1344.8.55.002 - ABStract, Statistics News, Australian Capital Territory, December 2010  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/12/2010   
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SCHOOLS AUSTRALIA


ALTERNATIVE MEASURES OF ENGAGEMENT IN SECONDARY EDUCATION

Schools Australia (cat. no. 4221.0) now presents a suite of alternative measures of secondary school engagement. These measures provide a more accurate picture of engagement within and across jurisdictions, particularly for their ability to limit effects of cross boarder enrolments on measures of engagement.

The new measures, outlined in Appendix 3: Alternative Measures of Engagement in Secondary Education, offer a new perspective on the level of engagement in secondary education in Australia.


They comprise:

  • School Participation Rate (the proportion of the population at school by age)
  • Apparent Continuation Rate (the proportion of the population who continue at school from one year to the next by age)
  • Apparent Progression Rate (the proportion of full time students progressing through school at the usual rate of one grade per year)

The new suite of measures complements the Apparent Retention Rate (ARR), which provides a ratio of enrolments between a base and given year, often the first and final year of secondary school. Until direct measurement of school transitions is available from unit record data, the ABS will continue to report ARRs by Indigenous status in addition to the new measures which are calculated for the total student population only.