Staff utilisation

The end of the school year is approaching, and among the countless tasks educators are already busy with in anticipation for the first day of term in 2019 is the whole-school timetable. For secondary schools in particular, coordinating it can be challenging.

What are the most effective ways to improve student learning with a teaching assistant? In today’s article, Associate Director at Evidence for Learning Dr Tanya Vaughan explores this question.

When Greg Ashman took on a job at Ballarat Clarendon College, he was immediately impressed by the school’s focus on research. This inspired to him to pursue a PhD in instructional design and led him to his current role as Head of Research at the school. In today’s Q&A, we find out more about the role.

Western Australia’s Butler College has created a culture of continuous learning and development for all of its staff. This long-term, whole-school approach focusses on improving the skills and capacity of all staff (including non-teaching staff) through various means, including action learning projects and peer-to-peer support and coaching.

Three Deakin University academics ­– Dr Linda Hobbs, Associate Professor Coral Campbell and Associate Professor Colleen Vale – recently visited ACER to share their research on out-of-field teaching. In today’s School Improvement podcast, we share some highlights from their presentation.

A new ACER report looks at the extent to which secondary school teachers in Australia are teaching subjects they haven't specialised in during their studies. It includes data on the proportion of Years 7-10 teachers teaching out-of-field in 20 subject areas.

Just over one-quarter of Year 7-10 teachers in Australian schools are teaching out of field, with those at the start of their careers more likely to be teaching a subject they haven’t specialised in.

When you’re planning a lesson or unit of work, one of the things you’ll be thinking about is how to make the best use of the resources available, including teacher aides.

One of the biggest challenges we face in school education is to raise the status of teaching as a career choice, to attract more able people into teaching and to develop teaching as a knowledge-based profession, writes Professor Geoff Masters AO.

Ongoing improvements in educational performance in Australian schools depend on continual improvements in the quality of classroom teaching.