How effectively are you acting on feedback given to you by students? In this episode of School Improvement, we speak with Dr Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh about her recent research into the impact of student perception surveys on teachers’ practice, and she shares some strategies teachers and schools can employ in order to improve their practice in this area.

Students have a diverse range of personal and contextual factors that influence their access to and achievement in their education. A new global study calls for a re-evaluation of education systems to promote personalised education.

‘Children with dyscalculia lack basic number sense, which affects every aspect of their ability to process numbers including performing arithmetic operations, understanding fractions and algebra.’ Rachel Parker, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research, gives an introduction to the neurological condition dyscalculia, including the signs, diagnostic tools and evidence-based ways to support students.

‘To say that teachers have a significant impact on students’ motivation and engagement is not controversial, nor particularly enlightening. Trucks can be filled with the research papers that show this.’ In this reader submission, Professor Andrew Martin says a more informative exercise is to dig into the ways teachers make a difference to students’ motivation and engagement.

‘Clearly, the decline in Australia’s PISA scores is a complex problem, necessitating complex and varied solutions. What is evident from these data, however, is that the decline in scores cannot be attributed to one particular school sector, but it is shared across the whole system.’ In her latest Teacher column, Sue Thomson examines achievement, school climate and student wellbeing in Australia’s three school sectors.

What makes leadership impactful in regional, rural and remote schools? In this episode of The Research Files, we chat with Scott Eacott, unpacking some of the concepts covered in his recent research on leadership in regional, rural and remote schools.

Involving leaders, teachers, students, families and the wider community in the design and build of schools is relatively commonplace nowadays. However, a new study from the UK highlights that ‘collaboration in itself does not necessarily lead to effective innovation,’ sharing lessons learnt from three schools.

Taking turns and sharing in early childhood develops children’s pro-social skills in the early years, helping them to thrive in school and later life. In the second part of a Q&A with Teacher, Lauren Armstrong – Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of Tasmania – discusses how early years and primary teachers can support the development of these important skills.

Taking turns and sharing in early childhood develops children’s pro-social skills in the early years, helping them to thrive in school and later life. In the first instalment of a two-part Q&A, we speak with Lauren Armstrong – Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of Tasmania – about the impact of these skills for school readiness, and the current research on the topic.

‘Our vision for PLTs? To build a healthy, collaborative professional learning culture of inquiry that positively impacts student learning through teacher learning,’ Sarah Gunn, Head of Teaching and Learning of Middle School at St Laurence’s College in Brisbane shares in today’s reader submission.