The purpose of this study was to identify the factors which help successful equity initiatives that had been seeded in TAFE institutes through short-term funding to take root and spread. The report concludes that many equity programs remain stuck in the seeding stage and fail to thrive and grow. It suggests that this is because current funding approaches place too much emphasis on starting initiatives and not enough on the development and scale-up of promising ones.
The changes that have occurred in vocational education and training over the last decade have profound implications for the focus of evaluation. Funding is becoming tied to outputs rather than inputs; a transition is occurring from a supply-side system to one which has some demand-side characteristics; the range of training providers is more diverse than it was; and there has been a change in emphasis from external controls to quality assurance mechanisms. To ensure that future decisions on vocational education and training are well founded, a National Research and Evaluation Strategy has been developed which is administered by NCVER. This discussion paper is intended to inform the further development of the national strategy by strengthening its focus on evaluation.
This report provides an indepth analysis of the implications of lifelong learning for vocational education and training. It shows that the sector needs to develop policies and strategies to advance lifelong learning opportunities for all through strategic partnerships at all levels, and that Australia lags behind other OECD countries in responding to the lifelong learning challenge. Maintaining employability in the new era of exponential change and using new information and communication technologies wisely for learning purposes are also key challenges.
This report showcases the results of the Australian National Training Authority Research Advisory Committee (ANTARAC) project by describing five approaches taken by the VET team on the impact of research on VET decision-making. It shows that research has affected decision-making, but not in the way that people think. The great value of research is in building the climate of opinion which can, in turn, assist the decision-making process.