Updating an earlier research note, Marilyn Harrington briefly explains the system of Commonwealth funding for schools and describes some of the trends in Commonwealth funding for schools since 1996.

Highly effective schools - that is, schools that achieve high standards regardless of gender, family backgrounds or socioeconomic status - have a number of features in common. Geoff Masters discusses these in this article.

Making the Connections is the result of the Social Inclusion Board’s investigation into the causes of low school retention rates and our response as Government to the Board’s work. It considers ways young people and their families, schools, government agencies and communities can work together on the issues that cause many young people to become...

In 2003 the federal government released an issues paper on the establishment of a National Institute for Quality Teaching and School Leadership. Responding to the proposal, ACER's Lawrence Ingvarson argues that it has great potential to strengthen teaching as a profession and, thereby, the quality of student learning. Australia is long overdue for an independent...

Bullying in schools has become an issue of major importance among educators. However, interventions to reduce bullying have enjoyed only modest and limited success. Ken Rigby examines five different explanations for bullying. Each has had some impact on school policies and practices. The strengths and limitations of the different explanations are examined. It is concluded...