Count us in!

The growing role of learning support programs in achieving education outcomes for disadvantaged students

Anne PateResearch Officer, Research & Social Policy Unit

August 2007

What are Learning Support Programs?

Out-of-school hours homework or tutoring assistance

May be school provided or managed by community organisations

Offer group learning and/or one-to-one tutoring

Aim to improve educational outcomes for students of all

ages/backgrounds

May include social and recreational activities to build confidence

and attachment to learning

Evaluation of Learning Support Programs

Objective: To measure the outcomes of out-of-school hours

community-based tutoring and homework assistance

provided by 4 of 7 MCM learning support programs in

2007

Methodology:

– Mapping survey in late 2006 by phone interview with LSP providers in

North & West regions of metropolitan Melbourne

– Primary data collection of student participants during 2007

– Interviews with school principals and specialist staff

– Outcomes measurement with feedback from class teachers, tutors and

students through 2007

Mapping Survey Findings - Overview

– 33 community based programs in N&W metro region, delivered by 20 auspice agencies

– over 1,300 students enrolled in 2006 and 800 regular attendees (weekly)

– coverage across 26 suburbs (CBD, inner to outer areas)

– 74% include primary school aged children

– 52% target students from refugee or CALD backgrounds

– 43 staff employed

– over 1,270 volunteers

Key Findings – Community managed LSP’s in NW Melbourne: Year of commencement (n=33)

0123456789

10

1992 1996 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year of commencement

N

Key Findings – Community managed LSP’s in NW Melbourne: Student focus in 2006

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

Prim ary grades only

Prim ary & secondary

Secondary grades (all)

Year 10-12 only

Prim ary to adult ages

Preschool to adult ages

%

Key Findings – Community managed LSP’s in NW Melbourne: Student participation in 2006

• Over 1300 enrolments in operating programs

• 52% of LSP’s catered for up to 20 students

• 10% have over 100 enrolled students

• Over 800 regular (weekly) attendees

• Average attendance rate of 62% of enrolments

• High attendance rate (92%) at programs targeting

primary school students

Key Findings – Community managed LSP’s in NW Melbourne: Growth in student participation

Enrolment year Total number of students

Mean Median Standard deviation

Number of programs

First year of operation

261 10.4 8.0 7.3 25

2006

1312 42.2 20.0 60.6 31

For the 25 programs with documented first year enrolment data: fourfold increase since start-up

Comparison of enrolments between first year and 2006

Key Findings – Community managed LSP’s in NW Melbourne: Program operations

74% offer one session of tuition/support per week 1:1 tutor-student ratio ideal, but group activities and shared tutors common Focus on homework assistance, exam preparation for older secondary students Emphasis on general learning, literacy, numeracy and building commitment to

learning for primary age students

Venues include community halls/neighbourhood houses (25%); school premises (22%), libraries (19%) and community agencies (19%)

80% of LSP’s used volunteers as tutors Over 1,270 volunteers assisted programs in 2006 38% are university students; 26% have a teaching qualification and 15% are high

school students

Key Findings – Community managed LSP’s in NW Melbourne: Program operations (2)

81% have developed a relationship with local school(s) 75% accepted referrals from schools

No program in receipt of ongoing DoE funding, but 30% received grants

from State Government sources (eg. SFYS)

40% funded by internal agency resources 15% funded by local government

Respondents highlighted the lack of recurrent funds and reliance on

donations to continue

Key Learnings

Growth: – Community based LSP’s are emerging to fill a real local need for

learning support in Melbourne

– Broad coverage across all ages and backgrounds, including primary

ages, new migrants and disadvantaged children

Sustainability:– Resource constraints impact on sustainability despite provider

confidence (79%)

– Lack of infrastructure poses risks to quality and outcomes

– Challenges in recruiting volunteers ongoing

– Coordination with schools is critical

Key Learnings (2)

Program Outcomes:

– Little evaluation undertaken to date

– Literature indicates substantial improvement in student learning

outcomes (eg UK and Aust)

– Perception of respondents that programs improve education

outcomes and strengthen student commitment/interest in

learning

– Schools gain benefits through building relationships with

community support organisations

Policy Implications

LSP’s in Melbourne appear to be playing an important role in improving

education outcomes for children in disadvantaged circumstances

Governments have recognised the critical importance of education as both an

economic and social investment (eg. education targets and strategies), but

need to focus more on the 10-15% at most risk

Policy reforms and program developments need to take into full account the

factors leading to poor outcomes for ‘at risk’ groups, such as:

- new migrant, asylum seeker, refugee children

- lack of parental support or incapacity

- homeless families and young adults

Policy Implications

Community based approaches appear to offer a valuable option that:

- links schools with local community organisations

- provides an alternative external option to schools to enable individual student catch-up

- exposes students to alternative positive learning settings and role models

- engages parents in their child’s learning

- opens up access to other community resources (IT, libraries)

Thank you

Copies of our report A Profile of Learning Support Programs in North-West Melbournemay be obtained from:

Melbourne Citymission website: www.melbournecitymission.org.auor phone (03) 8625-4468