April
- Exclusive
- Education
NAPLAN reports arrive eight weeks early, giving more time to intervene
Detailed reports on how schools, classes and individual students performed in this year’s NAPLAN tests will start landing on Monday.
- Julie Hare
March
Early NAPLAN gives more time to help struggling students
Students will sit the national assessment program earlier than ever before, with results landing much sooner in the school year.
- Julie Hare
February
Uni reforms risk putting students on ‘pathway to failure’: Coalition
The opposition gives qualified backing to the government’s higher education reform agenda but says big increases in student numbers risk lowering standards.
- Julie Hare
One in three Aussie kids can’t read this headline: Grattan
Schools need to transform the way they teach reading so that fewer children get left behind, think tank report says.
- 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
- Analysis
- Schools
Why being scared of maths can be good for kids
Maths anxiety is real and affects as many as a third of Australia children, severely limiting career choices in adult life.
- Julie Hare
Women outnumber men at all but two Aussie universities
A lack of other post-school study options, and the rise of qualifications in female dominated fields, mean women are dominant on almost every campus.
- Julie Hare
December 2023
- Opinion
- Schools
A chance to fix the inequity chasm in Australian schools
A report handed to education ministers last week has outlined a plan for real change after decades of reforms that have failed to bite.
- Doug Taylor
Every child, better outcomes, every year: schools plan goes to states
Labor’s key targets including attendance and annual learning gain will form the basis of negotiations around a new national school funding agreement.
- Julie Hare
Absenteeism, bad behaviour compound poor school performance
Disengaged parenting, disruptive classroom behaviour and growing levels of absenteeism are having a devastating impact on school performance.
- Julie Hare
November 2023
Why Australian school kids are failing
Australia’s national curriculum could be the very reason why kids are going backwards compared to their peers internationally.
- Julie Hare
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
Why coeducation is so fraught in Australia
When Newington College announced its decision to go co-ed, borderline hysteria ensued. The question is why.
- Julie Hare
August 2023
Superannuation’s baby Boomer tipping point has arrived, plus nine more great opinion reads
As the silver tsunami of retirements arrives expect the financial system to be reshaped; the Albanese government seems no more keen to tackle huge reform that its predecessors. Here are ten thoughtful opinion pieces from the last week.
How a love of books turned this school’s NAPLAN results around
Victoria topped the states in 16 of 20 categories of the latest literacy and numeracy measures. Elsternwick Primary School had a simple plan to turn its scores around.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- Education
NAPLAN benchmarks have changed, but bad results stay the same
The national school test results show one in three children failed to reach expectations in basic numeracy, reading and writing skills.
- Jordana Hunter and Nick Parkinson
One-third of Australian children behind on their learning: NAPLAN
This year’s simplified NAPLAN results reveal one in 10 children are in dire need of help and one in three are below the national benchmark.
- Julie Hare
‘Keeps me up at night’: NAPLAN data to spark schools overhaul
Education Minister Jason Clare says the latest results will show the need for major school reform to address the poor results of disadvantaged students.
- Tom Burton
July 2023
- Opinion
- Teaching
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
Schools crisis: why a revolution might be under way
Australia’s four-decade long experiment with the education of its children is on the cusp of ending. And not before time.
- Julie Hare