Exploring enrolment, achievement and progression of IB graduates in Australian universities Dr. Daniel Edwards AARE-APERA Conference Sydney, December, 2012

Overview Study background Issues for investigation Study design Key findings Conclusions

Background ACER study, funded by IB First Phase – feasibility for wider research Two participant universities Limitations Data collection – institutional resources Representativeness of results

Issues for investigation Transition to university University progression and completion Academic performance at university Post-university pathways

Study design Develop research questions University recruitment Data specification and collection Longitudinal data (tracking 2007 entrants) Snapshot data (2007 and 2011 entrants) Control populations Data cleaning and analysis Dissemination of results

Study design University AUniversity C Number of applicants Number of offers Number of enrolments Number of applicants Number of offers Number of enrolments 2006/ / Number of IB graduate applicants, offers, enrolments – snapshot data 2007 and 2011 entry Longitudinal group Uni A 2006/07 Control Group = 4,151 enrolees

Results Transition to university

IB graduates more likely to gain an offer to university than other school completers. University A: % applicants receiving an offer

Transition to university State A: % applicants receiving an offer

Transition to university But…less likely to end up enrolling... University A: % offers resulting in enrolment

Transition to university State A: % offers resulting in enrolment

Transition to university Characteristics of IB graduates who enrolled at the case study institutions were: more likely to be born overseas much more likely to be from high SES background (data from Uni A only) slightly more likely to be male (2011 data) similar age profile in relation to school leaver cohort. similar distribution by field of education

Results University progression and completion

Progression and completion Progression among IB graduates slightly better than others over first three years University A IB graduates University A non-IB graduates Year completedNo. % % 1 st Year in nd Year in rd Year in % of commencers in 2007 who progressed, by year of study, University A

Progression and completion Graduation rates for IB graduates slightly higher than others % of commencers in 2007 who were expected to and did complete by 2011, University A Caveat: time of completion is based on estimate at commencement. Deferral, change to part-time or change of course impact on this outcome

Progression and completion Completion rates for University C – IB cohort only Completion rates of IB graduate commencers in 2007, University C IB students Year completedNo. % On time completion947.4 Completed with one additional semester315.8 Still enrolled in course210.5 Discontinued course526.3 Total

Results Academic performance

GPA at university correlates better with IB score than other high school metric (ATAR) IB graduates (IB score converted to ATAR) non-IB graduates (ATAR) GPA **0.34** GPA **0.41** GPA **0.25** GPA **0.26** GPA **0.23** Overall final GPA0.63**0.47** Note: ** - sig dif at the 0.01 level. The results of correlation analysis should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of IB graduates Correlation of entrance score and yearly GPA, University A

Academic performance Modelling to predict outcomes of students by IB/non-IB background (University A): Controlling for gender, age, university entrance score and language background. Result – being an IB graduate had no notable impact on GPA throughout degree.

Results Post-university pathways

Data limited, but of cohort who graduated and completed the Graduate Destinations Survey. Total graduates in the population (Uni A): IB graduate cohort = 36 Control cohort = 955

Post-university pathways Rates of entry into further study similar… Study status post-graduation, University A

Post-university pathways Employment rates slightly lower for IB grads – esp relating to full-time work Graduate employment status (those ‘available for work’ only), University A

Post-university pathways Perception of link between study and work positive… % of graduates stating their study was a ‘formal requirement’ or ‘important’ to their job, University A

Conclusion IB graduates have high levels of transition to university. Based predominantly on one Uni’s data: IB graduates progress at higher rates than other students. The IB score correlates with GPA better than does ATAR. Achievement at university is similar among IB and non-IB students. Pathways to study are similar, while immediate entry to work slightly lower for IB graduate group Results

Conclusion Worthwhile study, especially for exploring feasibility Data availability within universities patchy – considerable work to extract data. Much learnt from specification, collection and liaison with institutions that could be utilised in future work to increase participation. Data from Uni A very rich and useful, replication more widely would yield valuable results. Future work

Further information: Dr. Daniel Edwards +61 (0)