On 12 November 2014 the Fairfax media reported allegations of cheating by students at a number of Australian higher education providers through the purchase of assignments, particularly through the MyMaster website. The Honorable Christopher Pyne MP, Minister for Education and Training, referred the matter to the Tertiary Education Quality and…

This article considers the value of elite interviews as a frequently overlooked methodology in investigations of policymaking in early childhood education and care (ECEC). We contextualise the discussion within a study that examines constructions of quality in Australian ECEC policymaking between 1972 and 2009. We conclude that, despite their…

This paper provides insights into teacher and school-based administrators' responses to policy demands for improved outcomes on high-stakes, standardised literacy and numeracy tests in Australia. Specifically, the research reveals the effects of the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), and associated policies, in the state…

This paper presents a critical analysis of the representation of physical education (PE) in the 1992 Senate inquiry into "Physical and Sport Education" in Australia. Analysis focuses specifically upon how and why a new professional discourse, fundamental motor skills (FMS), gained a privileged position in the inquiry, the inquiry report…

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the attitudes of School Administrators to the relationship between formal school registration and school improvement. It concerns a mandatory inspection-type registration process for all Non-Government Schools in Western Australia. Part of the aim of this registration process was to help…

Whilst regulation is utilized by governments in Australia and internationally as a means of promoting quality standards in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, a growing body of literature is critical of the detrimental effect of this regulation. Drawing on our investigation into early childhood teachers' perceptions of the impact…

This study investigates whether Australian multi-campus universities are distinctive in terms of their student profile by field of education (FOE), funding and expenditure profiles, and learning and teaching outcomes, and identifies the implications for higher education policy and funding. Both parametric and non-parametric techniques are used to…

As institutions of education and learning, the higher education sector has a significant role to play in implementing the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). Some institutions have already acknowledged, and are shaping, their roles in working towards sustainability through appropriate development and…

In July 2001, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) agreed to the development of assessment instruments and key performance measures for reporting on student skills, knowledge and understandings in primary science. It directed the newly established Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce…

In 2003 the first nationally-comparable science assessment was designed, developed and carried out under the auspices of the national council of education ministers, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). In 2006 a second science assessment was conducted and, for the first time nationally, the…