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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.

Schools must retain hiring rights
Robert ForsythOctober 19, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

In the hasty and overheated reaction to the leaked recommendations of the Ruddock review, pressure...

Labor preschool plan fails to add up on many levels
Eugenie JosephOctober 12, 2018DAILY TELEGRAPH

  Australian parents should be sceptical of Labor’s new policy to extend universal access to...

Freedom Charters will Protect Free Speech on University Campuses
Jeremy SammutOctober 12, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

The most concerning aspect of the current debate about free speech in Australian universities has...

Q&A focuses on difference, not agreement
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 12, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

The ABC’s Q&A program is a curious beast. Even when there is broad agreement among...

Off with the campus gag: give all opinions a voice
Jeremy SammutOctober 8, 2018The Australian

Last month, riot police were called to the University of Sydney to break up a...

University Freedom Charters: How best to protect free speech on Australian campuses
Jeremy SammutOctober 7, 2018PP10

This POLICY Paper recommends how and why a ‘university freedom charters’ policy that is backed...

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...

On Liberty EP83 Who runs our universities?
Gerd Schröder-Turk, Salvatore BabonesMarch 23, 2022On Liberty

We welcomed Murdoch University mathematician Prof Gerd Schröder-Turk, a specialist in nano-geometry and member of...

On Liberty EP80 We must follow the educational science
Glenn Fahey, John SwellerMarch 2, 2022On Liberty

We welcome CIS contributor and University of NSW academic, Emeritus Professor John Sweller. Author of...

On Liberty EP77 Maths wars expose the great divide in education
Glenn Fahey, Salvatore BabonesDecember 1, 2021On Liberty

Australian student achievement has declined more steeply and more consistently than almost any other country,...

Reforming Australia’s Schools
Glenn Fahey, Alan TudgeOctober 28, 2021

Australia’s education system needs policy reform, beyond just throwing in yet more funding. As students...

Overcoming the Educational Odds
Glenn Fahey, Katharine BirbalsinghOctober 14, 2021

High-performing schools make a difference every day in the lives of our younger generation, particularly...

Is educational success key to the wealth of nations?
Glenn Fahey, Eric HanushekSeptember 14, 2021

Australia’s economy is suffering from slow productivity growth and stagnant wages, partly caused by a...

Submission to the Indigenous Sub-committee of the Standing Committee for the Review of Government Services Provision. 2011
Sara HudsonJanuary 31, 2011

Submission to the Indigenous Sub-committee of the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Services...

Public Education in New South Wales: Submission to the ‘Vinson’ Inquiry
Ross HaroldNovember 28, 2001IA20

The most effective way of improving school performance without increasing recurrent funding is to enable...

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