The Addressing the Educational Needs of Boys – Strategies for Schools and Teachers research project was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) to investigate how systemic factors impact on the educational performance and outcomes of boys and how these can be addressed in the school context. The commissioning of the study was prompted by contemporary concerns about boys’ schooling.
Year Published: 2002
Report: PDF 
(873.4 KB), Executive Summary: PDF (79.5 KB)
Year Published: 2000
HTML,
PDF (236.1 KB)
In late 2002, following completion of the report Changing Schools – Its Impact on Student Learning, two further studies on student mobility were commissioned. This study identifies the most useful range of current, timely and meaningful information to be collected by the ‘sending’ school and the most effective ways of transmitting this information to the ‘receiving’ school.
The companion report Students Move: Supporting Students Who Change Schools is also available.
Download the full report: PDF (638.5 KB)
Segmented version
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Best Practice in Student Data Transfer: Main Document
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Best Practice in Student Data Transfer: Appendices
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Best Practice in Student Data Transfer: Bibliography
The Australian Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) published a series of brief reports titled ‘Schooling Issues Digests’ which summarise existing research material on selected topics relevant to schooling in Australia. This Digest reviews a range of research studies which examine the possible causal linkages between building design and student outcomes. It sets out those findings that are agreed and those areas where research to date is relatively inconclusive.
Year Published: 2001
HTML, PDF (184.2 KB)
This website provides information about the nature of bullying, violence, discrimination and harassment. The website includes resources, teaching materials, legislation, policies, support services, and practical methods available for schools to address the problem. The website also includes information sources provided by the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, Catholic and Independent school sectors, as well as commercial providers. The website was a joint project initiated by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs and was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training and State and Territory government education authorities.
Bullying.NoWay! 
This project was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Technology through the strategic national element of the Quality Teacher Programme to improve the preparation and support of beginning teachers in Australia by identifying their needs and by identifying principles and practices that are effective in assisting them to make the transition from initial training to teaching in schools.
The principles and practices that are identified will be of interest to university teacher education faculties, education systems, districts and schools which are responsible for preparing and supporting beginning teachers. As the report was prepared for the Commonwealth Department, it also contains some recommendations for possible national projects and for methods of disseminating the report. These recommendations are being considered but it should be noted that publication of this report does not indicate acceptance or intended action.
Year Published: 2003
PDF (808.3 KB), Executive Summary: HTML
The Commonwealth Government commissioned the national inquiry into school history to examine the nature and status of history teaching, to look at comparable overseas experiences and to identify principles, approaches and priorities to enhance the quality of teaching and learning of history in Australian schools. The Future of the Past by Associate Professor Tony Taylor and his Monash University team reports on the inquiry and provides a starting point for the improvement of how history is taught and learnt in our classrooms. The then Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Dr David Kemp,
announced the Government response to the report on 15 October 2000
Year Published: 2000
Full Report, HTML, PDF (3.0 MB),
Executive Summary, HTML, PDF (8.3 KB)
Improvement or Transformation is the title of the proceedings of the National Conference on Quality Teaching held in July 2001. The conference formed part of the Commonwealth Government's Teachers for the 21st Century Initiative. It was designed to showcase current research on teaching innovation and best practice and current Commonwealth initiatives to support teachers. In addition the conference provided a forum for structured and challenging discussion about quality teaching and its impact on student learning outcomes.
Year Published: 2001
HTML
In 2001 the Australian Government commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to conduct an investigation of effective mathematics teaching and learning in Australian secondary schools (Years 7 to 10).
The purpose of the research project was to examine a range of factors including the knowledge, beliefs, understandings and practices of teachers of mathematics and their qualifications, professional development and relevant personal experiences, and how these impact on student learning outcomes in the high school years.
Year Published: 2004
HTML
The Plan identifies a number of strategic priorities to enable the education and training sector to play a key role in the wider information economy agenda. The broad outcomes of the Plan were supported by MCEETYA in March 2000.
Year Published: 2000
HTML, PDF (1.1 MB)
A report, by Judith MacCallum and Susan Beltman, Murdoch University, that identifies models of good practice of mentoring in school settings. The report looks at issues associated with the implementation of mentoring programmes in school settings and key recommendations for consideration by Australian schools and education systems.
Year Published: 1999
HTML, PDF (449.0 KB), RTF 
(1,000.5 KB)
Throughout Australia, government and non-government schools are undertaking exciting initiatives to improve the educational outcomes of their students.
The National Quality Schooling Framework 
(NQSF) is an interactive, accessible web-based tool to support pre-primary, primary and secondary Australian school leaders and teachers implement innovative and evidence-based projects to improve student learning outcomes.
Brochure: PDF (618.6 KB)
The Australian Government established the National Awards for Quality Schooling (NAQS) to encourage and reward such efforts – giving Australia’s most outstanding schools, principals and teachers the recognition they deserve.
Year Published 2003
National Awards for Quality Schooling Pamphlet: PDF (100.3 KB)
National Quality Schooling Framework Pamphlet: PDF (36.1 KB)
National Quality Schooling Framework Pamphlet Cover: PDF (72.3 KB)
These publications have been developed to help schools implement the National Safe Schools Framework. The Framework has been endorsed by all State and Territory Education Ministers at the time and is a collaborative effort by Australia’s government and non-government school authorities, academics, teachers, students, parent organisations and community groups. The Framework consists of a set of nationally agreed principles for a safe and supportive school environment and includes appropriate responses which schools can adopt to address issues of bullying, violence, harassment, and child abuse and neglect.
The Implementation Manual and Resource Pack, published by the Department of Education, Science and Training, are a guide to the implementation of the Framework at the whole school level. These materials are not intended to be a set of prescriptive guidelines for establishing a safe and supportive school. Instead, they are provided as tools that can assist school communities to engage in a process of active reflection, audit and planning for improvement, based on the Framework.
Year published: 2003
Download the National Safe Schools Framework from MCEETYA : PDF 
(218kb)
Resource Pack: PDF (321.7 KB)
Implementation Manual: PDF (241.8 KB)
Research Summary: PDF (55.7 KB), RTF (90.3 KB)
Appendices: PDF (621.7 KB), RTF (2.2 MB)
The brief for this project, funded by the Australian Government Department of Employment, Science and Training (DEST), was to identify, collect and summarise information about curricula and associated materials that have been designed with a specific gender focus or are gender related. Examples include published and unpublished works, internet resources, textbooks, school based programmes, audio/visual material and departmental resources.
Year published: 2004
HTML
Dr Brendan Nelson, former Minister for Education, Science and Training, and Mr Larry Anthony, former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, have announced the release of the OECD Country Note: Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia which forms part of the OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy.
Year Published 2001
HTML
On 23 March 2001, Dr Kemp and Senator Vanstone announced the release of the OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy: Australian Background Report. The Australian Background Report was commissioned by the Commonwealth to provide an overview of early childhood education and care in Australia. The report, prepared by Ms Frances Press and Professor Alan Hayes of the Institute of Early Childhood at Macquarie University, is a major outcome of Australia's participation in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy. Twelve countries around the world have participated in the review, which is designed to provide decision makers with information and analysis to aid in developing policy in the area of early childhood education and care.
Year Published 2001
HTML
This report discusses the results of a scoping study on parents’ and community members’ attitudes to schooling. The scoping study was conducted by the Department of Education, Science and Training between May and June 2003 using a Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey method. The survey collected responses from 1,500 community members and 1,359 parents of school age children.
Year Published: 2004
HTML
This report maps teacher professional development being undertaken by Australian teachers on a national scale, primarily to inform the Commonwealth Government about trends and developments in this area. In addition it provides information that will be beneficial to education authorities and other stakeholders and also inform the Commonwealth's involvement as it relates to professional development.
Year Published: 2001
HTML
A report, by Professor Peter Cuttance and Shirley A Stokes, The University of Sydney. The report investigates the pattern of parents' needs and expectations for information on student achievement and school performance.
Year Published: 2000
HTML, PDF (671.4 KB)
This report presents the findings and recommendations of an external review of the Commonwealth Languages Other Than English (LOTE) in Schools Programme. The Review was conducted between August and December, 2002.
Year published: 2003
PDF (990.0 KB), RTF (2.6 MB)
Executive Summary: HTML
The Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) is publishing a series of brief reports titled “Schooling Issues Digests” which summarise existing research material on selected topics relevant to schooling in Australia. The purpose of these digests is to provide status reports on the results of recent international and national research on selected topics, in a non-technical, easy to read format, which brings together and demystifies complicated research and statistical data.
Report: HTML
The Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) was publishied a series of brief reports titled “Schooling Issues Digests” which summarise existing research material on selected topics relevant to schooling in Australia. The purpose of these digests is to provide status reports on the results of recent international and national research on selected topics, in a non-technical, easy to read format, which brings together and demystifies complicated research and statistical data.
Report: HTML
School Innovation: Pathway to the Knowledge Society was prepared by the Innovation and Best Practice Project consortium led Professor Peter Cuttance, University of Melbourne. The project is one of the first large scale research and development projects that has specifically focused on innovation in schools, and one of the largest educational research projects ever undertaken in Australia. The report provides an analysis and synthesis of the innovations and the findings of the 107 research reports produced by the participating schools over a two-year period.
Year Published: 2001
HTML, PDF (817.9 KB)
A newsletter published by Schools Group of DEST. It aims to communicate important information about Commonwealth priorities for schools to the schools sector, parents and the wider school community.
Year Published: Various
HTML
The Status and Quality of Teaching and learning of Science in Australian Schools was prepared by a consortium of Edith Cowan University, Curtin University, the Australian Science Teachers Association, the Australian Academy of Science and the Curriculum Corporation. The Report develops and compares the ideal picture of quality teaching and learning in science with an actual picture of what is happening and provides recommendations to help move science education from the actual to the ideal picture. It identifies principles and priorities to enhance the quality of teaching and learning of science to ensure that our education systems are well placed to meet future changes and challenges.
Year Published: 2001
In late 2002, following completion of the report Changing Schools – Its Impact on Student Learning, two further studies on student mobility were commissioned. This report is a companion to the Best Practice in Student Data Transfer report. The objective of this study was to provide information for schools on how best to support mobile students. It involved interviews with representatives from 55 schools (61% primary, 23% secondary and 16% combined primary-secondary) many of which have high to very high turnovers of students.
Report: HTML
Year Published: 2004
The Government has a range of initiatives to support the dedicated efforts of Australia's science teachers. These initiatives are outlined in Supporting Science Teachers - The Commonwealth's commitment to improving science education in Australian schools.
Year Published: 2002
HTML
On 11 March 2004 the former Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, invited parents and other interested members of the community to put forward their views on Australian schooling, to inform and guide key aspects of national school education policies.
Year Published: 2004
HTML
Teachers for the 21st Century: Making the difference provides details of the Commonwealth Government Quality Teacher Initiative. The initiative will provide opportunities for teachers to expand their skills and knowledge, particularly within a whole school approach to improving educational outcomes for students. It identifies areas for future research and addresses the development needs of principals and future school leaders.
Year Published: 2000
HTML, PDF (240.4 KB)
This report presents data from the 1999 study of Teachers in Australian Schools. This census-style study provides updated information on selected quantifiable characteristics of Australia’s teachers in Government, Catholic and Independent schools. It repeats and extends three previous similar studies conducted in 1963, 1979 and 1989.
Year Published: 2001
HTML
The former Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, commissioned the Values Education Study to enable schools to strengthen what they are already doing in this area and to disseminate good practice examples.
The study includes:
- 50 innovative case studies from 69 schools around the country;
- research on values currently taught in Australian schools, how they were developed and how that compares with approaches in other countries; and
- a Draft National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools to help guide debate on values education.
Participating schools generally focused on:
- reviewing their values education processes;
- developing student social skills and resilience; and
- incorporating values into teaching programmes.
Year Published: 2003
Report: PDF (857.4 KB), RTF (1.9 MB)
Executive Summary: PDF (192.2 KB), RTF (608.9 KB)