Libraries across Australia are becoming increasingly involved in the development and implementation of family literacy programs, placing librarians at the centre of this initiative. "Better Beginnings" is a family literacy program developed by the State Library of Western Australian and delivered throughout the state. The program…

This paper presents findings from a landmark Australian study investigating the experiences and perspectives of young people in residential care. Data from a representative sample are analyzed to identify young people's satisfaction with various aspects of their residential care experience: their sense of safety, normality, support, comfort in…

Family-centred practice positions families as the key decision-makers, central to and experts in the wants and needs of their child. This paper discusses how families interviewed for a Western Australian study describe their relationships with a range of allied health professionals in the paediatric disability sector. The allied health…

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is an international assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades that has been conducted every four years since 1995, with the most recent assessment in 2011. PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) is an international assessment of reading…

Little is known about how to appropriately adapt mentoring programs for young people from the Horn of Africa, even though they have been arriving in Australia in significantly increasing numbers. These young people face unique challenges as a result of their age, ethnicity, migration and direct/indirect trauma experiences. The results of this…

This paper discusses a recent Australian study of boys' education using case studies to determine successful practices. It focuses on an early childhood site where access to "discourses of power" for students and parents and a valuing of students' "action knowledge" created a particular democratic culture achieving improved…

This qualitative study investigates the views of clients with low vision and vision rehabilitation professionals on the involvement of family and friends in group-based rehabilitation programs. Both groups outlined advantages and disadvantages to involving significant others, and it is essential that clients are given the choice. Future work is…

The Closing the Gap Clearinghouse was established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to bring together evidence-based research on overcoming disadvantage for Indigenous Australians. The Clearinghouse provides access to a collection of information on what works to improve Indigenous people's lives across the building blocks identified…

Over the past 10 years, early childhood professionals have been increasingly influenced by cultural-historical theory. In order to support professionals evolving their practice, the Australian government commissioned a set of cultural-historical resources specifically designed to build literacy and numeracy experiences for children from birth to…

Suggests that there is a pressing need to find ways of developing more services which aim to strengthen and complement families. To do this effectively, these services must be developed according to the families' needs and values. (MP)

Videotaped interactions between both parents and one adolescent from 54 two-children families. Parents and adolescents viewed tapes and rated themselves and other family members on anxiety, involvement, dominance, and friendliness. Adolescents rated family members as more anxious, less involved and less dominant than did parents, and were rated as…

Thirty-seven Australian families with a child with Down's syndrome and 20 comparison families recorded the expenses involved in rearing their children. Results showed that families with a Down's syndrome child incurred additional expenses and participated less in activities such as dance, music, gymnastics, and sports. (Author/JDD)

Reports on a study that investigated the impact of a science teaching and learning program on families of children attending an Australian child care center. Findings indicate that science-based discussions in everyday family contexts were common among families during the program and that parents gained greater insights into specific aspects of…

This paper discusses the concept of "primal landscapes" as a way of conceptualising the interactions between children and the environments they grow up in. The paper discusses this concept drawing on empirical research conducted in the field of human geography on how people learn about their environments. The research employed a…

The paper describes the transition of service provision for 240 intellectually handicapped Australian children and their families from a relatively traditional service delivery system to one emphasizing home and family involvement and placement of services closer to home. (Author/PHR)