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.

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 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.

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re taking you to a school in rural New South Wales where students in Years 5 to 9 are reading 12 books each year. Head of Middle School and English teacher Alex Wharton joins us to share how this has been achieved.

With ACER’s Research Conference 2021 fast approaching, at Teacher magazine, we’ve been catching up with some of the keynote speakers that are on the line-up for the five-day online conference. In today’s episode we’re going to get you up to speed on these exciting stories at Teacher, and also some more of our highlights.

A new Australian study exploring reading enjoyment, reading frequency and student achievement has challenged the gender stereotype that boys prefer non-fiction, underscoring the importance of all students being given access to a wide range of genres and text types from an early age.

Ahead of ACER’s Research Conference next month, we sat down with Professor Rich Lehrer from Vanderbilt University to discuss his research that explores science and mathematics education for elementary school students in the US. He also gives listeners a taste of what he’ll be sharing at the conference and why he decided to name his keynote address ‘Accountable Assessment’.

After a pandemic pause in 2020, the ACER Research Conference is back. In today’s Q&A, conference organiser and ACER Senior Research Fellow Dr Claire Scoular tells us more about this year’s theme, and the focus on providing practical solutions for attendees.