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NEW D E A L ON M O N O G R A P H S !

T h e E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e h a s f o r m u l a t e d a n e w d e a l f o r m o n o g r a p h w r i t e r s . T h e m i n u t e s o f t h e A n n u a l G e n e r a l M e e t i n g c o n t a i n a b r o a d o u t l i n e . M o r e d e t a i l s w i l l be p r o v i d e d i n t h e J u n e i s s u e of t h e A . E . R .

.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT, 1 9 8 4

E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e D u r i n g 1984, the f o l l o w i n g p e r s o n s h a v e s e r v e d A A R E as o f f ice rs and m e m b e r s of the E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e :

P r e s i d e n t P r e s i d e n t E l ec t I m m e d i a t e P a s t P r e s i d e n t H o n o r a r y S e c r e t a r y H o n o r a r y T r e a s u r e r E d i t o r

Dr R. S t r a t o n Dr D.S. A n d e r s o n Dr G.S. H a r m a n P ro f M. C o o p e r Dr J.J. L o k a n Dr T.W. F i e ld

R e s e a r c h T r a i n i n g C o - o r d i n a t o r Mr V.L. B a r t l e t t M e m b e r s - a t - l a r g e Mr L.D. B l a z e l y

Dr G. L e d e r Dr G. R o w l e y Pro f M.C. S c r i v e n

Two m e e t i n g s of the E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e w e r e he ld in M e l b o u r n e d u r i n g the yea r ; a t h i r d m e e t i n g w a s he ld in con- j u n c t i o n w i t h the A n n u a l C o n f e r e n c e in Per th . M i n u t e s of the M e l b o u r n e m e e t i n g s h a v e been p u b l i s h e d in A E R .

R e p r e s e n t a t i o n s to Federa l a u t h o r i t i e s c o n c e r n i n g e d u c a t i o n a l r e s e a r c h fund ing

D u r i n g the p a s t y e a r the E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e h a s c o n t i n u e d to m a k e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s to the F e d e r a l M i n i s t e r for E d u c a t i o n a n d Y o u t h Affa i r s , S e n a t o r S u s a n R y a n , and to s e n i o r o f f i c ia l s c o n c e r n i n g f u n d i n g for e d u c a t i o n a l r e s e a r c h .

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58 A E R

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I n M a r c h , D r S t r a t o n a n d D r H a r m a n h a d a u s e f u l d i s c u s s i o n in C a n b e r r a w i t h M r W a r r e n L a n g , t h e M i n i s t e r ' s P r i n c i p a l P r i v a t e S e c r e t a r y . T h e y a l s o h a d d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h s e n i o r o f f i c i a l s a t t h e D e p a r t m e n t of E d u c a t i o n a n d Y o u t h A f f a i r s . I n J u n e D r H a r m a n h a d d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h M r R. J o h n s o n , t h e n e w S e c r e t a r y of t h e D e p a r t m e n t of E d u c a t i o n , a n d Y o u t h A f f a i r s . M r J o h n s o n , a f o r m e r p r o f e s s o r of C l a s s i c s a t t h e A N U a n d a f o r m e r P r e s i d e n t of t h e A u s t r a l i a n C o l l e g e of E d u c a t i o n , e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n a b o u t t h e p o s i t i o n of r e s e a r c h f u n d i n g a n d i n d i c a t e d h i s p e r s o n a l i n t e r e s t i n t h e p r o b l e m .

I n e a r l y O c t o b e r D r S t r a t o n , a c c o m p a n i e d b y D r H a r m a n a n d P r o f e s s o r M i l l i c e n t P o o l e (a f o r m e r P r e s i d e n t of A A R E ) , h a d a v e r y u s e f u l a n d e n c o u r a g i n g d i s c u s s i o n w i t h t h e M i n i s t e r . T h e M i n i s t e r i n d i c a t e d t h a t s h e w a s a w a r e of t h e p r o b l e m s f a c e d b y e d u c a t i o n a l r e s e a r c h t h a t s h e w i s h e d to c o m m e n c e m o v e s to e s t a b l i s h a n e w e d u c a t i o n a l r e s e a r c h g r a n t s s c h e m e . S h e i n d i c a t e d t h a t s h e w o u l d be a s k i n g h e r o f f i c e r s to d e v e l o p a f i r m p r o p o s a l f o r a s c h e m e . F o l l o w i n g t h i s m e e t i n g d i s c u s s i o n s w e r e t h e n h e l d w i t h M r J o h n s o n a n d d e p a r t m e n t a l o f f i c e r s . D r S t r a t o n a n d D r H a r m a n a g r e e d to p r o v i d e a s s i s t a n c e i n d e v e l - o p i n g a p r o p o s a l fo r a n e w s c h e m e .

P o l i c y on contract r e s e a r c h and e v a l u a t i o n s tudies . T h e p o l i c y o n c o n t r a c t r e s e a r c h a n d e v a l u a t i o n s t u d i e s h a s n o w b e e n f i n a l i s e d a n d w i l l s h o r t l y be p u b l i s h e d i n A E R .

I n f o r m a t i o n re tr i eva l s y s t e m s in E d u c a t i o n D r G i l a h L e d e r h a s b e e n a c t i n g as t h e A A R E r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o n a s u b - c o m m i t t e e of t h e A u s t r a l i a n E d u c a t i o n C o u n c i l ' s W o r k i n g P a r t y o n I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l S y s t e m s in E d u c a t i o n . T h e m a n d a t e of t h i s s u b - c o m m i t t e e i s to c o n s i d e r t h e f e a s i b i l i t y of s e t t i n g u p a D a t a A r c h i v e s P r o j e c t w h i c h w o u l d m a k e r e s e a r c h d a t a m o r e r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e fo r s e c o n d a r y a n a l y s i s .

R e s e a r c h T r a i n i n g P r o g r a m and S p e c i a l Interes t G r o u p s T h e A s s o c i a t i o n c o n t i n u e d to p r o v i d e a p r o g r a m of r e s e a r c h t r a i n i n g a c t i v i t i e s u n d e r t h e c o - o r d i n a t i o n of M r L e o B a r t l e t t . A r e s e a r c h t r a i n i n g c o - o r d i n a t o r h a s b e e n a p p o i n t e d in e a c h S t a t e ; t h i s p e r s o n a d m i n i s t e r s a n d r u n s w o r k s h o p s g i v e n b y t h e A s s o c i a t i o n .

A E R 59

D u r i n g 1984, t h e f o l l o w i n g a c t i v i t i e s w e r e a r r a n g e d b y A A R E , e i t h e r a l o n e o r i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h o t h e r r e s e a r c h g r o u p s :

centres topic leader B r i s b a n e S y d n e y H o b a r t

B r i s b a n e Townsville Perth

Brisbane Sydney

Brisbane Sydney Canberra Melbourne Hobart Adelaide Perth

P a r t i c i p a n t o b s e r v a t i o n - a s o c i a l p r o c e s s

+Educational change and analysis

+Testing as teaching

Issues of ethics and social justice in educational evaluation

S t e p h e n B a l l ( U n i v . o f S u s s e x )

Bill Boyd (Pennsylvania State U.)

Bryan Dockrell (Scottish R.C.)

Ernie House (Univ. of Illinois)

Brisbane Mathematics curriculum process Ian Westbury

Melbourne *Practical problems in sample Leslie Kish design for survey research (Univ. of Michigan)

Sydney +Interview in educational Susan Groundwater-Smith research (Univ. of Sydney)

* in collaboration with ACER and VIER

+ special interest groups

I t w i l l be o b s e r v e d t h a t P r o f H o u s e c o n d u c t e d w o r k s h o p s i n a l a r g e n u m b e r o f c e n t r e s . T h i s s e r i e s w a s , i n f a c t , s p o n s o r e d b y t h e A s s o c i a t i o n , t h e l e a d e r b e i n g b r o u g h t t o A u s t r a l i a f o r t h e p u r p o s e .

6. T h e A u s t r a l i a n E d u c a t i o n a l R e s e a r c h e r

E a c h i s s u e o f t h e A E R w h i c h w a s p r o d u c e d i n 1984 c o n t i n u e d t h e w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d t r a d i t i o n o f p r e s e n t i n g a t l e a s t o n e m a j o r p a p e r - u s u a l l y m o r e . T h e q u a l i t y of m a t e r i a l r e c e i v e d f o r c o n s i d e r a t i o n f o r p u b l i c a t i o n h a s b e e n v e r y p l e a s i n g a n d a n u m b e r of a r t i c l e s h a v e h a d to be h e l d o v e r f o r i n c l u s i o n in t h e 1985 i s s u e s . T h e c o - o p e r a t i o n of a l l t h e a u t h o r s c o n c e r n e d i s a p p r e c i a t e d .

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The AER, while presently achieving a valuable purpose, has much potential for further development both in contents and format. The range of research in progress throughout Australia could be advised to members of the Association if only those involved would write even brief statements of their activities. The revival of summaries of research being done in particular institutions would achieve the same goal but, again, someone has to initiate the writirig.

In terms of format, the time is probably fast approaching when a major upgrade should be considered by the Association. This will almost certainly entail higher costs and a change of printing location. With the Association's membership con- tinuing to expand, the whole production operation is fast outstripping the resources (and goodwill) on which it presently depends.

C o n f e r e n c e s P l a n s a r e w e l l in h a n d fo r t h e 1985 A n n u a l C o n f e r e n c e in H o b a r t , a n d a n o r g a n i s i n g c o m m i t t e e w i l l s h o r t l y be f o r m e d fo r t h e 1986 c o n f e r e n c e in M e l b o u r n e . We h a v e b e e n c o r r e s p o n d i n g w i t h N Z A R E a b o u t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of a j o i n t c o n f e r e n c e in C h r i s t c h u r c h e a r l y in D e c e m b e r 1987 a n d h a v e r e c e i v e d an o f f e r from NTIER to host a conference in 1988 or 1989. In addition, the Secretary has been attending the meetings of the "Bicentennial Joint Conference Committee" in Sydney, it being anticipated that the Association will be involved in some way.

C o n c l u s i o n I b e l i e v e t h a t t h e A s s o c i a t i o n is in a g o o d p o s i t i o n . T h e r e h a s b e e n a l a r g e i n c r e a s e in n e w m e m b e r s in 1984. We h a v e e n j o y e d a n e x t e n s i v e p r o g r a m of r e s e a r c h t r a i n i n g w o r k s h o p s a n d s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t g r o u p m e e t i n g s . We h a v e h a d e n c o u r a g i n g t a l k s w i t h M i n i s t e r s of s t a t e a b o u t r e s e a r c h f u n d i n g a n d w e c o n t i n u e to h a v e s u c c e s s f u l w e l l - a t t e n d e d a n n u a l c o n f e r e n c e s .

M a y t h e c o m i n g y e a r s s e e c o n t i n u e d g r o w t h .

M a r t i n C o o p e r H o n o r a r y S e c r e t a r y