This technical paper outlines the methodology used to adjust the original Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) weights to ensure that each Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) wave represents the original population. The author also provides guidance to researchers in applying the weights to their analysis of LSAY data.
Research in the social sciences is routinely affected by missing data. Not addressing missing data appropriately may yield research findings that are either 'slightly off' or 'plain wrong'. This study demonstrates why and how frequently used simple remedies for missing data can impact on research results. The authors provide the target audience (i.e. producers and consumers of social science research) with a step-by-step guide on how to implement multiple imputation, which is the standard method for dealing with missing data. They encourage researchers to carefully consider the potential impact of incomplete information and to use modern missing data methods whenever possible in their own work.
When measuring the socioeconomic status of young people, the authors find that the SocioEconomic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) works well when reporting participation in higher education at aggregate levels, but performs very poorly when classifying individuals. This has policy implications because it means that programs directing resources to increase educational participation for those with low socioeconomic status may be doing so based on incorrect information. The data used come from the 2003 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), looking at young people aged 15 to 25 years.
Low completion rates for apprentices and trainees have received considerable attention recently and it has been argued that NCVER seriously understates completion rates. In this paper Tom Karmel uses NCVER data on recommencements to estimate individual-based completion rates. It is estimated that around one-quarter of trade apprentices swap employers during their apprenticeship. Taking this into account, Karmel estimates completion rates for individuals, ranging from 39.2% for the food trades to 64.2% for electrotechnology and telecommunications trades workers. He notes that employer churn is an issue, with the worst occupations being hairdressing and the food trades.
This paper argues that assessment can play a central role in teaching and learning, and selecting an appropriate mix of assessment strategies can satisfy multiple goals of key stakeholders in vocational education and training. These goals include promoting learning, certifying learning and program evaluation. These objectives must be understood in a broad context delineated by the structures of education systems and of labour markets which, in turn, reside within national policy objectives. Forms of assessment must be consistent with the goals of learning and with a broad range of valued learning outcomes.
This paper was prepared for the Australian Government's National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce, which was created to investigate the extent to which skill shortages might impact on the development of the resources sector. It applies historical apprenticeship commencement rates to population projections to provide an estimate of the number of tradespeople likely to be working in the resources sector between 2010 20 at a detailed level and by region.
This paper assesses the fitness-for-purpose of the existing Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) instruments as a source of information on the determinants of youth transitions in Australia.
This technical paper provides information on the methodology used to calculate contract completion and attrition rates for apprentices and trainees commencing in a given time period.
Using a 'life tables' approach for recently commencing apprentices and trainees, this technical paper provides information on the methodology used to estimate completion and attrition rates .
This technical paper provides information on the methodology used to estimate apprentice and trainee figures for NCVER publications reporting apprentice and trainee statistics. The new estimates were established following a major review of the estimation method used in the past and were endorsed by the National Training Statistics Committee in September 2004.
This technical paper provides informaton on the methodology used to back-cast the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) codes on historical data in the National Apprentice and Trainee Collection.
Information on the divergence between student numbers and delivery hours for the period 2002 to 2007 is provided in this technical paper. The change in hours from one year to the next is decomposed into three effects, one of which is 'hours inflation', whereby nominal hours increase over time for the same unit of competency or module. Here we show that the 'hours inflation' explains relatively little of the divergence between students and hours. However, another form of hours creep, whereby new modules have higher average hours than ceased modules, was of some significance at the start of the period in question.
This technical paper examines some large and unusual movements for data in the 2007 VET Provider Collection by comparison with 2006. Changes in the patterns of courses undertaken explain most of the divergence between students, enrolments and hours.
This technical paper provides information on changes to the method of calculating government recurrent expenditure used for national efficiency Key Performance Measure 6.