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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.

Review’s focus on effective instruction to improve literacy and numeracy applauded
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 13, 2014

Dr Jennifer Buckingham, Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, welcomes the proposed changes...

Comment: Independent Public Schools are not charter schools
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 6, 2014The Australian

Independent Public Schools are suffering from an identity problem. Ever since the first Western Australian public...

Comment: Education does not need Commonwealth in schools
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 3, 2014Canberra Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age

Ahead of the federal government’s ‘white paper’ on reform of the federation, an issues paper...

A balancing act: home schooling regulation
Jennifer Buckingham OAMSeptember 26, 2014

Most parents never progress beyond day-dreaming about home schooling, but it is becoming increasingly mainstream...

Research Snapshot: Childcare
Trisha JhaSeptember 9, 2014Policy

Research Snapshot: Childcare Regulating for Quality in Childcare: The Evidence Base Read full article

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Using school data wisely
Jennifer Buckingham OAMSeptember 5, 2014

This week in education policy the spotlight has been on the appropriate use of performance...

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...

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 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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