WILDERAboriginalAchievementGap_GRADED

							Running Head: ABORIGINAL ACHIEVEMENT GAP




                         The Aboriginal Achievement Gap
                                Amanda Wilder
                            George Mason University
                                   EDUC 873
                                    Fall 2010
                                                                    Aboriginal Achievement Gap 2


       The American educational system has seen an increased focus on academic achievement

for all students during the past fifteen years, with an intense spotlight on the achievement of

students from different ethnic and racial backgrounds. This intense focus in the U.S. has driven

researchers to attempt to find causes and solutions to achievement gaps, as well as additional

clarification by investigating similar issues worldwide. In order to further the exploration of

student achievement gaps facing American students, this paper will investigate the achievement

gap facing Aboriginal students in Australia, as well as Australia’s current policies, and potential

solutions in order to suggest possible application in the U.S. Good plan

                                     Aboriginal Australians

       According to Dunn (2001) Aboriginal children are almost two and a half times more

likely to have problems with literacy. Possible reasons behind this deficit are based on past

issues of deprivation and neglect due to racism. Not only were racism and oppression rampant in

Australia, but the educational system was used to keep Aboriginal people in positions of

subservience, as well as to prevent possible future employment success. Education was used to

perpetuate colonial beliefs up through the 1950’s, if they (Aboriginal children)were even allowed

to go to school (Prout, 2009). Many did not attend school since there were no options for them

after completion. This neglect is the building block of the educational gaps faced by Aboriginal

children today.Does this remind you of South Africa? The legacy?

       In addition to educational deprivation, Aboriginal children and adults suffer from

extensive medical issues due to distance from medical facilities and distrust of outsiders (Dunn,

2001). Consequently, “up to 80% of Aboriginal children have hearing problems caused by otitis

media, an infection of the middle ear very common in childhood” (p. 680). What do you think?

Does this seem high? Do you think the data is accurate? “The hearing losses experienced by
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Aboriginal children from lack of treatment often mean delays and difficulties in developing

graphophonic and phonemic knowledge” (p. 680). Without the basic prerequisite literacy skills,

Aboriginal children are at a disadvantage as soon as they enter school. They start way behind

       Another deficit faced by Aboriginal children is their home language. Aboriginal people

speak languages other than English, and if they do speak English, it is a different dialect. This

leads to an additional obstacle that Aboriginal children face because “those children who come to

school with language patterns closest to the language of instruction experience more success in

literacy learning and in school in general” (Dunn, 2001, p. 679). Living in remote areas,

speaking English as a second language, frequent and severe ear infections, and poor attendance

are among the many reasons why Aboriginal students perform poorly in school (Menzies

Research Centre Limited, 2006).

       Aboriginal people are not only a different ethnic group, but a very different culture from

mainstream Australia. Dunn (2001) posits that Aboriginal people often experience learning in an

informal and holistic manner, thus causing a disconnect when they enter a traditional school

program. “A good example of differences in communication styles is the fact that some groups

of Aboriginal people consider it rude to ask direct questions” (p. 681). Another example is the

significance that Aborigines place on oral tradition. If there is a question to be answered, it is

answered by a person, not found in a book. This results in a divide upon school entry, and

“middle class white teachers who teach them have little or no knowledge of the kinds of skills

Aboriginal children have that might be used to scaffold literacy development” (p. 682). In

addition, “Aboriginal people in the Western Desert region have traditionally placed much

emphasis on personal autonomy and social relatedness” (Eickelkamp, 2010, p. 6). These social
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variances between Aborigines and mainstream white Australians are major factors impacting the

ability of Aboriginal children to experience success when attending school.

Attendance

        Attendance issues continue to be a major issue among Aborigine students. Prout (2009)

reports that in Western Australia student mobility is considered chronic.** One principal said it

is not uncommon to have a 100% turnover rate in a given year. The average turnover rate for

Aboriginal children is 60-100%, depending on the location. In addition to mobility, attendance

can be as low as 40% among Aboriginal children. Whether students are moving or are absent

from school, their mobility is causing great contention in this part of Australia, even among non-

school residents who complained about Aboriginal mobility and its effect on education and

potential academic outcomes.

       Reported reasons for mobility and absences are ceremonial attendance, visiting family,

funerals, or dealing with ‘troubled’ situations (Prout, 2009). This is a problem because, in

Australia, all of the different states are responsible for the educational curriculum and

programming. Right—decentralized to the state levelHowever, Aboriginal people do not

necessarily follow those state boundaries, so when students move from one region to another,

they are not following the same “program or system” (Prout, 2009). Attendance issues must be

addressed by the Australian government in order to make sure that Aboriginal students do not

fall further behind when Aborigines exercise nomadic tendencies due to cultural factors. Explain:

do you mean the government at the federal level ? What policies might the government enact?

Remote Population Issues
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         Masters (2009) reports that most Aborigines live in remote areas, away from large

populations, and that their achievement gaps are wider than that of their white counterparts. In

addition,

         Indigenous students living in remote parts of the state perform in the bottom ten per cent

         of students nationally; those in very remote locations perform in the bottom five per cent

         nationally. By Year 9, thirty per cent of all Indigenous students in Queensland perform

         below a minimum national standard in reading, and those living in very remote parts of

         the state are, on average, perhaps ten years behind non-Indigenous Queensland students.

         (p. 60)

This significant disparity between Aboriginal students in rural and urban areas, with students

from remote areas performing much lower in literacy and numeracy assessments, is a major

problem facing Australian policymakers (Australian Council for Educational Research [ACER],

2005).

         Additional factors affecting the Aboriginal ability to thrive are “elevated rates of poverty

and unemployment. You might report the poverty levels here They live in overcrowded housing,

have poorer health, and are relatively uneducated” (Marks, 2010, n.p.). This leads to higher

levels of crime, and Aboriginal children “are 28 times more likely to end up in juvenile

detention” and

         Aboriginal adults are six times more likely to be arrested than other Australians and 13

         times more likely to be jailed. In the Northern territory, they make up 80% of the prison

         population although only one-third of the territory’s residents are indigenous. (Marks,

         2010)
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This unequal treatment leads to further the inequities facing Aboriginal children as they attempt

to negotiate the schooling environment.

Past/Current trends

       The memory of forcible separation of parents and children “is kept alive and used by

adults to gauge, often with suspicion, what motifs (motives?) the government may presently have

in pursuing certain policies and interventions” (Eickelkamp, 2010, p. 2). Good point—again, the

legacy This distrust of the government is valid and is a major factor that impacts any attempts to

improve life for Aborigines, including the quality of education. Another unfortunate factor is

that the Australian government has made attempts to address Aboriginal school performance, but

       have (has?)failed to tackle the civil obligation and labour [sic] market environments that

       are directly the cause of poor school results. The policies have been constrained by a

       failure to tackle to real drivers of ‘disadvantage’: the absence of a real economy.

       (Menzies Research Centre Limited, 2006, p. 11)

Without a sound economy with available jobs for graduates to enter upon graduation, it is

unlikely that many Aborigines will see the value of a Year 12 diploma.Good point

       In addition to a flagging economy, the educational system in Australia is disjointed.

“There is a great deal of variation between States and Territories in the degree to which

governments are willing to dispense resources, and control over resources, for Aboriginal

education to Aboriginal communities” (Watson, Partington, Gray, & Mack, 2006, p. 142).

Without a national policy in place that indicates the degree to which the Aboriginal education

system is prioritized, then each state will decide on its own how to spend financial resources.

This can be a major problem for states with large numbers of Aboriginal children, or with large

areas of remote communities needing additional resources to level the playing field.
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                                         Current deficits

       Currently, Aboriginal students face large gaps in performance when compared to white

Australian students. “The gap varies by grade and subject, with the largest gap being 29.3

percentage points for Year 5 reading and the smallest gap being 17.4 percentage points for Year

3 numeracy” (Russell, & Wenham, 2010, p. 8). In addition, only 75% of Aboriginal students

pass the writing benchmark, as opposed to 92% of white students (Menzies Research Centre

Limited, 2006, p. 8). These numbers are staggering, and the data also indicate deficits between

rural and urban students, with those living in rural areas performing much lower than urban

Aboriginal students. What percentage live in rural areas? This impacts all 12 years of schooling

because by

       the end of primary school, some students have slipped so far behind in their learning that

       it can be difficult to return them to a trajectory of successful literacy, numeracy and

       science learning. By the middle years of school, significantly under-achieving students

       often become disengaged, disenchanted, and increasingly absent. (Masters, 2009, p. 75)

Graduation Rate

       Aboriginal student disinterest and disengagement are negatively impacting the graduation

rate. “In 2006, 47.4 percent of Indigenous 20-24 year olds had completed Year 12 or equivalent,

compared to 83.8 percent in non-Indigenous comparators” (Russell, & Wenham, 2010, p. 9). In

addition, “young Indigenous people are more likely to leave school before Year 9” (ACER,

2005, p. 1). These staggering rates are a cause for concern amongst all Australians because it is

leading to increasing numbers of Aborigines depending on, and expecting, government subsidies

rather than employment for survival.

Language Arts
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       Hypothesized reasons for poor performance in Language Arts, when compared to white

students, include cultural variance and the lack of social capital. Good points Aboriginal stories

are different than typical ‘Western’ stories, with an unfamiliar plot structure, a lack of character

development, and, most importantly, no story resolution (Dunn, 2001). Many Aboriginal

families live in extreme poverty, so they have few books at home available for children to look at

or read before beginning school. Therefore, when Aboriginal children begin school, teachers and

schools do not “know how to use the kinds of knowledge that Aboriginal children [bring] to

school to facilitate literacy development” (Dunn, 2001, p. 684). Poverty and ed. achievement: a

worldwide challenge!

Math

        Most math programs taught in industrialized countries follow the western mathematics

format (Warren, deVries, & Cole, 2009, p. 46). This style of math instruction is inherently

biased and can be considered an additional obstacle causing Aboriginal students to enter school

at a disadvantage. “Indigenous students enter the classroom with intuitive knowledge about

mathematics, and . . . this knowledge may be different from the knowledge with which non-

Indigenous students begin their schooling” (p. 47). Aboriginal students are able to assess and

share objects equally without needing to know math vocabulary necessary for western

mathematics. Thus, they possess the mathematical skills, but lack the vocabulary with which to

use them in a traditional school format. Again, the influence of language and culture

Teacher Understanding and Expectations

        Attitudes of teachers who work primarily with Aboriginal students are another obstacle

contributing to the achievement gap. Good point: teachers are key “Teachers often expect

Aboriginal children to fail and to need remedial teaching in order to become literate” (Dunn,
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2001, p. 679). Some teachers also believe that speaking an English dialect causes “some kind of

developmental inadequacy that leads to unsatisfactory literacy levels” (p. 679). These

misperceptions about Aboriginal children and how their families do or do not prepare them for

language and literacy in traditional manners cause “teachers and schools [to] miss opportunities

for scaffolding a literacy development that is culturally different from their own perceptions” (p.

683). With such low expectations, many Aboriginal children do not feel that school is a

worthwhile endeavor and drop out before completion.

Attendance

       Poor student attendance demonstrated by Aboriginal students, as explained earlier, has

created students on multiple levels in each class due to academic gaps. Teachers in primarily

Aboriginal schools are then overworked because of these gaps, the need to individually assess

each student upon arrival, and the need to gather information from previous schools about

student progress (Prout, 2009). There is also an increased focus on lower level students, leaving

average or higher functioning students without appropriate lessons that challenge them.

       Classroom management is another issue facing teachers of Aboriginal students who move

constantly as those children appear to have “a lack of an ‘education ethic’”, seem not to value

education, and are not interested in school and would rather play (Prout, 2009, p. 46). Many

teachers are upset about having to focus so much time on classroom management rather than

instruction, and this builds resentment that damages their ability to forge positive relationships.

Many teachers do not engage in personal relationships with transient students, with the

assumption that they will simply leave anyway. Those students who stay longer have the

opposite battle, as they have to forge new relationships with teachers and administration when

they choose to leave.
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       High student mobility is causing a secondary effect, other than the achievement gap, of

remote schools experiencing difficulty attracting and retaining quality teachers and

administrators. Most teachers in these areas are new graduates who require more support as

they begin teaching. The least experienced? True in the U.S., too? This lack of experience and

student mobility leads to a high degree of ‘teacher burnout’, because many choose to leave after

their one to three year contract is completed (Prout, 2009). In addition, this high level of

turnover has created resentment amongst the older members of the Aboriginal communities, who

now see these transient teachers and administrators as ‘tourists’ who “come in and out of town,

and nothing really changes”, thus further alienating Aboriginal people from the schools that

serve their children (Prout, 2009, p. 47).

                                        Current Initiatives

       Australia considers the achievement gap of its Aboriginal students, as demonstrated by

their lack of academic performance, a national priority. The Australian Department of Education

(2009) details their current goals as cutting the reading, writing, and numeracy achievement gaps

in half within 10 years, and to “halve the gap for Indigenous students in Year 12 attainment or

equivalent attainment by 2020” (Australian Government, Department of Education, Indigenous

Overview, 2009). This ambitious goal is hoped to improve schooling experiences for all

students, with the “belief that all children deserve an education that meets their needs regardless

of what school they go to or where they live” (Australian Government, Department of Education,

Education reform agenda, 2009, n.p.). In addition, the Australian “government is investing a

record $63.5 billion in Australian schools from 2009-2012. But, how much of this is earmarked

for Aboriginal students and the achievement gap? This almost doubles the previous $33.5 billion
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commitment to funding and infrastructure and represents an 87 per cent increase over the

previous four-year period” (n.p.).

       In addition to funding and policy initiatives, Australia is mandating increased technology

requirements, school partnerships, “transparency in school performance data, reporting and

assessment, and the development of world-class national curriculum” (Australian Government,

Department of Education, Education reform agenda, 2009, n.p.). Excluding the national

curriculum, these goals sound very similar to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation

created by the U.S. (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). Unlike the U.S., however, Australia

is providing funding for their mandates and initiatives. On November 11, the Minister of

Education announced that an additional $24 million will be set aside for Indigenous students

across Australia “to benefit from 15 new Intensive Literacy and Numeracy projects funded by

the Australian Government” (Australian Government, Department of Education, Minister for

School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, 2010, n.p.). Does this seem like a small amount?

“These projects are designed to help halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy

achievement for Indigenous children by 2018” (n.p.).

Literacy

       Potential solutions, based on the literature and current research studies indicate the

importance of using background knowledge to support literacy instruction. In addition, Dunn

(2001) advocates providing a culturally appropriate literacy education that involves community

families in the reading process. Often, school initiatives ignore the very important role that

families and community members can play in helping children perform better in school.

Teachers should also go into the community and participate, developing “cross-cultural ways of

knowing” to maximize literacy development (Dunn, 2001, p. 685), individualize learning, and
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accept children’s primary language as a legitimate method of speaking and writing (p. 686). The

combination of these strategies will be necessary components to improving the progress of

Aboriginal students’ performance in literacy. More specific programs that can help cut the

achievement gap are listed below. Any evidence that Dunn’s recommendations are being

implemented in practice?

       Accelerated Literacy program. The Accelerated Literacy (AL) program is used

primarily to “teach students who either come from homes where a traditional Aboriginal

language is spoken” and to support students where English is a second language (Mullin &

Oliver, 2010, p. 151). This program sounds very promising to help cut the achievement gap in

reading because after AL instruction, at-risk Aboriginal students made gains of 1.78 years in one

school year, as opposed to .42 years of the control group. The AL program consists of directing

students “to focus and talk about the language of texts” (p. 152), and teachers must follow six

‘teacher tasks’, moving from lower order thinking skills up through higher order thinking skills.

The six tasks are:

       1. Summarize text and activate prior knowledge, and focus on meaning;

       2. The teacher reads the passage while students follow along;

       3. The teacher directs students to locate, recognize and articulate important words or

           phrases and analyzes the authors’ purpose;

       4. The teacher guides students as they break apart the text into smaller pieces and begin

           to analyze spelling patterns;

       5. The teacher analyzes key word structures, and guides students to chunk letter patterns

           for formal spelling instruction; and
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       6. The teacher and student jointly reconstruct passages and discuss writing techniques as

           students begin to write independently. (Mullin & Oliver, 2010, p.153)

       Following the six steps outlined above, teachers are able to help bring the Indigenous

learner from more simplistic methods of thinking about text, up through higher level thinking

skills necessary for synthesis and true comprehension. Teachers are trained to “use a series of

directional, wh- questions or paraphrase cues to guide students to locate and identify important

lexical items and key phrases in the text” (Mullin & Oliver, 2010, p. 157), as well as “additional

contextual cues, paraphrasing, or repetitions” (p. 158). This intense focus, “coupled with

opportunities for producing comprehensible output through meaningful interaction, offers the

greatest potential for acceleration” (p. 157). Thus, AL pedagogy can improve “the reading and

writing outcomes for mainly Indigenous learners” (p. 161). Fascinating…how widespread is this

Accelerated Literacy Program? Does it receive substantial (or any) government funding?

       Bridging the gap. This particular research project by Freeman & Bochner (2008) was a

home shared book reading program, undertaken with the hope that it would ‘bridge the gap’

between an Aboriginal child’s literacy experiences at home and school. Children had their own

book storage box that they decorated, and parents were taught how to help their child chart their

reading. After 20 weeks, “the average change between pre- and post-test in PPVT-R (Peabody

Picture Vocabulary Test, revised) scores was 7.7 months” (p. 12). Phonemic awareness rose

20%, and “almost all had mastered the phonemic awareness skills needed to identify different

sounds within words” (p. 13). “The greatest change in listening comprehension was achieved by

children who did not have many books at home” (p. 14), and “by the end of the intervention,

almost three-quarters of the children’s WDRT reading ages were at or above their chronological

age” (p. 15). Not only did this program improve the basic phonological skills needed to learn to
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read upon school entry, but this project also offered a “positive ongoing interaction between

school staff and Indigenous families (p. 15). Was this a research project only? Not a sustained

effort?

          Reading circles. Many Aboriginal communities are group oriented in their interactions

with others, and stress the importance of storytelling. A recent suggestion by Begoray &

Banister (2008) supports the idea of using reading circles to scaffold reading instruction for

Aboriginal students. “Reading circles offer a structure in the classroom for students to interact

about ideas or readings” (p. 324). With the use of reading circles, process knowledge can be

gained which potentially helps “students approach a reading by asking questions, summarizing,

illustrating, passage choosing, and finding links between text and the outside world” (p. 326).

Increasing the use of strategies that inherently respect and maximize cultural beliefs will result in

programs that better meet the needs of Aboriginal students and their communities. Another good

idea…is it being tried in practice? Is it part of education policy?

Math

          Reading is not the only area of emphasis for Aboriginal students. Their large

achievement gaps in math warrant increased focus on potential interventions in that area because

“students with little or no mathematical knowledge at the beginning of formal schooling remain

low achievers throughout their primary years” (Warren, deVries, & Cole, 2009, p. 52). Warren

et al. (2009) created a math intervention that consisted of “focused purposeful play with specific

mathematical learning targets” (p. 52) with the belief that intervening in the early years is

imperative. “The activities were constructed so that there were no right or wrong answers.

Many of the activities were also developed as games” (p. 52). In addition, the teachers

encouraged the students to “orally describe the mathematics embedded in the activity” (p. 51).
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       Warren et al. (2009) observed that “young Indigenous students learn through kinaesthetic

[sic] activity” (p. 51). What do you think? Appropriate pedagogy for all young children, not

only Aboriginal students? This pedagogical approach demonstrated that Aboriginal students

experienced improved math performance than did non-Aboriginal students. In fact, they

postulate that that the “pedagogical approach was of substantial importance” (p. 51) in achieving

a positive outcome for Aboriginal students. These findings indicate how important it is to build

Aboriginal “students’ engagement with schooling, lifting their confidence and aspirations, and

targeting literacy and numeracy achievement early in their schooling” (ACER, 2005, p. 7). In

addition, there is a “need to provide Indigenous students with guidance and encouragement to

study in learning areas, such as mathematics and the physical sciences, that open up a broader

range of post-school pathways” (p. 7).

Community and Parent Support

       Despite the perception of many white Australians, “most Aboriginal parents and

educators value mainstream school education for Aboriginal children highly, as they see that it

can provide a passage out of the chronic disadvantage that plagues many Aboriginal people in

Australia” (Dockett, Mason, & Perry, 2006, p. 144). Therefore, it is essential for school policy

to address how schools can engage community members in a positive manner.Well

said…common sense? Past experiences of many Aborigines has been negative, and “parents’

difficulty in communicating with teachers often can be attributed to power imbalances, whether

these be perceived or real” (p. 141). This misperception must be overcome because “the

presence of Aboriginal people within the school, such as teachers, aides, general staff, or

members of school councils and committees, was crucial to helping make young Aboriginal

children feel as if they belong” (p. 141).   Schools should continue to increase programs that
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consider, respect, and involve Aboriginal community members to improve student engagement

(Closing the Gap Clearinghouse, 2010, p. 21).

       Additional parent support that can benefit school performance is offering health and

behavioral support within the school setting. The importance of offering additional health

support to offset the increased numbers of otitis media, as well as increased speech therapies and

services, should be a component of any programs considered to improve the academic

performance of Aboriginal students. Behavioral support for parents is another issue that is

related to cultural expectations. “From about two years of age, children assume a marked degree

of autonomy as they begin to assert their will in no uncertain terms” (Eickelkamp, 2010, p. 5).

“[M]any Aboriginal children are used to making important decisions for themselves at an early

age, such as when to bathe, eat, and sleep or whether to go to school or not” (Dunn, 2001, p.

685). This can result in a disjointed relationship between students and school personnel based on

the format of western education.

       These varied expectations can lead to behavioral difficulties in the school setting due to

varied behavioral expectations in the home. “In more than one of the schools visited, behaviour

[sic] management had been a significant issue …, and the principals described having to commit

significant time and energy to getting this under control as a first step” (Masters, 2009, p. 54).

Turner, Richards, & Sanders (2007) offered Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) to parents of

Aboriginal students, which “resulted in significant decreases in rates of problem child behavior

[sic]” (p. 436). This implies that offering effective family support in the community and homes

of families can impact Aboriginal schools in positive ways.

Teacher and Leadership Training
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       Masters (2009) investigated Aboriginal schools that were deemed successful based on

academic achievement and determined that

       in the majority of cases …a strong culture of teacher professionalism and engagement

       with continually improving knowledge and skills was evident. Further, in a number of

       schools, professional development designed to improve the skills and knowledge of

       classroom teachers in addressing literacy and numeracy issues was routinely made

       available to all staff, including Teacher Aides. (Masters, 2009, p. 53) always…teachers

       are key..we see this over and over…what do you think?

       This demonstrates how important it is for schools to focus on improving school culture

and teacher efficacy. Teachers must create and use teaching strategies that foster independent,

problem solving skills for Aboriginal students. “Effective teachers know their students well, are

clear about the standards students are expected to meet and set high expectations for individual

students based on their current stage of learning” (p. 53).

       School leaders also require additional training in order to be culturally responsive,

including how to engage with the Aboriginal community. Any such training planned? “The

successful Aboriginal schools were those where Aboriginal communities had real and

meaningful influence in decisions affecting their children and where there was strong leadership

by a principal who was prepared to engage effectively and represent the Aboriginal community”

(Watson et al., 2006, p. 147). Masters (2009) discovered that school leaders who stayed in their

position for a lengthy period of time positively impacted the success of the schools where they

worked. The longer they stayed, the more easily they could establish and maintain a learning

culture, and align the school with the community by fostering strong relationships. School

principals accomplished this by “treating learning as the core business of the school. They
                                                                   Aboriginal Achievement Gap 18


established a framework that clearly articulated the centrality of learning and the belief that every

child can achieve” (p. 52).

Attendance Issues

       Attempts to improve student mobility need to focus on positive community engagement

to reduce “feelings of marginalisation [sic] and alienation within the mainstream education

system” (Prout, 2009, p. 48). More resources are needed to provide additional support for

mobile populations in the school setting, including curriculum standardization A national

curriculum? I believe in Australia all states now agree on standards…took a long time nd a

central data collection system to store and quickly transfer all student records. This will need to

be shared across state lines within Australia to meet the needs of students who move without

regard to school boundaries. Policymakers need to move away from the assumption that

sedentary educational systems are the ideal for all students, and look for alternative methods to

meet the needs of students who move often, such as Aboriginal children, children of migrant

farm workers, and all others with parents who move often. Attempting to eliminate student

mobility is not a reasonable, or even achievable, goal for the Aboriginal population; however,

efforts to address mobility to help improve student outcomes are essential for the future. Any

such efforts planned or in effect to address mobility?Australian Policy Issues

       Currently, many Aborigines receive supplemental pay, similar to the Welfare program in

the U.S. because “there are no real jobs available in remote communities and those available are

too demanding for those who have failed school” (Menzies Research Centre Limited, 2006, p.

13). This has led to many Aborigines not attempting to find and keep jobs, and “teachers can

only succeed where there is a culture of work in the community. To build such a culture,…

financial incentives must be removed” (p. 25). It is imperative that solutions to educating
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Aboriginal children not “be based on an artificial economy or perverse incentives and

disincentives. In the absence of real economic prospects for these remote communities it is idle

for an education system to prepare children for a future without real jobs” (p. 20). What do you

think of this?

                                Discussion/Application in the US

       Recent research has emphasized the importance of knowledgeable, committed teachers

and administrators who connect with the Aboriginal communities where they work. In addition,

Australian schools should not simply use “research based strategies” that work for some

populations. Rather, they should use those literacy and math programs that have already

demonstrated success specifically with Aboriginal students. Those same strategies can be

applied to U.S. schools in order to better meet the needs of students from diverse racial and

socioeconomic backgrounds. The U.S. should support research that addresses the academic

needs of specific groups of students in order to find instructional strategies that work effectively

with those populations. What about Native Americans specifically? Applicability here? I

believe there is consdierable ed. research comparing the two populations

       The U.S. could also take a lesson from Australia’s efforts, Which efforts, specifically?

and make a realistic effort to close the achievement gap by setting practical goals that address the

needs of the various communities. In addition, the U.S. should provide funding to meet those

goals, rather than sanctioning schools that do not meet the 100% pass rate. Ultimately, U.S.

policy makers, educators, and parents must decide what it is that they value about U.S. children,

how to provide an appropriate education, implement changes to reflect that value, and fund those

changes. However, it is important to note that one change will not be enough to meet the needs
                                                                 Aboriginal Achievement Gap 20


of children with academic achievement gaps. There must be total system reform in order to

positively impact the current programming offered to all children in U.S. schools.


       Fascinating topic and study. Applicability to U.S. might have focused on Native
Americans, for comparative purposes. You cite the importance of teachers. Any policies,
programs evident for teacher training, support, etc.? Current initiatives..very interesting
description; unclear how widespread they are in practice. Impressive bibliography. I sensed you
learned a great deal! Good for you!

       Paper and Final grade: A
                                                                 Aboriginal Achievement Gap 21


                                           References

Australian Council for Educational Research. (2005, August). Education and labour market

       outcomes for Indigenous young people (LSAY Briefing No. 10). Camberwell, Australia:

       Rothman, S., Frigo, T., & Ainley, J.

Australian Government, Department of Education. (2009). Education reform agenda. Retrieved

       from http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/Pages/Education_reform_agenda.aspx

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       http://www.deewr.gov.au/indigenous/pages/overview.aspx

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