Surveys like the recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) enable educators, policy makers and the wider community to compare Australian students with each other, as well as their counterparts across the world. An essential part of a positive school climate…

Adolescent depression is serious and common. As adolescents spend approximately 15,000 h in school, this setting is a logical place to seek etiological factors. Research suggests there are negative associations between school climate and adolescent depressive symptoms. However, such studies typically use "student" reports of both climate…

The current push for principals' to be accountable for student outcomes has led to a renewed interest in the role of leadership in instructional improvement. This article describes the development and validation of a survey that focused on organisational management features that are likely to bring about improvement in instruction. The development…

Parental choice of school is an under-researched area in the Australian educational literature. Moreover, research in this area tends to focus on school choice with respect to government policy and market influences. This paper presents the findings from doctoral research which explored the ways in which parents living in rural and remote areas…

Background and context: Schools in Australia and internationally are increasingly adopting a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach to teaching and learning. The review: While discussion of a BYOD approach has taken place, there is a dearth of consideration of the potential impact of BYOD policy on student health. Implementation of a BYOD policy…

This occasional paper is the fourth in a series on the National Quality Framework (NQF). This paper offers detailed insights into education and care service quality ratings for Quality Area 3 (physical environment) of the National Quality Standard (NQS). The focus is on ensuring the physical environment of a service is safe, suitable and provides…

A plethora of studies have appeared which argue that, prior to their attack, the perpetrators of school shootings had experienced intense conflicts and problematic relations (e.g. bullying) with peers and teachers, and were on the periphery of the schools' social life. This in turn resulted in the perpetrators' view of themselves as marginalized…

Although home-school collaborations are important for inclusive education, most studies have identified the problems experienced by parents whose children have additional special needs. The aim of this study was to present the views of Australian parents, with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, regarding what they considered to be…

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) were devised to identify the attributes, skills and practices required of teachers at various career stages. This study investigates final-year preservice teachers' self-reported confidence against the APST at the graduate career stage. This mixed-method study used a Likert scale survey and…

Schools are among the safest places in the community for children and young people. This National Safe Schools Framework builds on the original 2003 Framework. It recognises the progress that individual schools, systems and sectors have made since the publication and dissemination of the original framework to create safe, supportive and respectful…

Federal and State Government policies and curricula mandate the uptake of emergent digital technologies within schools. Recent research focusing on the propagation of adolescent-produced sexual images via digital technologies, more commonly known as sexting, highlights the need for an examination of the risks associated with the use of digital…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore relationships between students' self-reported mental health and their perspectives about life at school in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Design/methodology/approach: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and a purpose designed Living and Learning at School Questionnaire (LLSQ)…

This article explores the effects of cyberbullying in relation to a school's duty of care. By examining the impact of cyberbullying through an increasingly common scenario, it becomes apparent that the strategies for Australian schools in maintaining their duty of care may be unclear and uncommunicated. Findings suggest that Australian law in its…

In this article, educators' experiences of working in diverse classrooms designed to provide English language education as part of Intensive English Language Programs (IELPs) in South Australia are considered. To this end, responses to qualitative interviews with 14 educators working in three schools are examined using Braun and Clarke's method of…

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…