Getting disengaged students back into mainstream schooling: new research partnership

The agreement was signed at Mastery Schools Australia’s Varsity Lakes campus, marking the beginning of a $535,000 embedded research initiative investigating contemporary approaches to schooling for at-risk children and young people.

“We are delighted to be commissioned by Mastery Schools Australia to rigorously research modern schooling approaches that enable young people to be re-engaged in learning,” said Executive Dean of Education, Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles. 

“We bring a world-leading research team to this project, affording a critical research study focused on understanding and supporting at-risk children and young people.”

Designated a Special Assistance School, Mastery Schools Australia opened its first campus in Varsity Lakes in 2021 to provide a quality educational alternative for students in years 4-10 who are disengaged or at risk of disengaging from mainstream schooling.

It has eight campuses in Australia and New Zealand and nearly 90 per cent of its student cohort meet the criteria of Students with a Disability through the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data. Between 15-30 per cent of MSA students re-enter mainstream schooling every year.

“We are one of the only schools in Australia that is glad to see its students leave,” said Managing Director Michael Roberts. “We want to equip our students with the tools they need to succeed in mainstream environments and where they can go on to thrive.”                     

MSA uses a combination of techniques to re-engage students with learning. Small learner groups, rather than age groups, allow students to master a subject and move on when they are ready.

“As students achieve and succeed, we can see this gives them motivation to go on in their learning. What we are planning to investigate is what goes on in the mind of a child who experiences success,” said lead researcher Associate Professor David Turner.

“The Mastery Schools Australia Project: An investigation into the establishment and operations of Third Space Professional Learning Arrangements” is a three-year project that will focus on the concept of ‘third space’ and ‘co-design’ collaborations, which strengthens partnerships between universities and schools.

It creates a shared, collaborative space - neither solely academic nor purely practical - where educators and researchers co-design and implement professional learning in real-time, within the school environment.