Supporting post-school transitions for at-risk students
ACER news 12 Feb 2021 3 minute readA survey of young people in South Australia is informing how to better prepare students for a successful start to their lives after school.
Undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Department for Education of South Australia, the Earning and Learning research project examined leavers’ and stayers’ school experiences, reasons for leaving school, factors that might help to complete school, subject choice, navigating pathways and definitions of success.
In early 2020, telephone interviews were conducted with 209 ‘stayers’ enrolled in Year 12 but at risk of not completing and 371 ‘leavers’ who left a South Australian government school in year 10, 11 or 12 in 2019 without a known reason.
The Department published ACER’s report in December 2020. It captures young people’s voices in relation to school subject options and post-school pathways, and identifies four key areas in which schools can support student pathways.
Together with other initiatives of the South Australian government, the research has already informed or supported changes aimed at increasing SACE and VET participation and completion to prepare students for a successful start to their post-school lives. ■
Read the full report:
Earning and Learning Research Report by Julie McMillan, Shani Sniedze-Gregory, Rachel Felgate and Petra Lietz, Australian Council for Educational Research 2020.