Research news

Getting students engaged and invested in their learning leads to improved outcomes. It also makes the lesson a more enjoyable experience for everyone, including the teacher. Enhanced lesson engagement was just one of the benefits of a small-scale study focusing on quality teaching in Physical Education.

Children with a chronic health condition perform below the basic academic requirements in literacy and numeracy when compared to their peers, a study of more than 397 000 children in New South Wales has found.

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.

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.

Our annual reader survey has just wrapped up for another year. It’s an opportunity for you to tell us what content you’d like to hear from us, and this year you told us you’d like more information and support on inclusive education. Inclusive education is something we’ve covered this month at Teacher, so it’s a good opportunity to put it in the spotlight in this episode.

‘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.

Which factors determine the effectiveness of school boards? A new study by academics from Monash University’s Business School has found that board diversity, board practices, and principal influence over board decisions, all impact board effectiveness. They also have a sizeable bearing on the school’s financial and academic wellbeing.

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.