This paper aims to support early childhood education (ECE) practitioners and policy-makers by bringing together the available research on formative assessment, contextualised to early childhood education in New South Wales. Formative assessment is an educational practice that has broad applicability and support.

This independent review of NAPLAN, commissioned by New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, recommends an overhaul of the national standardised assessment to ensure that it meets the needs of schools, parents and students now and into the future.

This paper, commissioned by the NSW Department of Education, addresses the issue of critical thinking, identified in the Australian curriculum as an important capability for the 21st Century. It considers the cognitive science evidence for how it is acquired, and what this means for educators...