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The past informs the future. It achieves this in two ways: first, by providing the context in which decisions are made, and, second, by delivering the various experiences that enable discovery of what does and does not work. As the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system has evolved, the institutional structures and frameworks that are now in place may determine the direction of its next turn, while the willingness to learn from past experiences will dictate whether it will turn at all. 'The past informing the future' is the theme for the 2021 'No Frills' Conference -- a conference to be held online, because if anything has been learned from 2020, it is that the freedom to travel is no longer guaranteed. This 'No Frills' discussion paper reflects on some key developments in VET's past and how they have shaped the sector's approach to enduring issues such as VET's purpose, national harmonisation, and quality.

Prior research shows reduced criminality to be a beneficial consequence of education policies that raise the school leaving age. This paper studies how crime reductions occurred in a sequence of state-level dropout age reforms enacted between 1980 and 2010 in the United States. These reforms changed the shape of crime-age profiles, reflecting both a temporary incapacitation effect and a more sustained, longer run crime reducing effect. In contrast to the previous research looking at earlier US education reforms, crime reduction does not arise solely as a result of education improvements, and so the observed longer run effect is interpreted as dynamic incapacitation. Additional evidence based on longitudinal data combined with an education reform from a different setting in Australia corroborates the finding of dynamic incapacitation underpinning education policy-induced crime reduction.

This occasional paper provides the views of 17 "thought leaders" in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. Their insight and opinions were sought to inform a larger research project focused on the student entitlement reforms that were introduced into the national VET system from 2012. These individuals offered a variety of senior-level vantage points on the topics of: (1) Australia's national training system: why it has been developed, what its key elements are, and the aspects where consistency has been sought and the aspects where flexibility has been sought; (2) VET student training entitlements: why this initiative has been introduced and the implications of the agreed flexibility in approach to its implementation by jurisdictions, in terms of maintaining a functional national training system; and (3) the implications of the VET student entitlement initiative for future national VET reform. A particular emphasis has been on the implications of the reforms and the challenges faced in its implementation in the context of achieving a balance between national consistency and jurisdictional flexibility. The interviewees considered key elements of the national training system, namely: standards for VET products (training packages and materials); standards for VET providers; and a flexible training market. The interviewees commented on the consistency and flexibility sought in each of these key elements, highlighting where tensions exist, particularly in student training entitlements. The following are appended: (1) Project statement provided to interviewees about the project and Project protocols; and (2) Interview guide questions. Information about the NVETR Program funding is provided at the end of this paper.

Quality outcomes from vocational education and training (VET) are fundamental to ensuring a skilled workforce and supporting a productive economy. In a competency-based training system, assessment is the gatekeeper for quality. Audits undertaken by the Australian Skills and Quality Authority (ASQA) have identified concerns with compliance against the assessment requirements of the Standards for Registered Training Organizations (RTOs) 2015 (Standards for RTOs). ASQA strategic reviews, including into aged and community care, early childhood education and care, equine programs and security training industries, highlighted assessment as an area requiring more attention if the quality of training is to improve. In response to concerns about assessment, and to ensure high-quality within the system, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Industry and Skills Council agreed that further reform options be developed to improve the quality of assessment of student training outcomes and enhance confidence in the VET sector. Specifically, the Industry and Skills Council agreed to explore reform options to support the following principles: (1) Graduates have the required competencies for the job role and there is consistency across RTOs in the quality of assessment; (2) Trainers and assessors have the capability to assess appropriately; (3) Assessment meets the standard set by industry; and (4) The regulator has the capacity to effectively regulate assessment practices and outcomes and take appropriate action. The discussion paper sought stakeholder views on further specific reforms that may ensure the existing reforms that could generate the intended impact and are not held back by ongoing concerns over RTO compliance with assessment requirements. The appendices are included.

The vocational education and training (VET) sector has a long tradition of measuring and reporting outcomes. The public face of this is the "Annual National Report of the Australian Vocational Education and Training System" published (and tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament) since 1994. The reporting framework has undergone a number of changes corresponding to revision in high-level strategies developed by the former Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). This, however, is about to change. The catalyst for a radical examination of the reporting framework is the Council of Australian Governments' (COAG) reform agenda. This reform agenda is shaking up the funding relationships between the Commonwealth and the states and will place increasing reliance on measuring and reporting outcomes as distinct from focusing on the resources used (that is, inputs). In this paper, the author provides a history of performance measurement for the VET sector, beginning with the creation of the Australian National Training Authority and ending with what individuals know of the current reforms. As well as describing the various measures, he discusses the challenges that are thrown up by indicators. He concludes with his suggestions for indicators for the vocational education and training system. (Contains 7 footnotes.)

At every five-yearly census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recalculates both the SEIFA (Socio-economic Indexes for Areas) indexes and also recalibrates the borders and sizes of the geographic areas from which these SEIFA measurements are derived. Further, over time, the composition of geographic areas may change, due to urban renewal or other factors. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) reports vocational education and training (VET) participation rates at least annually, and the question that arises is how well do the SEIFA indexes perform over the interim years, that is, between the releases of new census data. Of particular interest is the reporting of participation rates for the census years. In reporting the 2011 year, NCVER uses the 2006 census data, as the ABS does not release new SEIFA values until 18 months after each census. The focus of this paper is on VET participation rates; however, the methodology would be equally applicable to higher education or school participation. The approach used in this paper is that the 2006 and 2011 National VET Provider Collections have had the 2006 and 2011 SEIFA measures applied to each of them, along with the Australian populations at each time. Using these data, it was possible to determine VET participation rates (by age) as a proportion of the Australian population, using both the 2006 and 2011 census data. The SEIFA index used in this paper was the Index of Relative Disadvantage (IRSD). [Funding for this document was provided by the Australian Department of Industry.]

This paper traces the evolution of Australia's apprenticeship and traineeship system since permanent European settlement in 1788. The system was imported from Great Britain; it has evolved and diverged in some areas but retains many of the features of the British model. Most major changes have occurred in the last 25 years. The apprenticeship model--a combination of paid employment, on-the-job and institutional training--has always had particular appeal for meeting intergenerational skills transfer: it provides employers with a source of low-cost labour, the apprentice with paid employment, and an opportunity for government to subsidise employment for those needing help to establish themselves in the labour market. Indeed, the community, employees, unions, employers and government have come to regard apprenticeships as the system for training in the trades and have tolerated few alterations to the system, beyond those resulting from shifts in the occupational and industry mix in the Australian economy and changes in secondary schooling arrangements. The first important reform to apprenticeships occurred in 1985 with the introduction of traineeships, which extended the model to a much wider range of occupations, generally at lower qualification levels. The second was in the mid-1990s when the Australian Government began paying incentives on a large scale to employers to help offset the costs of apprenticeships and traineeships and to encourage more commencements. This had a spectacular impact on traineeship numbers but much less effect on trades apprenticeships. Other significant changes were introduced in 1998; these allowed school students, existing workers and part-time workers to undertake apprenticeships and traineeships. In short, since 1985 the system has moved from one dominated by young males undertaking apprenticeships in the trades to one that provides apprenticeships and traineeships to people of all ages and both sexes, and in a much wider range of occupations. Key messages from this paper include: (1) The apprentice and trainee system needs to address some major issues. Much of the training is at low qualification levels with little or no economic return. And it can be argued that it is neglecting the general education needs of young people; (2) The system needs greater capacity to adapt and respond quickly to changing labour market demands. Australia might look to the experience of countries that use an institutional training model for trade training, which may be much easier to ramp up quickly; and (3) By any standards the cost of Australia's current system places a hefty burden on the public purse, estimated at $2.9 billion in 2008-09. Recorded occupation of a sample of skilled convicts transported to Australia, 1788-1868 is appended. (Contains 4 tables, 2 figures and 1 footnote.)

The Group of Eight (Go8) welcomes the Government's commitment to developing a comprehensive research workforce strategy. Australia's research capacity and the continuing translation of research into policy, products and services is directly linked to the future productivity of the economy, social wellbeing, environmental outcomes and the nation's long-term prosperity. The "Meeting Australia's research workforce needs" consultation paper provides a useful starting point for discussions on Australia's research workforce needs but the Go8 believes that some issues will need to receive more attention in the final strategy to ensure it is comprehensive and well targeted. In particular, the paper gives insufficient attention to: (1) the quality of both the research workforce and of the research training experience--increasing the size of the research work force will not be sufficient in itself to keep Australia competitive; (2) interdependencies between the research workforce and other parts of the innovation system, including schools and research users; (3) the roles and importance of research-trained people in the broader workforce including in industry and government; (4) the need for a whole of government approach and the removal of inconsistencies between the proposed strategy and other policies and programs (for example in relation to visas) that could impede its implementation; and (5) the dependence of the strategy on increased and better targeted funding and a concentration of capability (talent and infrastructure). A number of important actions have been identified which if adopted would be positive steps in helping to build Australia's research capacity and would help Go8 universities in managing their research training programs. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table, and 10 footnotes.)

This paper is based on a series of workshops about innovation in teaching and learning in vocational education and training (VET) which the authors conducted in March 2009. This paper addresses some of the underlying questions that practitioners have about innovation. The paper is structured in four sections: (1) a comparison of the trends in innovation identified in the two research papers: Australia in one; the United Kingdom and Europe in the other; (2) the workshop task that practitioners undertook: to design and take an innovation to market; (3) the questions and hopes of workshop participants: hidden dimensions of "innovation" and of being "innovative"; and (4) thoughts on expanding the pool of innovative VET practitioners. (Contains 7 footnotes and 1 table.)

The governments of India and Australia are working to enhance cooperation on training, at both official and industry level. As part of the exchange of ideas, Francesca Beddie, General Manager, Research, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, visited India in August 2009 at the invitation of the Australia-India Council. This paper explores some of the common challenges the countries face in reforming their vocational training systems. (Contains 1 box and 1 footnote.) [Support for this report was provided by the Australia-India Council.]

Over 20 years ago, during a period of high youth unemployment, Peter Kirby recommended that a system of traineeships be adopted for disadvantaged 16- and 17-year-olds. Growth in traineeships was initially slow until the mid-1990s, when rapid growth followed a series of reforms to traineeships. The reforms included the introduction of employer incentives and the widening of traineeships to existing workers, part-time workers, and older workers. This paper builds on work commissioned by the Victorian Interdepartmental Policy Unit on Youth Transitions into the effectiveness of traineeships for the youth cohort. Findings suggest that traineeships are an important pathway for female early school leavers. However, if the target group for traineeships is disadvantaged young people, then they are poorly targeted. The employment outcomes from traineeships are good, particularly for young early school leavers, but they find little evidence that traineeships have had a significant impact on skills acquisition. Overall, the authors conclude that the traineeship model is a good one, as the mixture of formal education and experience in the workplace is educationally very attractive. Their suggestions for improvement relate to better targeting of government support. In particular, they suggest that government support be targeted towards disadvantaged job seekers, such as early school leavers. Appendices include: (1) Consultations methodology; (2) Detailed history of policies relating to the traineeship system; (3) Illustrative case studies of wage costs and implicit wage subsidies; (4) Most popular training packages for Australia; and (5) Further study. (Contains 12 footnotes, 4 boxes, 24 tables, and 5 figures.)

"Mixed-sector" institutions are relatively new in Australia, but numbers are likely to increase as the boundaries between vocational education and training (VET) and higher education become increasingly blurred. In 2009 the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) published research examining the nature of higher education offered by public VET providers ("Higher education in TAFE" by Leesa Wheelahan, Gavin Moodie, Stephen Billett and Ann Kelly). Gavin Moodie and his colleagues are continuing their research and this paper has been written with the intention of provoking discussion. It presents an initial account of mixed-sector tertiary education in Australia--separating institutions accrediting their own higher education programs, most of which are large public universities, from other tertiary education institutions, primarily smaller private providers. A range of issues about the emerging character of mixed-sector provision is flagged and will be considered as part of the research, including: (1) How relevant will the sector designations be if the distinctions relating to tertiary education continue to blur, and if Australian governments allocate public support for teaching by mechanisms that do not distinguish between types of institutions?; (2) To what degree is mixed-sector provision affected by the extent to which the smaller sector is integrated with an institution's organisational structure, the level of the organisation at which vocational and higher education are integrated and the level of autonomy granted to organisational units?; and (3) What are the implications of mixed-sector provision for the students, staff and institutional futures? (Contains 6 tables, 2 figures and 3 footnotes.)

This essay considers the evolution of the vocational education and training (VET) system since European settlement, but focuses mainly on changes that have occurred over the last three decades. It discusses the underlying influences of key reforms, including the training reform agenda, which had as its main aim, the establishment of a national system. Also discussed are the programs and policy milestones that have shaped the VET landscape. The essay drew on work that compiled major policy developments since the 1980s, now converted into a timeline identifying significant documents published since 1969. (Contains 8 footnotes.)

The implementation of an educational reform and the subsequent reconfiguration of curricula in a competency format prompted research into the learning experiences of students within a newly reconfigured competency-based curriculum. The curriculum was the technical and further education (TAFE) New South Wales (NSW) Tertiary Preparation Certificate III, first implemented in 1983 as a transition course to further education for adults. Adoption of the particular research perspective for the practitioner researcher in this case was dependent on factors that included nature and purpose of the research; experiences of the researcher within their practice; practitioner's conceptualization of being in the world; and pragmatic considerations, such as time and access. Consideration of these factors led the practitioner researcher to adopt an eclectic Symbolic Interactionist theoretical framework along with its methodology of participant observation. A model of practitioner research was proposed as a way of conceptualizing the conflicting yet complementary roles of teacher and researcher. Key characteristics of the three roles of teacher, course coordinator, and researcher were established, and a graphic representation was developed of these characteristics and the types of interaction and skills involved in each. (Contains 31 references.) (YLB)

The experiences of early school leavers in a New South Wales Central Coast community during the year after they left school were examined to identify ways of easing their transition into the community and the work force. Data were collected through interviews with community service providers, representatives of educational agencies, refuge workers, and local employers. Few schools had a system for providing early school leavers with information about their options. Unlike in Europe, the responsibility of schools to early leavers in the North Coast appeared to be minimal and did not embrace the idea that early school leavers should be followed up via some well-established community-based arrangements. Because many early leavers left school too suddenly for the school to intervene or left "under a cloud," they were unlikely to receive sympathetic farewells and relevant information, even though they are the students most in need of information and support. It was concluded that the reason early school leavers pose such a problem for policy is because Australia's vocational education and training system remains based on the historical dominance of the apprenticeship system. Greater integration of education and training arrangements with the local community and its employer networks and support services was recommended. (Contains 32 references.) (MN)

The question of whether apprenticeships and traineeships can survive in Australia's emerging social and economic environment was explored through a review of two bodies of research. The first consisted of recent reviews of the quality of traineeships in Queensland and Tasmania and apprenticeships in Victoria. The second was a study on the future of work that was being conducted by the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training and Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training. The recent success of Australia's New Apprenticeship system was considered in the context of the structure, content, and skill requirements of the jobs currently being created. The following problems were identified as affecting the long-term survival of apprenticeships and traineeships: increasing detachment from a centralized industrial relations system and industrial awards; increasing reliance on skill opportunities provided by the content and structure of work in individual enterprises rather than within an industry; high levels of employer influence and declining levels of employer investment in training; increasing dependence on a regime of public subsidy and training regulation; uncertainty about how to deal the competing trends of on-skilling and de-skilling; and reluctance to admit that not all workplaces are or even aspire to be learning organizations. (Contains 12 references.) (MN)

Recent international discussions provide information on various countries' responses to lifelong learning, including the following: (1) existing unmet needs and emerging needs for education and training; (2) funds required compared with what was provided; and (3) methods for acquiring additional funds, among them efficiency measures leading to savings and reallocation, cost incentives directed at employers, federal mandate for employer involvement in training, and increase in federal student aid. The need for funding varies among wealthy countries and between rich and poor countries although globalization and technological and demographic changes are major factors in the increased need for lifelong learning in all nations. Possibilities for implementing forms of funding also vary and are dependent on prevailing political and economic structures. Federal governments have a major role in providing increased funds for education and training for disadvantaged students although this varies internationally. Countries with histories of social/business/government partnerships, such as Sweden, France, and Germany, have more successfully provided for the less advantaged than their less socialized counterparts, such as Australia and the United Kingdom. (Included are eight tables and descriptive boxes. The bibliography lists 35 references). (AJ)

This overview paper highlights implications of keynote papers and discussion at the first National Issues Forum held by the Research Center for Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia. It discusses evidence that the school-to-work (STW) transition is a problem for an increasing number of young people and why. It outlines the government's range of responses to help young people, including greatly increased public funding for VET. However, evidence is presented that shows VET providers have failed to attract an increasing proportion of young people, shown by the decline in young people's participation in VET. Reasons for the decline include: changing patterns of demand for skills; and changing youth attitudes and competition from adults for access to training. Recent survey results are presented on employment and earnings outcomes achieved by young people who use a VET course to prepare them for employment. The paper suggests that VET's traditional strengths--its institutional base and vocational focus--may also be its greatest weaknesses in the future. Evidence is presented that countries with similar training arrangements (apprenticeship system and well-defined occupational structures of the industrial award system) are making major changes to how their structured education STW pathways work. The paper concludes by exploring types of changes VET needs to make. A case is made for VET providers to undertake continuous reassessment of how well they are currently meeting needs of potential students. (YLB)

The attitudes and experiences of 18 vocational education and training (VET) practitioners considered to be at the leading edge of online education in technical and further education (TAFE) in South Australia were examined to determine how leading-edge VET practitioners engaged in designing, developing, and facilitating online learning understand their changing roles and professional practice. The practitioners' responses reinforced the fact that online learning is a new frontier pedagogically, technologically, and organizationally. The new tasks of designing, developing, and facilitating online learning both required and stimulated new forms of work organization for VET practitioners. The practitioners generally considered this work a positive experience and credited it with increasing their job satisfaction. However, they also cited negative effects of the introduction of online instruction that call into question the long-term sustainability of online work as it is currently organized. It was concluded that the quality and extent of online education will inevitably be constrained unless the human resource management of training organizations addresses the organization of online work more explicitly. Issues that must be addressed include better job design to accommodate the working conditions associated with online work and institution of sophisticated strategies for building and sustaining work and knowledge networks. (Contains 24 references.) (MN)

Eighteen VET practitioners considered to be at the leading edge of online education in technical and further education in South Australia were interviewed to determine the extent of their knowledge about and experiences of online learning and teaching. Data were gathered through a survey, structured interviews, online research events, and two face-to-face workshops. Responses indicated that, despite a VET policy environment keen to accelerate the take-up of online learning, online teaching and learning remains a very new area of human endeavor and a new area for VET policy and practice. The practitioners were actively involved in constructing knowledge about online learning. However, they were not yet systematically or consciously reflecting on the inferences to be drawn from their individual and collective experiences. Although the practitioners were excited and challenged by their online activities, they were also frustrated and pressured by lack of time, infrastructure, and resources. The practitioners' four main sources of professional learning about online teaching and learning were as follows: learning by doing; learning through work colleagues and teamwork; learning through communities of practice; and learning through formal off-the-job professional development. Organizational culture, policies, and structures played a big role in the VET practitioners' adoption and implementation of online VET. (MN)

The vocational education and training (VET) profession in Australia is confronted with a radical reconstruction, not only in terms of the new work VET professionals are expected to perform but also in terms of the new culture and professional roles that have emerged out of the diversifying sites of professional practice. Reasons for the shift in the conceptualization of professional work in VET must include the changes brought about by over a decade of training reform and the establishment of a competitive market in VET provision. The VET market is characterized by an increasing variety of providers. The VET sector is exhibiting quite radically changed employment patterns, particularly non-standard employment. Today, VET delivery increasingly relies on casual and part-time staff. The changes reflect quite fundamental shifts in the way knowledge, learning, skills, and work are conceptualized in contemporary societies. A future is predicted in which the VET professional is either a VET consultant working across a number of VET sites or a learning manager employed to manage learning activities of large VET providers. The new VET professional must in some senses not only be capable of spanning the cultural divide that distinguishes the world of work from the world of education but also that which distinguishes the world of private enterprise from the world of public service. (Contains 16 references.) (YLB)

Ideas about what constitutes work, the ways work is organized, the tools used in work, and the relationship between work and the other components of life are all changing rapidly. The implications of these changes for vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and elsewhere were examined. The following issues were considered: (1) the loss of a clear direction or mission for VET; (2) increasing debate over focusing VET programs on meeting the individual needs of vocational education students or concentrating on developing an industry-driven system focused on employers' needs; (3) debate over whether VET should focus on particular jobs, careers, work in general, or life in general; (4) debate over the extent to which the VET curriculum should focus on specific vocational skills versus broad, underlying principles; and (5) debate over the relative emphasis placed on preemployement versus in-employment training, classroom-based and experience-based training, and course-centered versus individualized instruction. The following immediate challenges facing VET were identified: (1) making employer involvement in VET an economic imperative; (2) improving awareness of workplace realities among vocational teachers; (3) adapting cooperative programs to deal with multiple employers; and (4) building international alliances in VET. (Contains 24 references, 3 figures, and 1 table.) (MN)

This study examined the role of faculty participation on strategic change within higher education. An open-ended questionnaire was completed by seven individuals from Singapore and the United States who had had experience with higher education strategic planning and change as both faculty and administrators in Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the United States. It was found that all of the respondents agreed on the necessity of involving stakeholders, particularly the faculty, in strategic change. Many also pointed to the difficulty of getting quality participation from faculty, due to the fact that faculty often have a narrow perspective, that faculty participation involves a large commitment of time, and that faculty are often reluctant to address complex issues or problems. Respondents emphasized the negative impact of overly hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational structures, which were more typical in Singapore than elsewhere. The comments also emphasized the impact that organizational culture, planning processes, reward structures, and institutional mission can have on faculty participation in strategic change. Suggestions for encouraging and improving faculty participation were also offered. (Contains 32 references.) (MDM)

Work-based learning (WBL) is one response of education and training institutions to criticisms they have failed to adapt to changing economic times and the changing nature of work. Formal educational institutions are challenged by the perception that they are inadequate to the task of preparing the present and future work force with the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions required in post-industrial workplaces; discourses focusing on learning that occurs outside formal educational institutions; and discourses problematizing what counts as knowledge in contemporary society. Potential impact of WBL can be explored by focusing on technical and further education (TAFE) in Australia. TAFE should be a natural home for WBL because it claims an explicit and direct connection with the world of work, but its teachers face an intensifying dilemma in their educational practices, due to their location in an educational institution rather than the workplace and by curriculum practices grounded by notions of content stability, compartmentalization, occupational continuity, and universally applicable outcomes. Differences that distinguish WBL from current vocational education and training (VET) practices relate to the individualization of the learning program and to the multiple sets of relationships that are created between the participating organization, learners, provider, and VET practitioner. (Contains 34 references.) (YLB)

Much recent debate has suggested Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) teachers not only need new knowledge and skills but need to perform their professional practices in new ways and in new contexts. What this debate has failed to recognize is that these change discourses are in effect constructing new professional identities for teachers, which interact and compete with the traditional discourses that once provided TAFE teachers with a distinct and separate educational identity. Any explanation concerning the construction of TAFE teachers' identities must look to both the historical and contemporary discourses that all circulate within the institutional life of the organization and must indicate how these discourses work to construct TAFE teachers as particular types of teachers. Three dominant institutional discourses within the institution of TAFE have shaped the formation of TAFE teachers' identities: industrial skill development, liberal education, and public service. The discourses of new vocationalism and economic rationalism have now joined the discourses of industrial skill development, liberal education, and public service in constructing the institutional practices of TAFE and its teachers. The failure of these discourses to make headway in changing TAFE teachers' understanding of who they are in VET can be accounted for because they leave little room for ambiguity and contradiction. (Contains 32 references.) (YLB)

This is an analysis of the findings from three comparable national studies of current change in the provision of initial teacher education. These three studies are: the Mode of Teacher Education (MOTE) survey, covering England and Wales; the Research about Teacher Education (RATE) Project, covering the United States; and the Study of Initial Teacher Education (SITE), covering Australia. Each of the studies examines comparable issues and identifies a range of common policy strategies being pursued by the respective governments. There appears to be a global move toward educational reform. Many countries are dismantling centralized educational structures and replacing them with systems having local institutional autonomy and control. These are often linked to an increased emphasis on parental choice and competition between institutions for students. These changes are leading to a market model of educational services. There is more encouragement of the growth of different types of schools, responsive to local needs and particular communities and interest groups. This trend is also linked to growing notions of cultural pluralism as schools shift from a modern to postmodern model. (Contains 39 references.) (JLS)

Primary and secondary data sources confirm that Australia is trapped in a low-skills/low-quality cycle. Among the factors that have contributed to this cycle are the following: the relatively small average size and low technology base of Australian firms and the relatively short-term planning horizon and underperformance of many Australian enterprises (compared with the planning and performance of their counterparts in the United States and New Zealand). The theory of a low skills equilibrium, which states that all major stakeholders in skill formation contribute to maintaining the low skills equilibrium, provides a broader-based explanation for Australia's problems regarding worker skills and quality. Five key stakeholder groups influence the nature of the demand for quantity and quality of skills: enterprises; groups of enterprises; the government; employer associations; and individuals and training providers. Specific measures that each stakeholder group can take to move Australia into a high-skills cycle have been identified. Unfortunately, because of Australia's continuing high levels of unemployment and the poor performance of Australia's other economic sectors, many Australian employers and the Australian government will likely remain under pressure to continue following an ad hoc, low-skill/low-quality approach to forming intermediate skills in Australia's economy. (Contains 51 references.) (MN)

The report evaluates the Australian Second Language Learning Program, intended to promote introduction and expansion of second language learning in Australian elementary and secondary schools. The assessment was conducted after 2 years of the 4-year program development phase. The report consists of an executive summary and three main parts, consisting of: (1) detailed explanations of recommendations and matters for further consideration; (2) the status of component national projects; and (3) the status of component local projects. About one-fifth of the funding is allocated to projects of national significance in declared priority areas (general non-English language education, sign language curriculum development, distance language teaching, senior secondary level language instruction, language teacher professional development, research on bilingualism) and the remainder to school systems according to enrollment rates and in the context of the overall national plan. In addition to promoting and improving language instruction in general, the program was intended to raise language enrollments to levels of the 1960s, develop bilingual education programs, and ensure consistency of curriculum. The program is seen as successful and operating in a supportive environment, especially for general instructional expansion and improvement. Progress toward bilingual education programs is seen as slow. Statistical data and specific recommendations are included in the text of the report. (MSE)