All three members of the editorial team are with you today for a special episode of The Research Files, to share some of the highlights from last month’s ACER Research Conference. The online event featured five days of keynotes, presentations, a research video showreel and a masterclass, all on the theme of ‘Excellent progress for every student: What will it take?’

Two Australian educators have been named in the top 50 finalists for the 2021 Global Teacher Prize. Deputy Principal of Bonnyrigg Public School in New South Wales, Rebecca West, and English and History teacher from Brunswick Secondary College in Victoria, Steven Kolber are in the running to win the US$1 million prize.

In today’s article, Dave Tout, Justine Sakurai and Carly Sawatzki discuss numeracy and its relationship with mathematics, and the importance of real-world contexts. They’ll also share a problem-solving cycle to help students develop their skills, and a classroom example of health numeracy, using trampolining as a focus for mathematical investigation.

Effective teacher-parent relationships and parent engagement in their child’s learning improves student outcomes. Researchers in the United States have surveyed parents and carers of preschoolers about their role in their child’s learning, and the support they’d like from teachers.

In today’s article, Dr Erin Leif, Dr Laura Alfrey and Dr Christine Grove describe how teachers can integrate the Universal Design for Learning framework and High Impact Teaching Strategies in a complementary way in the classroom in order to teach more inclusively.

What challenges do teachers face when delivering inclusive education? How could we begin to address this? In the first of two articles on the topic, Dr Erin Leif, Dr Laura Alfrey and Dr Christine Grove from Monash University explore these questions.

Bernie Hawker, Head of Department Teaching and Learning at Goondiwindi State High School in Queensland, joins us to talk about the school’s award-winning STEAM Program, which has been successful in improving student writing outcomes. You’ll also hear about the strong culture of sharing and collaboration among staff, including through Professional Learning Communities, that’s been key to the program’s continued growth and success.

Dr Gary Stager joins Teacher to discuss his 30-year study into laptop use in schools. We discuss the challenges they faced in the early 1990s in the implementation of the program, how students engaged with the technology in the early days, but also what he’s learned about the way computers are used in schools today.

Dr Karen Maras, from the University of New South Wales, has been presenting on the opening day of ACER’s Research Conference 2021. In this Q&A with Teacher she talks about student learning progressions in visual arts, and shares some examples of how their conceptions of art change with age.

‘[Virtual Reality] cannot be an outcome in itself but needs to be a tool that creates meaningful, authentic and integrated learning opportunities when fully embedded with the curriculum.’ Dr Susan O’Donnell and Adrian Rayner share the five pillars of a successful VR program in education.