Senate Committee: Education and Employment QUESTION ON NOTICE Budget Estimates 2015 - 2016 Outcome: Schools and Youth Department of Education and Training Question No. SQ15-000526 Senator O'Neill, Deborah provided in writing Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship Programme Question With reference to the Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship program. 1. When was this program established? 2. How are teachers selected to participate/how many fellowships have been awarded during this time? 3. How many schools and teachers have participated this program? How many this year? 4. Can the Department provide this broken down for each year of the program? 5. Can the Department provide a list of all the schools and the number of teacher from each school that have benefited from this program? 6. What was the budgeted value of this program in 2014-15, and across the forwards? 7. When does the funding for this program cease? Have any teachers of schools that were awarded a scholarship had that award withdrawn as a result of these cuts? 8. Has the funding being redirected? If so, where? 9. Was an evaluation of the program conducted before funding was ceased? What did it find? 10. If not – Why not? What was the basis of this cut? 11. Will the ending of this program have a positive or negative impact on the capacity of language teachers? 12. When was the decision made to cease funding for the Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships? 13. Who made the decision? Was it the Minister? 14. Have there been any representations made to the Government about the cessation of funding? How many have been supportive? Answer The Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships (ELTF) programme was established in 2004. The selection process for the ELTF, including assessment of applications, was managed through a contracted service provider in consultation with the state and territory language education coordinators and a Project Advisory Committee. Practising teachers were initially assessed by a state and territory based selection panel, chaired and organised by the relevant education department. The selection panels included representatives from the government, Catholic and Independent school sectors. The panels were required to use selection packs developed by the service provider in consultation with the department. The selection of pre-service teachers was done by the contracted service provider based on recommendations submitted by state and territory departments of education. A total of 1966 teachers, comprising 1677 practising teachers and 289 pre-service teachers, have participated in this programme since 2004. Since 2007, teachers from over 1200 schools have participated. In 2015, a total of 70 teachers participated, out of which 60 were practising teachers and 10 were pre-service teachers. The pool of language teachers who can be offered this programme for the first time is diminishing. The overall responsibility of professional development of teachers lies with individual jurisdictions. Attachment A provides information on participation by year. A list of participating schools by state and territory from 2007–2015 is at Attachment B. Data before 2007 are not available. The number of teachers may not exactly match the number of schools because some schools may have more than one teacher participating in a given year and some teachers teach at more than one school. The ELTF budget was $1.2 million for 2014–15 and $1.8 million for 2015–16. Funding of $1.8 million per annum was allocated for 2016–17 and 2017–18 in the forward estimates. The redesign of the programme and redirection of funding was announced in the 2015–16 Budget. The current programme is being redesigned with effect from 1 July 2015. The application process for the 2016 programme had not yet commenced. The cessation of the ELTF programme is a result of a refocus of the Australian Government’s priorities in the education portfolio. The Government is providing funds to implement the Government’s response to the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) report, Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers, which is aimed at improving teacher quality and delivering better educational outcomes for all Australian students. Implementation of TEMAG recommendations will ensure primary school teachers will have a speciality in maths, science or a foreign language thereby supporting improved languages teaching. The ELTF programme service provider conducted a participant survey each year after the completion of the programme. Participants have reported an increase in their language capacity as well as confidence to try new teaching approaches in the classrooms. Participants also placed a high value on the teacher support networks established during the programme. The department has received 33 representations expressing concern about the cessation of ELTF funding. SQ15-000526 Page 2 of 25 Attachment A Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships participants 2004–2015 Year Number of Participants 2004 119 2005 113 2006 106 2007 202 2008 197 2009 194 2010 199 2011 201 2012 187 2013 194 2014 184 2015 70 Total 1966 Attachment B Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowships - participating schools 2007–2015 2015 ACT Canberra Girls Grammar School Kingsford Smith School Radford College NSW Barker College Chatswood High School Emmaus Catholic College Hornsby Girls High School Hunter Sports High School John Thierry Catholic High School Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School Open High School St Bernards Primary School Westport High School NT Darwin Middle School QLD Fairview Heights State School Marymount College Park Ridge State School Pimlico State High School St Columban's College, Caboolture St Joseph's Bardon St Margaret's Anglican Girls School St Peter's Catholic Primary School Trinity Bay State High School SA Adelaide High School Bethany Christian School Christies Beach High SChool Cornerstone College Norton Summit Pembroke School School of Languages St Francis de Sales College and Dominican School Semaphore St Joseph's School, Ottoway Tenison Woods College, Mount Gambier TAS Margate Primary School New Town Primary School St Thomas More's Primary School VIC Carey Baptist Grammar School Drouin Secondary College East Loddon P-12 College Footscray West Primary School Hastings Primary School Maffra Secondary College Boisdale Catholic School Stratford Primary School Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College Mossgiel Park Primary School Port Melbourne primary school River Gum Primary School Sunshine North Primary School Taylors Lakes Secondary College Victoria School of Languages WA Baldivis Primary School Davallia Primary School Sacred Heart Primary School St John's School Upper Swan Primary School Wattle Grove Primary School Woodvale Secondary College Yokine Primary School 2014 ACT Amaroo School Emmaus Christian School Hawker College Hawker Primary School Narrabundah College Telopea Park School NSW Abbotsleigh Bondi Public School Campsie Public School Caringbah Public School Carroll College Chatswood Saturday School of Community Language Ermington Public School Georges River College Penshurst Girls Campus Holy Spirit College Kamaroi Rudolf Steiner School Killarney Heights Public School Leumeah Public School Loreto Kirribilli Mater Dei Catholic College Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School Open High School Pacific Hills Christian School Pottsville Beach Public School Punchbowl Public School Saturday School of Community School Smith's Hill High School St George Christian School Sutherland Shire Christian School Sydney Grammar School The Forest High School The Hills Grammar School West Pennant Hills Public School Woonona High School NT Alice Springs Language Centre Minyerri School QLD Belmont State School Chinchilla Christian School Ferny Grove State High School Grantham State School John Paul College Maleny State High School Mapleton Secondary School Mission Beach State School SQ15-000526 Page 5 of 25 Moura State School North Lakes State College Queensland Academy for Health Sciences Quinalow State School Rivermount College Rochedale State School Saint Stephen's College Scots PGC College St Brendan's Primary School St Columban’s College, Caboolture St Joachim's Primary School St Peters Lutheran College Springfield St Ursula's College, Toowoomba Stanthorpe State School The Cathedral College The Ipswich State High School Tin Can Bay P-10 State School Trinity Bay State High School SA Adelaide High School Calvary Lutheran Primary School Cardijn College Cornerstone College St Michaels School St Marks School Gilles Street Primary School Mid North Christian College Nazareth Catholic College Open Access College Risdon Park Primary School Rose Park Primary School Saint David's Parish School Salisbury High School Solomontown Primary School St Francis de Sales College St Peter's College St. Aloysius College Thiele Primary School Trinity College South Campus TAS Andrews Creek Primary School Latrobe Primary School Ulverstone High School Clarence High School Scotch Oakburn College Launceston Southern Christian College VIC Alphington Grammar School Alphington Primary School Ascot Vale West Primary School Australian International Academy Avila College Bairnsdale Secondary College Ballarat & Clarendon College Ballarat High School Balwyn High School Brimbank Secondary College Buckley Park College Carrum Downs Secondary College Catholic College Wodonga CO.AS.IT Cornish College Craigieburn Secondary College Creekside K - 9 College SQ15-000526 Page 6 of 25 Dandenong Greek Community of Melbourne and Districts Emmanauel