Indigenous education – the need for evidence

1. Indigenous education – the need for evidence Jonathan Carapetis & Sven Silburn Menzies School of Health Research Darwin, NT

2. 69% of NT Indigenous children score belownational minimum standard

3. Critical questions • How well is current education policy and practice informed by evidence regarding the principal determinants of the educational outcomes of Indigenous children? • To what extent is current pedagogy a result of instructional practices derived from the unconnected experience of thousands of individual teachers, each ‘re-inventing the wheel’ and failing to adapt their practices in the light of the cumulative scientific evidence of 'what works‘? • What types of evidence are required to inform and enable the transformational improvements needed in Indigenous education?

4. The foundations for virtually every aspect of human development i.e. physical, intellectual and emotional are laid early in childhood • What happens during the early years (starting in the womb) has life-long effects on health & wellbeing - from obesity, heart disease and mental health, to educational achievement and economic status • Most of the variability in adult social gradients is now understood to be attributable to the quality of early developmental experiences within the family, child health and education

5. Inequalities in early cognitive development School entry Note: Q = Standardized cognitive scoreSource: 1970 British Cohort Study Fair Society, Healthy Lives: Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England Post-2010 (Marmot, 2010)

6. Social gradients in the developmental vulnerabilityof Australian children on entry to primary school * Non-Indigenous (N=231,767) Indigenous (N=9,829) 18% 50% 23% 14% 8% 5% 26% 20% 19% 17% (Percentage of Non-Indigenous) (Percentage of Indigenous) Blue = Vulnerable on one or more AEDI domains, Purple = No vulnerability on any AEDI domain * AEDI National census of Australian children aged 5 years, 2009

7. What can be done to reduce these inequalities? • Vital that the recent new investments in the early years be maintained over the long term • Even greater priority should be given to ensuring expenditure early in the developmental life-cycle • Expenditure should be focused proportionately across the social gradient to ensure effective parental support • More should be invested in policies and interventions which have an evidence-base or been proven effective “We are therefore calling for a ‘second revolution’ in the early years to increase the proportion of overall expenditure allocated there.” Sir Michael Marmot: Fair Society, Healthy Lives (2010)

8. Evidence-based practice (EBP) • New levels of accountability in health, education and other areas of public sector management to ensure the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of policy, programs and services • Origins in evidence based-medicine (EBM) “…because resources will always be limited, they should be used to provide forms of health care which have been shown in properly designed evaluations to be most effective” (Cochrane, 1972).

9. 1. New evidence regarding the developmental biology underlying the biological embedding of disadvantage The economics and population dynamics of human capability expansion - equity, participation & choice How experience-dependent early brain development shapes neural circuitry, endocrine & immune system functioning Evidence from epigeneticstudies showing how environments of child-rearing influence gene-expression Populations Communities Individuals Neural circuitry Cells/Synapse Gene expression

10. 2. Ecologically contextualised, life-course data

11. Student, family, community & school factors independently associated with Aboriginal school achievement * WA Aboriginal Child Health Survey: Volume 3 (2006) * Adjusted Odds Ratios from ML Logistic Regression

12. 3. Evidence from data-linkage studies explicating the role of health & other issues effecting educational outcomes Percentage of NT children in remote communities who are ANAEMIC by age groups 0.5-1, 1- 3 and 3- 5 years (Source: Growth Assessment & Action Report 2004-2008) For example: What is the relationship between infant anaemia and subsequent developmental outcomes e.g. as measured by AEDI (age 5) and NAPLAN (age 8)?

13. 4. Community level data to inform planning & action Darwin Palmerston

14. 5. Demographic data to inform service needs

15. Study designs which inform the efficacy and effectivenessof strategies, programs and instructional approaches • Experimental studies – preferably RCTs • Comparative effectiveness studies • Case-control studies – making better use of existing data • Modelling the likely benefits and costs of policy options • Equity impact assessment & modelling of the levels of resourcing required to achieve more equitable outcomes

16. e.g. NHMRC Mobile Preschool Study (N=250) • Random selection of 20 communities within 5 geographic clusters serviced by the Mobile Preschool Program with comparison to 10 communities with no preschool provision • Primary outcome measure of "school readiness“ is the AEDI with departmental attendance and enrolment data • Data on potential confounders & effect modifiers: socio-emotional competence; immunisation, growth, hospital & clinic records of anaemia and chronic disease presentations; parent education, employment, mental health & housing • Qualitative data recorded in each Mobile Preschool site including: observation and ratings of staff competencies and audit of the physical learning environment

17. Transforming Indigenous Education Evaluation AIM: MSHR to work with NT-DET in developing a research, implementation and evaluation methodology that will give effect to the Transforming Indigenous Education (TIE) agenda and address related current and emergent issues for DET.” Objectives: • Develop collaborative research networks and partnerships with DET • Work within empowering structures which give Indigenous people control over the delivery of education to their communities • Generate an evidence base to inform and improve education policies, programs & services in the evaluation of the TIE and related initiatives • Build research & development capacity and information systems which have application and value to communities, schools and community-based service providers, DET & other NT govt agencies • Embed the Transforming Indigenous Education research and evaluation methodologies and data into ongoing improvement of DET systems and practices

18. ‘TIE’ Program Logic Territory “Birth to Jobs” Programs Intermediate outcomes Improved education, training & employment outcomes of Indigenous children and young people Indigenous employment & PD Aspirational Outcomes Secondary in remote Achieving or exceeding community aspirations for child developmental, health, education and cultural outcomes Strong literacy & numeracyin communities Community leadership &productive partnerships Supporting town camps Indigenous children and young people in the NT communities acquire the knowledge, skills and capabilities to participate effectively in society and employment, in their owncommunities andbeyond Early years – Child & family centres ? Expanded carer and family capabilities supportingchildren’s health, learning and development Early years - Families as first teachers Homelands schooling & ICT programs Increased community &family involvement in supporting children’s schoollearning & aspirations Indicators of human development Language/Culture inclusive programs • Income • Health • Knowledge • Participation Community Education, Training & CareAdvisory Boards School/community governance focused on supporting children families & communities School/community partnershipagreements

19. ‘TIE’ evaluation approach • Participatory/collaborative vs. Independent ‘hands-off’ evaluation • ‘Open’ vs. ‘closed’ evaluation questions (i.e. iterative action-research process supporting school development and planning and the capacity to monitor progress of new initiatives) • ‘Top-down and bottom up’ investment of evaluation effort (i.e. practical support to school/community leadership and to & DET central office) • Development of a dual-level evaluation framework which includes:a) Place-based planning & evaluation of school/community initiatives to improve children’s educational outcomes b) System-level planning & evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the TIE & DET school/community strategic reform initiatives

20. ‘TIE’ evaluation approach (Contd.) • Developing a performance accountability data system and local reporting processes to assist school-community monitoring of locally agreed school/community objectives (RLPAs) • The data-system includes a core set of school-community measures able to be rolled-up for system-level reporting on DET and other NT Government policy & strategic initiatives (TIE, DET strategic plan, Working Futures- 20 Growth Towns etc.) • The locally collected measures will also assist jurisdictional reporting of key outcomes of the COAG National Partnerships in: a) Remote Service Delivery, b) Indigenous Early Childhood Development; c) Low SES School Communities; d) Improving teacher quality; e) Literacy & Numeracy; f) Early Childhood Reform