Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:33:33.774Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Did DI do it? The impact of a programme designed to improve literacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in remote schools

Part of: A dialogue about the role of Direct Instruction (DI) in very remote schools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2020

John Guenther Open the ORCID record for John Guenther [Opens in a new window]  and
Samuel Osborne
John Guenther*
Affiliation:
Batchelor Institute, c/o Post Office Batchelor, Darwin, NT0845, Australia
Samuel Osborne
Affiliation:
Regional Engagement (APY Lands), University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, South Australia5095, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: John Guenther, E-mail: john.guenther@batchelor.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

Over the 10 years of ‘Closing the Gap’, several interventions designed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have been trialled. In 2014 the Australian Government announced the ‘Flexible Literacy for Remote Primary Schools Programme’ (FLFRPSP) which was designed primarily to improve the literacy outcomes of students in remote schools with mostly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The programme, using Direct Instruction (DI) or Explicit Direct Instruction, was extended to 2019 with more than $30 million invested. By 2017, 34 remote schools were participating in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia. This paper analyses My School data for 25 ‘very remote’ FLFRPSP schools with more than 80% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students. It considers Year 3 and 5 NAPLAN reading results and attendance rates for participating and non-participating primary schools in the 3 years before the programme's implementation and compares them with results since. Findings show that, compared to very remote schools without FLFRPSP, the programme has not improved students' literacy abilities and results. Attendance rates for intervention schools have declined faster than for non-intervention schools. The paper questions the ethics of policy implementation and the role of evidence as a tool for accountability.

Keywords

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educationdirect instructionliteracy outcomespolicy interventionsremote education
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 49 , Special Issue 2: Critical conversations on higher education as an enabler to building an Indigenous health workforce , December 2020 , pp. 163 - 170
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ACARA (2015) Measurement Framework for Schooling in Australia 2015. Sydney: Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. Retrieved May 2019 from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Measurement_Framework_for_Schooling_in_Australia_2015.pdf.Google Scholar
ACARA (2018) National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy. Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy: National Report for 2018. Sydney: Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. Retrieved June 2019 from https://nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/resources/2018-naplan-national-report.pdf?sfvrsn=2.Google Scholar
ACARA (2019) My School. Retrieved August 2019, from https://www.myschool.edu.au.Google Scholar
ACER (2013) Evaluation of the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy Initiative. Australian Council for Educational Research. Retrieved May 2014 from https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=indigenous_education.Google Scholar
Australasian Evaluation Society Inc. (2013) Guidelines for the ethical conduct of evaluations. Retrieved March 2014 from http://aes.asn.au/images/stories/files/membership/AES_Guidelines_web.pdf.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018) Remoteness Structure. 15 March 2018. Retrieved September 2019, from http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/remoteness+structure.Google Scholar
Australian Government (2014) Programme Guidelines Flexible Literacy for Remote Primary Schools. Department of Education. From https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/remote_flexible_literacy_-_programme_guidelines_web_accessible_version.pdf.Google Scholar
Australian Government (2019) Closing the Gap Report 2019. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved February 2017.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (2012) Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies. Revised 2nd Edition ed. Canberra: AIATSIS. Retrieved June 2014 from http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/_files/research/GERAIS.pdf.Google Scholar
Biesta, G (2010) Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy. Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Publishers.Google Scholar
Birmingham, S (2017) Flexible literacy pilot funding boost. 4 December 2018. Retrieved April 2019, from https://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/flexible-literacy-pilot-funding-boost.Google Scholar
Bishop, R, Berryman, M, Cavanagh, T and Teddy, L (2007) Te Kōtahitanga Phase 3: Whānaungatanga: Establishing a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of Relations in Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms. Wellington, New Zealand: The Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
Briggs, A (2017) Links between senior high school Indigenous attendance, retention and engagement: observations at two urban high schools. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 46, 34–43.Google Scholar
Burgess, C, Tennent, C, Vass, G, Guenther, J, Lowe, K and Moodie, N (2019) A systematic review of pedagogies that support, engage and improve the educational outcomes of Aboriginal students. Australian Educational Researcher, 42(Special issue. Aboriginal voices: Systematic reviews of indigenous education), 297–318. doi: 10.1007/s13384-019-00315-5.Google Scholar
Castagno, A and Brayboy, B (2008) Culturally responsive schooling for indigenous youth. A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research 78, 941–993.Google Scholar
Cowey, W, Harper, H, Dunn, B and Wolgemuth, JR (2009) How important is school attendance in learning to read? Paper Presented at the AARE 2009 International Education Research Conference, Canberra: papers collection. From http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2009/cow09040.pdf.Google Scholar
Dawson, GK, Clinton, J, Koelle, M and McLaren, P (2017) Evaluation of the Flexible Literacy for Remote Schools Program: Main Report. 2015 and 2016 School Years. Centre for Program Evaluation, the University of Melbourne. Retrieved November 2018 from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/flfrpsp_assessible_20171101.pdf.Google Scholar
Dawson, GK, Clinton, J, Koelle, M and McLaren, P (2018) Evaluation of the Flexible Literacy for Remote Schools Program: Main Report. 2015, 2016 and 2017 School Years. Centre for Program Evaluation, the University of Melbourne. Retrieved November 2018 from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/flexible_literacy_evaluation_2018_final_accessible_0.pdf.Google Scholar
Etherington, SJ (2006) Learning to be Kunwinjku: Kunwinjku people discuss their pedagogy (PhD). Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT. Retrieved from http://espace.cdu.edu.au/view/cdu:6517.Google Scholar
Fluckiger, B, Diamond, P and Jones, W (2012) Yarning space: leading literacy learning through family—school partnerships. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 37, 53–59.Google Scholar
Fogarty, W, Lovell, M and Dodson, M (2015) A view beyond review: challenging assumptions in indigenous education development. UNESCO Observatory Multi-Disciplinary Journal in the Arts 4, 1–23.Google Scholar
Fogarty, W, Riddle, S, Lovell, M and Wilson, B (2018) Indigenous education and literacy policy in Australia: bringing learning back to the debate. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 47, 185–197.Google Scholar
Forrest, A (2014) The Forrest Review; Creating Parity. Indigenous Jobs and Training Review. Australian Government. Retrieved 19 August 2014 from https://indigenousjobsandtrainingreview.dpmc.gov.au/forrest-review.Google Scholar
Good To Great Schools (2014) Effective Instruction: The Keystone to School Reform. Cairns: Good To Great Schools Australia.Google Scholar
Good To Great Schools (n.d.) Effective Instruction. Retrieved April 2019, from https://goodtogreatschools.org.au/our-products/effective-instruction/.Google Scholar
Grabe, W and Zhang, C (2016) Reading-writing relationships in first and second language academic literacy development. Language Teaching 49, 339–355.Google Scholar
Guenther, J (2013) Towards educational advantage in very remote Australia: An analysis of 2012 NAPLAN data: what does it tell us about remote education in the last five years? Paper Presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education, Adelaide, December 2013. Retrieved May 2016 from http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2013/Guenther13.pdf.Google Scholar
Guenther, J, Bat, M and Osborne, S (2013) Red dirt thinking on educational disadvantage. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 42, 100–110.Google Scholar
Guenther, J, Halsey, J and Osborne, S (2015) From paradise to beyond: geographical constructs and how they shape education in the bush. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education [Special issue: What next for rural education research?] 25, 62–79.Google Scholar
Guenther, J, McRae-Williams, E, Osborne, S and Williams, E (2018) Decolonising colonial education researchers in ‘near remote’ parts of Australia. In Vass, G, Maxwell, J, Rudolph, S and Gulson, KN (eds), The Relationality of Race in Education Research. New York: Taylor & Francis, pp. 108–119.Google Scholar
Guenther, J, Lowe, K, Burgess, C, Vass, G and Moodie, N (2019) Factors contributing to educational outcomes for First Nations students from remote communities: A systematic review. Australian Educational Researcher, 42 (Special issue. Aboriginal voices: Systematic reviews of indigenous education), 319–340. doi: 10.1007/s13384-019-00308-4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs (2017) The Power of Education: From Surviving to Thriving Educational Opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students. Canberra: The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved January 2018 from https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Indigenous_Affairs/EducationalOpportunities/Final_Report.Google Scholar
Ladson-Billings, G (1999) Preparing teachers for diverse student populations: a critical race theory perspective. Review of Research in Education 24, 211–247.Google Scholar
Liberal Party of Australia, & National Party of Australia (2013) The Coalition's Policy for Schools: Students First. Retrieved April 2019 from https://lpaweb-static.s3.amazonaws.com/13-08-29%20The%20Coalition%27s%20Policy%20for%20Schools%20-%20policy%20document.pdf.Google Scholar
Lincoln, S, Lynham, S and Guba, E (2018) Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences, revisited. In Denzin, N and Lincoln, Y (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, 5th Edn. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc., pp. 108–150.Google Scholar
Moll, L, Amanti, C, Neff, D and Gonzalez, N (1992) Funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classroom. Theory into Practice 31, 132–141.Google Scholar
Morrison, A, Rigney, L, Hattam, R and Diplock, A (2019) Toward an Australian Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: A Narrative Review of the Literature. Adelaide: University of South Australia. Retrieved September 2019 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335101498_Anne_Morrison_Lester-Irabinna_Rigney_Robert_Hattam_Abigail_Diplock_TOWARD_AN_AUSTRALIAN_CULTURALLY_RESPONSIVE_PEDAGOGY_A_NARRATIVE_REVIEW_OF_THE_LITERATURE.Google Scholar
Nakata, M (2007) Disciplining the Savages: Savaging the Disciplines. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.Google Scholar
National Health and Medical Research Council (2018) Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities: Guidelines for researchers and stakeholders. C. o. Australia Ed. Canberra.Google Scholar
Osborne, S (2015) Families as foundation: Anangu perspectives on what else matters in remote education. UNESCO Observatory Multi-Disciplinary Journal in the Arts; Indigenous Education In Australia: Place, Pedagogy and Epistemic Assumptions, 4(2), 1–25.Google Scholar
Prout Quicke, S and Biddle, N (2017) School (non-)attendance and ‘mobile cultures’: theoretical and empirical insights from Indigenous Australia. Race Ethnicity and Education 20, 57–71.Google Scholar
Pyne, C (2014) Minister Pyne: Improving literacy in remote schools. 16 December 2014. Retrieved April 2019, from https://ministers.education.gov.au/pyne/improving-literacy-remote-schools.Google Scholar
Rigney, L (1999) Internationalization of an Indigenous anticolonial critique of research methodologies: a guide to Indigenist research methodology and its principles. Wicazo Sa Review 14, 109–121.Google Scholar
Rigney, L and Hattam, R (2018) Towards a decolonizing Australian Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Paper Presented at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting, New York City.Google Scholar
Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (2016) Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Key Indicators 2016. Productivity Commission. Retrieved February 2017 from http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/overcoming-indigenous-disadvantage/2016/report-documents/oid-2016-overcoming-indigenous-disadvantage-key-indicators-2016-report.pdf.Google Scholar
Tehan, D (2018) Helping improve Indigenous literacy rates. 5 December 2018. Retrieved April 2019, from https://ministers.education.gov.au/tehan/helping-improve-indigenous-literacy-rates.Google Scholar
Turnbull, M (2018) Closing the Gap Prime Minister's Report 2018. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved February 2017 from https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/ctg-report-2018.pdf.Google Scholar
Tyler, W, Robinson, G and Bartlett, C (2009) Outcomes of the National Accelerated Literacy Program in the Northern Territory, 2004–2007. Paper Presented at the AARE 2009 International Education Research Conference, Canberra. From http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2009/rob091559.pdf.Google Scholar
Wigfield, A, Gladstone, JR and Turci, L (2016) Beyond cognition: reading motivation and reading comprehension. Child Development Perspectives 10, 190–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wigglesworth, G, Simpson, J and Loakes, D (2011) NAPLAN language assessments for Indigenous children in remote communities: issues and problems. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 34, 320–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, B, Quinn, SJ, Abbott, T and Cairney, S (2018) The role of Aboriginal literacy in improving English literacy in remote Aboriginal communities: an empirical systems analysis with the Interplay Wellbeing Framework. Educational Research for Policy and Practice 17, 1–13.Google Scholar
Wolgemuth, JR, Savage, R, Helmer, J, Harper, H, Lea, T, Abrami, PC, Kirby, A, Chalkiti, K, Morris, P, Carapetis, J and Louden, W (2013) ABRACADABRA Aids Indigenous and non-Indigenous early literacy in Australia: evidence from a multisite randomized controlled trial. Computers & Education 67, 250–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.04.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zipin, L (2009) Dark funds of knowledge, deep funds of pedagogy: exploring boundaries between lifeworlds and schools. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 30, 317–331.Google Scholar