Educational evaluation

Report

Tackling under-achievement: why Australia should embed high-quality small-group tuition in schools

The authors of this report argue that high-quality, small-group tuition should be embedded in all Australian schools, as part of a national drive to close the learning gap between struggling and high-achieving students.
Report

Review of the National School Reform Agreement: study report

This report examines how well national policy initiatives by the Australian, State and Territory Governments have achieved the objectives and outcomes set out in the National School Reform Agreement, and makes recommendations to inform the design of the next school reform agreement.
Report

Key tensions in refugee education

Globally, education is in crisis, with steep inequities, low learning outcomes, irrelevant content and ineffective learning and teaching strategies in many settings. This paper is intended for refugee education donors, policy-makers and implementers, and aims to inform policy dialogue.
Report

National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN): national report 2022

The National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests are conducted for all students across Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. This report provides nationally comparable data on the 2022 national and state/territory results for each test domain and year level assessed...
Report

Writing development: what does a decade of NAPLAN data reveal?

This report discusses AERO’s 2022 analysis of student writing data. Overall, the research suggests that students’ writing skills have declined over 7 years (2011 to 2018), with many high school students significantly behind the expectations outlined in curriculum documents.
Report

5-year Productivity Inquiry: from learning to growth - interim report

As part of its 5-year Productivity Inquiry, the Productivity Commission has released this interim report outlining potential opportunities to improve Australia’s school and tertiary education systems.
Report

No evidence, no evaluation, no exit

This report examines New Zealand’s redesigned classrooms. The limited evidence on how numerous they have become, what kinds of spatial configurations they comprise, how large they are, and how are they being used is also discussed.
Report

Respectful Relationships Education in Australia: national stocktake and gap analysis of Respectful Relationships Education material and resources final report

The Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) helps to create an inclusive and prosperous Australia by maximising opportunity through national leadership on education, skills and employment policy development. In August 2021, DESE commissioned Monash University to undertake a national stocktake and gap analysis...
Report

Review of the National School Reform Agreement: interim report

This interim report reviews how well national policy initiatives by the Australian, State and Territory governments have achieved the objectives and outcomes set out in the National School Reform Agreement, and makes recommendations to inform the design of the next agreement.
Policy report

Systems thinking to transform schools: identifying levers that lift educational quality

International voices grow louder to improve the quality of schooling and transform the core aims and practices of the education sector. This brief argues that policy-makers and educators must grasp the levers of organisational change inside education institutions to rethink goals and lift school quality.
Report

Building education systems for equity and inclusion

This report is the output from an Academy of the Social Sciences Australia (ASSA)-funded workshop hosted by the Gonski Institute for Education at UNSW Sydney. The report provides advice to government and systems for redressing intergenerational policy failure, looking beyond the school gate, giving voice...
Report

Understanding and mitigating the impact of COVID-19 disruption on trainee and early career teachers in secondary schools

This report finds that new teachers experienced isolation and self-doubt because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, but also demonstrated resilience that could make them even better teachers.
Report

Who cares about using education research in policy and practice?

The OECD has launched the 'Strengthening the Impact of Education Research' project. This publication reports on the first phase of the project. It maps the various structures, processes, actors and relationships that reinforce the quality, production and use of education research in policy and practice.
Working paper

The inclusion of LGBTQI+ students across education systems: an overview

This paper provides a brief history of how the LGBTQI+ population has often been misunderstood, in order to understand the educational challenges faced by students who identify as a part of this population.
Discussion paper

Review of the National School Reform Agreement: call for submissions

The Productivity Commission has commenced a review of the National School Reform Agreement. The review will examine how well national policy initiatives by the Australian, and State and Territory Governments, have achieved the objectives and outcomes set out in the Agreement. This call for submissions...
Briefing paper

Equity and excellence in education: creating a system that is fair and inclusive for all

Education inequity is a problem in Australia. The authors of this paper argue that we need to re-think what counts as ‘success.’
Report

Fragmentation and photo-ops: the failures of Australian skills policy through COVID

This report offers a comprehensive review of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia, confirming Australia’s VET system shows growing signs of erosion, fragmentation and dysfunction. It asserts that several high-profile government announcements during the pandemic designed to address skilled labour shortages have not altered...
Report

Delivering high-quality VET: what matters to RTOs?

This report is the second part of a project investigating how the quality of delivery in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia is currently defined and measured, and how registered training organisations (RTOs) use and value measures of quality. The project also set out...
Report

Agile government: the role of public affairs education

The most significant challenges facing public administration today include the isolation of public servants, the rigidity of the administrative and regulatory systems in which they operate, and the lack of opportunity to develop relevant and emerging competencies. This report is intended to initiate a dialog...
Report

Teacher workforce: fiction vs fact

Australia’s education outcomes have deteriorated, despite increased spending on teachers and policies to increase the quantity and quality of teachers. This paper challenges several persistent assumptions about the quantity and quality of the teacher workforce and identifies areas of concern supported by data and evidence.
Report

Teaching with cultural heritage materials during the pandemic

This report captures the perspectives of instructors who were directly impacted by the shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in one common way - they were no longer able to provide in-person learning opportunities with cultural heritage materials for their students.
Report

Amplify Insights: Education inequity part two - levers of change

This report examines key drivers of inequity within Australia’s educational system and the impacts on students, and provides recommendations on what needs to be done both inside and outside the school gates to deliver a more equitable education system post-pandemic.
Report

Some critical thoughts about critical and creative thinking

Developing creative and critical thinking is a major priority of educators and policy-makers. This paper provides an overview of human cognitive architecture as relevant to how students learn and demonstrate creativity and critical thinking. In doing so, it highlights that general creativity and critical thinking...
Working paper

Promoting inclusive education for diverse societies: a conceptual framework

In many countries, schools and classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse along a variety of dimensions. The 'Strength through diversity: education for inclusive societies project' seeks to help governments and education systems address diversity to achieve more equitable and inclusive education systems. This paper presents the...
Report

Amplify Insights: Education inequity part one - drivers of inequity

Paying particular attention to selected demographic groups known to face barriers to educational participation, this report utilises an inclusive systems approach to propose changes in practice and policy-making to remove education inequity in the early, middle and senior years of learning.