Equity & curriculum form: Access and achievement in the ACT senior secondary curriculum
Team Members
Assoc Prof Philip Roberts (UC)
Dr Jenny Dean (UC)
Ms Ada Goldsmith (UC)
Dr Adil Miankhel (ACT Education Directorate)
Mr Mitchell Tummers (Director of Certification and Assessment, Office of the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies)
Prof Laura Perry (Murdoch University)
Dr Kate O’Connor (LaTrobe University)
Partners
- ACT Education Directorate
- ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies (BSSS)
- Murdoch University
- LaTrobe University
Project Timeline: 2022-2025
International studies increasingly show that student access to—and achievement in—the curriculum is mediated by socioeconomic, institutional, and locational factors. This project aims to understand the relationships between students’ demographic characteristics and access and achievement in the ACT senior secondary curriculum. It does so to understand the influences upon access to—and achievement in—the ACT senior secondary curriculum at both an individual and institutional (school) level.
The research will proceed along two interrelated strands. The first strand is a student-level statistical data analysis in collaboration with the ACT Education Directorate and the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies. The second strand will involve focus groups, interviews, and surveys with parents, students, and teachers in at least two ACT colleges to understand the influences upon student and school decisions pertaining to subject offerings. Considered together, the project references the principles of equity, access, and inclusion of the ACT Future of Education strategy.
This project involves two strands of data collection over a three year cycle. Strand one focusses on administrative data analysis and strand two involves work in schools to understand influences on student decision-making regarding subjects. Both strands involve empirical analysis and practitioner research using statistical tests, surveys, and interviews.
This study will develop insights into the affordances and limitations of the ACT curriculum form for achieving equitable outcomes. From there, it will develop evidence-based policy and practice interventions to better achieve equitable outcomes though the senior secondary curriculum.
For further information on this project, please contact us.