2007 ACACA Annual Conference

Presenters

Katherine Henderson

Deputy Secretary
Office for Policy, Planning & Evaluation, Department of Education.

Ms Katherine Henderson was appointed to the role of Deputy Secretary, Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation in the Victorian Department of Education and Training in February 2005. The Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation undertakes portfolio-wide policy development and strategic planning and provides services and support to the Ministers and the Secretary.

Ms Henderson returned to the Victorian Public Service in early 2005 after a ten-year period in the Northern Territory at Deputy and Secretary levels in Employment, Education and Training, Health and Community Services and at Menzies School of Health Research.

Ms Henderson's career also includes teaching in the secondary, TAFE and tertiary sectors and working as a coordinator of the ACTU Working Women's Centre.

At executive level she has worked in two jurisdictions, at local and state government levels and with varied responsibilities, across the spectrum of operations, programs and strategic policy.

Rebecca Cross

Group Manager
Schools Quality Group
Department of Education, Science & Training

Rebecca recently moved from the vocational education and training (VET) area of the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) to head up the Department's new Schools Quality Group.  Rebecca's responsibilities in this role include the implementation of three new Australian Government initiatives - the Literacy and Numeracy Voucher Program (which will replace the Reading Assistance Voucher program from 1 January 2008); the Rewarding Schools for Performance Program; and core curricula standards. Schools Quality Group is also responsible for the government school component of the Investing in Our Schools Program and literacy and numeracy Policy.

Previously Rebecca was the Group Manager of Industry Skills Development Group, which deals with a range of VET issues including quality assurance, Industry Skills Councils, skills shortages, adult learning programs and the management of VET marketing campaigns and public relations activities. Rebecca worked in the vocational education and training area of DEST from September 2002 to June 2007.

Before moving to the Group Manager position she had been responsible for the transition of Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) responsibilities to DEST, and the establishment of a new national training system and Commonwealth-State Funding Agreement.

Prior to rejoining the VET Group in 2002, Rebecca was Branch Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Australian Education International. In this position she managed over 100 staff in more than 14 countries, promoting Australian education and training internationally.

Rebecca has also previously been Senior Training Adviser to Dr David Kemp, Minister for Employment, Education and Training.

Professor Barry McGaw AO

Director, Melbourne Education Research Institute
The University of Melbourne

Professor Barry McGaw is half-time Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne and works half-time as a consultant through McGaw Group Pty Ltd.

He returned to Australia at the end of 2005 from Paris where he had been Director for Education at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He had previously been Executive Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) from 1985 to 1998 and Professor of Education at Murdoch University in Perth Western Australia from 1976 to 1984. He was originally a science teacher in Queensland and was head of the Research and Curriculum Branch in the Queensland Department of Education before moving to the Chair at Murdoch University.

Professor McGaw is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences inAustralia, the Australian Psychological Society, the Australian College of Educators and the International Academy of Education. He received an Australian Centenary Medal in 2003 and was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2004.

Alison Vickers

Credit Matrix team leader
Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority

Alison Vickers is currently a team leader in the Victorian Qualifications Authority with responsibility for the implementation of the Credit Matrix. She is at the forefront of international issues regarding qualifications development, credit frameworks and lifelong learning.

Alison has lead projects for the Australian National Training Authority, the Victorian Department of Education and Training and the Engineering Skills Training Board. Her level of commitment and professionalism and her successful track record in a range of policy areas is highly regarded.

Ian Fyfe

VET in Schools Manager
Queensland Studies Authority

Margaret Mackenzie

VET in Schools Manager
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Ian Fyfe from the Queensland Studies Authority and Margaret Mackenzie from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, both managers of VET in Schools in their respective states, will provide an overview of VET in Schools and will tease out the issues posed by the questions above. They will offer some possible strategies for arriving at a common/consistent national approach.

Glenn Rowley

Principal Research Fellow
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Glenn Rowley retired from his position as General Manager, Policy, Measurement and Research at the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority in early 2006, and accepted a part-time appointment as Principal Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research. Prior to joining the VCAA, Glenn was a secondary school teacher, Lecturer in Education at the University of Toronto, Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Education at La Trobe University, and Associate Professor and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. Glenn holds bachelors degrees in Science and Education from the University of Melbourne, and masters and doctoral degrees in Education from the University of Toronto. His academic studies, and his later teaching and research, have concentrated on measurement, evaluation and quantitative research design.

Professor Peter McPhee

Chair Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
Deputy Vice-Chancellor
University of Melbourne

Peter McPhee is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), with responsibilities for the quality of teaching and learning and the overall Melbourne Experience for students. He was educated at Colac High School, Caulfield Grammar School, and the University of Melbourne.

Peter has held a Personal Chair in History since 1993. He has published widely on the history of modern France, notably A Social History of France 1789-1914 (London, 2003) and Living the French Revolution 1789-1799 (London, 2006). In 1999 he published a biography of the former Chancellor Roy Douglas ('Pansy') Wright.

Peter was Deputy Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in 1994-96, then Head of the Department of History in 1996-99. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1997. In the same year he became an inaugural 'Universitas 21' Teaching Fellow. In 2003 he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was President of the Academic Board in 2002-03, before taking up his current position. In 2006 he chaired the University's Curriculum Commission.

He continues to teach first-year students about the history of the French Revolution.

Dr Reg Allen

Chief Executive Officer
Tasmanian Qualifications Authority

Dr Reg Allen is the Chief Executive Officer of the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority. He has 30 years of experience as a teacher and subject master, board member and teacher representative, consultant, deputy director and director, in the diverse education contexts of Australia, England, and the USA. He has acted as expert education advisor in Australia and America, including being a leading member of the Framework Research Advisory Group for Queensland's New Basics in 2001-2004.

His principal previous role has been as Deputy Director of the Queensland Board of Senior Secondary School Studies where he played a key role in the design and implementation of Queensland's Student Education Profile for senior school students, including the integration of vocational education in post-compulsory school education. He has produced over 40 publications across diverse education specialities, including national studies and the development of policies for the Australasian Curriculum Assessment and Certification Authorities (ACACA).

Professor Gabrielle Matters, PhD (QUT), BSc (UQ), AMusA (QCM), FACE

Principal Research Fellow
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Gabrielle Matters is a Principal Research Fellow at ACER and Manager of ACER's Brisbane office. She is Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Education, QUT, with a doctorate in the field of psychometrics. She has been keenly interested in all areas of educational measurement, curriculum, research and reform throughout her career as a classroom teacher, school administrator, test developer, bureaucrat, researcher, policy advisor, university lecturer, and author of journal articles, reviews, books and conference papers. A recent report was Year 12 Curriculum Content and Achievement Standards (with Geoff Masters) for DEST. Her current research includes the assessment of employability skills of senior secondary students, a review of the specialist examinations for the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, and an analysis of the IB diploma.

Gabrielle was a recipient of a Centenary of Federation medal (2001) for services to education in Queensland and the 2002 medal from the Queensland Chapter of the Australian College of Educators. She has held executive management positions within the Australian education sector and has worked with education systems in England, Scotland, Jordan, Pakistan, India, Singapore, Qatar and South Africa.

Greg Valentine

Australasian Regional Representative
International Baccalaureate Organisation

Greg has a fifteen year involvement with the International Baccalaureate as Deputy and Head of an IB World school and Regional Representative for IB Australasia.

His responsibility for Australasia involves supporting 110 IB World Schools and assisting over 100 new schools in their implementation of IB Programs.

Greg has presented at IB workshops and conferences in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, India, Canada, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Germany.

Whilst his main focus is in schools for students 3 -19 years of age, he also works with Universities, Ministries and Departments of Education and Qualifications Authorities.

Carol Taylor

Director, Assessment & Reporting
Board of Studies NSW

Carol Taylor is Director, Assessment and Reporting at the Office of the Board of Studies, NSW with responsibility for development of examinations and analysis and reporting of student performance for the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate in NSW. The Assessment and Reporting Branch provides assessment policy advice for K-12 to the Board of Studies and to schools. Carol has provided leadership in the introduction of the concepts of standards-referenced assessment and the processes of Assessment for Learning.

John O'Brien

Director Curriculum
Office of the Board of Studies NSW

John O'Brien is Director, Curriculum. He advises the Board and committees, the Primary Curriculum Committee, the VET Advisory Committee, the Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee, and the Special Education Committee on curriculum matters and issues regarding the review, revision and maintenance of the curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 12. He is responsible for the development of syllabuses and curriculum support materials for all schools from Kindergarten to Year 12, registration and accreditation of non-government schools, and the administration of the home schooling program.