The Tell Them From Me (TTFM) By School Over Time report provides an overview of the percentage of students who report positive outcomes on key TTFM measures for a school over time and compares the results to the statistically similar school group (SSSG) and state.

Executive Directors and Directors have access to data for all schools within their Principal Network and can use this report to combine results for multiple schools.

How will this report benefit me?

The By School over Time report shows the proportion of students who report high expectations for success from their teachers, a positive sense of belonging at school and high advocacy from teachers and adults at school.

Schools can select a specific measure to focus on and explore the trend over time and SSSG/state comparisons. Slicers can be used to drill down to see whether the proportion of students experiencing positive outcomes differs among groups of students or by scholastic grade. Executive Directors and Directors, Educational Leadership can view a rolled-up report for all schools within their Principal Network.

How are the By School over Time charts developed and what do they provide?

• Students who score 6 or more on the TTFM scale score are reported to have positive (high) outcomes, while those who score less than 6 are reported to have negative (low) outcomes. Each column represents the proportion of students that fall into the positive (high) category.
• Charts also display the percentage of students with positive outcomes on a selected TTFM measure in the school’s SSSG and the state using the line visuals.
• Missing columns indicate that the school did not participate in the TTFM survey in that particular year.
• Hover over the chart to view the school’s average Positive % and Number of Responses.

Each page of this report enables users to filter for:

• Executive Director Group
• Network Name
• School Name
• Scholastic Year
• Gender (as self-reported by students when completing the online TTFM survey)
• Aboriginality (as self-reported by students when completing the online TTFM survey)

How can I use this report to improve student outcomes and support my school self-assessment?

This report shows any movement in the percentage of students who report positive outcomes for student groups over time. Ideally, schools should aim to increase the proportion of students reporting positive expectations for success, a sense of belonging and advocacy at school for all student groups and scholastic grades. Tracking the proportion of students with positive outcomes can assist with the evaluation of programs aimed at improving classroom and school practices and their impact on student engagement.

Teachers’ support for student learning and their expectations of students’ academic success, along with a strong sense of belonging, are necessary components for happy and successful students.

Sense of Belonging

School belonging refers to a student’s perception of being accepted, valued and included in their school setting by their peers and by others in the school. It is sometimes referred to as school connectedness or bonding to school.

Students’ feelings of belonging at school, alongside positive relationships with peers and teachers, are essential for student wellbeing. These relationships are characterised by constructive interactions that provide genuine support for students and help them build social and emotional skills.

CESE research shows the importance of students having a positive sense of belonging at primary and secondary school and highlights the relationships between a student’s sense of belonging and other measures of engagement.

Expectations for Success

Expectations for Success is a measure of classroom context and refers to the extent to which teachers value academic achievement and hold high expectations of all students. High expectations are effective for learning for all types of students and schools. Supportive classroom environments, in which students experience consistent, clear and high expectations and receive help from teachers and peers, promote the engagement of all students.

CESE’s 'What Works Best' publication highlights how high expectations are an important driver for student performance. Longitudinal research using TTFM data shows the positive effect of high expectations on NAPLAN performance and engagement in high school. This publication also provides practical strategies to increase levels of academic expectations.

Advocacy at School (available 2016 onwards)

In an education context, advocacy and support for learning at school refer to the active consideration and support of individual students’ academic and wellbeing needs. This encompasses general support and specific supportive behaviours that help students navigate the everyday course of school life.

CESE’s publication ‘Support for Learning’ explores the provision of advocacy and support for students and how this varies for different groups of students at different stages of school. The accompanying resources, case studies and audiobooks provide schools with practical strategies to increase the advocacy at school measure.

For the full range of TTFM data, schools should continue to access their survey results via the TTFM portal.

Where does this data come from?

The results come from the Tell Them From Me student surveys, snapshot 1 (Term 1) data.

To protect student confidentiality, data suppression rules are applied to charts where fewer than five students answer a question. Using the slicers to drill down on the data will reduce the cohort size and may result in data suppression for smaller schools.

How frequently is data updated?

Annually.