The document summarizes key points from a secondary schools conference discussing improving student outcomes. It finds that schools with high poverty rates can still achieve excellent results by focusing on learning intentions, higher-order questioning, and feedback. School leadership is also essential to successfully implementing new teaching strategies and monitoring their impact. An effective action plan for change includes clear targets, teaching strategies, evaluation measures, and assigning responsibility for implementation.

1. Report: Secondary Schools Conference ( Ballarat 3 & 4 March) Swan Hill Network

2. The whole point of schools is that children come first… … and everything we do must reflect this single goal “ Students First”

4. High excellence high equity - Raising the bar and narrowing the gap Luxembourg Norway Sweden US England Switzerland Scotland Wales Spain Poland Korea Finland Canada Japan Belgium N Ireland Germany Turkey New Zealand Australia 460 480 500 520 540 560 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 200 minus Variance (a) Mean score on reading scale High excellence Low equity Low excellence Low equity Low excellence High equity High excellence High equity Source: PISA 2009, OECD OECD average OECD average (a) Total variance (between and within schools) is expressed as a percentage of the average variance in student performance across OECD countries. The OECD average is 101. For this chart, the variance is displayed as 200-variance, ie a country with a high relative variance of 120 will appear on this chart as 80 to the left of the chart. OECD average High Excellence High Equity - Raising the Bar and Narrowing the Gap

7. A world of change in the global talent pool Approximated by percentage of persons with high school or equivalent qualfications in the age groups 55-64, 45-55, 45-44 und 25-34 years % 1. Excluding ISCED 3C short programmes 2. Year of reference 2004 3. Including some ISCED 3C short programmes 3. Year of reference 2003. 13 1 1 27

14. A Secondary Approach for Powerful Learning Learning Intentions Tasks Pace Questioning & Questions Reflection Collaborative Group Work Academic Vocabulary Tactical Strategic

16. Average Effect Size Using Learning Intentions

18. Average Effect Size Using Higher-level Questions

20. Average Effect Size Using Feedback

23. EXAMPLE OF SECONDARY ACTION PLAN SWAN HILL SECONDARY COLLEGE KERANG TECH-HIGH

24. Effect Size of Teaching Student Performance McKinsey & Company, 2007:11 50 th percentile 100 th percentile 0 percentile Age 8 Age 11 Students with high performing teacher Students with low performing teacher 90 th percentile 37 th percentile 53 percentile points