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• Education

Quality school education is vital for individual potential and a healthy society. All children should have access to an education that is responsive to their needs as well as upholding high academic standards. CIS’s research focus is on policies that improve the quality of teaching and student outcomes.

Review needed urgently of L3 literacy program
Jennifer Buckingham OAMJune 1, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

L3 is used in hundreds of schools across NSW and is a core component of...

Unions ramp up attack on private schools for poor
Jennifer Buckingham OAMMay 25, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

In his extraordinary 2009 book The Beautiful Tree, James Tooley revealed how low-cost private schools...

NAPLAN is much more gain than pain
Blaise JosephMay 18, 2018The Australian

  More than a million Australian students sat NAPLAN tests this week, assessing their standards...

NAPLAN much more gain than pain
Blaise JosephMay 18, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

More than a million Australian students sat NAPLAN tests this week, assessing their standards in...

Why We Need NAPLAN
Blaise JosephMay 13, 2018RR36

The National Assessment Plan – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a crucial national assessment, but...

New CIS research: Why We Need NAPLAN
Blaise JosephMay 13, 2018MEDIA RELEASE

NAPLAN (commencing this year on May 15) is an essential part of Australia’s school system,...

Childcare in Australia: A new approach
Gigi FosterNovember 20, 2025RR51

Executive summary Several well-known bodies, from the Productivity Commission to the Australian Competition and Consumer...

Knowledge is power: What do teachers believe about learning?
Trisha JhaOctober 30, 2025AP92

Executive Summary This report presents findings from literature about what teachers believe about how students...

Sex and maths success: myths and interventions
David C. GearyJuly 17, 2025AP83

Executive summary Mathematical competencies at the completion of secondary school influence later educational and occupational...

Early Numbers, Big Ideas. Fostering Number Sense in Young Children
Nancy C. Jordan, Nancy DysonJuly 10, 2025AP82

Introduction Numbers are an integral part of our daily lives, both inside and outside of...

Fractions Minus the Friction. A guide to four teaching practices
Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller, Allison McClure, Cassandra HatfieldDecember 12, 2024AP78

Introduction Understanding fractions has a significant impact on both individuals and society. Fractions are an...

The Argument For Debate: how school debating can improve academic outcomes and foster a stronger democracy
Deidre Clary, Fiona MuellerDecember 5, 2024AP77

Introduction The Education Goals for Young Australians prioritise “excellence and equity” and the formation of...

Time to open gate to school-based training
Jennifer Buckingham OAMNovember 2, 2005The Newcastle Herald

A few things are known about education. The most important influence on how much a...

Teaching for profit will attract and retain talent
Ross FarrellySeptember 8, 2005The Age

The feel-good 2002 French movie Etre et Avoir ( To Be and To Have) portrayed...

Priced out of further education
Steven SchwartzApril 4, 2005The Age

Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson has urged Australians who want to maintain their standard of...

Leave uni governance in hands of the states
March 31, 2005The Newcastle Herald

With universities, the Commonwealth Government has itself an exceptional pay less, get more deal. While...

Let the market decide the best approach
Ross FarrellyMarch 28, 2005The Australian

The recent controversy over Wayne Sawyer’s editorial in English in Australia , the journal of...

Raising tax threshold will restore incentives
February 21, 2005The Australian Financial Review

Parents choose private schools for many reasons, but among them is the belief that more...

Behind Every Great Teacher Is a Great System | David Didau, Jenny Donovan & Trisha Jha
Trisha Jha, David Didau, Jenny DonovanMarch 20, 2026

David Didau — education consultant, teacher trainer, and author of Making Kids Cleverer and Intelligent...

Education Reform That Works: Insights from UK, New Zealand & Australia
Glenn Fahey, Nick Gibb, Jason Clare MPDecember 8, 2025

Three leading education ministers — Sir Nick Gibb (UK), Erica Stanford (New Zealand), and Jason...

What do teachers believe about learning? | Trisha Jha
Trisha JhaNovember 6, 2025

This report presents findings from literature about what teachers believe about how students learn: the...

Restoring Excellence in Australian Education | Senator Jonathon Duniam
Glenn FaheyOctober 3, 2025

At this Centre for Independent Studies forum, Shadow Federal Minister for Education Senator Jonathon Duniam...

Evidence vs Ideology: Why the Science of Learning Matters?
Doctor Carl Hendrick, Doctor Simon Breakspear, Glenn FaheyJune 26, 2025

As Australian student outcomes decline and education inequality persists, a growing movement is challenging the...

The science of learning will set students free | Glenn Fahey
Robert Forsyth, Glenn FaheyJune 13, 2025

Robert Forsyth interviews Glenn Fahey, director of the education program at the Centre for Independent...

Submission to NAPLAN Reporting Review 2019
Blaise Joseph, Jennifer Buckingham OAMMarch 18, 2019

NAPLAN is a key element of government transparency and accountability There is very little evidence...

Submission to the Senate Education and Employment Committee Inquiry into The Australian Education Amendment Bill 2017
Blaise JosephMay 24, 2017CIS Submission
Productivity Commission Inquiry Into Introducing Competition and Informed User Choice into Human Services: Submission in response to issues paper
Trisha JhaJuly 1, 2016CIS Submission

The Human Services Inquiry is ‘examining policy options in the human services sector that incorporate...

Productivity Commission Inquiry into the National Education Evidence Base: Submission in response to the draft report
Jennifer Buckingham OAMMay 1, 2016CIS Submission

The Review of Education Evidence (Draft Report)—the ‘Draft Report’—provides a useful, up-to-date overview of the...

Submission to the Parliament of NSW Standing Committee on State Development: Inquiry into economic development in Aboriginal communities
Sara HudsonFebruary 12, 2016CIS Submission

In seeking to improve Indigenous economic development outcomes it is important to recognise that high...

Submission to the National Commission of Audit
Alexander Philipatos, Jennifer Buckingham OAM, Jeremy Sammut, Robert Carling, Simon Cowan, Stephen Kirchner, Trisha JhaApril 1, 2014T30.08

The federal government’s Commission of Audit (CoA) was established in 2013 to review the performance...

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