Australia’s year 4s achieved the country’s best-ever result in the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Alongside the year 4 and 8 assessments, students, teachers and principals at participating schools completed a questionnaire – those findings have been released today.

Last month we brought you news of a major OECD report on the state of global teenage career preparation. So, in this follow-up podcast we’re going to be sharing an example of how one school here in Australia – Fairhills High School in Victoria – is doing some great work in the area of careers and pathways education.

Each cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) includes a student questionnaire. One topic – mathematics anxiety – is characterised by feelings of tension, fear or apprehension when a person is faced with mathematics-related tasks. Today’s infographic provides useful prompts for teachers when considering their own students.

Sometimes students make a behaviour choice thinking it will help them fit in with their peers. A new report from ACER and Life Ed explores tobacco and vaping use among secondary students and finds their beliefs about ‘the norm’ don’t reflect reality.

The largest ever study on the job ambitions of 15-year-olds has revealed a stark mismatch between teenagers’ career expectations, education choices and labour market demands. In particular, the newly released OECD data show more needs to be done to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In this episode of The Research Files podcast, Teacher editor Jo Earp chats to Jenni Ingram, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, about the OECD’s Unlocking High-Quality Teaching report. Alongside insights from 150 schools in 50 countries, it explores 20 practices that teachers draw on to achieve 5 key teaching goals.

New research from academics at the University of the Sunshine Coast shows that maths and science educators can use visual cues in nature like animal trails and patterns to explore both simple and complex mathematical concepts with students. 

‘Our recent and ongoing partnership … has been a really fulfilling journey.’ In this Q&A, Renee Ladner from the Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV) discusses educators engaging with associations for professional development, and 2 examples of how she’s partnered with schools on maths PD. 

In this edition of Researching education: Five further readings, we’re sharing resources on mathematics education in primary and secondary, including on teaching finance, mathematics anxiety and more. 

New findings from a survey of over 700 teachers across 95 primary schools in New South Wales shine a light on their current understanding and own experience of music education. Here are some of the survey results on teacher confidence and professional learning.