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In Australia, there is currently no official training pathway or qualification required for working in Flexible Learning Programs (FLPs). This causes a problem for both new teachers wishing to work in this area and for employers who have no way of knowing whether a new teacher has the appropriate skills or knowledge to teach in this alternative context. To address this problem, we designed and implemented a program during which Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students were given the opportunity to experience teaching in a FLP. Here we report on the experiences and perceptions of the preparation program from the perspectives of the key stakeholders, including the ITE students, FLP staff, and the young people attending the FLP. All stakeholders perceived the project to be a success in enabling the ITE students to gain valuable theoretical knowledge and practical experience of the FLP context.

Student engagement is a pivotal contributor to academic achievement, retention, and well-being, and yet the role of teacher influence on engagement is poorly understood. This is in part due to the contextual and 'hidden' nature of student engagement, and as such, levels of student engagement are assumed through observable factors such as attendance and conduct. It is also due to the difficulty in mapping student engagement simultaneously with understanding the teacher practices used to influence it. This article reports on a pre-post case study in which student survey and teacher focus group data were analysed together, revealing the nature and depth of association between the practices adopted by teachers and student engagement. By comparing the change of engagement at a class or homegroup level, it was possible to identify how approaches used by teachers impacted various elements of engagement. Furthermore, it found a high correlation between teacher practices and change in student engagement at a class or homegroup level, providing the opportunity for teachers to learn what practices were effective in their specific context.

Australian schooling is one of the most segregated systems in the OECD, with much focus on the inequality between schools from poorer areas compared with those from wealthier suburbs. These inequalities have been explored in terms of infrastructure and funding, as well as their relative academic achievement. Previous research has also found that children from more disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have poorer health than their wealthier peers. To determine whether there is a connection between these findings, this study investigates the impact of social and educational advantage on participation and success in primary school sports carnivals in Tasmania. It examined the results of Tasmanian primary schools across interschool cross-country carnivals between 2009 and 2019 and found that structural segregation existed across all competitions. Multiple regression was used to see if the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA), total school enrolments and geographic location predicted school cross-country rank. It was found that school size, geographic region and ICSEA all played an independent role in determining the participation and success of schools. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Flexible learning programs (FLPs) provide a place for students who have disengaged and disconnected from mainstream schools. Despite the legislative framework in Australia supporting the participation of students with disability in their local mainstream schools wherever possible, very little research focusing on whether students with disability are being excluded from, or dropping out of, mainstream schools into these FLPs has been conducted. In this paper, we report on the findings of an online cross-sectional survey of FLP leaders about their student populations, with a focus on the 10 most prevalent disabilities among Australian children. Data from the 22 participants who completed all items of the survey were analysed. The participants' (n = 22) schools represented a total enrolment of 2,383 students in FLPs across Australia: Tasmania (n = 3), Victoria (n = 5), New South Wales (n = 5), Queensland (n = 4), Western Australia (n = 3), and South Australia (n = 2). We found that while there was an apparent overrepresentation of students with certain types of disabilities in FLPs, others were not overrepresented at all. The findings of this preliminary study are discussed, with an exploration of issues relating to why students with some disabilities may be more likely to disengage, or be excluded, from mainstream schooling while others are not, as well as recommendations for future research.

There have been many calls for the development of discipline-specific argument writing interventions to integrate science-specific and general literacy standards and goals. Yet, adolescents with and without exceptionalities struggle to meet existing writing demands. This explanatory sequential mixed methods design draws from the strengths of multiple baseline design and integrates rich qualitative data, from a student perspective, to better understand the elements that contribute to effective discipline-specific writing instruction. The study examined the effects of implementing Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) through a writing-to-learn sensemaking framework adapting the DEFEND strategy to improve students' written argument-based explanations across inclusive science classrooms and focus learners with exceptionalities. A ninth-grade science teacher delivered science and writing instruction and collected quick writes before, during, and after SRSD implementation. Results indicated that students' argument-based explanations improved in discipline-specific components (i.e. claim, evidence, reasoning, knowledge) and general components (i.e. organization and writing quality). Students discussed the challenges of using their developing knowledge to write argument-based explanations using the DEFEND strategy, with particular difficulties in expressing reasoning and an appropriate counterclaim. Issues of feasibility and usability are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-teaching teams of special educators and science educators can collaboratively plan and implement the Rock Out the Rubric revising strategy to improve students' writing in science class. The strategy is implemented as part of the evidence-based writing practice of Self-regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). In this article, first we describe how secondary students with exceptionalities struggle with discipline-specific elements of writing in science class. Then, we briefly review how teachers can use primary-trait rubrics to develop students' self-regulation, to monitor students' progress with writing processes and products, and to focus teacher-student and peer conferences as part of the revising phase of writing-to-learn instruction in inclusive secondary science classrooms. Step-by-step instructions are provided for implementing the Rock Out the Rubric strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher education preparation programs must adapt to changing science education reform movements that identify notebooking as an effective means to increase children's' science process skills and content knowledge. This study addresses the question, "What are the structures and thinking processes that teacher candidates utilize when writing in notebooks?" Specifically, how do they express their thoughts during an observational-based prompt writing experience in an undergraduate, integrated science and mathematics methods course? Sixteen teacher candidates at a Midwestern university in the United States completed an eight-week assignment during the spring 2012 semester using notebooks. Results indicate the participants could be placed into three distinct categories of processing and formatting the notebooks which are described in detail with supporting examples.

This study investigates the change in students' behavioural engagement as a result of participation in a Flexible Learning Program. Using an understanding of engagement as both a process and a relationship between the students and their school, we sought to determine whether students' attendance, participation, and conduct were different after the program compared with before enrolment. To achieve this, we used a range of data sources which involved both student and teacher voice, collected prior, during, and after the program. Data from the program's complete cohort of 46 students, collected over a span of five years, were analysed and findings revealed that students' behavioural engagement not only increased within the program but maintained at significantly improved levels after students returned to their mainstream 'host' school. These findings provide a response to some common critiques of Flexible Learning Programs and add to the evidence of the role that they can play in the reengagement of disengaged students.

Quality incorporation of children's literature has long been supported to help students learn. The purpose of this study was to examine the 79 fiction selections of our state's sponsored reading list for grades K-2. The list was examined for original publication date, selections recognized as award winners, sex of authors, sex of protagonist, race of protagonists, and the presence of gender or racial bias. Results indicate the sponsored reading list is out of date, needs to contain more award winning selections, and fails to represent a balance of women authors and selections containing female protagonists. Gender bias was minimal and no presence of racial bias was observed.

This study identifies and summarizes potential risks to operations, regulatory compliance, supply chains, and infrastructure of the electric power industry from changing surface water conditions resulting from global climate change. The results help inform companies/utilities seeking to incorporate climate change risk in their planning and decision‐making processes by ranking risk severity and likelihood of occurrence on both a regional basis and by risk receptor. The assessment includes identification of potential risks to: (1) thermal generating, (2) hydroelectric, (3) land‐based renewable generating, and (4) transmission and distribution assets. These risks may result from such projected changes as reduced water availability (e.g., for hydroelectric or once‐through cooling), increased water temperatures (e.g., decrease in cooling efficiency, inability to meet discharge permit conditions), increased flood severity (e.g., increased streambank erosion and/or damage to river‐adjacent infrastructure), and decreased water quality (e.g., from increased transport of sediment and dissolved solids). The potential risks identified from this qualitative risk‐assessment are documented in a graphical format depicting both severity and likelihood. This approach allows for comparison of risks across a portfolio and for future prioritization of adaptation strategies. A total of 32 risks were identified in the study, including nine risks to infrastructure, six risks to operations, four risks to supply chain, and 13 environmental/regulatory risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds: Acute surgical care nowadays usually involves access to urgent imaging. There is a paucity of data on how often the images or radiologist reports of these images are used by the surgical team. We aimed to identify the rates and timeliness of radiology images and report viewing for acute surgical admissions in an Australian tertiary university teaching hospital. Methods: We utilized a data set comprising radiological studies completed at our institute during a one‐month period. Investigations were classified by modality and whether images or reports were available 'in‐hours' or 'after‐hours'. The time taken from imaging to reports available for viewing by the surgical team was calculated using timestamps derived from electronic hospital systems. Spearman's rho test was used to assess correlation between the Study Ascribable Time and time to view an image or report. Results: Of 40 042 investigations, 1156 (3%) satisfied study criteria. Both images and reports were viewed in 82% (n = 950/1156) of cases. CT scans had the shortest median time for image (14 min, IQR 4–47 min) and report (25 min, IQR 8–68 min) viewing. CT (95%, n = 410/430) and MRI (95%, n = 38/40) scans had the highest proportion of both images and reports viewed, regardless of whether the scan was completed 'in‐hours' or 'after‐hours'. X‐ray reports were viewed least often (73%). Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high level of viewing of acute surgical radiological imaging and reports by surgical teams. The 'simpler' the study the less likely the radiology report will be viewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how choice to enter a reengagement programme was experienced and understood by students and staff. In seeking to understand choice, we sought to gain insight into one design element that is considered to be vital for effective reengagement programmes: namely, that they are voluntary or choice-based. We interviewed 12 students and 5 staff who were involved in a reengagement programme that was underpinned by philosophy of choice. Specifically, it was a mandate of the programme that students had to actively and voluntarily "choose" to enter the programme. Analysis of the interviews revealed that it was not as simple as a student "choosing" to enter the reengagement programme and then entering it. Rather, four main construct types emerged through the interviews that explained the ways in which choice was experienced by the students: (1) an opportunity for self-improvement, (2) an escape from the current situation, (3) a threat, for which the alternative would be a severe consequence, and (4) a nudge taken from a respected adult. Using a "contexts-for-action" ecological model of agency, we seek to understand the construct types by exploring the complex factors that constrain or legitimize why, how, when, and with whom a student makes his/her "choice." The contexts that emerged in this study relate to the internal or external influences as well as whether the choice was proactive or reactive.