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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.

Scaling up success in majority Indigenous schools
Glenn Fahey, Noel Pearson, Alan TudgeJune 2, 2021

One of Australia’s most pressing public-policy challenges is to overcome poor education outcomes suffered by...

Scaling up success in majority Indigenous schools
Glenn Fahey, Noel Pearson, Alan TudgeMay 18, 2021

One of Australia’s most pressing public-policy challenges is to overcome poor education outcomes suffered by...

Quitting NAPLAN would be a fail for Australian education
Glenn FaheyMay 18, 2021Financial Review

Australia’s education system would be worse off without NAPLAN. Yet a new report proposes replacing...

National curriculum must ditch politics for evidence
Glenn FaheyMay 3, 2021Sydney Morning Herald

As the dust settles on proposed changes to the national curriculum, gears must shift from...

On Liberty EP48 Education or Enstupidation? English in the Curriculum
Salvatore Babones, Fiona MuellerApril 28, 2021On Liberty

How can students be expected to develop into intellectual adults if they are never exposed...

Why Australian educators should welcome teacher training review
Glenn FaheyApril 25, 2021Canberra Times

Tiresome and all-too-predictable resistance to reviewing teacher training is more proof the education system is...

The Fantasy of Gonski Funding: The ongoing battle over school spending
Blaise JosephApril 30, 2017RR26

The Gonski Report has not been implemented – there is no such thing as ‘Gonski...

Early Childhood Intervention: Assessing the evidence
Trisha JhaSeptember 20, 2016Research Report 19

Early childhood interventions are programs that aim to improve a child’s development trajectory over the...

Read about it: Scientific evidence for effective teaching of reading
Kerry Hempenstall, Jennifer Buckingham OAMMarch 7, 2016Research Report 11

Five from Five is now a community education project supported by MultiLit, a reading program...

Untangling childcare and family policy
Trisha JhaMarch 5, 2016

Speech given by CIS Policy Analyst Trisha Jha to the NSW Liberal Party’s Rural and...

One School Does Not Fit All
Jennifer Buckingham OAM, Trisha JhaJanuary 31, 2016Research Report 9

Australia has a relatively large degree of choice between schools, a product of historical private...

Free to Choose Charter Schools: How charter and for-profit schools can boost public education
Trisha Jha, Jennifer Buckingham OAMAugust 31, 2015Research Report 6

Charter schools and free schools – publicly-funded, privately-managed schools – have been introduced in several...

We’ve spent the money, now what about the results?
Blaise JosephFebruary 23, 2026CANBERRA TIMES
We have a great window of opportunity now to finally follow through on education reforms...
Education has become a system designed to issue credentials rather than create knowledge
Steven SchwartzFebruary 10, 2026THE AUSTRALIAN
When a society forgets the difference between learning and performance, between a mind and a...
Science of learning
How revamping education will boost the Australian economy
Trisha JhaJanuary 24, 2026CANBERRA TIMES
If Australia wants productivity growth, it needs to start in the classroom....
Australia’s education system is failing students despite $100bn spending
Fiona MuellerDecember 27, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN
Taxpayers know all too well that massive increases in education funding (approaching $100 billion a...
School child reading book
Turning up a first step to success
Trisha JhaDecember 4, 2025DAILY TELEGRAPH
The best that can be said about the latest national attendance data is that things...
Give teachers clarity: Maths curriculum should build the staircase, not set the high jump
Kelly NorrisOctober 28, 2025EDUCATIONHQ

The national review of the F–2 maths curriculum is a welcome chance to put the...

The Manchurian Campus? Threats to Free Speech in Higher Education
Rob Stokes, Tom SwitzerOctober 22, 2018

Amidst the debate about Chinese influence in Australia, NSW Minister for Education, the Hon. Rob...

Have We All Gone Mad? The Snowflake Epidemic
Tiffany Jenkins, Steven Schwartz, Lindsay Shepherd, Claire LehmannAugust 17, 2018

University campuses throughout the West are in the grip of a troubling social phenomenon, now...

What’s happened to the University?
Frank Furedi, Marguerite Johnson, Steven SchwartzOctober 6, 2017

Trigger warnings, cultural appropriation and safe spaces. Who decided to bestow guardian status to Australian...

Taking control of the classroom: How teachers and principals can improve behaviour in schools
Tom Bennett, Sue O’Neill, Kylie HedgerJuly 20, 2017

Poor behaviour in schools is a significant factor undermining student achievement. International data suggests behaviour...

How to Improve Australian Phonics and Literacy
Nick GibbApril 20, 2017

England’s schools have undergone substantial changes in the last decade, including: introducing systematic phonics teaching...

Phonics and Literacy
Rob StokesApril 20, 2017

England’s schools have undergone substantial changes in the last decade, including: introducing systematic phonics teaching...

Submission to Senate Education and Employment References Committee
Michael Wu October 22, 2025CIS

Despite good intentions, Australia’s Early Childhood Education and Care system has expanded well beyond its...

Submission to the Productivity Commission’s Interim Report on Building a Skilled and Adaptable Workforce
Trisha JhaSeptember 18, 2025

Submission at a glance 1. Achieving written curriculum quality is a necessary step for long-term...

Submission to the Independent Review of Education in Tasmania
Trisha JhaOctober 4, 2024

Introduction The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) is a leading independent public policy think tank...

Submission to the Inquiry into Literacy and Numeracy in ACT Public Schools
Trisha JhaFebruary 27, 2024

This submission does not directly seek to answer the 20 questions posted in the Consultation...

Submission to the Legislative Council Inquiry into the State Education System in Victoria
Trisha JhaOctober 4, 2023

Introduction The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) is a leading independent public policy think...

Submission to the NSW Curriculum Review Interim Report Consultations
Fiona MuellerDecember 1, 2019

The NSW Government commissioned a review of the state’s curriculum in September, 2018, to be...

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