This article introduces an Australian adaptation of an approach to supporting school leadership and improvement pioneered by educationalists David Townsend and Pam Adams, from Alberta, Canada. Referred to as the North Coast Initiative for School Improvement, the adaptation involved school leaders, academics, and government officials who combined…

The technological capacity that now exists to gather and store large amounts of data has improved access to information regarding young people in schools. Improvements in data management techniques and statistical data software packages have made retrieving and analysing systems data a more accessible and manageable process. On a smaller scale,…

Australian students' performance on national and international literacy assessments has declined since 2000, while teachers in contemporary classrooms contend with conditions of increased complexity and uncertainty. In July 2017, the Australian Government commissioned a panel of experts to provide advice on how to improve Australian students'…

This paper offers a cultural assets model for supporting school effectiveness that moves beyond the deficit and difference approaches of the twentieth century. The model incorporates the capacity to identify contemporary cultural assets, and support cultural continuity, cultural diversity and cultural resilience during change. Undertaking…

While the introduction of NAPLAN in 2008 has always been a source of contention for many teachers, and is regarded by some as an expression of bureaucratic control and therefore a challenge to professional autonomy, the development of the My School Website provided a more serious threat. This publication of school performances is viewed by many…

This paper examines the complex constellation of conditions that turn many young people into "exiles" from schooling. From the vantage point of young people, the paper traces out a profile of the conditions that need to be brought into existence for these young people to find a way back into learning. The paper argues that current…

The quality of leadership and the effectiveness of schools to deliver an appropriate education through quality teaching have been "hot" topics within education and more widely for several decades. This article provides a brief historical overview of developments in research and changing paradigms of Australian school leadership, followed…

There is no shortage of challenges in school education. Some of the biggest challenges we face can appear frustratingly intractable. Despite reform efforts, regular government reviews and ongoing calls for change, progress in addressing our most significant challenges is often slow and solutions continue to elude us. In this paper Professor Geoff…

The State, Territory and Commonwealth Ministers of Education met as the 11th Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in Sydney, 30-31 March 2000, chaired by the Commonwealth Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, the Honorable Dr. David Kemp MP. Conscious that the achievement of educational…

There is little doubt that the modern university is far different to that of the early 90s and the work of academics has changed considerably over this time driven by the efficiency and accountability agenda. In taking stock of the changes, it needs to be recognised that often the cry for efficiency and accountability has been used as a mechanism…

Relationship building in the remote rural settings studied occurred at various levels: professional, school-based, personal, and community-wide. Principals and teachers who understand the importance of relationship building--especially its personal and community-wide facets--who take the initiative in establishing and nurturing relationships and…

In this paper I argue that values of democracy and social justice in education would seem to have been displaced in recent decades by managerialist norms that are linked to the presumed needs of business and the economy of the nation. I am concerned that conceptualizations of the nature and purpose of education, and of the roles of teachers, are…

This article presents information on 2 international educational effectiveness studies, one completed and the other ongoing. The 2nd study is, to a large degree, a reaction to a methodological problem encountered in the 1st study, the lack of an internationally valid instrument measuring teacher effectiveness. This article presents 4 reasons for…

The Disadvantaged Schools Program (DSP) has been an important and integral part of education for many Australian students for over a decade. After reviewing eight school effectiveness variables, this paper argues that adding a new emphasis on academic success and cognitive skills will enhance the DSP program. Includes 3 tables and 20 references.…

An outline is given of the context in which The International School Effectiveness Research Project (ISERP) was designed and it is argued that the deficiencies of existing studies and the increased internationalization of education makes the more rigorous approach of ISERP essential. A number of methodological lessons from the study are given,…