Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 3 of 3
-
Item
-
ItemGeneral ability and school achievement of some Victorian year 9 secondary school students and their occupational expectations( 1992)The study explores the General Ability (GA) and School Achievement (SA) levels of 367 Victorian Year 9 students and the impact these, along with other criteria, might have on students' decisions either to leave school at age 15 (which is the legal school leaving age in Victoria) and attempt to join the workforce after completing Year 9, or to continue to Year 12 and the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). It is suggested that a number of students is lost to the school system at this stage of their education (end of Year 9), thereby reducing their options for work and/or advancement in the workforce. It is also suggested that few of these early school leavers have much hope of obtaining employment or, if they do, that the jobs they obtain will be the ones they would most like to have. The various criteria examined in this survey included student intellectual ability, school achievement, future educational intentions, job preferences, marriage statement, school subject preferences and student self-assessment. Also included are student attitudes towards school, parental background, gender and the students' hopes and aspirations for the year 2000 AD. Ultimately, these variables will effect the decision students make about whether to leave school prior to Year 10 or to continue beyond that level and the occupations that may subsequently be available to them. There is an underlying question as to whether many students at this level (Year 9) understand why they go to school. Some attend as they are compelled by law, while some perform at a level of achievement which questions the value of their attendance. Others may attend for the socialising available to them at school but, at the same time, show little interest in the school work presented to them and in which they are supposed to participate. The 367 students in three schools were given the Ravens Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM), the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) and a Questionnaire on their attitudes to school and hopes for their future. The students were tested in their own schools. A team of testers administered the instruments in the presence of the class teacher. General Ability (GA) levels as estimated by RSPM were in line with previous Australian norms which themselves appear to be almost lsd below British norms. The students' General Ability (GA) levels were significantly higher than School Achievement (SA) levels in this study. The lower SA levels in this group of students was in part attributed to lack of motivation and perseverance. The correlation of +0.65 found in this study between RSPM and OLSAT agrees with what is commonly reported in the literature. Some 15% of the 14 students who have dropped out of school, within six months of reaching school leaving age, had GA scores at or above the 115 level normally taken to indicate potential for successful completion of a tertiary course. In a larger study of 2,800 students, the drop-out/tertiary potential figure was 15.4% GA and SA levels obtained by the students have a strong bearing on future educational success. SA levels for most of the students were such that the completion at a quality level, of the Year 12 High School Graduation Certificate, the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is doubtful. This study suggests that student achievement significantly lags ability in these three schools, that lack of extended application by the students may be a contributing factor, that the schools lacked an environment to retain a minority of the able children and that the students' occupational aspirations are not commensurate with the levels of achievement they demonstrated at the schools.
-
ItemPolicy settings and school leavers' pathways and outcomes: a case study of student transition from a western suburban secondary school( 2000)The aim of this case study was to assess the outcomes of the school to post-school transition processes and experiences of the 'Year 7 Class of 1989' a decade after they had entered secondary school. Accessible school records of the year level were used to construct a 'school leaver profile' of 196 students who had progressed to year 9 in 1991. Questionnaires were sent to 100 past-students of the 'Year 7 Class of 1989' in March 1999. Fifty-seven questionnaires were sent to the group of 83 students who had completed year 12, and 43 questionnaires were sent to the students who had left school before completing year 12 and could be termed 'early school leavers'. The progression through school of the year level cohort was identified, using a computation method to identify the rate of early school leaving. This method identified the 'internal' retention rate of the 'Year 7 Class of 1989'. The 'internal' retention rate was compared with the 'apparent' retention rate used by state and national governments in post-compulsory education and training policy settings. The responses of the participants from the past-student survey were analysed to identify their school to post-school transition processes and experiences. This included their school to post-school engagement and re-engagement with various institutions of education and training and with employment. The post-school transition processes of the 'early school leavers' and completers were compared. The participant responses suggested that, whatever the level of education they had attained, their life experiences were similar. A critical analysis of their school to post-school transition processes used the metaphor of 'pathways' to reveal that the life experiences identified by the participants, contradicted the state and national policy settings. The outcomes suggest a need to realign the linear structure of the policy settings that propose that young people move from study to work sequentially. The responses from the participants revealed that they had negotiated a mix and an overlapping of study and work, across an extended period. The study suggests that the year level cohort of 'early school leavers' and completers of the post-1970 generation had made individual choices to re-engage in post-compulsory education, to improve their employment opportunities and lifestyle options. A new context of transition is proposed which recognises that young people's lives are multi-dimensional. Structural changes to the institutions of education and employment mean that young people are now required to negotiate individual journeys and unique 'pathways' which link flexible learning opportunities with their multidimensional and complex daily lives.