Sally A Larsen
Biographic Data
| ID | 4413205 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sally A Larsen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sally A |
| FAMILY NAME | Larsen |
| SIGNATURE | LARSEN S A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of New England |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5742-8444 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Pre-Service Teacher perceptions of Professional Experience in Australia: A scoping review
Over the past decade in Australia, there has been increasing challenge around Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) being exposed to quality learning experiences during Professional Experience (PE). The recognition of challenges relevant to PE has been reported globally through international and national education bodies, and the Australian Government, but the voice of PSTs has been mostly absent in these reports. The aim of this study was to search the Au…
Investigating Trends in School Socioeconomic Composition According to School Sector and Geographical Location
This study investigated differences in socioeconomic composition (SEC) of schools in Australia by school sector and location. Using state-wide data from New South Wales (NSW), we examined patterns of change in the SEC of government, Independent and Catholic schools in Major City, Inner Regional, Outer Regional and Remote/Very Remote locations from 2008 to 2025. Results showed increasing proportions of students attending Independent schools and de…
Making Sense of Standardised Assessment Data: A Response to Snow et al. (2025)
I write in response to the commentary by Snow et al. (2025) on the paper Are Australian students' academic skills declining? Interrogating 25 years of national and international standardised assessment data published in this journal (Larsen 2024). In this response I address the four major areas of concern raised by Snow et al., and conclude with some suggestions for new approaches to using standardised assessment data to better understand Austral…
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia and existing measures of child outcomes: Is there a relationship
The mandated Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) has guided early childhood education and care (ECEC) since 2009. The EYLF is intended to support improved learning and development outcomes for all children within a nationally consistent regulatory system. Since the implementation of the EYLF, the quality ratings of ECEC services have improved in every Australian jurisdiction. However, the absence of detailed child ECEC participati…
Beyond GPA: A quantitative evaluation of York et al.'s model of academic success in higher education
This study quantitatively evaluated the theoretical model of academic success proposed by York et al. This model proposes that six interacting domains contribute to the broad concept of academic success in tertiary education. These domains include academic achievement, course satisfaction, perceptions of career success, acquisition of skills and competencies, persistence, and attainment of learning outcomes. A sample of 1127 students at an Austra…
An Exploratory Analysis of Minority Stress Experiences and Mental Ill-Health in Bisexual Adults
Despite an increase in research examining sexual minority groups, there remains comparatively less targeted research with bisexual people, as they are often absorbed into lesbian and gay samples in research or disregarded entirely. Given the existing data suggesting that bisexual people have higher rates of mental health issues than lesbian women and gay men, it is critical that this group's mental health, and risk factors of mental ill-health, b…
Are Australian students' academic skills declining? Interrogating 25 years of national and international standardised assessment data
Standardised tests of academic basic skills are an established feature of contemporary Australian schooling. Assessment results are widely reported and directly influence educational policymaking. Furthermore, Australian national educational priorities are linked to educational system accountability via the results of standardised tests. Given the influence and importance of assessment data, this paper aimed to collate publicly available data fro…
The public–private debate: School sector differences in academic achievement from Year 3 to Year 9
Factorial and construct validity of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Cerq) in an Australian sample
Objective The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) is a 36-item self-report measure of nine emotion regulation strategies, extensively used in research. Despite widespread use, the instrument’s factor structure has not been investigated in an Australian sample, and some international scholars have questioned the factorial validity of the English translation. This study examined the CERQ’s psychometric properties in an Australian comm…
The codevelopment of reading and attention from middle childhood to early adolescence: A multivariate latent growth curve study
Attention skills are strong cross-sectional predictors of reading comprehension from childhood through to adolescence. However, less is known about the developmental relations between these two domains across this period. This study examined the codevelopment of reading and attention in a community sample of 614 Australian school students (50% female). Reading and attention were assessed at ages 8, 10, 12, and 14. Results of univariate latent gro…
Exploring the Associations Between Delayed School Entry and Achievement in Primary and Secondary School
This research investigated whether delayed school entry was associated with higher achievement in national tests of reading and numeracy in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 (n = 2,823). Delayed entry was related to advantages in reading (0.14 SD) and numeracy (0.08 SD) at Grade 3, although little variance was explained (1%–2%). This slight advantage persisted for both domains in Grades 5 and 7, albeit with smaller effects. In Grade 9 there was no associatio…
Estimating classroom-level influences on literacy and numeracy: A twin study
Classroom-level influences on literacy skills in kindergarten through Grade 2, and on literacy and numeracy skills in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9, were examined by comparing the similarity of twins who shared or did not share classrooms with each other. We analyzed two samples using structural equation modeling adapted for twin data. The first, Study 1, was of Australia-wide tests of literacy and numeracy, with 1,098; 1,080; 790, and 812 complete twin …
The codevelopment of reading and attention from middle childhood to early adolescence: A multivariate latent growth curve study
Attention skills are strong cross-sectional predictors of reading comprehension from childhood through to adolescence. However, less is known about the developmental relations between these two domains across this period. This study examined the codevelopment of reading and attention in a community sample of 614 Australian school students (50% female). Reading and attention were assessed at ages 8, 10, 12, and 14. Results of univariate latent gro…
Are Australian students' academic skills declining? Interrogating 25 years of national and international standardised assessment data
Standardised tests of academic basic skills are an established feature of contemporary Australian schooling. Assessment results are widely reported and directly influence educational policymaking. Furthermore, Australian national educational priorities are linked to educational system accountability via the results of standardised tests. Given the influence and importance of assessment data, this paper aimed to collate publicly available data fro…
An Exploratory Analysis of Minority Stress Experiences and Mental Ill-Health in Bisexual Adults
Despite an increase in research examining sexual minority groups, there remains comparatively less targeted research with bisexual people, as they are often absorbed into lesbian and gay samples in research or disregarded entirely. Given the existing data suggesting that bisexual people have higher rates of mental health issues than lesbian women and gay men, it is critical that this group's mental health, and risk factors of mental ill-health, b…
Estimating classroom-level influences on literacy and numeracy: A twin study
Classroom-level influences on literacy skills in kindergarten through Grade 2, and on literacy and numeracy skills in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9, were examined by comparing the similarity of twins who shared or did not share classrooms with each other. We analyzed two samples using structural equation modeling adapted for twin data. The first, Study 1, was of Australia-wide tests of literacy and numeracy, with 1,098; 1,080; 790, and 812 complete twin …
Exploring the Associations Between Delayed School Entry and Achievement in Primary and Secondary School
This research investigated whether delayed school entry was associated with higher achievement in national tests of reading and numeracy in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 (n = 2,823). Delayed entry was related to advantages in reading (0.14 SD) and numeracy (0.08 SD) at Grade 3, although little variance was explained (1%–2%). This slight advantage persisted for both domains in Grades 5 and 7, albeit with smaller effects. In Grade 9 there was no associatio…
Factorial and construct validity of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Cerq) in an Australian sample
Objective The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) is a 36-item self-report measure of nine emotion regulation strategies, extensively used in research. Despite widespread use, the instrument’s factor structure has not been investigated in an Australian sample, and some international scholars have questioned the factorial validity of the English translation. This study examined the CERQ’s psychometric properties in an Australian comm…
The codevelopment of reading and attention from middle childhood to early adolescence: A multivariate latent growth curve study
Attention skills are strong cross-sectional predictors of reading comprehension from childhood through to adolescence. However, less is known about the developmental relations between these two domains across this period. This study examined the codevelopment of reading and attention in a community sample of 614 Australian school students (50% female). Reading and attention were assessed at ages 8, 10, 12, and 14. Results of univariate latent gro…
The public–private debate: School sector differences in academic achievement from Year 3 to Year 9
Are Australian students' academic skills declining? Interrogating 25 years of national and international standardised assessment data
Standardised tests of academic basic skills are an established feature of contemporary Australian schooling. Assessment results are widely reported and directly influence educational policymaking. Furthermore, Australian national educational priorities are linked to educational system accountability via the results of standardised tests. Given the influence and importance of assessment data, this paper aimed to collate publicly available data fro…
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia and existing measures of child outcomes: Is there a relationship
The mandated Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) has guided early childhood education and care (ECEC) since 2009. The EYLF is intended to support improved learning and development outcomes for all children within a nationally consistent regulatory system. Since the implementation of the EYLF, the quality ratings of ECEC services have improved in every Australian jurisdiction. However, the absence of detailed child ECEC participati…
Beyond GPA: A quantitative evaluation of York et al.'s model of academic success in higher education
This study quantitatively evaluated the theoretical model of academic success proposed by York et al. This model proposes that six interacting domains contribute to the broad concept of academic success in tertiary education. These domains include academic achievement, course satisfaction, perceptions of career success, acquisition of skills and competencies, persistence, and attainment of learning outcomes. A sample of 1127 students at an Austra…
An Exploratory Analysis of Minority Stress Experiences and Mental Ill-Health in Bisexual Adults
Despite an increase in research examining sexual minority groups, there remains comparatively less targeted research with bisexual people, as they are often absorbed into lesbian and gay samples in research or disregarded entirely. Given the existing data suggesting that bisexual people have higher rates of mental health issues than lesbian women and gay men, it is critical that this group's mental health, and risk factors of mental ill-health, b…
Pre-Service Teacher perceptions of Professional Experience in Australia: A scoping review
Over the past decade in Australia, there has been increasing challenge around Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) being exposed to quality learning experiences during Professional Experience (PE). The recognition of challenges relevant to PE has been reported globally through international and national education bodies, and the Australian Government, but the voice of PSTs has been mostly absent in these reports. The aim of this study was to search the Au…
Investigating Trends in School Socioeconomic Composition According to School Sector and Geographical Location
This study investigated differences in socioeconomic composition (SEC) of schools in Australia by school sector and location. Using state-wide data from New South Wales (NSW), we examined patterns of change in the SEC of government, Independent and Catholic schools in Major City, Inner Regional, Outer Regional and Remote/Very Remote locations from 2008 to 2025. Results showed increasing proportions of students attending Independent schools and de…
Making Sense of Standardised Assessment Data: A Response to Snow et al. (2025)
I write in response to the commentary by Snow et al. (2025) on the paper Are Australian students' academic skills declining? Interrogating 25 years of national and international standardised assessment data published in this journal (Larsen 2024). In this response I address the four major areas of concern raised by Snow et al., and conclude with some suggestions for new approaches to using standardised assessment data to better understand Austral…
Psychology (7 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Education Systems and Policy (5 works) · Mathematics education (4 works) · Parental Involvement in Education (4 works) · Academic achievement (3 works) · Literacy (3 works) · Numeracy (3 works) · School Choice and Performance (3 works) · Structural equation modeling (3 works)