The transition between arithmetic and algebraic thinking is challenging for students. One notable difficulty for students is understanding algebraic symbols--pronumerals. Researchers are exploring pedagogical approaches in seeking to address this issue. The current paper is contributing to this body of literature by illustrating how an online card…

A higher proportion of students are privately educated in Australia, compared with many other nations. In this paper, we tested the assumption that private schools offer better quality education than public schools. We examined differences in student achievement on the National Assessment Programme: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) between public,…

The increasing influx into Australia of (im)migrants whose first language is not English has made Australia linguistically more diverse than ever. Despite this, Australia remains a strongly Anglocentric nation, and migrants, in response, tend to abandon their heritage languages (HL) and shift to English relatively quickly. Korean migrants in…

Data reporting in the Australian education system produces deficit-based comparisons of academic achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Since 2009, data from the National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) have been used by the Australian government to allow it to report on 'Closing the Gap' policy. These…

Australian children from regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas exhibit lower educational outcomes than their peers in metropolitan areas. The mechanisms driving the comparatively poorer educational outcomes of children in RRR areas, however, are not well understood. This paper proposes and tests two sets of factors that may be responsible for…

Background: Previous research has examined associations between individual activity behaviors and academic achievement. Yet activity behaviors should be analyzed together because they are codependent parts of the 24-hour day. Aims: This study aims to explore the associations between all daily activity behaviors (sleep, sedentary time, light…

A young person's sense of belonging at school can affect their level of motivation, academic achievement and wellbeing. During the transition from primary to secondary school, one's sense of belonging may be affected by the changes and challenges encountered. This paper reports some of the findings from a larger qualitative longitudinal study that…

Students who can regulate their own learning are proposed to gain the most out of education, yet research into the impact of self-regulated learning skills on performance shows mixed results. This study supports the link between self-regulated learning and performance, while providing evidence of grade- or age-related differences. Australian…

Sports participation and elite sporting success are fundamental to Australian culture and a prominent source of national pride. As sport is a major part of day-to-day living in Australia, it is not surprising that many young people aspire to careers as sportspersons. While such aspirations are often dismissed as fanciful and unattainable, the…

National standardized assessment programs have increasingly included extended written performances, amplifying the need for reliable, valid, and efficient methods of assessment. This article examines a two-stage method using comparative judgments and calibrated exemplars as a complement and alternative to existing methods of assessing writing.…

Studies, such as Programme for International Student Assessment 2012, indicate that there are gender based differences in measures of mathematics anxiety, self-concept and self-efficacy among students. In this study we explore self-efficacy, self-concept and mathematics anxiety in a sample of Year 7 and 8 South Australian students to examine if…

This study explored students' feelings during the Australian National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy. It features student voice depicted as self-drawn images accompanied by words as they journeyed through four phases of the NAPLAN process: preparation, participation, completion and results. The 34 students in Years 3, 5 and 7 attended…

This study examined indicators of mental health, as well as strengths and difficulties, as reported by same-age boarding and non-boarding students spanning four time points over a 2-year period as they transitioned from primary to boarding school in Western Australia (i.e., at the end of Grade 7, beginning of Grade 8, end of Grade 8, and end of…

In this study we investigated how 200 students in seventh grade (mean age = 12.38 years) solved simple addition problems and if the way they performed simple addition was related to their achievement in mathematics. Four performance groups were identified: proficient, almost proficient, inaccurate min counting and accurate min counting. More than…

Values are conceptualized as the standards individuals use to determine the status of events and actions and are considered to influence individuals' behaviours, reasoning, and perceptions. Based on a synthesis of six school-based student values enhancement programs, this paper reports on the development of the Children's Values Questionnaire…