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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.

Forget dumbing down of schools. What about dumbing down of teachers?
Mitchell ThomasFebruary 25, 2020Spectator

As students returned to school over the past few weeks, a new crop of graduate...

Australia has a real problem with our educational standards
Blaise JosephFebruary 25, 2020Daily Telegraph

Disappointed but not surprised. That’s how sensible people will react to today’s report confirming there...

Not learning to teach
Mitchell ThomasFebruary 20, 2020IDEAS@THECENTRE

As students returned to school recently, a new crop of graduate teachers was well-equipped to...

Australia’s Export Exposure to China’s Coronavirus Epidemic
Salvatore BabonesFebruary 18, 2020AP7

This paper estimates the direct and immediate effects of the coronavirus epidemic on the revenues...

Jacinta Price and Scott Morrison
Closing the gap requires us to reject separatism
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Simon CowanFebruary 15, 2020Canberra Times

This week the Prime Minister delivered the latest (not) Closing the Gapreport, which again shows...

More dollars don’t make sense
Glenn FaheyFebruary 14, 2020ideas@theCentre

Australia’s four million school students may now be back in class, but it seems policymakers...

A shorter path to teaching: Exploring one-year postgraduate qualifications
A shorter path to teaching: Exploring one-year postgraduate qualifications
Rob JosephDecember 7, 2022PP48

A shorter path to teaching: Exploring one-year postgraduate qualifications – Executive Summary Australia faces major...

Katharine Birbalsingh: How progressive teaching is failing students
Katharine BirbalsinghNovember 15, 2022OP192

Katharine Birbalsingh has been described as ‘Britain’s meanest headmistress’ because of her use of detentions...

Myths That Undermine Maths Teaching
Sarah Powell, Elizabeth M. Hughes, Corey PeltierAugust 11, 2022AP38

Myths about learning and teaching maths continue to plague classroom practice despite consistent lack of...

Teaching National Shame: History and citizenship in the school curriculum
Joanna WilliamsJuly 28, 2022OP189
This paper examines the impact of changing approaches to teaching history and citizenship on the...
Expand University Places without Blowing Out Budgets: The 1/1 Policy for Undergraduate Reform
Salvatore BabonesMarch 28, 2022OP186
As Australia heads to the polls in 2022, higher education is, as usual, a question...
AP34 Image maths skills
Setting the preschool foundation for success in Mathematics
David C. GearyMarch 24, 2022AP34
Children’s mathematical competencies in school impact on their long-term outcomes at work and in general...
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...

Woke ‘sense and sensibilities’ replace reason and logic
Glenn Fahey, Claire Fox, Tanveer AhmedAugust 27, 2021

Schools and universities have become preoccupied with cushioning students’ experiences, rather than challenging them. The...

Is technology our educational saviour?
Glenn Fahey, Jamie Beaton, Wayne Houlden, John HattieJuly 15, 2021

A free and open marketplace for education technology has the potential to deliver innovative solutions...

On Liberty EP53 Australians reject identity politics
Glenn Fahey, Bella D’AbreraJune 2, 2021On Liberty

We talked to Institute of Public Affairs’ Dr Bella d’Abrera. Speaking with The Australian recently,...

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...

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...

Advancing Indigenous Education Outcomes
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Lorraine Hammond, Glenn Fahey, Nyunggai Warren Mundine AOJanuary 12, 2021

Indigenous educational disadvantage has persisted despite countless initiatives, programmes, and spending from governments and communities....

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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