Recruiting career changers into teaching has become a strategy to address teacher shortages in hard-to-staff schools. In today’s article we speak to Dr Babak Dadvand from La Trobe University about his research that aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of how career change teachers navigate challenges in these schools in the early years of switching to the profession.

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re joined by Angeline Aow and Sadie Hollins, 2 of the authors of Becoming a Totally Inclusive School: A Guide for Teachers and School Leaders. We’ll be talking about what we mean by Total Inclusivity, and exploring the Continuum on Becoming a Totally Inclusive School – a 6 stage framework to help schools and educators move from theory to practice.

Convened by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), Research Conference 2023 will explore how to improve the continuity of learning from birth to 12 years. It’s a big topic made compelling through the latest research from experts in early childhood and primary education.

‘At Dromana College we had an issue with only a few teachers having the confidence to write a decent rubric…As a school, we therefore came up with our own guidelines on how to construct rubrics for years 7-10.’ In this reader submission, Assessment and Reporting Coordinator Jodi Wilson shares how the Victorian secondary school has been helping teachers to improve their own rubric design skills.

‘[Do] teachers need to be trained therapists? A resounding no. Teachers can provide the best support to students impacted by trauma by developing positive relationships, implementing evidence-informed classroom practices, providing effective instruction and managing the classroom environment so that all students, including those affected by trauma, can thrive,’ Dr Lorna Hepburn writes in our latest reader submission.

In this extract from their new book, Leading Improvement in School Community Wellbeing, Dr Donna Cross and Dr Leanne Lester are discussing the role of ‘wellbeing champions’ in a school setting, and the 4 key elements school leaders need to prioritise when it comes to staff wellbeing.

There is significant demand for teachers in the UK right now with numerous opportunities for educators in all subjects. There are fantastic opportunities for teachers who are newly qualified or for the most experienced, for those specialising in Primary, and Secondary opportunities for professional development and accelerated career progression are available for all.

Any kind of change can be exciting and sometimes daunting, and moving from primary to secondary school is no different. So, what are the worries and challenges for students, and what would help to make the process easier? In this episode we’re discussing the research behind Life Ed’s Guide to Thrive transition program and how student voice has informed the resources.

We are excited to launch our latest project – Teacher Awards – aimed at recognising outstanding approaches to teaching and school leadership. The 8 Award Categories are open to educators working in the K-12 school education community and recognise achievements of the last 12 months. Find out more in today’s article.

The latest results from PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) were released this month. The data sheds light on the literacy achievement of year 4 students in Australia, and in today’s podcast, we’ll take you through what you need to know.