Faculty of Education Disability Research Collaboration

The Faculty of Education Disability Research Collaboration, led by Associate Professor Lisa McKay-Brown works to transform the lifelong educational experiences of people with disability through collaborative co-designed research which will foster inclusive education practices.

It works closely with three key groups in the Faculty:

• The Learning Interventions Group, which specialises in research and teaching of educators to support students with disability, specific learning difficulties or hearing impairment, as well as how to employ evidence-based teaching to optimise student learning.
• Melbourne Metrics, which has developed  Students with Additional Needs (SWANs) and Abilities Based Learning Education Support (ABLES). Both tools are designed to set bespoke curricula for children with learning disabilities  performing below NAPLAN levels and who need a specialised curriculum to optimise educational outcomes.
• The Research in Effective Education in Early Childhood (REEaCh) Centre, which focuses on research and engagement in early childhood education and care, the quality of early childhood education programs, the equitable participation of all children in high-quality programs, and the importance of educational leadership to sustained quality improvement in early childhood education programs.

The Collaboration’s program of work includes an innovative project with Down Syndrome Victoria examining the experiences of young people with Down syndrome transitioning to high school. Work from this project will be presented at the World Down Syndrome Congress this year.

Researchers from this hub, Healthy Trajectories and MDI were also recently successful in winning a $850,000 Victorian Department of Education tender to develop an early childhood functional assessment tool.