Most disadvantaged schools missing out on Teach for Australia recruits

Public schools pressure group Save our Schools (SOS) has used the findings of the Teach for Australia (TFA) Evaluation Report released by the Commonwealth Dept of Education and Training to criticise the fast-track teacher training program.

SOS claims that the report "raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the program. It shows that TFA teachers are not being placed in genuinely disadvantaged schools and a high proportion leave teaching within three years of completing the program."

TFA aims to fast-track high achieving university graduates into teaching. Selected applicants are supported to undertake an intensive six-week teacher training course and agree to teach in a disadvantaged secondary school for two years. A key expected outcome is to achieve measurable benefits for students in socially and educationally disadvantaged schools.

The objectives of TFA include attracting new high-quality entrants to the teaching profession to work in disadvantaged schools, retain a proportion of these new entrants beyond the initial two-year commitment, and improved student outcomes with a focus on measurable increases in levels of students’ academic achievement.

According to data provided to Senate Estimates by the Commonwealth Department of Education, the Commonwealth Government has provided $57 million for the program from 2008-09 to 2017-18 and has announced further funding of $20.5 million to 2020-21.

SOS analysis of the evaluation report found that most TFA teachers are placed in schools just below the median of the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA), rather than in Australia’s most disadvantaged schools while 13% of placements were in schools that are above the national median.

Pairing the report with MySchool data, SOS notes: "TFA appears to be ignoring the more disadvantaged schools in Australia. There is a huge difference in the proportion of low socio-educational advantaged students in schools just below the median ICSEA value and those at lower values. For example, data from the My School website shows that students from the lowest SEA quartile accounted for an average of 33% of enrolments in secondary schools with an ICSEA value in the range of 975 to 999 in 2016 compared to 59% in schools in the 900 to 925 range and 66% in schools in the range of 800 to 899.

"Other data from My School shows that the average Year 9 NAPLAN results (across all test domains) for schools in the ICSEA range of 800 to 899 in 2016 were about two years of learning below those in the ICSEA range of 975-999. Results for schools in the ICSEA range of 900-925 were about one year behind those in the 975-999 range."

TFA attrition rate
SOS states "...it appears TFA is compounding the serious problem of teacher retention in disadvantaged schools rather than reducing it. The report shows that the retention rate of TFA teachers is low and many of those that remain in teaching shift to more advantaged schools after their 2-year placement in a school. Less than 50% of TFA teachers are still teaching three years after completing their 2-year placement (that is, after five years) and only 30% remain in schools below the national median ICSEA value.

"The attrition rate of over 50% far exceeds most estimates of attrition by new teachers entering the profession through traditional teacher training. According to a Productivity Commission report, only about 10% of teachers in NSW leave the profession after five years."