La Trobe University
- Project: Nexus Schools Momentum Project
- Amount: $762,000 over three years
- Year(s) Funded: 2025
Nexus Schools Momentum Project
Helping Victorian schools to implement explicit teaching methods through an employment-based teaching program in high-needs schools.
La Trobe University’s School of Education is highly regarded as a leader in delivering best practice initial teacher education and associated research. The School is led by Professor Joanna Barbousas, a transformational leader who has reshaped both teacher education and education policy in Australia.
With support from Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, La Trobe will implement the Momentum Schools Project into twenty schools that already host La Trobe’s Nexus program. The innovative Momentum Schools Project is designed to improve student learning outcomes by implementing and evaluating a comprehensive, school-wide instructional improvement model. It focuses on inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices and aims to identify the enablers and barriers to instructional change in vulnerable school settings. A key feature is the development of a customised instructional coaching program, which supports teachers in refining their practice and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.
The project is part of La Trobe’s broader transformation in teacher education, which includes the Nexus program, an employmentbased pathway that enables education support staff to gain teaching qualifications while working in schools.
Alongside the program, researchers will track changes in teaching practice, student achievement, and teacher retention, generating a robust evidence base to inform future policy and practice.
By supporting teachers in under-resourced schools through sustained, evidence-based coaching, the Momentum Schools Extension project advances educational equity and builds the capacity for inclusive, high-impact teaching that improves learning for all students.
Associate Professor Melissa Barnes, Primary Chief Investigator
”Learn more about the Momentum Schools Project at latrobe.edu.au