Feedback

Recently the winner of the Global Schools Prize was announced – chosen from over 3,000 nominations. Excitingly, Australia’s Larrakeyah Primary School in Darwin were named as a finalist for the prize. In this episode, Dominique Beech is joined by Fathma Mauger to hear all about the custom-built AI writing platform they were recognised for. 

In assessment, AI tools offer new possibilities for feedback while also raising important questions about quality, accuracy, teacher oversight and, crucially, whether the feedback improves the learner, not just the piece of work they’ve been tasked with completing.

In this episode of School Improvement, Dominique Beech is joined by teacher Gus Humphries who tells us all about the professional learning program he developed, Questions for Thinking (Q4T). Q4T allows teachers to investigate and develop an area of their practice through a confidential partnership. In our conversation, Gus expands on the program design and the impact it's having on staff and school culture. 

In this exclusive extract from his new book The Children We Leave Behind: How School Could Be Done Differently, former Australian Council for Educational Research CEO and Teacher columnist, Professor Geoff Masters AO shares details of the Fremantle Fast Track Program – an alternative, senior secondary education program in Western Australia.

For the last 4 years, Gus Humphries has been working to develop and implement the Questions for Thinking (Q4T) Program at Caulfield Grammar School. In our latest reader contribution, he shares the key ingredients of the opt-in professional learning program, which allows teachers to investigate and develop an area of their practice with the support of a dedicated ‘partner’.

At Al-Taqwa College, a school of more than 2,700 students from prep to year 12, managing data and assessment is a significant undertaking. In today’s article, Assistant Head of Curriculum, Noorun Nisa Abdul Wahid shares how staff collect data, what they do to make sense of it, and how it informs curriculum design, assessment and teaching across the whole school.

In his new Teacher column, Professor Martin Westwell – Chief Executive of the South Australian Department for Education – shares findings from a major systematic review of persistence and academic resilience across K-12 education. He highlights how persistence and resilience are not fixed personality traits but rather a part of the learning process, shaped by task design, classroom conditions, and how teachers respond when students struggle.

‘Too often, civics and citizenship education is framed about students rather than with them.’ In his latest Teacher column Professor Martin Westwell – Chief Executive of the South Australian Department for Education – shares details of the first Active Citizenship Convention, which gave prominence to student voice.

Latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data show the degree to which teachers are clear in the way they deliver the mathematics and science curriculum is likely to influence student learning. This includes ensuring students understand the learning goals for each lesson, being able to explain key concepts, and giving students helpful feedback. Find out more in this infographic.

Effective feedback drives improvements in teaching and learning. What happens to the feedback that you give students? In our latest reader submission Andreas Katsanos – Berwick Campus Head of Commerce at Beaconhill College in Melbourne, Victoria – shares how he’s been improving his own practice in this area by implementing a 3-stage feedback loop.