Suspending welfare payments won’t help young people get jobs
Youth unemployment is a problem of demand. Cutting welfare payments merely punishes those young people who are most vulnerable to poverty.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
Do ‘kindy bootcamps’ get children ready for school?
Parents are sending their children to private pre-school programs as a way to ensure they are ready to start school. But are these effective?
Why we need an independent authority to oversee tertiary education
An independent authority should control the tertiary funding system in Australia in order to best implement policy objectives.
Suspending welfare payments unlikely to boost school attendance
Any new approach to linking welfare payments to attendance must address the flaws of previous trials. It will require the cooperation of schools and the availability of accurate, real-time data.
More at-risk young people are turning to private VET providers
New research shows private VET providers are ill-equipped to tackle the learning needs of vulnerable young people, who are increasingly being enrolled onto these training courses.
Has the push to get more disadvantaged students into universities been a success?
While research shows HEPPP has helped to increase numbers of disadvantaged students going to university, more specific evidence is still needed.
Research and News
Telegraph story on research funding does nothing to advance Australian journalism
The decision to refuse the ARC and academic researchers a right of reply appears to be a straightforward breach of the News Corp Australia code of conduct.
Six Australian universities make the global top 100 list
Australia had more universities in the top 100 than any other nation, apart from the US and UK.
Gonski debate
Gonski model was corrupted, but Labor and Coalition are both to blame
Instead of a needs-based model, we ended up with an inconsistent patchwork of approaches across Australian states and territories that protected the vested interests of non-government schools.
Let’s meet in the middle on schools funding, not continue the trench warfare
A new school funding model being proposed aims to free up funds to help education ministers resolve their differences in state funding, and deliver needs-based funding in full.
Better Teachers
Do arts teachers have to be artists?
In the hierarchy of subjects, art is usually ranked at the bottom. Would teachers who have an artistic background help raise the status of the subject in schools?
What is the role of a teacher?
Teaching maths – what does the evidence say actually works?
Supporting students with autism in the classroom: what teachers need to know
Improving teaching in rural schools - we need to stop borrowing approaches from overseas
To raise status of teaching, Australia needs to lift pay and cut teacher numbers
Focusing on tests and invalid assessments is the wrong way to measure teacher quality
What are the main challenges facing teacher education in Australia?
Higher Ed Policy Debate
Are university flagship courses actually workable? And will they be a disaster for equity?
If the flagship policy does not end up driving choice or quality, it is hard to see it gaining support.
Finding ways forward when higher education reform options are limited
Can the government realistically cut funding by 20% for each student in higher education?
Higher education gets short shrift in the election campaign, and we are all the poorer for it
Large growth in student numbers is threatening sustainability of university system
Uncapping of university places has not failed disadvantaged students
PhD scholarships
Columnists
Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
Pokémon Go
Gaming in the classroom: what we can learn from Pokémon Go technology
Apps, games and technologies like Pokémon Go should be approached with an open mind as they offer many potential avenues to employ an engaging, student-centred approach to education.
Education truths
Four common claims about education funding and quality that need explaining
Claims made by politicians and the media about what does and does not improve education outcomes are repeated on a regular basis. But is there much truth in them?
Sleep
Sleep problems that persist could affect children’s emotional development
If behavioural sleep problems persist beyond infancy, there could be implications for children’s emotional and attentional development longer term.
University fees
Should students pay different fees for university courses?
Students currently pay higher fees for courses that lead to jobs with typically higher wages. But not all students find, or want, a job in their area of study. Should all students then pay the same amount for their university degree?
Disability
School is not always a safe place for students with disability – this has to change
Students with disability are experiencing a range of harms in schools, and teachers are struggling to support students with increasingly complex needs.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN data is not comparable across school years
It is not reasonable for politicians to say NAPLAN results have plateaued, because comparisons from year to year are not reliably accurate.
Podcast
Speaking with: John Hattie on how to improve the quality of education in Australian schools
Maxine McKew speaks with education expert John Hattie about the kind of debates we really should be having around education.
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- Why some kids can’t spell and why spelling tests won’t help
- More at-risk young people are turning to private VET providers
- Do ‘kindy bootcamps’ get children ready for school?
- Why we need an independent authority to oversee tertiary education
- Suspending welfare payments won’t help young people get jobs
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