This paper reviews the nature and implementation of the Australian VET FEE-HELP (VFH) policy initiative: a scheme introduced in 2008 to extend income-contingent loans to the vocational education and training (VET) sector in Australia. We argue that the implementation of the scheme has been seriously flawed, leading to a range of…

This article presents an Australian perspective on the issue of standards-based education and the place of students of English as an additional language (EAL) who are working within mainstream schools. Beginning with an overview of the various standards documents that impact the lives of teachers and their students in mainstream Australian…

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare key elements of the actions that states in the USA and Australia took to implement the Common Core State Standards or Phase One of the Australian Curriculum, and what processes and products they used to facilitate implementation of these innovations. A rubric adapted from a diagnostic tool,…

Assessment expectations are communicated to students in various ways and at different points in the semester. The provision of written information in learning guides given to students at the start of semester articulates what they are to do and how well they are to perform in assessment tasks. This paper examines how assessment expectations at an…

The Australian Professional Teaching Standards require pre-service teachers to complete a minimum number of days of professional experience in order to graduate. Problems can arise, however, when the evaluation of their professional experience against the Standards shifts from the providers of teacher education programmes to school-based…

Educational reform represents a long-term focus of Australian governments. National policy documents have emphasised quality education for all and improved teacher quality for over 30 years. The gaps in achievement among various groups of learners represent a problem for an education system seeking to achieve national quality benchmarks,…

The European Union Bologna Process is a significant agent for internationalization of education. Acknowledging fiscal and political drivers, this article shows that Bologna inclusion of the doctoral degree offers potential for enhanced doctoral experience. Interest in transferability of doctoral education across national borders, standardization…

This paper outlines a model for giving meaning to student achievement by referencing assessment to student learning or standards. This effectively shifts the focus in assessment from notions of rank ordering students (comparing their performance purely to each other) to those of monitoring growth or progress and measurement. More specifically it…

This paper presents a positivist quantitative case study of four rural Queensland schools implementing the Queensland Studies Authority's outcomes based education curriculum. Queensland's school-based management system means that these schools are operating at distinctly different points along their implementation phase. This research shows how…

This document, intended to assist Australia's national industry training advisory bodies, is a practical guide to developing English language, literacy, and numeracy inclusive national training packages. The guide is divided into three sections devoted to the following topics: (1) context (literacy in the workplace, literacy in training, literacy…

This book considers critically the many issues surrounding competency-based education and training (CBE/T) and provides practical advice on its appropriateness and application to educational and training programs. Part A places the whole issue of CBE/T in its appropriate contexts. Chapters 1-3 examine the concept of competence and its articulation…

This publication is part of the study materials for the distance education course, Curriculum and Competencies, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University. It contains 39 papers on the nature, historical development, and delivery of competency-based training (CBT) and on the Australian and international debates surrounding CBT. The following…

This document contains 19 papers presented at an international forum on education in penal systems. The following papers are included: "Burning" (Craig W.J. Minogue); "The Acquisition of Cognitive Skills as a Means of Recidivism Reduction: A Former Prisoner's Perspective" (Trevor Darryl Doherty); "CEA (Correctional…