Australian students report greater levels of respect for people from other cultures and more positive attitudes towards immigrants than the OECD average, according to a new report from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Find out more in today’s article.

What is excellence in Indigenous education? And, how is it conceptualised in practice? In this article, researchers from the University of Queensland, Dr Marnee Shay, Dr Jodie Miller and Dr Suraiya Abdul Hameed, share details of their pilot study in Queensland schools that explored these questions.

The latest edition of Snapshots, from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), digs into PISA 2018 data to explore the question: How aware of global issues are Australian 15-year-olds? Students were asked to report the extent to which they knew about seven issues. Today’s infographic looks at some of the results.

‘Racism impacts profoundly on the lives of children and young people with major effects on health and wellbeing, and on education and social outcomes.’ In this Q&A, the lead author of a rapid evidence review on the prevalence of racism and racial discrimination experienced by young people in Australia, shares the findings and implications for educators.

A new Mission Australia and Black Dog Institute report has analysed Mission Australia Youth Survey findings from 2012-20 to better understand psychological distress faced by 15- to 19-year-olds in Australia. Data show there has been a significant increase in the proportion of young people experiencing mental health challenges. Find out more in today’s infographic.

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.

What are the key characteristics and concepts of computational thinking? And, how can a student’s performance of computational thinking be assessed? In this edition of Researching education: Five further readings, we are sharing a range of resources which seek to answer these questions and more.

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.

The majority of 15-year-olds living in Australia expect to be working in a professional occupation when they are 30 years old, but there is a large divide between the expectations of students from advantaged and disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, according to a new ACER report.

With gyms and swimming pools closed, group fitness classes cancelled and community sports on hold, how are people managing to keep fit throughout the COVID-19 pandemic? Research from Deakin University has found that people are turning to digital platforms as an effective way to stay fit when access to other forms of organised exercise is restricted.