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Student mobility is a global issue. In Europe the mobikid project (running throughout 06/07) is working to understand the impact of geographic mobility on student achievement and to ease the transition process. In the United Kingdom the issue has been recognised through the Pupil Mobility project and in the United States of America many school districts as well as charitable foundations are working to address this concern.
Mobility, or ‘the impact for students and schools of movements into and out of schools at times other than the usual ones for joining and leaving’, is becoming an area of interest in education. Increasingly it is recognised that school attendance is fundamental to and is a precursor to student learning. The work of Associate Professor Angela Hill (James Cook University) and others point to the negative impact on learning outcomes of high levels of mobility and the compounding effect of high mobility on other factors such as low SES background, social and emotional concerns, or an existing learning difficulty.
In 2005 a two-year pilot program, ‘Let’s Stay Put’ was conducted in a Townsville cluster of primary schools, focusing on addressing the needs of mobile students in low SES primary schools. The project evaluation showed positive outcomes relating to student mobility. The trial was expanded to a further three schools in Queensland. The purpose of this extension was to determine to what extent the Townsville model is transferable to other locations in urban areas with low SES communities and with high Indigenous mobility in Queensland. The majority focus of the expansion was on Indigenous students (in Queensland, Indigenous families tend to be more mobile than non-Indigenous families).
The current research specifically addresses the impact of mobility and mobility programs on the literacy and numeracy progress of mobile students in low SES schools. The scope of this project includes four clusters – Townsville, Cairns, Logan and Central Queensland. The clusters have been chosen from different geographical areas throughout Queensland where the schools have significant populations of Indigenous students (approx 10-35%). Each cluster involves approximately 3-4 schools.
Mobility: A definition
This project is primarily concerned with the impact for students and schools of “movements into and out of schools at times other than the usual ones for joining and leaving” (McAndrew & Power, 20031). Such movements are by “students making non-promotional2 school change” (Rumberger, 20033). According to the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Department of Defence, a mobile student is ‘a student who moves school more than twice in a three year period’ (20024). In Queensland, this is movement after the February census date.
1. McAndrew, E., & Power, C. (2003). The role of the induction mentor: An evaluation. London: Department for Education and Skills.
2. Non-promotional change is a change that does not involve transition to a higher grade
3. Rumberger, R. K. (2003). The causes and consequences of student mobility. Journal of Negro Education, 72(1), 6 - 21.
4. Commonwealth Department of Education Science and Training, & Department of Defence. (2002). Changing Schools: Its impact on student learning. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.