As students head back to school this year, it’s worth sparing a thought for the many students who won’t return. In fact, each year thousands of young people leave school without a Year 12 qualification…
Australia is one of the few developed nations to not require graduating high-school students to study maths.
Flickr/bootload
Australia is not doing well in the international literacy and numeracy attainment rankings and many rightly point out the funding issues, clearly identified in the Gonski Review, as central contributing…
Teacher education is typically the largest undergraduate program in most universities and is therefore a cash cow.
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Despite all the talk about improving the quality of teachers and teaching in Australia, the general downward slide of entry standards to undergraduate teacher training courses continues. While the top…
Sorting high achieving students from their peers may be sending the wrong message.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Results released from a major Victorian study on student learning show high achieving children’s performance in tests is “flat-lining”. The study, by Professor Patrick Griffin, followed 36,000 students…
Will open educational resources affect all stages of education?
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By now, most of you have probably heard of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) – courses by universities like MIT and Stanford that are available for free online. But what about Massive Open Online Kindergartens…
It’s time we looked at the idea of for-profit education in Australia.
EPA/Guillaume Horcajuleo
Annette Rome, The University of Melbourne e Adam Smith, Australian Council for Educational Research
For-profit education is something that really doesn’t exist in Australia… yet. But in many other countries around the world it has become a normal part of education and there are now many companies providing…
There have been two major reports this year looking into how university places are funded – so which was right?
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The past year has seen two major reports on the economics of higher education, each seeking to reform the way undergraduate study is financed. The Grattan Institute’s Graduate Winners appeared in August…
An Indigenous MP in Western Australia has highlighted the tensions in Indigenous education around culture and.
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Last week the Western Australian Indigenous Labor MP, Ben Wyatt, told a conference in Perth that Aboriginal children in remote communities need a “full Western education”. Wyatt went on to say that the…
New reports show Australian education is slipping, but what can be done about it?
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The results of international literacy, numeracy and science tests released this week should be cause for alarm. In what the minister for education Peter Garrett called “disappointing” results, the Progress…
Two new international reports on school performance should be put into perspective.
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The recent release of Australia’s performance in the TIMMS (2011) and PIRLS (2011) test results has sparked much media comment about what this means for the quality of Australian education. The focus so…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants Australia to improve its international standing in education performance, setting a goal to be in the top 5 by 2025.
AAP
Two new education performance reports released by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) have painted a bleak picture of Australia’s student literacy and science and mathematics achievement…
The latest results of international testing in maths, science and reading means Australia’s education outlook does not look good.
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Sue Thomson, Australian Council for Educational Research
Prime Minister Julia Gillard in September set an ambitious goal for Australian education: to be ranked as a top-five country in reading, mathematics and science by 2025. Clearly she is hoping to lift Australia…
There’s still plenty to discover about how the brain works but what we know now is irrelevant to education.
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Neuroscience: the word oozes sophistication and intelligence – the very qualities we might want to nurture in our students, our children, our general populace. Maybe that’s why many people involved in…
Changes in the level of children’s physical activity is not solely responsible for the obesity epidemic.
Brent Danley
As public health researchers who’ve worked with government, non-governmental organisations, schools, childcare organisations, families and children to understand the complexity of obesity and effective…
There’s no evidence that bootcamps on their own help young offenders.
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During Queensland’s recent election campaign, the then state opposition leader, Campbell Newman, promised to spend $2 million trialling the use of correctional boot camps to address the problem of young…
If information is everywhere, then how can we learn?
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The pub argument is dead. Google killed it with a little help from your smartphone. Instead of long fought debates about who’s right and who’s wrong, an answer is nearly always within easy reach. With…
There’s been plenty of attention on NAPLAN testing this week, but ACARA’s Barry McGaw argues there needn’t be.
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There has been much controversy this week over a study released by the Whitlam Institute claiming that NAPLAN testing is being treated as a high-stakes program that is causing unnecessary stress among…
Measuring the impact of research is notoriously difficult but a new trial has developed some new methods.
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Megan Clement, The Conversation e Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation
The large majority of Australian university research projects have considerable impact on society, according to new findings from the sector. The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) and…
New legislation introduced in parliament today marks the beginning of reform of schools funding.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Today the Australia Education Bill – the legislation following on from the Gonski review into school funding – was introduced into parliament. In September this year, the government responded to the review…
The idea of a universities commission has been floated recently – but is it a good idea?
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There’s been a push recently in university circles for a new body to help govern the sector and act as a buffer between the universities and government. Champions of the idea point to the Universities…