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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.

The Child Care funding myth
Jennifer Buckingham OAMJuly 26, 2008The Business Spectator

Australia's labour shortage continues to play havoc with some regions and sectors of the Australian...

Child Care and the Labour Supply
Jennifer Buckingham OAMJuly 23, 2008IA97

Child care is said to be a public good because it supposedly has developmental and...

Teachers need help with job appointments
Jennifer Buckingham OAMJune 19, 2008The Newcastle Herald

Last month, all NSW public schools were effectively closed because the NSW Teachers Federation called...

Protectionist Ploy A Blast From The Past
June 11, 2008The Australian

Private providers of higher education have been assisted by the extension of the FEE-HELP loan...

Teachers: Scale their pay to meet demand
Jennifer Buckingham OAMMay 29, 2008

It is regularly argued that teacher pay in Australia is too low, and that this...

Proof of the pudding: health campaigns don’t work
Jeremy SammutMay 9, 2008ABC News Online

There is slim support for the belief that preventive public health policies have brought obesity...

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...

Education is key for Aboriginal Australia
Nigel ParburyMay 24, 2013

Three times in as many weeks the surprise of elite education for Aboriginal kids has...

My School sheds a welcome light
Jennifer Buckingham OAMMay 17, 2013The Australian

BEFORE NAPLAN and My School were introduced by the federal government, state departments of education...

Fair go fear-mongering flies in the face of facts
Benjamin HerscovitchMay 10, 2013

Instead of getting his government’s fiscal house in order, Treasurer Wayne Swan is fanning fears...

Time to make a deal
Jennifer Buckingham OAMApril 19, 2013

The COAG meeting of education ministers today is a multibillion dollar game of Deal or...

Federal micro-managers to rule the schools
Jennifer Buckingham OAMApril 16, 2013Australian Financial Review

Responses to the federal government’s school funding proposal have been less than enthusiastic. People have...

Gonski reforms at risk of failure to launch
Jennifer Buckingham OAMApril 5, 2013The Australian

The "I Give A Gonksi" campaign gives the impression that the proposed school funding reforms...

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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