We are excited to launch our latest project – Teacher Awards – aimed at recognising outstanding approaches to teaching and school leadership. The Judging Panel for the awards is comprised of 10 experts in education. Find out more in today’s article.

All children deserve a healthy foundation for their development and growth, and schools play a crucial role in making this a reality. A new discussion paper suggests shifting the core purpose of schools and shares 5 key principles to enhance student wellbeing, learning and happiness.

In this edition of Researching education: 5 further readings, we share 5 pieces of content on the topic of supporting reading from researchers in Australia and from overseas, including an open access book with practical teaching strategies and a paper that takes a deep dive into phonemic proficiency.

Our latest Teacher’s Bookshelf features Becoming a Totally Inclusive School: A Guide for Teachers and School Leaders, written by Angeline Aow, Sadie Hollins and Stephen Whitehead. This exclusive extract shares examples of what it means to be a totally inclusive school – an equitable and just institution – and some of the challenges.

In the final article of a series about a 3-year Australian research project into Problem Based Learning in school-based STEM education, 2 of the teachers who are co-researchers in the project – Melissa Gatt and Frank Fabri – discuss student agency as a necessary condition for meaningful STEM learning.

Australia’s results in the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) were released last week. In our latest expert Q&A we speak with PIRLS National Project Manager for Australia and ACER Senior Research Fellow Kylie Hillman about some of the interesting findings to come from this cycle.

Australian students’ literacy achievement has remained steady in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to results from the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). In today’s article we look at some of the factors influencing year 4 students’ performance on the assessment, and how their results compare internationally.

At Brighton Grammar School in Victoria, a year 12 student was given the opportunity to conduct their own educational research project. In this article, we speak with Deputy Headmaster Dr Ray Swann, teacher Oliver Lovell, and student Tim Tso about the process and impact of this project.

How we can improve the continuity of learning from birth to 12 years? That is the question that will be explored at Research Conference 2023, held in Sydney on 3 and 4 September. In this Q&A, we speak with Conference Convener and ACER Senior Research Fellow Dr Claire Scoular, about the conference theme.

School Assembly is the podcast that explores what it takes to build a new school from the ground up. In Series 1 we’re following Principal Dr Ray Boyd and Associate Principal Rachael Lehr at Dayton Primary School in Western Australia. In Episode 9 we talk about how educational research is the foundation for everything at the school – from classroom teaching to leadership.