The overall deterioration of the labour market, the level of unemployment particularly among young people, the changes in the patterns of employment, and the impact of technological change highlight the need for increased and broader education and training at the post-secondary level. Education and training arrangements in Australia have been based on the labour force needs of an industrial economy: a small minority of professional workers and highly skilled trade workers and a large majority of unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This pattern is obsolete in a post-industrial economy. A much greater proportion of young Australians will have to complete a broad level secondary education as a foundation on which to build the necessary occupational skills. 14.25 Social changes as well as economic ones are affecting schools. At the 1981 census, some 41 per cent of the population was either born overseas or born in Australia with at least one overseas born parent. Many schools find themselves with'significant concentrations of students of non-English speaking background and a range of fit'st languages. This is in sharp contrast to the homogeneity of the population 30 years ago. Family structures are also changing sharply and schools are increasingly being called upon to provide social support services formerly undertaken by families or communities. ,At the same time a greater variety of attitudes and values finds expression within society. Children and teachers take to school a widening range of attitudes, beliefs and values; and the community is placing more demands on schools. 14.26 On the assumption that the Commonwealth Government's policy of raising participation in secondary education IS successful, total school enroimenrs wiil remain fairly constant until 1992, significant increases in enrolments in Years II and 12 off setting declines in the lower grades. However, enrolments in the tertiary sector, arid particularly in TAFE, may be expected to rise strongly - higher education enrolments by about 25 per cent and TAFE enrolments by about 35 per cent. This will require significant increases in resources in higher education and TAFE over the next decade. 14.27 Increased retention to the completion of secondary school and the flow on to tertiary institutions can be expected, under the Committee's scenario, to increase the numbers of teenagers in full-time education by about one-third. This, together with the additional 75 000 trainees recommended by the Committee of Inquiry into Labour Market Programs, could bring youth unemployment down to a level comparable with that of the 1960s, while full-time job opportunities for the young continue their downward trend. Desirable Outcomes 14.28 Statements of goals for schools tend to be all embracing with little sign of the priorities to be attached to individual goals. The definition of desirable outcomes through the concept of competence is an attempt to provide a more focussed statement of objectives. Competence is the ability to use knowledge and skills effectively to achieve a purpose. Emphasis is therefore placed on the results of learning, which should be purposeful and have demonstrable effects. 190 14.29 Some general competences are required by all individuals. Five of these are: • acquiring information • conveying information • applying logical processes • undertaking tasks as an individual • undertaking tasks as a member of a group 14.30 Additional competences are needed by individuals as they undertake their various roles as members of society: • work place role • ongoing education role • community role • personal role 14.31 Young people must know how to select behaviour which is appropriate in the work place: when and how to accept authority; how to comply with directions; and how to learn what is expected in different situations. These tend to be learned by cxperience but young people would. be helped in the work place by a study of work as a major human activity as well as by ~ork experience. A study of work deserves a place in the school curriculum. 14.32 The performance of work requires vocational skills and knowledge but schools are not likely to be successful as centres of occupational training. The selection of the occupational skills to be taught, the lead time in setting up programs, the flux in the labour market and the skills and experiences of school teachers are reasons against encouraging a narrow vocational emphasis in post-compulsory schooling. This is not to say that some work oriented elements or practical task might not be appropriate in the curriculum. 14.33 Entry to higher education requires an extensive knowledge basis, and schools must meet the needs of students aspiring to higher education. Similarly schools must provide a foundation on which recurrent education can build. 14.34 For people to function properly in a democratic community they need some understanding of contemporary political institutions, their origins and the basic ideologies and value positions of the major policy parties. There is a case for the inclusion of Australian political studies within the school curriculum. 14.35 To a large extent the ability of individuals to lead satisfying personal lives depends on their satisfactory performance in their other roles. The school may, however, be expected to assist students to enhance their capacity to maintain personal physical and mental health, the formation and maintenance of family relationships and the use of leisure time. 14.36 Rising partIcIpatIOn in post-compulsory schooling, the resurgence of the demand for higher education on the part of young people and acceierating growth in technical and further education suggest that some of the apparent disaffection with education of the late 1970s is being replaced by renewed interest. However, there remains hostility to, and scepticism of, the work of the schools. The adversarial stance adopted by some labour market interests (including public sector ones) is regrettable; as are media presentations which search for negative aspects and frequently misrepresent the work of 191 schools. Industrial relations within the school sector are also characterised by confront ation. To achieve a wider acceptance of the importance of education, schools and school systems should provide more information about their achievements and should open themselves to the evaluation of them; and governments should be positive about education and schools, and about the community's responsibility to support schools in tackling complex and daunting tasks. Curriculum 14.37 The curriculum is the vehicle through which schools develop the general competences and other competences which underlie effective participation in adult society. The pursuit of desirable outcomes should be expressed in a rich curriculum of core and optional studies. However varied the curriculum, some structure should be imposed on the choice which students may exercise. The curriculum should not be reduced to a smorgasbord from which students choose with more or less abandon. In the upper secondary school freedom of choice should be greater than in the compulsory years. Many students are likely to seek relevance to subsequent employment in the subjects they choose. Although there should be opportunities to undertake practical or applied studies to meet this demand, post-compulsory schooling should not be specifically vocational. 14.38 The Commonwealth should give high priority to primary education, if it wishes to improve students' subsequent transition from school to employment, or to higher education and other forms of education and training. A failure to master literacy and numeracy at an early age is likely to produce poor performance. Primary schools should place greater emphasis on ensuring that none of their students progress to the next phase of h~vino H~f1l1ired --_._---If'llrnino"" withollt------<...>, adeauate• leamim!~ skills. 14.39 The Commonwealth should expand its engagement in collaborative efforts to improve the curriculum through which the general competences are acquired. In particular it should give attention to communication skills, mathematics, science and technology, the study of work and Australian studies, including the political system. 14.40 Education authorities should give attention to four aspects of the impact of recent technological change on schooling: the acquisition of skills in operating computers; the employment of the new technology as a teaching tool; the role of technological change in social and economic development; and the teaching of mathematics and science. 14.41 The nature of the curriculum and the tendency of teaching practices to favour males continue to impose limitations on girls. Changes in teaching practice and in curriculum content should be directed towards the desirable outcome of approximately equal representation of the sexes in major subjects offered in schools. Credentialling 14.42 At the point of transition from school to tertiary education there are tensions between the requirements of the tertiary institutions and the desire of teachers in secondary schools to provide a curriculum relevant to the growing numbers of students not aspiring to higher education. There are also tensions between the requirements of employers for credentials and the nature of the curriculum and its assessment that teachers regard as appropriate. Certification occurs at various stages of secondary education, 192 although nowadays there is a tendency towards providing a major certificate only at the end of Year 12. There has also been a tendency towards the provision of certificates alternative to the dominant higher school certificate for entry into higher education institutions. Reviews of certification are being undertaken by the various system authorities and discussions are being sponsored by the Curriculum Development Centre of the Schools Commission. These are to be encouraged with a view to the development of a single broad certificate of secondary education within each State and Territory. Such a certificate would operate more efficiently and more fairly in the transition of school leavers to further education and employment. 14.43 Certification at the completion of secondary school is the basis for admission to higher education. For a majority of students such admission is based on an aggregate mark of subjects undertaken in the final year of school. Mature age students are frequently admitted on other criteria. There are arguments for modifying the basis on which the aggregate mark is calculated in order to make it possible for schools to broaden curricula of post-compulsory education. Factors other than the aggregate mark might be taken into account in admitting students to universities and colleges; for example, sub-quotas might be established within which students were admitted on a rank ordering determined from the aggregate mark. Such sub-quotas could be based on gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, region of residence or any other criterion which could identify groupings believed to be inappropriately represented in higher education. The admission policies of institutions of higher education is a subject of current debate and institutions are to be encouraged to continue to develop policies which take into account more factors than the simple aggregate score at the completion of secondary school. 14.44 The concept of secondary school graduation is worthy of serious consideration by education authorities and employer groups. A graduation certificate has the potential of gaining employer support and of reducing the misuse of those parts of secondary school certificates which are intended as credentials for admission to higher education. Measuring Outcomes 14.45 The Commonwealth should evaluate its programs for schools and seek evidence of their outcomes in relation to their objectives. With specific purpose programs there should be formative evaluation to guide their implementation, and, from time to time, summative evaluation to determine whether they should be extended or terminated. The purposes of the General Recurrent Grants Program should be clearly specified and indicators of outcomes should be identified. 14.46 The evaluation issue most evident in public discussion is concerned with the total effects (quality) of education. One way of monitoring the educational system is through programs of national assessment. It is doubtful whether such programs could ever be specific enough in relevant areas to provide a definitive measure of the quality of schooling. The range of purposes of schools is too broad to be encapsulated in a few test scores. In any event the assessment of quality is subjective. Nevertheless, where the Commonwealth establishes priorities and directs funds to their achievement, it should measure the success of its activities. A Commonwealth focus on the assessment of general competences should accompany Commonwealth initiatives seeking to enhance their development. Some testing of student achievement in some areas is therefore necessary. 193 Such assessment should be based on criterion referenced tests because they place emphasis on absolute performance, avoid automatic attribution of poor results to many students, and make the nature of the tests and the standards applied explicit. Organisation of Schooling 14.47 Current practices for promotion through the school system favour automatic progression. Repetition of a grade is unusual, but for some students repetition of a grade may be the only way in which they can reach adequate achievement standards at each level of education and acquire the competences necessary for satisfactory performance later in life. Schools and school authorities should give serious consideration to increasing timetable flexibility so that students can proceed at appropriate speeds in the subjects they are studying, 14.48 A common feature of school organisation in government systems in Australia has been the practice of zoning. Dezoning might make government schools more competitive, promote parental choice and give schools the opportunity of developing their own special features. Some modification of zoning arrangements has already occurred, and further modification might well make a contribution to improving the quality of schools. Education authorities would, however, need to ensure that the development. of good schools did not prejudice the work of others. 14.49 In recent times proposals have been made for major changes in the structure of post-compulsory schooling and its relationship to technical and further education. Any major restructuring of the school system would be extremely costly, particularly in a period of enrolment stability or decline. Diversification of curricula and institutional arrangements, buth wilhin anti amung :s<.:iIuui SYSLt;lIIS, is a 11101(; pron"tislng approach than independent and uniform structural changes. Teacher Development 14.50 The attainment of the desirable outcomes of schooling set out in paragraphs 14.29 to 14.35 above is heavily dependent on improving the quality of the teaching force. Teachers must be well educated, adaptive and innovative; changes in objectives, credentialling and assessment arrangements, the curriculum or school organisation depend on teachers to carry them out. Since new entrants to teaching represent only a small fraction of the total teaching force, in the short and medium term, emphasis on improving teacher quality must be on in-service development. 14.51 Ways must be found to encourage more teachers to: • direct their efforts to raising their students' attainments in the general competences; • adopt rigorous approaches to the treatment of curriculum content; • plan consistent and coordinated approaches to the curriculum; and • identify, and feel confident and competent in their teaching of, students suffering educational disadvantage. 14.52 Of particular importance is the need for teachers to feel comfortable in teaching children who suffer from educational disadvantage. Ordinary teachers in ordinary classrooms will have within their classes students who are educationally limited 194 by their own intellectual capacity or personality. They will also have students whose disadvantage lies in their social background, and others whose cultural backgrounds are different. Because there are limits on the availability of specialised assistance, it is the classroom teacher on whom the future of educationally disadvantaged students must depend. 14.53 Research suggests that, other things being equal, a reduction of class size from 40 to 20 students has relatively little affect on learning outcomes but a reduction to below 20 may have a major impact. Reducing all classes to this level is well beyond present economic capacity. Nonetheless, at present staffing levels there is scope for operating some classes in the size range in which learning outcomes show a pronounced rise. Most students could spend some of their school week in small classes of 15 or so, even if this meant that for some other lessons they were in classes of 35 to 40 students. 14.54 Expansion of consultant and advisory services is ,a fruitful strategy for raising the quality of the work of teachers. Consultants are an important source of new ideas and knowledge for classroom teachers. Given a choice between making a marginal reduction in average class size or increasing the size and quality of consultant and advisory services, the latter is to be preferred. 14.55 The main entry path to teaching is from school to a higher education institution. Teaching is not one of the most sought after professions and has difficulty in recruiting a fair share of the academically best candidates. There may be advantages in offering entry to more people from older age groups. This has the potential to attract committed people with employment experience in other occupations and industries and people from social groups currently not well represented in the profession. 14.56 There would be advantages if some teachers were trained to teach at both primary and secondary levels. This would provide a higher degree of flexibility to cope with changes in the distribution of enrolments. 14.57 Many of the most able teachers obtain promotion to administrative posts and leave the classroom. One measure to keep good teachers in classrooms is the creation of special promotional teaching posts. The creation of more such positions, perhaps with wider salary margins, and the expansion of positions in consultancy pools, would provide incentives for good teachers to maintain close classroom contact. Similarly, in order to attract high quality science and mathematics graduates to the profession, it may be necessary to admit them at entry points above the base salary level or to offer them loadings, although these may have industrial implications. 14.58 Attention to pre-service education is important if there are to be permanent long run improvements in the quality of teaching. In recent times there has been a number of enquiries into teacher education. Pre-service teacher education can undoubtedly be improved and the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission should give active leadership forthwith towards that end. 14.59 Teacher development, particularly through in-service courses, should be a high priority for Commonwealth programs. Such a priority is in contrast to the severe reduction in the scale of the Commonwealth's contribution to professional development since 1976. Closer collaboration between schools and tertiary institutions in the provision of in-service education is desirable: higher education institutions could offer non-award courses either 195 on their own initiative or under contract to school authorities. There should be a balance between ,the needs of individual teachers and of the whole school; some in-service activities should be on a whole school basis. 14.60 Not all teachers are willing to engage in professional development activities out of school hours or at their own expense. Given the length of the school year and of the school day as well as the importance of in-service education to teachers, the greater use of non-school time for in-service activities is reasonable. Attendance at out of school hours activities or the suspension of in school hours activities should not be mandatory, but teachers might be expected to engage in in-service activities out of term, particularly during the long summer vacation. 14.61 While the most fruitful strategies for raising the quality of the teaching profession in the short and medium terms are an expansion of in-service education and of consultant and advisory services, efforts on the part of the profession itself, of education authorities and of governments are required to raise the status and reputation of teaching as a career. Special Groups 14.62 Disadvantage in special groups is demonstrated to the extent· to which individuals in the groups fail to gain access to further education, employment, high status occupations and high incomes in broad conformity with the rest of the community. Within schools its early manifestation is most often poor educational performance. 14.63 Special programs aimed at compensating for disadvantage may be targetted on individuals or on schools. In some programs (for example, teaching English to young iJcuplc of non-English speaking background) the t~rget 'Nil! deady be the i!'!dividuar, bm in others it may be the school. Targetting on schools with high concentrations of the groups in question encourages a response from the school as a whole to the range of factors seen to affect educational performance adversely. Targetting on individuals, on the other hand, involves labelling the students concerned and withdrawing them from some ordinary classroom activities. It may also be seen as relieving ordinary classroom teachers of the responsibility for the labelled students. Targetting on schools is to be preferred where possible. 14.64 The largest single issue associated with compensatory programs in education is whether they are effective. In Australia compensatory education programs have had a relatively short history. There is nevertheless encouraging, though limited, evidence of improvements in educational attainment within declared disadvantaged schools. Recent research in the United States indicates that there may be long term beneficial effects from such programs. Firm conclusions on this issue cannot be drawn but there is reason to believe that schools have the power to produce positive effects on the life chances of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In any case, compensatory programs targetted on schools assist in ensuring that children live their 10 to 13 years in school in congenial surroundings and in purposeful and satisfying activities. 14.65 The provision by the Commonwealth of specific purpose grants for special groups of students raises the question of the responsibility of State governments for ensuring that there are education services to cater for all students, that is, for the full range of intellectual ability and social background. Nowadays all schools have a range of 196 ------ students with diverse educational needs. There is broad consensus that there are schools that have a disproportionate share of disadvantaged students and that special assistance should be provided to these schools. The greater recognition of special needs to be funded by the Commonwealth does, however, carry with it the danger that expectations about what can be catered for within the regular provision by State education authorities are narrowed. The reported failure of mainstream teachers to accept responsibility for the development of English language proficiency among students of non-English speaking background is one manifestation of this phenomenon, as is the slowness with which notions of multicultural education have been adopted by many schools. There needs to be a greater recognition by education authorities of the responsibilities of the ordinary school for the wide range of student ability and background that is now normal in Australia. 14.66 The reviews of individual programs for special groups, commissioned by the Commonwealth Schools Commission, have generally favoured their continuation or expansion although with some modification. The broad conclusions that can be drawn from an overview of the reviews are: • the range of aims being addressed by the programs is too varied relative to the size of the Commonwealth's contribution to total outlays on schooling; • program objectives have lacked clarity; • there has also been little clarity about the time scale within which the programs should run; • the number of individual specific purpose programs is too great, and there is some program overlap; • there has been a tendency for programs for special purposes to become a source of general recurrent funding for school systems; • current funding arrangements are too rigid to allow effective redeployment of resources by the Commonwealth, the States and non-government school authorities to meet clianging priorities. It cannot be assumed that additional resources will be available from the Commonwealth for schools, and flexibility for reallocation of resources is essential; • the use of too many committees has sometimes resulted in inconsistent approaches between complementary programs and a lack of decisiveness; • too little attention has been given to the ongoing review of the objectives and the effectiveness of Commonwealth programs; • while provision has been made for financial accountability, the flow of information about program effectiveness has been inadequate. Evidence should be provided about the extent to which the objectives of specific purpose grants are being met; and • the Schools Commission should actively promote, lead and coordinate its programs and act as an agency for good practice, new ideas or recent research. 14.67 Commonwealth assistance for special groups is a response to one of two situations: where the Commonwealth has obligations and where it has particular policy objectives. Programs relating to immigrants and Aborigines fall into the first category. Those in the second category relate to such objectives as equality of opportunity and multiculturalism. 197 Strategies and Priorities 14.68 For the future the Commonwealth should adopt the following general prin- ciples in its funding of programs for primary and secondary education: • a limited number of concisely stated national objectives should be pursued at .any one time; • effort should be focussed on elements of the school population or schools, and not spread thinly over the full gamut of schooling; • priority should be given to the support of activities whose benefits, although accruing in the long run, are likely to be continuing; • apart from continuing commitments to a few areas where there are long term obligations, there should be sufficient flexibility in funding arrangements to permit the redeployment of resources to meet changing priorities; • direct Commonwealth involvement in program administration should be limited in favour of greater review and evaluation and improved flow of information to the public about activities in schools; and • a small number of programs, but with better administrative support, should be funded. 14.69 In its funding of primary and secondary education the Commonwealth should use a combination of four delivery mechanisms: • negotiated agreements under which general funding would be provided by the Commonwealth for the achievement of specified objectives; lof!g term spedk pt!!'-p0se progr~_m~ to whic.h ~recific funds would be allocated and which would operate with their own administrative structure and operating guidelines. Such programs would be most suitable in situations in which the Commonwealth is meeting long term obligations; • limited life specific purpose programs, which would be similar to the long term programs but for a limited term of, say, four to six years. Reviews would be conducted before the expiry of the term, to determine whether the programs should be subsumed within negotiated agreements, extended or terminated; and • directly administered initiatives through which the Commonwealth would mount its own projects or activities with identified funds. 14.70 Commonwealth general recurrent grants should be made available to education authorities under negotiated agreements. The Commonwealth's priorities should be: • improving among students in primary, and particularly junior primary, schools, the development of the general competences: - acquiring information; - conveying information; applying logical processes; - performing practical tasks as individuals; and - performing practical tasks as members of a group; • improving the attainment of competences among disadvantaged groups as a basis for raising their participation in Years 11 and 12; 198 • obtaining approximately equal representation and attainment of girls in major subject areas; and • enhancing the competence of teachers in bringing about the necessary improve- ments. 14.71 Apart from financial accountability the Commonwealth should require education authorities to provide periodically the following information relating to the above Commonwealth objectives: • evidence of levels of student attainment in areas of skill associated with the general competences, as measured by criterion referenced tests and cross classified by principal social group, that is, socio-economic status, gender, rural/urban location, English speaking background and Aboriginality; • post-compulsory participation rates by socio-economic status, gender, urban/rural location, English speaking background and Aboriginality; and • statistics on post-compulsory subject choice by girls and on the number and proportions presenting for major examinations or certificates in each major subject. 14.72 To support the main thrusts of Commonwealth policy in respect of school level education, some capital expenditure will be necessary. Overall, school enrolments will not grow. Increasingly, the demand for places generated by population mobility should be able to be met by education authorities. Some transfer of resources from the Capital Grants Program to higher priority recurrent needs may be appropriate. Special provision for library buildings and major equipment may no longer be necessary. The Commonwealth Capital Grants Program should increasingly afford priority to works and services associated with: • upgrading school buildings to accommodate new teaching technologies; • upgrading existing schools to support increased participation in Years II and 12; and • modifying existing schools to meet the needs of handicapped students. 14.73 Of the specific purpose programs the following should have their funds transferred to general recurrent grants and be subsumed under the negotiated agreements governing those grants: English as a Second Language ~ General Support Element Multicultural Education Ethnic Schools Program ~ proportion currently devoted to insertion classes Country Areas Program Special Education Program ~ Recurrent and Integration Elements Professional Development Program The objectives of these programs should be incorporated in the negotiated agreements. The transfer of these programs will involve phasing in and a period of up to two years may be necessary. 14.75 Aboriginal students as a group require special assistance if their outcomes from education are to approach those of the generality of students. There is no program which is directed specifically at increasing participation by Aboriginal students in the mainstream of education. A program initially targetted on regular schools with concentration on 199 Aboriginal students is desirable. The effectiveness of such a program would be enhanced if administrative responsibility were to be located within the education portfolio, where there could be a concentration on educational issues and closer coordination between school and teacher education provisions. Such a program should be a long term specific purpose program. 14.76 The New Arrivals element of English as a Second Language Program should also continue to be a long term specific purpose program to assist the development of proficiency in English by newly arrived students of non-English speaking background. Increased funds, if necessary by reallocation, may be needed if these students are to have sufficient instruction to enable them to acquire enough English to reach coping levels of proficiency. 14.77 Of the other specific purpose programs, the following should be continued as limited life specific purpose programs: Disadvantaged Schools Participation and Equity Basic Learning in Primary Schools Computer Education Children in Residential Institutions Severely Handicapped Children Early Special Education Ethnic Schools - proportion devoted to out of hours classes These programs should be comprehensively reviewed within four to five years to determine whether they should be subsumed under negotiated agreements, extended or terminated. 14.77 There should be guidelines for the operation of all specific purpose programs. In each program there should be: • a small number of simply stated objectives; • a small number of pre-determined effectiveness indicators; • reporting arrangements which allow progress towards objectives to be noted; • the use of some funds for staff development; and • ongoing evaluation and adequate administrative support 14.78 The preceding programs, both general and specific purpose, do not involve direct administration by the Commonwealth, nor is it desirable that the Commonwealth be involved in the details of day to day management. There is, however, a limited number of activities in which the Commonwealth should maintain a direct interest. Curriculum development is one of these and the provision of funds for lighthouse or pilot projects is another. Relatively small expenditures are 'able to stimulate interest in innovation and in the application of new educational ideas. 200 ------ RECOMMENDATlONS 14.79 The Committee's recommendations are set out below: Recommendation 1 Commonwealth general recurrent grants to government and non-government schools should be directed, by way of negotiated agreements, towards the priority areas oj: • improving among students in primary. and particularly junior primary, schools, the development of the general competences of: acquiring information; - conveying information; - applying logical processes; - performing practical tasks as individuals; and - performing practical tasks as members of a group. • improving the attainment of competences among disadvantaged groups as a basis for raising their participation in Years 11 and 12; • obtaining approximately equal representation and attainment of girls in major subject areas; and • enhancing the competence of teachers in bringing about the necessary improve- ments. Recommendation 2 Recipients of Commonwealth general recurrent funds should be required to provide every three years: • evidence of levels of student attainment in areas of skill associated with the general competences, as measured by criterion referenced tests and cross classified by principal social group, that is, socio-economic status. gender, rural/urban location, English speaking background and Aboriginality; • post-compUlsory participation rates by socio-economic status, gender. urbani rural location, English speaking background and Aboriginality; and • statistics on post-compUlsory subject choice by girls and on the number and proportions presenting for major examinations or certificates in each major subject. Recommendation 3 In continuing to provide capital funds, the Commonwealth should increasingly afford priority to: • upgrading school buildings to accommodate new teaching technologies; • upgrading existing schools to support increased participation in Years 11 and 12; and • modifying existing schools to meet the needs of handicapped students. 201 Recommendation 4 Within the next two years, funds currently allocated to the following specific purpose programs should be added to those presently legislated for general recurrent grants and the programs' principal objectives added to those already recommended for inclusion under formal agreements to be negotiated with school authorities: English as a Second Language - General Support Element; Multicultural Education; Ethnic Schools - proportion currently devoted to insertion classes; Country Areas; Special Education - Recurrent and Integration Elements; and Professional Development. Recommendation 5 To ensure that expenditure on Aboriginal education is coordinated with other initiatives to increase educational participation by under represented groups, Commonwealth responsibility for Aboriginal education policy and programs should be located within the education portfolio. Within this framework, priority should be given to an element to increase retention in the post-compulsory years. Recommendation 6 The Commonwealth should continue to operate a specific purpose program to assist the development of proficiency in English for newly arrived students of non-English speakmg background. Recommendation 7 The following programs should be subject to a comprehensive review within the next few years to establish whether they should be subsumed within negotiated agreements, extended or terminated; in the meantime, they should operate on the revised basis set out in Recommendation 8: Disadvantaged Schools; Participation and Equity; Basic Learning in Primary Schools; Computer Education; Children in Residential Institutions; Severely Handicapped Children; Early Special Education; and Ethnic Schools - proportion devoted to out of hours classes. Recommendation 8 The funds provided under the Basic Learning in Primary Schools Program should be focussed on a small number of demonstration centres or projects designed to develop and extend good teaching and curriculum practice. 202 Recommendation 9 All specific purpose programs should operate on the basis of: • a small number of simply stated objectives; • a small number of pre-determined effectiveness indicators; • reporting arrangements which allow progress towards objectives to be noted; • the use of some funds for staff development; and • ongoing evaluation and adequate administrative support. Recommendation 10 The Commonwealth should administer directly and at least sustain its efforts in curriculum development, with particular reference to communication skills, mathe- matics, science and technology, the world of work and Australian studies. Recommendation II The Commonwealth should administer directly a small number of major educational initiatives related to its priorities. 203 APPENDIX A: TERMS OF REFERENCE The text of the terms of reference given the Committee was as follows: The Government has now made a major commitment to school funding, both for the current year and the years ahead. This commitment has been made with regard to the funding implications of the community standard recommended by the Commonwealth Schools Commission, and in the expectation that State Governments and non-government school authorities will contribute in a complementary fashion to achieving improvements. In terms of the overall financial obligations of the Commonwealth, movements towards the Community Standard would imply that the funding of schools would remain a major proportion of total Commonwealth outlays in years to come, placing pressure on its capacity to meet the needs of other priority areas dependent on Commonwealth funding. The Commonwealth accepts its obligations to parents and the Australian community generally to ensure that its funding of schools is directed towards achieving a higher quality of education in primary and secondary schools. The Commonwealth does not run school systems and therefore its involvement in pursuing standards is less direct than that of State Governments. Thus, it wishes to develop clear, more efficient strategies to direct the increased funds in ways that ensure: • the attainment of a satisfactory standard by the great majority of students at successive stages of a general curriculum, with particular reference to communica- tions, literacy and numeracy; • an improved relationship between secondary education and employment and tertiary education opportunities and requiremems; • improvement in these outcomes of education by funding at a level consistent with other priority claims on the Commonwealth, including those of the TAFE and higher education sectors. Accordingly, the Government has decided to establish a review of the effectiveness of its existing involvement in primary and secondary education, with a view to obtaining improved outcomes in relation to the above criteria. As a first step, a Review Committee of five persons will report on relevant strategies. The Committee will be chaired by Professor Peter Karmel, Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University, and include Mr Hugh Hudson, Chairman, Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission; Mr Peter Kirby, Chairman, Victorian TAFE Board; Professor Barry McGaw, Professor of Education, Murdoch University; and Ms Helen Williams, Deputy Secretary, Department of Education and Youth Affairs. It is expected that the Committee's report will include advice on specific issues relevant to the criteria above, including: • for primary schools, the priority of attaining higher basic skills standards for the generality of students; • for secondary schools, the need to ensure that strongly rising participation in Years 11 and 12 is associated with the attainment of appropriate standards relevant to subsequent employment opportunities and improved preparation for tertiary education; 204 • in each of the school systems, the need to encourage a greater proportion of girls to pursue subjects leading towards better employment prospects or greater opportunities for tertiary education; • means of improving awareness of the importance of the educational process in an increasingly competitive, including internationally competitive environment; • in relation to specific purpose programs, a review of which student groups are in greatest need of specific forms of assistance. The Committee will consult relevant education and labour market authorities and is expected to report by April 1985. 205 APPENDIX B: ORGANISATIONS WITH WHICH THE COMMITTEE HELD CONSULTATIONS A~stralian Council of Professions Australian Council of State School Organisations Australian Council of Trade Unions Australian Parents' Council Australian Teachers' Federation Business Council of Australia Bureau of Labour Market Research Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs Commonwealth Department of Education Commonwealth Department of Employment and Industrial Relations Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Commonwealth Department of Industry, Commerce and Technology Commonwealth Department of Science Commonwealth Schools Commission Confederation of Australian Industry Conference of Directors-General of Education Curriculum Development Council Economic Planning and Advisory Council Independent Teachers' Federation National Aboriginal Education Committee National Catholic Education Commission National Council of Independent Schools Office of the Status of Women T AFE Directors' Conference 206 APPENDIX C: ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS MAKING WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS OR PRESENTING WRITTEN MATERIAL TO THE COMMITTEE Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority Australian College of Education Australian Committee of Directors and Principals in Advanced Education Australian Council for Educational Research (in particular, Dr S F Bourke, Mr A Sturman, Dr T Williams) Australian Council of Trade Unions Australian Council of Professions Australian Council of State School Organisations Australian Dental Association Australian Drilling Industry Training Committee Australian Teachers' Federation Australian Veterinary Association Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee Blakers, Mrs C, Australian National University Bureau of Labour Market Research Business Council of Australia Catholic Education Office, Adelaide Catholic Education Office, Sydney Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Clark, Mr T, South Australian Primary Industry Training Committee Commonwealth Department of Education Commonwealth Department of Employment and Industrial Relations Commonwealth Department of Science Commonwealth Schools Commission Confederation of Australian Industry Industrial Council Conference of TAFE Directors Curriculum Development Centre Council Daniel, Mr B, Western Australian Plastics Industry Training Committee Department of Education, New South Wales Department of Education, Victoria Department of Education, Queensland Department of Education, Western Australia Department of Education, South Australia Department of Education, Tasmania Department of Technical and Further Education, South Australia Hamilton, Dr P, University of Wollongong Howe, Mr J, Warragul Education Centre, Victoria Kiloh, Mr B, Disadvantaged Schools (Supplementary Grants) Program, Victoria Macnee, Mrs J, Reservoir, Victoria 207 Migrant Youth School Transition Task Force Mitchell, Mr A 0, General Manager, National Plastics Industry Training Committee Muir, Mr Fulton, Westpac Banking Corporation, Canberra National Advisory and Coordinating ComlJlittee on Multicultural Education National Catholic Education Commission National Council of Independent Schools National Furniture Industry Training Committee National Maritime Industry Training Committee National Printing Industry Training Committee National Retail Industry Training Committee Network National Retail Motor Industry Training Committee National Timber Industry Training Committee National Training Council New South Wales Plastics Industry Training Committee Limited Office of the Public Service Board Office of the Status of Women Philip, Mr W G, Price Waterhouse and Company, Melbourne Prahran Primary School Council Queensland Timber Industry Training Committee Small Business Council South Australian Plastics and Rubber Industry Training Committee South Australian Printing Industry Training Committee Splitter, Dr L, University of Wollongong State Board of Education, Victoria Stokes, Mr E, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Sunraysia Area Committee, Mildura Tasmanian Planning and Finance Committee Technical and Further Education Council Willis, Dr S G, Murdoch University Youth Affairs Council of Australia 208 Library Digitised Collections Author/s: Karmel, Peter Title: Quality of Education in Australia: Report of the Review Committee, April 1985 (Karmel report) Date: 1985 Persistent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/115449