Student Mapping Tool - Background

Initial Development

The Student Mapping Tool was developed in 2004 by a committee of the Brimbank Melton Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN). The committee was exploring ways to support local young people at risk of disengagement from education and training, and wanted to find a way to identify these young people before they left school.

The LLEN committee began to research risk factors that were known to increase the likelihood of early school leaving, with particular attention to a series of reports published by the Australian Council for Education Research and based on the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data. The chairman of the committee, Mr Doug Smith, was a former Victorian government school principal who recognised that data which was relevant to many of these risk factors was gathered by schools and entered into the CASES21 student database.

In early 2005 the LLEN developed a prototype called the ‘MIPs Mapping Tool’ and began a small trial with five government primary and secondary schools in Melton and Brimbank.

Report - Identifying Students At Risk

In 2005 the Post Compulsory Division of the Victorian Department of Education commissioned a report into the risk factors associated with early school leaving, and the ways in which Victorian government schools were identifying which students were most likely to leave school early.

The report, titled Identifying Students At Risk of Disengaging from Education and Training (PDF - 185Kb), was written by Dr Deb Hull. Dr Hull recommended the model developed by the Brimbank Melton LLEN noting that, although insufficient time had passed to demonstrate its accuracy, the Tool was founded in sound research findings, did not require a significant investment of schools’ human and financial resources, drew on data already held by schools, and encouraged schools to map the support offered to those students identified as most at risk of early school leaving.

Victorian Department trial of the Student Mapping Tool

In 2005 the Department of Education commissioned a review of the Managed Individual Pathways (MIPs) initiative under which schools are funded to develop individual pathways plans for senior students and to identify and provide support for those at risk of early school leaving. The review by The Asquith Group found the MIPs program was strongly supported by schools and provided positive outcomes for students, but that implementation across schools was variable. One area identified for improvement was the systematic identification of students at risk.

The Department of Education entered into an agreement with Mr Doug Smith and the Brimbank Melton LLEN to extend the trial of the Student Mapping Tool to self-selected schools across three regions – Western Metropolitan Region, Grampians Region and Hume Region. This trial was evaluated in 2006. Participants were very positive about the Tool and its potential use in their schools. Schools participating in the trial provided useful feedback on technical processes and use of the Tool in the school setting.

For more information, see: A full copy of the evaluation of the trial (PDF)

One of the key findings of the trial was that the Tool was not only a useful support to the MIPs program, but could be used effectively to monitor student progress and manage student support programs across the whole school. For this reason the Tool was renamed the Students at Risk Mapping Tool.

The Department of Education committed to making the Tool available to all Victorian government secondary schools in 2007.