'While people have different views on the role that digital technology can and should play in schools, we cannot ignore how digital tools have so fundamentally transformed the world outside of school,' OECD Director of Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher writes in his new column.

In this edited version of her presentation at ACER’s Research Conference Dr Sue Thomson looks at the assessment of social and emotional skills in an increasingly fast-changing and diverse world.

Improving educational opportunities has a far greater reach than just the benefits for that individual child. ‘This is particularly the case for educating girls and young women,’ Julia Gillard writes in her latest Teacher column.

‘The reality is, teaching can be really tough, and teachers, more concerned with the health and wellbeing of their students, can often put their own wellbeing last,’ Julia Gillard writes in her latest Teacher column.

‘A quality education always starts with a great teacher’. In her final column of the year, Julia Gillard shares details of some of the programs aimed at improving the recruitment, training and support of teachers in developing nations.

'Some have interpreted Gonski’s proposal as requiring teachers to develop an individual learning plan for every student. This is impossible in practice.' The recent Gonski report calls for a new model of school education. This is a big call. What is this new model? Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses.

This year, for the first time, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) will assess global competence. In his latest Teacher column, OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher discusses what the assessment entails.

Raising the expected performance standard in each year of school and holding all teachers and students accountable for achieving these higher standards may not be the most effective way to improve levels of performance in Australian schools, Professor Geoff Masters AO writes in his latest Teacher column.

There are good reasons to rethink how we organise the school curriculum. An alternative would be to structure the curriculum as a sequence of proficiency levels unrelated to age or year level, according to Professor Geoff Masters AO.

Quality early grade reading is a key focus for the Global Partnership for Education. In her latest Teacher column, Julia Gillard explains how hundreds of millions of children around the world are denied the opportunity to learn to read, and shares how a focus on improving reading standards in Nepal is changing lives for the better.