Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc 2005 Research Seminar Program WAIER invites you to an afternoon seminar to be held at The Starfish Suite Hillarys Boat Harbour, 91 Southside Drive ...then time for discussion and interaction Challenges in longitudinal studies in educational research?

John will use two examples from ACER longitudinal studies which involve similar challenges in methodology and analysis:

• the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), (based on annual surveys of large nationally representative samples of young people - mid-teens to mid-twenties). John highlights some results that inform our understanding of influences on participation in education.

• a longitudinal study of the growth in reading proficiency (5,000 Victorian primary school students - two cohorts from Year 1 to Year 3).

John Ainley is Deputy CEO (Research) of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and Research Director of its National and International Surveys program.

Responsible for a number of projects*, his survey research projects have involved factors that influence the quality of school life for students in primary and secondary schools. He was the principal author of a report providing a national picture of student responses to issues in, and the ways in which schools provide for, the affective development of young people.

*(Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA); Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS); ICT Literacy Assessment Program; Civics and Citizenship Assessment Program). He has been much involved in longitudinal survey research through programs such as the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), Progress through High School and the Literacy Advance Research Project (LARP).

Inquiries: please contact Eve Ruddock ruddock@iinet.net.au ph 9446 4030