Adolescent Indicators

Proportion of early school leavers who are unemployed six months after leaving school

Background
The evidence base
Selection of interventions
Discussion
References
Key
Recommended strategy 1 - Career Academies
Recommended strategy 2 - Work Force Youth Unemployment Prevention program in Massachusetts / The Work Force Youth Program

Background

This section is divided into four parts: description of the current situation; key data driving policy; current policy prescriptions; and recent government programs.

Description of the current situation

The current situation in Australia is best described by three papers: The Dusseldorp Skill Forum (2007); McMillan and Curtis (2008); and Sweet (2006).

The Dusseldorp Skills Forum (2007) states, 86% of teenagers (15-19 year olds) are either studying or working full-time. At 6 months, 9% of school leavers are unemployed. Teenage unemployment has fallen and part-time work has increased in past twenty years. The percentage of teenagers not in full-time study or work has fallen. The number of full-time jobs created for young people has remained static since 1995. Those completing year 12 are less likely not to be working or studying full-time (Year 12 – 20%, Year 11 – 45%, Year 10 – 50%). Using OECD data, 24 year olds who have not completed school are twice as likely to be unemployed as those who have completed year 12.

McMillan and Curtis (2008) show that school completion rates grew to the early 1990s, from 30% to 75%. They use questionnaire data to report that 19% of males and 13% of females do not complete Year 12, and that two thirds of early school leavers enter vocational education.

Sweet (2006) comments that school completion rates are not high by international standards and not much has changed in last decade. Teenage unemployment is high compared to OECD and higher than it should be in a healthy labour market. In response, the Australian government followed OECD advice by building better institutions and links between study and work to cater for the needs of these young people. Further work is needed in the area of separating compulsory and non-compulsory education – this creates more choice, larger student groups, more adult types of learning and adult disciplinary polices. This approach is more attractive to students and they are likely to learn more and therefore complete year 12.

Key data driving policy

Key pieces of data driving policy in Australia include:

The rise of part time work - young people under 25 now account for 28% of all part time workers in Australia (Abhayaratna, et al. 2008).
Low academic achievement (Pienaar, 2006; Marks, 2007) and overall motivation for schooling / education (Dowson, et al. (2005) are major drivers for students leaving school early.
Curtis (2007) reports using LSAY data that apprenticeships programs contain more non school completers than do non apprenticeship courses and traineeships (50% vs 70-80%).
With the recent focus on trade apprenticeships, a gender gap may be emerging, with women who leave school early obtaining casual, part-time and often low-skilled jobs, experiencing a highly competitive job market, with precarious and / or under-employment (Spierings, 2005; McMillan and Curtis, 2008).
Using HILDA data, the Dusseldorp Skills Forum (2002) cites evidences that suggests that early school leavers are three times more likely to be unemployed than year 12 completers. Also young women who did not complete Year 12 are three times more likely to be unemployed that males who did not complete Year 12.
McMillan and Marks (2003) in their analysis of LSAY data from the Year 9 cohort from 1995 until 2001 find that on the surface non-completion of school was associated with higher unemployment. However this association was blurred when other factors like social background and educational performance were taken into account. In terms of unemployment of recent school leavers, students from low socioeconomic status families, non-english speaking families and poor levels of literacy and numeracy were more likely to be unemployed.
Gorgens and Ryan (2006) show data which suggests that those early school leavers with VET qualifications have the same full-time employment rates as those who do complete Year 12. They also show that early school leavers who have a period of unemployment for six months or more but then completed a VET course have improvement full-time employment rates than those who do not. The improvement is in terms of 10 to 13 percentage points (8 years post Year 9).
Generally part time work and study in limited amounts does improve employment outcomes. However the research is unclear, in terms of whether part-time impacts on education performance, or does poor educational performance impact on the decision to work (Abhayaratna, 2008). This is a classic example of the chicken or the egg problem. For example, Vickers, et al. (2003) using Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data found students who had a part-time job in school were more likely to be employed in full-time employment or have an apprenticeship or traineeship once they leave school. Early school leavers without any experience of part-time work are at more risk of being unemployed. However, in terms of the findings in relation to schooling, those male students working 5 to 15 hours per week in Year 9 were 40% less likely to complete Year 12 (NB: the poor completion rate was not significant for the sample of females).

Policy Prescriptions

Pienaar (2006) describes policy work in Australia, with better education pathways and flexible courses, improved funding and greater community employer partnerships and inter sectoral working a priority, but suggests more work is need in helping students who leave school early with no future plans and the need to develop employability skills in schools. Curtis (2007) in his study of LSAY data points out that those post-school who do not do any study have a greater risk of unemployment.

One alternative education pathway / flexible courses approach is the “VET in schools” program, for those students who find the academic curriculum a challenge, those in a “VET in schools” program in Australia, are likely to progress to further study, compared to those not in the program. As a group they are also more likely to be employed and interestingly they are more likely to go to university (Polesel, et al., 2007). Institutional and administrative inflexibilities between the school and TAFE sectors and the financial demands of VET make “productive and efficient cooperation so difficult”. These are “often most prevalent in those schools with the least capacity to address them” (pages 8-9, Polesel, et al., 2007). “There is also a need to move beyond institutional considerations and acknowledge that ultimately, it is the student, whether located in a school or in TAFE, who must be the focus of policy. It is the student as a client whose best interests must be determined in the provision of accessible and suitable options.” (page 9, Polesel, et al., 2007)

According to Karmel and Woods (2008), the VET sector is functioning well as a second chance for early school leavers aged 24 years and under. This group of students represented 41% of the student body in 2004. Some concerns were raised, however, with regard to completion rates for Certificate III or higher courses though more follow-up data is required.

The counter policy argument of extended schooling and government training programs is provided by the Centre for Independent Studies (Saunders, 2008) and it is to reduce the minimum wage (compensated by a change in the tax system) to allow more unskilled workers into the labour market, especially in the area of personal or home care services. This approach also recommends ending the unemployment benefit for early school leavers and the need for schools to better address social skills training. This view makes the case for the argument - why force students who are struggling to remain in school for another two years. If students are struggling at school, because of their academic ability it is unlikely that they will then go on and get higher qualifications and higher skilled jobs; as the report says “not everyone is capable of becoming a nurse, web designer or a mining engineer” (page 3). In this context, learning or the developing employability skills is important see the DEEWR web-site (http://www.dest.gov.au/) for further work in this area.

Internationally, the OECD recently reported on policy reforms for the youth labour market in the Netherlands, these were in line with its own policy recommendations (OECD, 2008). It further recommended, increased early childhood education, more effective pathways between school and the tertiary sector, and shorter courses (two years long). Some additional reforms to counter barriers to the labour market include: the need to introduce a sub-minimum wage, the need for more short term / entry level contracts for young people using wage subsides, and the evaluation of the high level of absenteeism in supported work programs for young people. Additional measures in the Netherlands system which have application to all systems, including better evaluation, a mutual obligation approach for any second chance programs, more locally based implementation, developing programs for more disadvantaged groups, and ensuring that there is no displacement effect with mutual obligation causing disadvantaged young people to move to disability schemes.

Recent government programs

The following list highlights the work of recent government programs in Australia. It includes:

Re-engaging early school leavers with learning in South Australia with a focus on non mainstream environments – using flexible learning environments; community input - volunteers and partnerships in education programs; and alternative pathways (TAFE/VET), negotiated learning plans and intensive support (Stehlik, 2006).
An alternative second chance education pathway within the South Australian Educational system is described by Cook and Bills, 2005. It includes elements of adult learning, inter-agency collaboration, community leadership, advocacy and mental health support.
Kellock 2002 examined the outcomes of transition workers in schools in Melbourne finding that the longer a transition worker operates in a school the fewer the percentage of students going to unknown destination and the higher percentage in training and full-time employment. This is further improved if the worker’s agency also provides employment service, providing greater number of early school leavers in full-time employment. Transition workers are not career guidance counsellors - they are formed as a partnership between a community based agency and schools, transition workers operate within schools providing assistance to potential early school leavers with employment and further training. While encouraging students to complete their schooling if this appropriate, a one to one relationship is made with the student and contact is maintained after the student has left school.

Other noted Australian programs are Victorian Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLENs) and ICANs in SA. They bring together organisations and individuals to help students with transition to work and further education (Pienaar, 2006). The Innovative Community Action Network (ICAN) which brings together young people, their families, as well as community, business and government stakeholders to find local solutions to school retention issues (Social Inclusion Board, 2007). The Victorian LLENs program (http://www.llen.vic.gov.au/) brings togther schools, TAFEs, employers and community organizations to work together in developing alternate education and training pathways (e.g. media production, retail) for young people in their area. Some programs include a mentorship component and are tailored to student needs. Another useful development is the OnTrack research project which follows up and examining student destinations post Year 12 completion is another useful step in this area.

The evidence base

A literature search was conducted into relevant programs or interventions designed to promote employment for early school leavers (thereby reducing the proportion who are unemployment at 6 months). The literature search included a number of components:

Building upon the work from the Strategies for Gain report (Eagar et al., 2005) and the Best Start Catalogue of Early Intervention Strategies for Children’s Health and Wellbeing report (Williams et al., 2006a, Williams et al., 2006b) looking for reviews of the evidence base
Review of Best Start publications
Building on the work of Lamb and Rice (2008)
PsycINFO, MEDLINE and CINAHL (Term Analysis = MeSH and Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms)
Additional databases searched included: Sociological Abstracts and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) data
Plus feedback on search progress from the VIC Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) - 24 July 2008
Use of the COSI model (Bidwell & Jensen, 2003) to explore the Cochrane and Campbell Collaboration Libraries to move out into the web to search for specific programs.

This search found limited academic coverage in this area, finding no reviews comparing various educational and community interventions, and this lead to a reliance on the practice literature to identify reports which compared interventions. An important source of information about interventions was the Dusseldorp Skills Forum (DSF) in Australia (http://www.dsf.org.au/index.php). This led to finding a two practice reviews by Gauntlett, et al. (2001) and Pienaar (2006). Gauntlett, et al. (2001) provided a useful meta-analysis of literature for community based programs for early intervention and prevention in the area of youth unemployment, while Pienaar (2006) highlighted innovative education programs.

In the absence of comparative evidence, an examination of single or individual studies into programs or interventions designed to improve early school leaver employment was conducted (see below for the list of recommended strategies for this indicator).

Selection of interventions

Based on this search of the evidence the following strategies were recommended:

Career Academies are drop-out prevention programs which create a school within a high school, providing alternative technical education curricula, career counselling, academic coursework and work experience with local businesses. The focus is on post-secondary education. Career themes covered in these mini-schools or learning communities include health care, finance, technology, communications and government. Career Academies have been in operation for more than 30 years and have been applied, to varying degrees, in over 2500 schools in the United States (What Works Clearinghouse, 2006).
Work Force Youth Unemployment Prevention program in Massachusetts is a multi-partner community program includes: classes; homework; field trips; try-out employment; counselling and home visits. Parents play a key role and the program serves 100–125 young people per year (Gauntlett, et al., 2001).

They represent two promising practices. Further details about these individual studies can be found in the catalogue.

Discussion

In terms of providing an overview of the area of improving employment for early school leavers only a few papers were found. This is not surprising as most of the interventions in this area are not distinct programs but require systemic or structural changes (e.g. alternative pathways in post secondary education, more funding for apprenticeships).

In the absence of academic evidence, a useful diagram comes from a survey of programs in the United States designed to reconnect youth to education and employment (Government Accountability Office, 2008). It outlines a number of key elements or success factors. These include: staff and leadership, holistic comprehensive services, program design components, and youth empowerment.

Key elements in reconnecting youth to education and employment – Government Accountability Office, United States

Additional interventions worth highlighting include:

Durham North Carolina (NC) - is a community-based prevention program, combining mentoring, employment and entrepreneurial training (Gauntlett, et al., 2001). Included conflict resolution and anger management training. Also known as SAGE - Supporting Adolescents with Guidance and Employment.
Adelaide Hills Vocational College (AHVC) is an alternative school / second chance program for 16 year olds and over. Provides an adult learning environment links students to TAFE, work placement and includes mental health support if required. Individualised learning with an emphasis on literacy and numeracy (Cook and Bills, 2005).

Other noteworthy papers or reports were also found. These include

The NSW YWCA runs a community building program “Y It Takes A Village” in three disadvantaged areas (Osbourne, 2005). The program includes projects for early school leavers - enterprise projects, alternative learning & vocational pathways and Outward Bound.
The PACTS (Parents As Career Transition Supports) program is a series of interactive and small group workshops for parents. They address issues regarding current career information and transitional resources in the community, as well as effective communication and support skills for helping young people with their decision making. This program was a pilot run by the Brotherhood of St Laurence on the Mornington Peninsula. It has reported positive outcomes in terms of meeting parental information needs and communication (Bedson & Perkins, 2006).
The Early School Leaver program in Victoria reconnects young people in the juvenile justice system and schooling (Clifford, 2002). Run by the Salvation Army, it uses a program worker for 3- 6 months, who provides help with school / education re-entry advocacy, life skills training, as well as classroom support and family support and aid.
Roy-Stevens (2004) outlines three programs for young people leaving custody and re-entering school. Smedslund, et al. (2006) have undertaken a systematic review of welfare to work programs for the Campbell Collaboration.

Additional references on interventions for youth transitioning to adulthood can be found at the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/search/topical-area/10).

Finally, a few caveats about this review should be noted.

Firstly, this review included interventions for all groups (i.e. universal) or selected groups (i.e. population defined). It did not include interventions for high risk young people with demonstrated conditions (i.e. indicated groups) like young people with parents with mental health problems, young people with physical disabilities, school refusers, homeless youth, young people with conduct disorders, young people with mental health problems, young people with substance abuse and young people in foster care.

Secondly, the focus of this review was on interventions for adolescents or young people, for example interventions for the early childhood years like the Perry Preschool Project were not included.

Finally, in examining unemployment rates and local program interventions, a multiple measures framework (Bernhardt, 2002) which examines school processes, student learning, demographic statistics (like retention rate) and school community perceptions is recommended as a valid evaluation approach to examine the context of schooling and the impact of any changes brought about by an intervention.

References

Abhayaratna J, Andrews L, Nuch H, et al (2008) Part Time Employment: the Australian Experience (Chapter 6). Staff Working Paper, Productivity Commission, Melbourne.

Bedson L and Perkins D (2006) A positive influence: Equipping parents to support young people’s career transitions - Evaluation of the PACTS program. Brotherhood of St Laurence, Victoria.

Bernhardt VL (1998) Multiple Measures. Invited Monograph No. 4. California Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (CASCD), Los Osos, CA.

Bidwell S and Jensen MF. 2003. Chapter 3: Using a Search Protocol to Identify Sources of Information: the COSI Model. National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR), US National Library of Medicine.

Clifford T (2002) Young Offenders Pilot Program: Early School Leavers Project. The Role of Schools in Crime Prevention Conference convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology in conjunction with the Department of Education, Employment and Training, Victoria, and Crime Prevention Victoria, Melbourne, 30 September – 1 October 2002.

Cook J and Bills A (2005) Tensions at the Educational Interface or Out on a Limb. Transitions and Risk: New Directions in Social Policy Centre for Public Policy, University of Melbourne, 23 – 25 February, 2005.

Curtis DD (2007) Pathways through vocational education and training for school leavers. Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association, 10th Annual Conference, Melbourne, 11 - 13 April, 2008.

Dowson M, McInerney DM, Nelson GF, et al (2005) The Psychology of School Leaving: Motivation, Sense-of-Self, Values and Aspirations. Australian Association of Research in Education (AARE) Conference, Parramatta, 28 November - 1 December 2005.

Dusseldorp Skills Forum (2002) Does 12 years of worthwhile learning matter? Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney.

Dusseldorp Skills Forum (2007) How young people are faring 2007. Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney.

Eagar K, Brewer C, Collins J, et al (2005) Strategies for Gain - the evidence on strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of Victorian children. Centre for Health Service Development, University of Wollongong.

Gauntlett E, Hugman R, Kenyon P, et al (2001) A meta-analysis of the impact of community-based prevention and early intervention action (Policy Research Paper No. 11). Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra.

Gorgens T and Ryan C (2006) The impact of additional educational qualifications for early school leavers. Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training, Canberra.

Government Accountability Office (2008) Disconnected Youth: Federal Action Could Address Some of the Challenges Faced by Local Programs That Reconnect Youth to Education and Employment. Government Accountability Office, United States.

Karmel T and Woods D (2008) Second-chance vocational education and training. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Adelaide.

Kellock P (2002) Familiarity Produces Trust: The Role and Effectiveness of Transition Workers. Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney.

Kemple JJ and Snipes JC (2000) Career Academies: Impacts on students' engagement and performance in high school. MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corp.), New York.

Kemple JJ and Willner CJ (2008) Career Academies: Long-Term Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes, Educational Attainment, and Transitions to Adulthood. MDRC, New York.

Lamb S and Rice S (2008) Effective strategies to increase school completion (Draft Discussion Paper). Centre for Post-Complusory Education and Lifelong Learning, The University of Melbourne.

Lassen MM (1995) Community-Based Family Support in Public Housing. Harvard Family Research Project, Cambridge, MA.

Marks GN (2007) Do Schools Matter for Early School Leaving? Individual and School Influences in Australia. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. Vol. 18, No.4, pp.429-450.

McMillan J and Curtis DD (2008) Participation in Senior Schooling: The Vocational Alternative and the Role of VET. Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association, 11th Annual Conference, Adelaide, 3 - 4 April, 2008.

McMillan J and Marks GN (2003) School Leavers In Australia: Profiles And Pathways (Research Report Number 31). Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne

OECD (2008) Jobs for Youth - Netherlands. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Paris.

Osbourne G (2005) Y It Takes A Village: YWCA NSW’s integrated approach to supporting individuals and families across their lifetimes. Families Matter the 9th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference, Melbourne, 9-11 February 2005.

Piennar K (2006) Literature Review Retention Programs and Policies. Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia (SSABSA) now known as the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) Board of South Australia, Adelaide.

Polesel J, Helme S, Davies M, et al (2004) VET in Schools: A post-compulsory education perspective. Published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) for the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), Adelaide.

Roy-Stevens C. 2004. Overcoming barriers to school re-entry. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Juvenille Justice Bulletin, USA.

Saunders P (2008) Issue Analysis: What are low ability workers to do when unskilled jobs disappear ? Part 2: Expanding low-skilled employment The Centre for Independent Studies, Sydney.

Smedslund G, Birger Hagen K, Steiro A, et al (2006) Work programmes for welfare recipients. Campbell Collaboration - Nordic Campbell Centre, Olso, Norway.

Social Inclusion Board (2007) Supporting young people's success - forging the links. Government of South Australia, Adelaide.

Spierings J (2005) How Young People are Faring 2005: A commentary. Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney.

Stehlik TP (2006) Schooling vs education: (Re)engaging early school leavers in meaningful learning through whole-of-community approaches to learning as part of social inclusion initiatives in South Australia. New Zealand Association for Research in Education - National Conference, 5-8 December 2006, Rotorua.

Sweet R (2006) School retention in Australia: What is the problem? How can we fix it? Don Dunstan Foundation, Adelaide, 27 October 2006.

Vickers M, Lamb S and Hinkley J (2003) Student Workers in High School and Beyond: The Effects of Part-Time Employment on Participation in Education, Training and Work. Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne.

What Works Clearinghouse (2006) WWC Intervention Report: Career Academies. Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education.

Williams K, Fildes D, Marosszeky N, et al (2006b) Technical report: development of the Best Start catalogue of early intervention strategies for children’s health and wellbeing. Centre for Health Service Development, University of Wollongong.

Williams K, Fildes D, Marosszeky N, et al (2006a) A catalogue of evidence-based strategies for the Best Start early intervention program. Centre for Health Service Development, University of Wollongong.

Key

Supporting evidence

Well-supported practice – evaluated with a prospective randomised controlled trial
Supported practice – evaluated with a comparison group and reported in a peer-reviewed publication
Promising practice – evaluated with a comparison group
Acceptable practice – evaluated with an independent assessment of outcomes, but no comparison group (such as pre- and post-testing, post-testing only or qualitative methods) or historical comparison group (such as normative data)
Emerging practice – evaluated without an independent assessment of outcomes (such as formative evaluation, service evaluation conducted by host organisation)

Replication:
Has the intervention been implemented and independently evaluated at more than one site? (yes or no)

Documentation:
Are the content and methods of the intervention well documented (such as provider training courses and user manuals) and standardised to control quality of service delivery? (yes or no)

Theoretical basis:
Is the intervention based on a well-accepted theory or developed from a continuing body of work in its field? (yes or no)

Cost Effectiveness:
Are cost-effectiveness studies available? (yes or no)

Cultural reach:
Has the program been trialed with people in disadvantaged communities, Indigenous people or people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds? (LOW SES/INDIGENOUS/CALD). Universal if no specific target group identified.

Supporting evidence

Replication

Documen-tation

Theoretical basis

Cost effectiveness

Cultural reach

(23.1) Career Academies

Low SES CALD

(23.2) Work Force Youth Unemployment Prevention program in Massachusetts