Teachers Registration Board of South Australia

The Evaluation of the professional learning of teachers collected data from 2 254 teachers regarding their required 60 hours of professional learning linked to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Findings provided feedback to the Teachers Registration Board as to the nature of the professional learning undertaken by different cohorts of teachers along with the difficulties faced by particular groups of teachers in meeting these requirements. 

The Fostering our next generation of teachers’ Project was designed to explore and report on quality induction and mentoring practices that supported teachers in moving from the Graduate to Proficient career stage of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Initially, established research was interrogated to develop a framework for determining ‘quality’, which was then used to identify applications from teachers that demonstrated these criteria. Interviews were then conducted with teachers of quality applications along with their mentors and evaluators.

SA Government - Department for Education

The Success and Challenges of the STEM Learning Program (2019-2020). The purpose of the evaluation was to allow the Department for Education to ‘take stock’ of the overall impact of their STEM Learning Strategy implemented in 2017. This was an important step because it provided information that informed how the Strategy continued in the remaining 2020-2026 period. 

Questions that guided the evaluation of the Strategy included: What impacts were made by the STEM projects aligned to the strategy from 2017-2020? What evidence of impact was available? What gaps emerged regarding the Strategy implementation during this time? How might these gaps be addressed in moving forward in 2020-2026?

Catholic Schools Education

STEM – Unpacking School Data to Inform Practices and Monitor progress project (2019). There is an increasing expectation that teachers and schools should use data to inform practice. Yet, many teachers are not familiar with the ways in which these data can be analysed and interpreted. This project allowed teachers to learn some fundamentals around critiquing data and setting up small action research projects to enhance their own understanding of their classrooms or student cohorts. 

NSW Government - Department for Education

The Validation of Assessment for Learning and Individual Development (VALID formerly ESSA) program provides online assessments for science in Years 6, 8 and 10. These assessments are used as diagnostic tools to assist teachers in improving student outcomes in science. The test for each year level is linked to the science syllabuses, and assesses what students know and can do in science. It also provides useful information about student attitudes towards science.

In the role of consultant, I work with the VALID team to moderate students’ responses to open-ended items by critiquing the marking rubrics, which are developed using the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) Model.