Teacher fast-track program ‘works, but needs more incentives’

A program that fast-tracks some of our brightest graduates without teaching degrees into classrooms has got a tick.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham.

An independent evaluation of Teach for Australia, which fast-tracks some of the nation’s brightest graduates without teaching degrees into disadvantaged classrooms, has given a tick to the program but says more needs to be done to retain them in the profession.

Almost half of the high-achieving graduates recruited for the program have degrees in the highly sought-after fields of maths and science. The fast-tracked graduates, who are supported throughout the program, are posted to low-socio-economic areas to teach for two years while studying for a master of teaching degree.

The evaluation report, out today, finds principals say they consistently “outperform other early-career teachers’’. It explains: “Associates begin teaching with less formal training than other new teachers, but by the end of their two-year placement are judged by principals to demonstrate impactful behaviours more frequently than other new teachers with similar classroom experience.’’

The program, loathed by teacher unions because of its costs, retention rates and the non-traditi­onal path into the profession, places graduates in class-rooms after just 13 weeks of intensive preparation.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham saidTFA associates brought a “range of unique skills and experiences’’ to classrooms. He said they were “helping plug the gap in disadvantaged Australian secondary schools, which often experience difficulties attracting high-quality teachers with the subject-matter expertise they need — such as STEM and foreign languages’’.

“The report confirms the positive impact the program has had since 2010, placing 549 associates in more than 130 schools and benefiting over 130,000 students.’’

Senator Birmingham said some of the next steps TFA was­ ­focused on included “encouraging more of those talented individuals to stay teaching in those schools that need them most’’.

The evaluation, by Dandolopartners, recommends strategies be examined to improve retention rates, possibly by longer placements or incentives for associates to stay in disadvantaged classes. “In the first year out of placement (third year), 65 per cent are still teaching and 45 per cent’’ in disadvantaged schools, the report said.

In the fourth year of teaching, 60 per cent are still teaching with 36 per cent in lower socio-­economic status schools.

“From the third year after completing their placement, the total population teaching remains steady just below 50 per cent, with around 30 per cent in schools below the national median.’’

TFA chief executive Melodie Potts Rosevear said “disadvantage is complex and we need to put more of our best people on it’’.

“A graduate coming in is bringing their subject-matter expertise. They are bringing often and increasingly their life experience. In this last cohort, more than half had been in the workforce, they weren’t straight out of uni.’’

In December the government committed an extra $20.5 million for TFA to run through until 2021.

The Australian Education Union said last year that resources were needed in disadvantaged schools, not expensive programs such as TFA, which had “high cost per teacher, high dropout rate and a lack of evidence of long-term success’’. The union said TFA had an average cost of $127,000 per graduate, compared with less than $10,000 for standard teacher-training courses.

But the TFA argues this is at odds with publicly available figures which show the Commonwealth’s investment is $65,000 for a TFA teacher, compared to $20,000 for a traditional Master in Teacher and $40,000 for a bachelor of teaching degree.

The evaluation report recommends increased funding contrib­utions from the associates, who derive significant personal benefit from the program, and states and territories, to offset federal funds.