Education Commons^™

Teacher Development Multi-Year Studies: Conceptual Framework, Hilary Hollingsworth, Elizabeth Cassity, Debbie Wong, Jacqueline Cheng

Teacher education

The purpose of this conceptual framework for DFAT’s teacher development multi-year study series is to improve the following elements across the series: clarity on the purpose of the series; consistency in terminology and methodology; connections to give the ability to draw common conclusions and explain differences; communication to create a shared understanding of the series and each stakeholder’s role and responsibility, and to use internal and external means to engage strategically and disseminate findings. To date, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Laos have committed to undertake multi-year studies of their teacher development investments.

Infographic: Early Career Teacher Induction, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

A new report from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership includes data on the experiences and attitudes of early career teachers about their induction in schools.

Infographic: Educator Mental Health And Wellbeing, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

UK charity Education Support Partnership recently commissioned a large-scale survey into the mental health and wellbeing of education professionals. Our latest infographic reports on some of the findings from the survey.

The Art Of Item Writing: Cross-Curricular Testing At Acer 1964-2014, Doug Mccurry, John Harding

ACER Research Monographs

This monograph is about the development of a distinctive style of cross-curricular testing that was developed at the Australian Council for Educational Research in the 1960s and 1970s, and is still in use in some testing programs presently. The impetus for this kind of test development was the decision of the Menzies government to award 10,000 scholarships each year for students to study at Years 11 and 12 through a test called The Commonwealth Secondary Scholarship Examination (CSSE). The testing program ran for 10 years, during which around one million candidates sat the test. This monograph attempts to demonstrate the …

Lifting Achievement Levels And Improving The Return On Australia’S Investment In Schooling : Submission To The Review To Achieve Educational Excellence In Australian Schools (Chair: Mr David Gonski), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation

Many students in our schools are not learning as well as they could because they are not being given learning opportunities at an appropriate level of challenge. Instead, students are grouped by year level (age) and teachers deliver curricula assumed to be appropriate for all students in the same year of school. However, the most advanced ten per cent of students in any year of school are five to six years ahead of the least advanced ten per cent. For less advanced students, the year-level curriculum is often too far ahead. Many are judged to be underperforming year after year, …

Monitoring Learning Against The Sustainable Development Goals, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Monitoring Learning

The Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML) is an international collaboration to improve learning around the world, led by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The Australian Council for Educational Research Centre for Global Education Monitoring (ACER-GEM) has a major role in supporting GAML, as the UIS’s technical partner. This publication outlines ACER’s role in the work plan of the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning.

Infographic: Wise Words On Relationships, Rebecca Vukovic

Teacher infographics

In the annual Teacher survey, we ask readers: 'Looking back on your experiences as an educator, if you could share one piece of advice with your peers what would it be?' Here are some of the responses received on the topic of relationships.

Infographic: Teacher Behaviour Hindering Learning, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

The 2015 PISA test cycle included a survey of principals. Principals were asked to report on five teacher-related behaviours which are hindering learning. This infographic shows the percentage of students whose principals reported the behaviours occurring 'to some extent' or 'a lot'.

System-Wide Analysis Of Assessment Practices (Swaap): Concept Note, Australian Council For Educational Research

Global education monitoring

This note is concerned with the development of a process to analyse how assessment practices are integrated into education systems in order for assessment outcomes to be useful for evidence based decision making throughout the system. It examines the quality of learning assessment and the extent to which it is embedded into an education system and acts as an effective contributor to the improvement of learning outcomes. The process is referred to as the System-Wide Analysis of Assessment Practices (SWAAP). The primary objective of SWAAP is to support education systems to develop national assessment strategies that generate meaningful data and …

A Study Of Work Practices In Tasmanian Government Schools: Final Report To The Australian Education Union – Tasmanian Branch, Sheldon Rothman, Lawrence C. Ingvarson, Paul R. Weldon, Ali Radloff, Darren Matthews

Teacher workforce and careers

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted an online survey of members on behalf of the Tasmanian Branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU). The survey, which was open to teachers, school leaders (principals and assistant principals) and education support staff working in Tasmanian government schools and offices, was available to the majority of members of the Union in August 2017, and remained open for four weeks during Term 3. The survey was based on one conducted for the Victorian branch of the AEU in 2016. The survey of the work of union members in Tasmanian government schools focussed …

Final Report: Development Of An Online Engagement Scale, Darren Matthews, Ling Tan, Daniel Edwards

Higher education research

The Commonwealth Department of Education and Training commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to review the Learner Engagement Scale (LES), a key measure of student experience. It is administered as part of the Student Experience Survey, an annual survey of a sample of the 400 000 first and final year undergraduates studying at Australian Higher Education institutions – 80 per cent on-campus and around 8 per cent off-campus. Over the years, LES results have consistently shown substantially lower engagement levels in off-campus students – far in excess of the variation between teaching modes that might be expected – …

Shifting The Focus Of Naplan, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

The decision to move NAPLAN online provides an opportunity to place less emphasis on comparing the performances of schools and more emphasis on supporting student learning, according to Professor Geoff Masters AO.

Opening Or Closing Doors For Students? Equity And Data-Driven Decision-Making, Amanda Datnow

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Data-driven decision-making is key pillar of educational reform initiatives in countries across the globe. While approaches to data use vary, the theory of action underlying these efforts is often similar. The common idea is that when leaders and teachers are knowledgeable about how to use data, they will become more effective in reviewing their existing capacities, identifying weaknesses, and charting plans for improvement. In the classroom, data can inform how teachers plan lessons, identify concepts for re-teaching, and differentiate instruction. For all these reasons, data use has significant implications for teaching and leadership. Ensuring equitable opportunities and outcomes for all …

But Can We Measure It?, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

It’s often asserted that some things can’t be measured, Professor Geoff Masters AO writes in his latest column. But how true is this? And if we can’t measure something, should we stop pretending we can teach or develop it?

Infographic: Books In The Home And Student Achievement, Rebecca Vukovic

Teacher infographics

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study of student achievement. Here, we look at TIMSS data on books in the home and the percentage of Australian students at or above the proficient standard for maths and science.

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Australian Education Review

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

Infographic: Student Behaviour Hindering Learning, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

In PISA 2015 principals were asked to report on five student-related behaviours which are hindering learning. This infographic shows the percentage of students whose principals reported the behaviours occurring at least once a month.

Principles Of Good Practice In Learning Assessment, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer), Unesco Institute For Statistics

Monitoring Learning

The Principles of Good Practice in Learning Assessment (GP-LA) are a central element of the international commitment to the management of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 data quality for learning outcomes. The GP-LA is an independent articulation of good practices that accommodates the diversity of large-scale learning assessment activities being undertaken throughout the world. Within SDG 4 reporting processes it serves two purposes. First, it serves as the conceptual framework to evaluate the quality of large scale assessments and data from these assessments submitted for SDG 4 reporting. Second, the principles described in the GP-LA will support the diagnosis of …

The School Curriculum: About Time, Geoff N. Masters, Ray Adams

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

When it comes to the school curriculum, it’s about time we asked a question about time.

An essential feature of the school curriculum is the specification of what teachers are to teach and students are to learn at particular times in the schooling process. In other words, the curriculum spells out not only what teachers are to teach and students are to learn, but also whenthis is to occur.

When it comes to the school curriculum, it’s about time we asked a question about time.

An essential feature of the school curriculum is the specification of what teachers are …

The School Curriculum: About Time, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

'Too often in our schools, the time-bound curriculum does not deliver learning experiences matched to individuals’ present levels of achievement and learning needs,' Professor Geoff Masters AO writes in his latest Teacher column.

Infographic: School Teaching As A Highly Regarded Profession, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

Since 1976, a Roy Morgan annual survey has asked Australians to rate 30 professions for ethics and honesty. This year, the rating for school teachers hit an all-time high. Find out more in today's infographic.

Infographic: Student Wellbeing And Pe Classes, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

The latest cycle of PISA explored the wellbeing of 15-year-old students. Survey topics included Physical Education classes at school. Here are results from a selection of the 70+ countries and economies that participated.

Assessment Online: Informing Teaching And Learning, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Online assessments are capable of providing significantly improved feedback to teaching and learning. Experience in schools is demonstrating the potential of online assessment – provided the foundations are right.

Assessment Online: Informing Teaching And Learning, Geoff N. Masters

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Online assessments are capable of providing significantly improved feedback to teaching and learning. Experience in schools is demonstrating the potential of online assessment – provided the foundations are right.

The advantages of online assessment are often described in terms of its administrative convenience, efficiency and lower costs. However, well-constructed online assessments also are capable of providing more timely, more instructionally useful feedback to teaching and learning. For a number of years ACER has been investigating ways to enhance the educational value of online assessments.

Reconciliation Begins At Home, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

'Sitting down with our children to watch programs that demonstrate and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being, such as Little J & Big Cuz, is one small ‘next step’ that each of us can take on the journey towards reconciliation.'

Pisa 2015: Financial Literacy In Australia, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The main focus of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) financial literacy assessment is on measuring the proficiency of 15-year-old students in demonstrating and applying the knowledge and skill that they have learned in and out of school. Like other PISA domains, financial literacy is assessed using an instrument designed to provide data that are valid, reliable and interpretable. PISA is an international comparative assessment of student achievement directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, are prepared …

Infographic: Student Exercise Outside School, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

How do students in Australia compare with their counterparts in New Zealand, Singapore and the UK when it comes to physical exercise before and after school? Our latest infographic explores new OECD data.

Acer 2015-2016 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Infographic: Offensive Behaviour Against School Leaders, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

The 2016 Australian Principal Health & Wellbeing Survey includes prevalence rates of offensive behaviour against school leaders, compared to the general population. Our latest infographic explores some of the results.

How Well Are We Learning From Naplan?, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Some Australian schools and school systems have seen greater improvements in NAPLAN results than others. How well do we understand where improvements are occurring and why? Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses.