This working paper provides an overview of a proposed national linked dataset on the educational activity and outcomes of children while in child protection services, to allow ongoing and longitudinal monitoring of the academic progress, and to better inform policy, practice and planning of activities to support these children. Summary Background Improving the educational outcomes...

Measures of student achievement are regularly used in the development and evaluation of education policy. This can include the relative achievement of sub-groups in the community (such as the Closing the Gap targets for Indigenous students), an assessment of demand (such as university entrance scores) and for international comparisons. This guide provides a brief overview...

Five years of reporting on Australia’s education outcomes has shown signs of improvement in the early years and in Year 12 attainment. About this report All Australian governments signed the National Education Agreement in January 2009. The objective of the agreement is that all Australian school students acquire the knowledge and skills to participate effectively...

The 2013 Australian School Library Survey, conducted by Softlink on behalf of the Australian School Library industry, examines key trends and issues impacting school libraries. Key analysis includes annual school library budgets, staffing levels in Australian school libraries and the relationship of budgets and staffing level to academic achievement and literacy.

Abstract This study finds that participation in extracurricular activities significantly reduces engagement in risky behaviours among Australian adolescents. However, the effects differ by activity type, gender and to some extent by socio-economic status (SES). Participation in activities other than sports and arts reduces both weekly drinking and marijuana use for both genders. Participation in arts...