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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.

On Liberty EP19 Should we increase university places?
Salvatore Babones, Andrew NortonAugust 13, 2020On Liberty

Salvatore Babones spoke with Andrew Norton, co-founder of CIS Liberty & Society and Professor of...

Give low-income parents a school choice: that’s the key to equity
Glenn Fahey, Blaise JosephAugust 13, 2020Sydney Morning Herald

We have to stop using private schools as a scapegoat for everything wrong with Australian...

Do schools need a transformation?
Jordan Baker, Pasi Sahlberg, Greg AshmanAugust 13, 2020

A discussion between leading experts on the future of Australian education. Pasi Sahlberg and Greg...

Education post-Covid: Do schools need a transformation?
Greg Ashman, Pasi Sahlberg, Jordan BakerAugust 11, 2020

We were delighted to host a discussion between Pasi Sahlberg and Greg Ashman, two of...

Why drop the ball on our key indigenous targets?
Nyunggai Warren Mundine AOJuly 15, 2020The Australian

The COVID-19 pandemic — and government responses to it — has halted large sections of...

NSW curriculum review is a fail
Blaise JosephJuly 3, 2020Ideas@theCentre

Despite the Berejiklian government’s ‘back to basics’ rhetoric, the NSW curriculum review is proposing a...

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...

Gonski model should go back to the chalkboard
Jennifer Buckingham OAMNovember 28, 2013The Australian Financial Review

Christopher Pyne is right. The Better Schools funding model is “incomprehensible” and its development has...

Double trouble means it’s time for drastic cuts
Alexander Philipatos, Jennifer Buckingham OAMNovember 21, 2013The Canberra Times

The federal government's commission of audit is a prime opportunity to scrutinise the activities of...

Why Jaydon Can’t Read: The Triumph of Ideology over Evidence in Teaching Reading
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 8, 2013POLICY

The current entrenched rate of illiteracy among Australian children is unnecessary and avoidable, write Jennifer...

Why Jaydon can’t read
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 4, 2013The Australian

In the most recent international assessment of primary school literacy achievement – the Progress in...

Bad teaching kills reading skills
Jennifer Buckingham OAMSeptember 30, 2013The Australian

IN his 1955 book Why Johnny Can't Read, Rudolph Flesch explained that quality of instruction...

Voluntary student unionism
Andrew BakerSeptember 27, 2013

Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) was briefly back on the agenda this week, before the Prime...

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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