February
Poor university teaching ‘a drag on productivity’
The Productivity Commissioner says there are no incentives inside universities to lift their game and no way for students to know what they are signing up to.
- Julie Hare
January
Good teachers worsening the education divide: research
Highly skilled teachers are less likely to work in disadvantaged areas where they could have the most impact, new research finds.
- Julie Hare
December 2023
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Jason Clare’s counter-insurgency must save the education revolution
The PISA results are an opportunity to draw a line under the failed educational thinking and practices that have allowed school students to fall behind.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- PISA
What Australia must do to lift flatlining student scores
This country may have averted the worst of the COVID-era education destruction, but that doesn’t mitigate the many flaws in our school system.
- Glenn Fahey
November 2023
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Australian Curriculum gets an F for failing teachers and students
Correlation isn’t causation, yet surely it is fair to connect poor student achievement with the deficiencies in a curriculum setting out what is taught in schools.
- The AFR View
Australia’s slow march towards getting reading right
Making sure all children and young adults can read must be a top priority for all governments.
- Amy Haywood and Anika Stobart
September 2023
- Exclusive
- Industrial relations
Victorian TAFEs push for single employer status
The institutes’ teachers are hoping the Fair Work Commission will pave the way for them to bargain collectively.
- Julie Hare
August 2023
‘Dud’ teaching degrees to blame for failing schools: Henderson
The opposition education minister said “deficient” university teacher education courses were to blame for falling school performance and should be defunded.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- Opinion
New teachers should have our support, not denigration
Much of the debate around initial teacher education disregards facts and is undermining the newest members of our most noble of professions.
- Mary Ryan
Unscripted: Griffith’s assessment plan to combat cheating
Griffith University’s oral assessment program aims to deter plagiarism and rote learning.
- Sian Powell
Conduits for change, unis prove their worth
This year’s winners of the AFR Higher Education Awards have three things in common: creativity, impact and social good.
- Julie Hare
Studying music goes well beyond the classroom
Music students benefit from greater vocational direction and are finding new career opportunities.
- Nicki Bourlioufas
Universities’ stranglehold on new teachers undermining reform
Universities educate 99 per cent of new teachers, but high attrition rates suggest many are not doing a great job of it.
- Julie Hare
July 2023
- Opinion
- Opinion
Teachers know what’s needed, universities should get on board
The solution to Australia’s literacy problem is clear and evidence-based. So, why aren’t universities getting on board?
- Jennifer Buckingham
- Opinion
- Education
Australian schools should learn from Mississippi’s education revolution
One of the poorest states in the US is achieving remarkable results in both reading and maths for economically disadvantaged students by using evidence-based teaching and learning.
- Leslie Loble
‘No esoteric ideas’: Hordes of teachers sign up for practical reading courses
Eight thousand teachers have signed up for courses to learn the basics of evidence-based instruction over the past three years, proof of huge unmet demand for practical help in teaching and managing classes.
- Updated
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Courageous Clare’s plan to stop Australia’s great schooling rot
A Labor education minister is now acknowledging that the problems and solutions for Australian schools lie in fixing the poor quality training that teachers receive in our universities.
- The AFR View
Labor to overhaul teaching standards and ‘focus on fundamentals’
State and federal education ministers hope the changes will also boost numeracy and literacy as NAPLAN scores go backwards despite billions in extra funding.
- Hannah Wootton
Teacher accreditation standards ‘need teeth’: Scott
New national practical teaching guidelines will be developed by the end of 2023, education ministers agreed on Thursday.
- Tom McIlroy
May 2023
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
Country maths teacher sells his tech company for $40m
Andrew Spitty was a regional Victorian maths teacher when he started a side business building tech to improve student assessments; 12 years on he has sold it for $40m.
- Paul Smith