July
Stressed teens would rather finish school with no ATAR than sit exams
Students at co-educational schools reported the highest scores on emotional and mental wellbeing, and girls-only school students the lowest.
- Julie Hare
June
Higher education key to bigger pay, Labor MP argues
When it comes to the relationship between education and earning capacity, research suggests more is better.
- Julie Hare
March
Poor kids who choose the IB do better than rich kids who don’t: study
Jasmine Werneberg says the International Baccalaureate she did at high school was more academically rigorous than her business-law degree at university.
- Julie Hare
- Exclusive
- Education
Study shows why kids drop out of school
Schools need to respond to early warning signs and provide individualised support if high school dropout rates are to be averted, a study says.
- Julie Hare
- Explainer
- Political leadership
Our most and least educated politicians, in six charts
We analysed the educational backgrounds of all 226 federal politicians in Australia – and found they aren’t particularly representative of the broader population.
- Julie Hare and Cindy Yin
- Opinion
- Education
How ‘families’ of schools could spread educational success
Instead of hoping “superhero” principals can lift schools that fall short, a network bound together through a united executive team can increase the odds of improvement.
- Jordana Hunter
Private school parents save the education system $4.6b a year: study
A new analysis calculates that governments spend $4.6 billion less each year than they would if all students were enrolled in public schools.
- Updated
- Julie Hare
Have we just laid out a plan to kill the traditional university?
The universities accord says that the number of university students needs to double by 2050. That raises the question of what we actually want from our universities.
- Julie Hare
February
Science supports rote learning in schools: report
A push to return classrooms to explicit instruction, phonics and rote learning is based on the science of learning.
- Julie Hare
One in three Aussie kids can’t read this headline: Grattan
Schools need to transform the way they teach reading so that fewer children get left behind, think tank report says.
- Julie Hare
Disruptive kids are on the rise in Australia’s classrooms
But a Senate report into disruptive classroom behaviour has only one recommendation - to create another inquiry into the matter.
- Julie Hare
January
School fees paid? Then double your budget
Rising school fees are heaping stress on household budgets. And then there’s the extra cost of uniforms, sports gear, music lessons and camps.
- Julie Hare
Nobel Prize winner cautions on rush into STEM
The economist says the rise of artificial intelligence may boost the need for more graduates with empathy and creativity, rather than science and maths skills.
- Tom Rees
School leavers shun uni, enrolments hit near-decade low
Gap years were back in 2022, but the 8.2 per cent drop in first-year university students also confirms a worrying trend that young people are shunning degrees.
- Julie Hare
December 2023
- Opinion
- Schools
Australia’s science curriculum is not broken
The performance of science students has stopped declining as resources from private publishers became available to teachers. Investing more in what is working will be far more productive than starting from scratch.
- Alan Finkel
I went to Newington and want my son to learn with girls. Here’s why
Witnesses say opponents of Newington College’s plan to admit girls blew raspberries at supporters during a heated meeting of parents at the school this week.
- Updated
- Samantha Hutchinson
- Exclusive
- Private schools
‘Unimaginable’: Newington mum speaks out against co-ed plan
A decision to admit girls to 160-year-old private boys’ school Newington College in Sydney has been a lightning rod for the broader community.
- Samantha Hutchinson
Absenteeism, bad behaviour compound poor school performance
Disengaged parenting, disruptive classroom behaviour and growing levels of absenteeism are having a devastating impact on school performance.
- Julie Hare
Australian schools halt slide as kids shrug off pandemic setbacks
In a twist of fate, a big decline in performance in several key countries has helped push Australian students further up the academic assessment ladder.
- Updated
- Julie Hare
How to fix Aussie kids’ dire classroom behaviour
Australian children are among the worst-behaved at school. A senate report has come up with some solutions.
- Julie Hare
