Information Development Plan for Education and Training Statistics

CONTACT

National Centre for Education and Training Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
Telephone (02) 6252 7198

DESCRIPTION

The national Information Development Plan for education and training statistics, released as the ABS publication Information Paper: Measuring Learning in Australia - Plan to Improve the Quality, Coverage and Use of Education and Training Statistics, 2004 (ABS cat. no. 4231.0) is a comprehensive statement of agreed priorities and action for the development of education and training information in Australia, over the three year period 2005-2007. It represents a collaborative approach of key stakeholders to improving national education and training information within the national statistical service.

The Plan:

• identifies key issues and areas for consideration
• presents agreed directions for improving the relevance, coverage, comparability and quality of statistics
• identifies responsibilities for progressing individual strands of work, and for monitoring overall progress.

The Plan identifies the priorities for information development, some cross-sectoral, some sector-specific or collection-specific. Within the Plan these priorities are further divided into three categories (under control, some development needed and significant work needed).

AGREED PRIORITIES

Cross-sectoral
Further develop education and training economic statistics
Improve statistics about Indigenous people’s education and training
Improve the alignment of full-time equivalent student measures across sectors
Increase the use of statistical standards
Increase the analysis of data

Sector-specific
Improve early childhood education information
Complete implementation and maintain schools sector Key Performance Measures
Improve information regarding characteristics of the schools sector teaching workforce, both public and private
Review and rationalise schools sector reporting and dissemination of data
Improve information on:

• participation and attainment of 15-24 year olds in education and training
• lifelong learning
• selected vocational education and training topics
• selected higher education topics

Maintaining and further developing key data sources
Maintain and further improve the quality (where needed) of key sectoral collections
Continue the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Continue the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
Maintain the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth
Implement Growing Up in Australia (survey)
Ensure a suite of ABS statistical collections which provides information about education and training and reflects contemporary policy requirements

Previous Page