"Let's Count" is an early mathematics program that has been designed by The Smith Family and the authors to assist educators in early childhood contexts in socially disadvantaged areas of Australia to work in partnership with parents and other family members to promote positive mathematical experiences for young children (3-5 years). A…

Peer assisted learning (PAL) is one method of teaching which involves peers, or people from similar social groups, in reciprocal learning where one peer educates another and in return learns through the teaching experience. There have been many reported benefits of PAL programs. PAL has a long history of use in healthcare education; however, for…

Our study capitalized on a unique natural experiment rather than a researcher-designed, randomized experiment whereby, thanks to the Australian Government's Digital Education Revolution, half of grade 9 students in 2008 received laptops and half did not. Consequently in late 2011, when these students sat for their grade 12 external examinations…

This project evaluated the feasibility of a child-centred 24-week physical activity intervention. The "Play5" strategy encourages children to choose to play vigorously five times a day for about as long as school recess. The seven-year-old children were randomised to control (n = 176) or intervention groups (n = 132). Data were collected…

In this article, the evidence regarding a proposed "cure" for dyslexia and other, arguably related, conditions is examined critically. The origins and history of the Dore program and its progenitors, its introduction to Australia and its advertising claims are reviewed, with a focus on the claims made with regard to dyslexia, and…

A program to teach young children about phonological structure was evaluated with 64 experimental group and 62 control group preschoolers in Australia. Results support the efficacy of the program and the principle that phonological awareness and letter knowledge are necessary but not sufficient for acquisition of the alphabetic principle. (SLD)