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Australian Council for Educational Research

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation that has been supporting the transformation of the education sector for more than 90 years. Our mission is to create and promote research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the life span.

An international leader in educational research, ACER specialises in collecting and interpreting information to shape strategic decision-making, from the early years to post-compulsory education. We develop high quality assessment and reporting tools and services, and support professionals to develop their capabilities to improve learner outcomes. Our evidence-based publications and resources focus on understanding and addressing the needs of individuals, promoting quality teaching and leadership, and supporting organisational improvement.

We have more than 430 staff located in our 10 offices in Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 38 articles

PISA results come out every three years, and there’s always a big hoo-ha about it. from shutterstock.com

The PISA world education test results are about to drop. Is Australia getting worse?

Every three years, the OECD releases its Programme for International Student Assessment results. Last time, Australia’s education system was doing much worse than some other countries. Has it changed?
Spending on education in Australia increased nearly 80% between 2000 and 2015. from shutterstock.com

Three charts on: how much Australia spends on all levels of education

In 2015, the federal government contributed A$47.2 billion (42%) to education. State, territory and local governments spent A$39.1 billion (35%) and A$25.5 billion (23%) came from private sources.
4.5 million young Australians between the ages of nine and 24 have taken NAPLAN tests at some point during their schooling. Shutterstock

We need to reform NAPLAN to make it more useful

NAPLAN has now been in place for a decade and needs ongoing review and refinement to make it more useful to classroom teaching and learning.
Standardised assessments can inform what teachers teach, based on evidence of student learning. Shutterstock

Evidence-based education needs standardised assessment

Standardised tests are a powerful tool for building an evidence base of what works to guide education policy.
Students don’t always know if they are making any progress in their learning. from www.shutterstock.com

Rethinking how we assess learning in schools

Our current way of assessing students doesn’t let them see the progress they are making over extended periods of time.

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