Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Research Publications

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    Understanding sustainability in school arts provision: stakeholder perspectives in Australian primary schools
    McFerran, KS ; Crooke, AHD ; Hattie, J (Routledge - Taylor & Francis, 2018)
    Although the notion of sustainability is popular in rhetoric associated with arts programmes in Australian schools, shared meanings are lacking. References to sustainability may be rooted in any combination of pragmatic, economic and/or health bases. We chose to investigate what stakeholders involved in the provision of school-based arts practices understood about the notion of sustainability in the specific context of those programmes. To do this we interviewed a range of school professionals and asked them to explain how sustainability related to arts programmes in their schools. In this article we present the particular elements that stakeholders described as being sustainable. Five categories emerged through inductive analysis that included: benefits for students, benefits for the schools, the arts programmes themselves, physical artefacts, and the capacity for schools to provide arts experiences. Notable were descriptions of sustainability from several schools that saw ongoing programmes as less important than brief arts experiences that students could carry into other areas of their life. Results illustrate the diversity of understandings about what should be sustained from arts engagement for 27 professionals in Australian Catholic Primary Schools. An ‘exposure’ model of arts programmes is articulated that captures the sustainable benefits beyond sustained involvement in and provision of arts programmes in primary schools.
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    Arts programs in schools : Seven models and a decision-making matrix for school leaders
    McFerran, K ; Hattie, J ; McPherson, G ; Crooke, A ; Steele, M (Australian Council for Educational Leaders, 2019-09-01)
    The provision of arts programs in Australian schools is diverse. Studies of music have shown that the quality of music education in private schools is high and well resourced, but in government-funded schools there is greater variation with schools in some states offering little to no embedded programs. Because the arts are not considered core, school leaders have the freedom and responsibility to determine how much, how often, and what kinds of programs should be offered. Without mandated guidelines, our research shows that this is often influenced by leaders' personal experiences of music in their history or family context. School leaders have also described needing to overcome significant barriers in order to justify the provision of programs. Further complicating the picture are the varying views held by school leaders and staff about exactly which benefits arts programs afford. While most agree on the intrinsic value related to artistic skills and creativity more generally, some are less sure about additional benefits such as psychosocial wellbeing benefits or community building, with a diversity of perspectives also reflected in policy documents.
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    Actual Interpretations and Use of Scores as Aspects of Validity
    O'Leary, TM ; Hattie, JAC ; Griffin, P (WILEY, 2017-06-01)
    Validity is the most fundamental consideration in test development. Understandably, much time, effort, and money is spent in its pursuit. Central to the modern conception of validity are the interpretations made, and uses planned, on the basis of test scores. There is, unfortunately, however, evidence that test users have difficulty understanding scores as intended. That is, although the proposed interpretations and use of test scores might be theoretically valid they might never come to be because the meaning of the message is lost in translation. This necessitates pause. It is almost absurd to think that the intended interpretations and uses of test scores might fail because there is a lack of alignment with the actual interpretations made and uses enacted by the audience. Despite this, there has only recently been contributions to the literature regarding the interpretability of score reports, the mechanisms by which scores are communicated to their audience, and their relevance to validity. These contributions have focused upon linking, through evidence, the intended interpretation and use with the actual interpretations being made and actions being planned by score users. This article reviews the current conception of validity, validation, and validity evidence with the goal of positioning the emerging notion of validity of usage within the current paradigm.
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    Surface, Deep, and Transfer? Considering the Role of Content Literacy Instructional Strategies
    Frey, N ; Fisher, D ; Hattie, J (WILEY, 2017-03-01)
    Abstract This article provides an organizational review of content literacy instructional strategies to forward a claim that some strategies work better for surface learning, whereas others are more effective for deep learning and still others for transfer learning. The authors argue that the failure to adopt content literacy strategies by disciplinary teachers may be due, in part, to the mismatch between the approach and the level of learning expected.
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    An Analysis of an Assessment Tool for 5-year Old Students Entering Elementary School: The School Entry Assessment Kit
    Hattie, JAC ; Brown, GTL ; Irving, SE (SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, 2015-04)
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    Conceptualising Loneliness in Adolescents: Development and Validation of a Self-report Instrument
    Houghton, S ; Hattie, J ; Wood, L ; Carroll, A ; Martin, K ; Tan, C (SPRINGER, 2014-10)
    This paper reports the development and psychometric evaluations of a multidimensional model of loneliness in Australian adolescents. In the first study a new instrument was designed and administered to 1,074 adolescents (ages 10-18 years, M = 13.01). An exploratory factor analysis from data supplied by 694 of these participants yielded a 4-factor structure (friendship, isolation, negative attitude to solitude, and positive attitude to solitude). Competing measurement models were then evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis with data from the remaining 380 participants; strong support was demonstrated for the conceptual model. Significant main effects were evident for geographical location (rural remote/urban), age and sex. In a second study, involving 235 Australian adolescents (ages 10.0-16 years, M = 13.8) the superiority of the first-order model represented by four correlated factors was confirmed. The findings have clinical and practical implications for professional groups represented by child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatric and clinical psychology services, researchers, and educators. Specifically, the new self-report instrument identifies adolescents who are at risk of loneliness and its associated adverse outcomes and in doing has the potential to offer new insights into prevention and intervention.
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    Factors influencing early adolescents' mathematics achievement: High-quality teaching rather than relationships
    Winheller, S ; Hattie, JA ; Brown, GTL (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2013-04-01)
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    Effects of a free school breakfast programme on children's attendance, academic achievement and short-term hunger: results from a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial
    Mhurchu, CN ; Gorton, D ; Turley, M ; Jiang, Y ; Michie, J ; Maddison, R ; Hattie, J (BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, 2013-03)
    BACKGROUND: Free school breakfast programmes (SBPs) exist in a number of high-income countries, but their effects on educational outcomes have rarely been evaluated in randomised controlled trials. METHODS: A 1-year stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial was undertaken in 14 New Zealand schools in low socioeconomic resource areas. Participants were 424 children, mean age 9±2 years, 53% female. The intervention was a free daily SBP. The primary outcome was children's school attendance. Secondary outcomes were academic achievement, self-reported grades, sense of belonging at school, behaviour, short-term hunger, breakfast habits and food security. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant effect of the breakfast programme on children's school attendance. The odds of children achieving an attendance rate <95% was 0.76 (95% CI 0.56 to 1.02) during the intervention phase and 0.93 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.31) during the control phase, giving an OR of 0.81 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.11), p=0.19. There was a significant decrease in children's self-reported short-term hunger during the intervention phase compared with the control phase, demonstrated by an increase of 8.6 units on the Freddy satiety scale (95% CI 3.4 to 13.7, p=0.001). There were no effects of the intervention on any other outcome. CONCLUSIONS: A free SBP did not have a significant effect on children's school attendance or academic achievement but had significant positive effects on children's short-term satiety ratings. More frequent programme attendance may be required to influence school attendance and academic achievement. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR)-ACTRN12609000854235.
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    Effects of a free school breakfast programme on school attendance, achievement, psychosocial function, and nutrition: a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial
    Ni Mhurchu, C ; Turley, M ; Gorton, D ; Jiang, Y ; Michie, J ; Maddison, R ; Hattie, J (BMC, 2010-11-29)
    BACKGROUND: Approximately 55,000 children in New Zealand do not eat breakfast on any given day. Regular breakfast skipping has been associated with poor diets, higher body mass index, and adverse effects on children's behaviour and academic performance. Research suggests that regular breakfast consumption can improve academic performance, nutrition and behaviour. This paper describes the protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of a free school breakfast programme. The aim of the trial is to determine the effects of the breakfast intervention on school attendance, achievement, psychosocial function, dietary habits and food security. METHODS/DESIGN: Sixteen primary schools in the North Island of New Zealand will be randomised in a sequential stepped wedge design to a free before-school breakfast programme consisting of non-sugar coated breakfast cereal, milk products, and/or toast and spreads. Four hundred children aged 5-13 years (approximately 25 per school) will be recruited. Data collection will be undertaken once each school term over the 2010 school year (February to December). The primary trial outcome is school attendance, defined as the proportion of students achieving an attendance rate of 95% or higher. Secondary outcomes are academic achievement (literacy, numeracy, self-reported grades), sense of belonging at school, psychosocial function, dietary habits, and food security. A concurrent process evaluation seeks information on parents', schools' and providers' perspectives of the breakfast programme. DISCUSSION: This randomised controlled trial will provide robust evidence of the effects of a school breakfast programme on students' attendance, achievement and nutrition. Furthermore the study provides an excellent example of the feasibility and value of the stepped wedge trial design in evaluating pragmatic public health intervention programmes. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) - ACTRN12609000854235.