While school policies are not a panacea, gender and sexuality diversity-inclusive policies have the potential to relieve educators' concerns about what they are 'allowed' to engage with in respect to GSD inclusivity and to guide their proactive efforts to support gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) students. Unfortunately, policies enabling…

In TIMSS 2015, while two-thirds of students in grade 4 reported feeling very safe at school, by grade 8, less than half of the students surveyed reported feeling a high level of safety. Overall, girls were more likely to report feeling safe than boys. For both genders, feeling safe at school seemed to be positively related to academic achievement…

The purpose of this study was to determine how the design and organisation of primary school playground spaces may result in the inclusion or exclusion of some groups of children. Two primary school playgrounds in rural New South Wales, Australia, were selected for this investigation. Data were collected through observations and unstructured…

This study analysed students' attitudes towards school and the relationship between these attitudes and reading performance. Using a sample of 57,572 Year 7 and 9 students from 306 Victorian government schools, the analysis combined two de-identified data sets -- students' responses to the Student Attitudes to School Survey and their performance…

In recent years many policy and curriculum reforms aimed at improving Australian students' literacy and numeracy levels have been introduced into schools and in initial teacher education. Despite this, the Australian National Assessment Plan, Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data indicates that there has been little or no improvement in Australian…

Effective school reform requires communication with and buy-in from key stakeholders. In recent years, stakeholder surveys have become increasingly prominent tools for promoting better understanding of how school factors contribute to student success. The key purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between Victorian school scores on…

Schools have become increasingly aware of the prevalence, seriousness and negative impacts of bullying. Investigation into the direction and strength of the relationship between social health factors and bullying victimisation during early adolescence and the determination of a critical time to focus school-based bullying intervention programs is…

Instructional written materials play important roles as teachers' agents in effective teaching practices. Worksheets are one of the most frequently used materials. In this exploratory study, the relationships between worksheet usage and science achievement in 32 countries were examined through the use of TIMSS and PIRLS data and multiple…

Instructional written materials play important roles as teachers' agents in effective teaching practices. Worksheets are one of the most frequently used materials. In this exploratory study, the relationships between worksheet usage and science achievement in 32 countries were examined through the use of TIMSS and PIRLS data and multiple…

In 2003 Australia was one of the first countries to develop an integrated national policy, called the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF), for the prevention and management of violence, bullying, and other aggressive behaviors. The effectiveness of this framework has not yet been formally evaluated. Cross-sectional data collected in 2007 from…

PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) was inaugurated in 2001 as a follow-up to International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's 1991 Reading Literacy Study. Conducted every five years, PIRLS assesses the reading achievement of young students in their fourth year of schooling--an important transition…

This paper argues the importance of moving beyond the state of affairs that makes victims "either" of children "or" of teachers by exploring the conditions of possibility for the idea of a victimless school. The argument is developed drawing data from a study being conducted by the authors into the impact of risk management on…