Stephen has made a major and sustained contribution to educational research and policy over the last 20 years. This contribution has been achieved through an extensive research program and a strong publications record.

Stephen is an international leader in the field of school policy research and student outcomes. His work on school effectiveness has demonstrated a relationship between features of school provision, student performance and later outcomes. This included a landmark study of the impact of 25 years of school reform on student achievement and inequality. Recently, he completed an international comparative study of school graduation and dropout for the California Dropout Research Project at the University of California identifying system-level and school programs that reduce levels of dropout. In a related project, he is the lead editor of a book which provides an international comparative study of school completion focusing on the policies and models of school provision that contribute to stronger levels of graduation. The contributors to the book are leading researchers in 12 OECD countries.

Stephen’s research on school funding has been particularly ground-breaking. Recently, he helped develop a new allocation model for government schools in Victoria (the Student Resource Package or SRP), a model designed to resource schools to promote effectiveness and efficiency. In this work, he set out the methods for identifying better ways of identifying student need, how to estimate the levels of funds needed to address additional needs, and how to better target funds for optimal impact. In 2007, he undertook a review of the SRP which revealed a relationship between school effectiveness and the use of resources, leading to refinements in the SRP funding allocations. Recently, for the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development he developed a new and more sensitive method for estimating the costs of delivering VET in Schools, leading to a 60 per cent increase in supplementary funding.

Stephen has undertaken a range of high-impact policy research projects for governments, systems and schools. As part of the Shared Futures Project for the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, Stephen was the main author of two influential reports: one on factors shaping school performance including school-level policies and one which evaluated the performance of Australia’s education and training system. Work from both reports was used in the design of Australia’s new Training Reform Agenda. In 2005, Stephen undertook a major review of the impact of equity programs in New South Wales’ government schools, a project commissioned by the NSW Minister for Education and Training. He has conducted many other studies for agencies and systems on such issues as effective school intervention programs to reduce early leaving, school enrolment projections, regional differences in VET demand, factors affecting disengagement from school, factors affecting school effectiveness, higher education demand, and post-compulsory pathways and student outcomes.

BEd Hons, MEd, PhD

• Social theory and quantitative research methods;
  
• Survey methods;
  
• Student outcomes;
  
• Curriculum and student attainment;
  
• Student transition;
  
• Longitudinal studies

Books

Teese, R., Lamb, S., & Duru-Bellat, M. (Eds.). (2007). International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy: Volume 1 - Educational Inequality: Persistence and Change. (Vol. 1). Netherlands: Springer.

Teese, R., Lamb, S., & Duru-Bellat, M. (Eds.). (2007). International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy: Volume 2 - Inequality in Education Systems (Vol. 2). Netherlands: Springer.

Teese, R., Lamb, S., & Duru-Bellat, M. (Eds.). (2007). International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy: Volume 3 - Inequality: Educational Theory and Public Policy (Vol. 3). Netherlands: Springer.


Book Sections

Lamb, S. (2007). School Reform and Inequality in Urban Australia: A Case of Residualising the Poor. In R. Teese, S. Lamb & M. Duru-Bellat (Eds.), International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy (Vol. 3, pp. 1-38). Netherlands: Springer.

Lamb, S., & Guo, Z. (2007). Transforming School Education in China to a mass System: Progress and Challenges. In R. Teese, S. Lamb & M. Duru-Bellat (Eds.), International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy: Vol 2 - Inequality in Education Systems (Vol. 2, pp. 295 - 315). Netherlands: Springer.

Teese, R., & Lamb, S. (2007). Social Inequalities in Education: Enlarging the Scope of Public Policy through Reflection into Context. In R. Teese, S. Lamb & M. Duru-Bellat (Eds.), International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy: Volume 3 - Inequality: Educational Theory and Public Policy (Vol. 3, pp. 293 - 308). Netherlands: Springer.

Welch, A., Helme, S., & Lamb, S. (2007). Rurality and Inequality in Education: The Australian Experience. In R. Teese, S. Lamb & M. Duru-Bellat (Eds.), International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy: Volume 2 - Inequality in Education Systems (Vol. 2, pp. 271 - 295). Netherlands: Springer.

Journal Articles

Keating, J., & Lamb, S. (2004). Public education and public purposes: School quality, sectors and place. IARTV - Seminar Series, 138 (October, 2004), 1-10.

Commissioned Reports


Helme, S., Lamb, S., Polesel, J., Mason, K., & Clarke, K. (2007). Career Moves: Destination and Satisfaction Survey of 2005 HSC VCE Students in New South Wales - Final Report. Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Training

Mason, K., Lamb, S., & Polesel, J. (2007). On Track Longitudinal 2006 Results. Melbourne: Victorian Department of Education.

Walstab, A., & Lamb, S. (2007). On Track Longitudinal 2007 Results. Melbourne: Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Walstab, A., & Lamb, S. (2007). Participation in VET across Australia: a regional analysis (Major Report). Adelaide: NCVER.

Walstab, A., & Lamb, S. (2007). Participation in VET across Australia: a regional analysis: Support document (Minor Report). Adelaide: NCVER.

Keating, J., Lamb, S., & Clarke, K. (2005). Student Resource Package for Non-Traditional Locations. Melbourne: Victorian Department of Education and Training

Lamb, S. (2005). Technical report: Survey methodological options for a) non-completers of VET and b) apprentices and trainees over time. Adelaide: NCVER.

Lamb, S., Polesel, J., & Teese, R. (2005). Where do they go?: an evaluation of sources of data used for the monitoring of students' destinations and other educational outcomes in Australia Adelaide: VOCED.

Polesel, J., Teese, R., Lamb, S., Helme, S., Nicholas, T., & Clarke, K. (2005). Career moves: destination and satisfaction survey of 2005 HSC VET students in New South Wales (Document). Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Training.

Polesel, J., Teese, R., Lamb, S., Helme, S., Nicholas, T., & Clarke, K. (2005). Destination and satisfaction survey of 2004 HSC VET Students in New South Wales. Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Training.

Haukka, S., Keating, J., & Lamb, S. (2004). Alternative mechanisms to encourage individual contr