Data from international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) of schooled populations indicate that boys have considerably poorer literacy skills than girls. New evidence from a household-based ILSA--Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)--indicates that the gender gap in literacy is negligible, even though…

Children who are excluded from school may end up being excluded from other social institutions. Yet little research has considered whether low school belonging is a risk factor for not being in education, employment, or training after graduation. Using two longitudinal cohorts from Australia (N = 14,082; 51% Boys), we explored this relationship.…

A significant number of university students are leaving their institutions before completing their degrees. The present research project applied embeddedness theory, from organizational research, to understand student retention in a tertiary student population, and develop a quantitative instrument that measured university student embeddedness. In…

To foster a "wellbeing curriculum" in a climate with an increasingly competitive graduate jobs market, we believe it is critical to support undergraduate career development and to develop positive peer and educator relationships, particularly for non-vocational degree programs. However, these relationships between undergraduate wellbeing…

Critics of Catholic and independent (nongovernment) schools in Australia contend that the higher levels of performance of students in nongovernment schools can be dismissed as simply a function of student- and especially school-level socioeconomic status (school-SES). A recent article extends this critique to school-sector differences in students'…

Adolescents continue to be at risk of disengaging from formal education, particularly in the transition year from primary to secondary schooling. This is a critical time in their education journey and can affect their ongoing academic performances. This paper reflects on the initial findings of a project to gauge students' levels of engagement in…

This article reports on the findings of an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research project, "Building the future for Indigenous students", an investigation of the hopes and dreams for the future of over 1,000 secondary students, 733 of whom were Indigenous, living in very remote, remote, and urban locations in the Northern…

Purpose: To examine the longitudinal association between communication impairment (primary or secondary diagnosis) and children's Activities and Participation (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-Children and Youth [ICF-CY]; World Health Organization [WHO], 2007). Method: Participants were 4,329 children in the…

The study aimed to empirically verify findings from qualitative studies that showed selective consumers could be distinguished from underachievers with regard to academic self-perception and thinking style preference. Participants, gifted males from an independent secondary boys' school in Sydney, Australia, were categorized as achieving,…

In partnership with a small Western Australian independent community school, this research investigated how the "Reggio Emilia" philosophy was extended into the Middle School context. The "Reggio" approach, recognised as a model of excellence for early childhood education, has remained largely unexplored in secondary education.…

The present study investigated rural residents' perceived importance of university presence in rural, regional and remote Australia. The present data indicate that the presence of university in rural areas is perceived as highly important by both rural and urban citizens. Results indicate that rural residents perceive that there is a need for…

This paper presents results from two samples of adolescents aged 13-16 from Romania and Spain (N = 930 + 1,945 = 2,875). The original 7-item version of the Personal Well-Being Index (PWI) was used, together with an item on overall life satisfaction (OLS) and a set of six items related to satisfaction with school. A confirmatory factor analysis of…

Students from rural and low socioeconomic backgrounds do not pursue university education at the same rate as those from metropolitan areas or from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. This has been a long-standing issue for government. This study explores the aspirations and intentions for university education among low socioeconomic status (SES) and…

Australian youth income support and educational policies have focused on increasing participation and retention in schools. The assumptions and rationales underpinning these policies assert a positive relationship between educational engagement, employment and social inclusion. This paper examines these assumptions and rationales and, drawing upon…

This is a support document to the "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide" report. Developed for users of LSAY, the user guide consolidates information about the LSAY 2009 cohort into one document. This support document provides school and school transition information for the guide. [For the main report,…