Brendan* was just about to start high school when he became ill. Before the onset of his illness he was academically capable and socially competent. His condition meant prolonged absences from school and before long his grades were slipping. Increasingly ...

One might have thought that when the My School website became a reality on 28 January, the debate over school transparency and performance reporting would fade. Undoubtedly, such as assumption would have been wrong. Since then, there have been threats ...

It’s a curious fact, but along with incisive minds greedy for knowledge, academically gifted children have recently been found to hunger for and nurture utually beneficial social connections and friendships. “A real friend is a place you go when you ...

The government is enthralled by New York’s school report cards but overlooked its charter schools model which has helped disadvantaged students succeed. Australia abandoned technical schools whereas Finland, which tops international tests, has kept them at the senior secondary level. ...

Just six years from now, the Victorian higher education system could look very different. Along with a mix of comprehensive and dual sector universities, TAFEs could have more higher education qualifications on offer, there may also be a polytechnic bridging ...

In their family home in suburban Sydney, Lindy Hadges and her children have just finished discussing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It’s a novel they have all read together and from it springs a lively conversation about white slavery, prejudice and human ...

Australian teachers want professional learning opportunities in the same three areas as their international counterparts: students with special needs, ICT and student discipline. This is one of the headline findings of the recently released Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), ...

Darragh O Keeffe reports. It’s a case of life imitating art. In an episode of the popular cartoon series, The Simpsons, a premonition shows the students of the local public school, Springfield Elementary, learning their maths lessons from educational videos ...

Amid Australia’s worst ever peacetime disaster last month, organisations across the nation rallied to fundraise and support the victims of Victorian bushfires. While banks and big business got out their chequebooks, schools everywhere were also making a contribution, not just ...

They’re back. Professional standards for teachers – both their development and implementation – have re-emerged as a major priority for governments at federal and state level. Not everybody’s happy about it though. Some say there are too many players on ...