Evaluation of the Enhancing the Training of Mathematics and Science Teachers (ETMST) Program
Office for Learning and Teaching
The Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching commissioned PhillipsKPA, in collaboration with The University of the Sunshine Coast, to evaluate and support the ETMST Program. Funded for $18.9m over 2013-2017, the Program involved 27 universities working in five project teams and is a key part of the Australian Government's $54m Investing in Science and Maths for a Smarter Future initiative.
The ETMST Program aims to drive a major improvement in the quality of mathematics and science teachers by supporting new pre-service programs in which faculties, schools or departments of science, mathematics and education collaborate on course design and delivery to combine content and pedagogy. The evaluation included:
- a succinct project evaluation design appropriate to each funded initiative
- timely advice on evaluation issues as they arise
- conducting the project-specific evaluations
- formative and summative reports to the project teams and their advisory or reference groups
- interviews with a range of organisations and experts with direct interest and involvement in the ETMST projects
- supporting dissemination of good practice to target groups
- preparation of a final summative report to OLT identifying lessons drawn from the experience of the project teams.
The final report is a highly accessible forward-looking document written for a broad audience, from lecturers in mathematics and science teacher training to policy-makers at ministerial level.
Read the report here.