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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.

Free the teachers to help the students: Parental choice in schooling will improve education
Jennifer Buckingham OAMJanuary 23, 2002The Australian

A systematic comparison of the academic results of state and non-government schools has been a...

Uni student quota system is unfair and inefficient
December 5, 2001The West Australian

Although the unlucky ones don’t yet know who they are, more young Western Australians than...

Report card for schools
Jennifer Buckingham OAMNovember 30, 2001

For school funding fetishists who just happen to have eight or 10 hours to spare,...

What’s fair about defining disadvantage?
November 30, 2001Melbourne University Campus Review

Under draft policies, for the first time a ‘low SES’ classification would deliver significant benefits...

Public Education in New South Wales: Submission to the ‘Vinson’ Inquiry
Ross HaroldNovember 28, 2001IA20

The most effective way of improving school performance without increasing recurrent funding is to enable...

Set our unis free
November 21, 2001The Australian

It takes some imagination to describe Australia’s universities as showing ‘clear indications of market failure’,...

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...

If we catch them young, kids will solve our numeracy crisis
Glenn FaheyOctober 23, 2025SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
How do we fix the alarming decline in numeracy among young Australians? The answer is...
Clare’s new education body offers a real chance for reform
Glenn FaheySeptember 10, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN
Canberra’s bold plan to revolutionise education oversight faces a stark choice: become a game-changer or...
Unis must be run like a business, whether academics like it or not
Steven SchwartzSeptember 9, 2025AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Staff unions are mobilising, newspapers are lamenting, and politicians are hand-wringing, but the arithmetic is...
Benchmarked into oblivion
Steven SchwartzJuly 31, 2025SPECTATOR FLAT WHITE
NAPLAN is not so much a mirror as a house of mirrors....
We need better returns on education investment
Trisha Jha, Glenn FaheyJuly 30, 2025DAILY TELEGRAPH
Billions of dollars have been poured into school funding in the state over the past...
School child reading book
Education Minister Jason Clare must ensure new schools pact benefits nation
Glenn FaheyJuly 30, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN
The latest NAPLAN results confirm the sobering truth that our school system continues to underdeliver...
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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