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Student Resource Allocation (SRA) ProgramLearning Module No.3 - Supporting Notes November 2016

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It is important to look at a school budget as a global budget. There is one ‘bucket’ and how that bucket is allocated within a school will be determined by the principal in conjunction with the School Board.

Schools will be making decisions based on their global budget, using resources in a holistic way to meet the needs of all students.

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You may wish to ascertain the level of understanding of the Schools Operational Allocation with your staff. The Schools Operational Allocation (SOA) provides cash funding to schools to administer the operational costs

excluding the staffing expenditure. The funding allocation is to meet the educational and school administration costs. In addition, the funding covers for costs in relation to energy, water and sewerage, cleaning and minor maintenance.

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It has been approximately 20 years since the introduction of the SOA and it is therefore timely to consider the underlying efficiency and effectiveness of the model. The current funding arrangements focus too heavily on inputs rather than outcomes.

The complexity of the current model and the lack of clarity associated with minor maintenance were key drivers for the review. As part of the review, there was also a need to clearly articulate the Education Services Office (ESO) and schools’ responsibilities.

The new SOA funding model is anchored in a strong evidence base, rigorous consultation and has been regularly tested with our SOA Working Group and relevant Central Office Branches including consultation with the SRA Advisory Group and the SRA Steering Committee, with final endorsement from the Senior Executive Team.

Slide 5

The new SOA funding model: is about ensuring a fair and transparent allocation of existing funds to where it is most needed; returns minor maintenance works associated with compliance, safety and high risk to Central Office; will ensure consistency of preschool minor maintenance with primary schools; includes a new funding framework which contains attributes relating to innovation, incentive, risk and responsibility

and capability development; and implementation will include Central office support and guidelines to assist schools with any change to

responsibilities.

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On a school’s SRA Statement, the SOA will be provided in two broad categories:1. Educational and Administration; and2. Physical Infrastructure and Other.

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Educational and Administration has been generally calculated based on schooling sector averages.

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Physical Infrastructure baseline has been determined based on individual school expenditure. Base line funding for minor maintenance allocation is based on individual schools age, gross floor area and

enrolment including grounds maintenance by schooling sector.

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The SRA Program and needs-based loadings acknowledges that Canberra public schools are inclusive of all students of all abilities, ensuring the same profile of outcomes can be achieved for any group of students, irrespective of where they live, their circumstances or the school they attend.

The EAL/D funding allocation methodology has been reviewed during 2016 and a revised needs-based funding model has been developed for 2017.

Currently, the EAL/D cohort is 14.9% of our student population.

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EAL/D policy review

Work on the EAL/D policy review has given the Directorate an opportunity to update the policy in line with current research and best practice; and importantly listen to our key stakeholders.

Many schools have participated in the EAL/D policy consultations and we thank you for the advice that you provided. Feedback on the revised policy is being considered prior to the release of the revised policy and updated procedures

early in the 2017 school year. Updating the Directorate’s EAL/D policy and procedural manual provides the opportunity to align these documents

with the Australian Curriculum EAL/D Teacher Resource, the content of the Directorate’s EAL/D Fact Sheets, and collaborative work at the national level to develop a consistent framework for assessing EAL/D students’ English language proficiency.

EAL/D needs-based loading

The EAL/D needs-based loading will support the implementation of the revised policy. The Directorate commissioned a consultant to support the development of the EAL/D needs-based loading. School visits were conducted to better understand the support provided to EAL/D students. The SRA Advisory Group

was consulted throughout the development and greatly strengthened the approach. Research and a review was conducted on other jurisdictions funding models.

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School data relating to the EAL/D student demographics and factors that may influence their English language acquisition were also reviewed.

Factors for consideration included: circumstances of migration particularly for refugee students; year level and complexity of language acquisition for secondary students. The results of the research and analysis have guided the development of the EAL/D needs-based loading and resourcing distribution to schools. The EAL/D needs-based loading has been implemented for the 2017 school projections and will be reviewed over time.

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English language proficiency is a key driver of success within the education system and for participation more broadly.

The research undertaken identified the use of the ACARA EAL/D learning progression as the preferred framework to describe English language proficiency in Canberra public schools. The LPR will continue to be used for assessment purposes while the EAL/D assessment process is being reviewed.

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ACARA EAL/D learning progression The ACARA EAL/D learning progression was developed for mainstream teachers and provides a common reference

when describing English language acquisition. New South Wales and Tasmania are using the ACARA EAL/D learning progression as their resource allocation and

Western Australia and Northern Territory are using it to map their EAL/D assessment.

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Slide 18

LPR versus ACARA The ACARA EAL/D learning progression has been mapped against the current Language Performance Rating (LPR)

scale. This information can be used to map students against the ACARA EAL/D learning progressions and provides a useful reference for the school summary sheet shown in Slide 21.

The diagram shows that the needs-based funding model will move from one which is based on a cut-off to one which is based on apportioning the available funding across the first three phases of the ACARA EAL/D learning progression for EAL/D students assessed by their individual profile of need.

This is comparable to an LPR of zero to 3.25. Using the LPR model, funding would usually sit around an LPR of 2. Research has indicated that EAL/D students in the Consolidating phase often perform better than English speaking

background students and therefore will not be funded under this allocation. Moving from the existing funding mechanism to the EAL/D needs-based loading will broaden the distribution of the

funding allocation and support for EAL/D students.

Slide 19

This image provides you with a snapshot of how the EAL/D needs-based loading funding model works. Firstly, the ACARA EAL/D learning progression phase is assigned to the student. This forms the base allocation. In addition to the base allocation, it is then determined if they are allocated an additional weighting based on:

refugee status; Early Years (k-2) and Secondary Years (7-12). Students may be eligible for more than one weighting. For example, they may get a weighting for refugee status and being in an early years year level.

The additional weightings reflect research that shows:- students from a refugee background may take longer to acquire English - there is an opportunity for Early Years resourcing to facilitate accelerated language acquisition - provision of additional resourcing for Secondary students reflects the complexity of the curriculum.

The EAL/D funding allocation will reflect the total school EAL/D student profile of need.

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Slide 20

Funding resources alone cannot be the only channel for change for improvement. Along with the changes to funding there has to be complementary adjustments to teaching practices.

School leaders and excellent teachers are integral to their EAL/D students’ success.

Slide 21

The purpose of the EAL/D school summary sheet is to provide schools with a snapshot of their EAL/D population and how funding has been allocated under the new EAL/D needs-based loading.

The EAL/D school summary sheet will be provided to all schools.

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The following slides (22 – 24) provide a step-by-step explanation of the EAL/D school summary sheet. Step 1 This section of the sheet shows the number of EAL/D students within each ACARA EAL/D learning

progression phase. Step 2 Shows the number of EAL/D students within each weighting by refugee status, early years and secondary

years if relevant for the school.(Note: Some primary schools may notice number of students in year levels 7-12. This is due to data inconsistencies from the August census which contain some instances of students enrolled at primary schools in Year 6 who have their school next year field recorded as the same enrolling school. It is expected that this will be corrected with the February census where students will have units of need allocated according to their currently enrolled school and year level.)

It is important to remember that Consolidating phase does not receive additional funding as research indicated that EAL/D students in the Consolidating phase often perform better than English speaking background students.

Slide 23

This section of the summary sheet shows the steps for the EAL/D needs-based loading calculation based on information provided in the previous steps.

For example, Step 3 shows 19 students are within the Emerging phase and receive 8 times the rate per unit of need (the unit of need is shown later in step 8). Of those 19 students in the Emerging phase, 6 students receive an additional early years weighting of 40 percent of the Emerging base allocation as shown in step 5.

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Slide 24

This section of the summary sheet shows the final calculations used to derive the total EAL/D profile of need for the school.

It is important to note that in Step 9, the Rate per unit of need may fluctuate from year to year depending on the total EAL/D population in Canberra public schools within the EAL/D budget which is a fixed amount each year.

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