The logics of policy privatisation in schooling, including decentralisation, school autonomy, and discretionary funding mechanisms, shift responsibility for particular types of students onto individual schools and their staff. Burch (2021) asks to what extent the most disadvantaged students in government schools are able to access services most…

Over past decades, the term 'evidence-based policy' has come to dominate policy discussions. This is true across Australia and internationally, in education policy as well as other policy areas. In education, there is often talk of getting evidence into early childhood education and care (ECEC) services and schools, such as making practitioners…

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how widespread emergencies can disrupt national education systems and schooling. To assist policy decision-making and monitoring, a rapid review of over 200 documents relating to education in emergencies (EiE) was conducted, with a specific focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the review is to…

Return on investment (ROI) has become part of the policymaking toolkit, particularly pertinent for activities like school-based career guidance deemed optional by some policymakers. There are institutions supporting ideal ROI methods alongside an academic critique, but little research on how ROI has been applied in practice in a guidance setting.…

This paper examines school management and policies in Germany and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, which is comparative and qualitative, explores the interrelationship between different levels of governance and the responses of teacher unions. The inquiry is informed by the perspectives of historical institutionalism and path…

Teachers' decision-making about resource selection is made more complex when resources are appraised for their potential to raise controversial issues or cause offence to others within school communities. Debates around the use of trigger warnings, freedom of speech and the impact of exclusionary practices further complicate these processes. In…

Education policies are enacted differently according to school contexts and geographies. This is particularly the case in large countries such as Australia where context and geographies for schooling differ greatly. Within regional, rural and remote Australia, schools are witnessing a trend in geographic disadvantage in that as distance from urban…

This research presents a review of the literature around meeting students' learning needs in Australian schools. It is referenced to one group of students with refugee experience who have been in Australian schools for over 15 years; students with a background of oracy from Southern Sudan. The development of psychological health and literacy…

This article synthesises findings from two systematic reviews that examined evidence of the link between large-scale assessments (LSAs) and education policy in economically developing countries and in countries of the Asia-Pacific. Analyses summarise evidence of assessment characteristics and policy goals of LSAs that influence education policy,…

This paper critiques specific forms of classroom teacher effectiveness research. In doing so, the paper suggests that education policy-making deems and employs teacher effectiveness research as a promising and capable contrivance for the identification of ineffective classroom teaching practice. The paper engages with this policy debate by using a…

Federal, State and school-based professional development has become a multi-million dollar educational enterprise in Australia. Yet there are no published models for the making of systems-level professional development policy. Reviewing the literature on the characteristics of effective professional development programs, this paper proposes a…

The growth of a multicultural Australia is generating debate on the economic effects of multiculturalism. This paper examines the extent to which competing claims can draw support from the literature and the extent to which economic issues arising from the growth of a multicultural Australian society have been identified and assessed.(30…

Discusses the changing perception of information from a public good to a private commodity and the implications of this change for information providers and users. The situation in Australia is described, including the government's emerging policy on information as a commodity and its effects on libraries and users. (25 notes with references) (CLB)

The trend in Australian university research policy is toward cost effectiveness and centralization, but this is likely to compromise established standards of excellence and diversity in basic research and lead to an overall reduction in the scale of research. Further study is needed before policy changes are implemented. (Author/MSE)

The main features of the 1986 Johnson and Hinton Report concerning the status and future of continuing education in Australia are examined as they relate to the broad spectrum of adult and continuing education, from informal community programs to the universities. Implications for higher education institutions are discussed. (MSE)