New publications

The report examines numeracy and literacy in New South Wales public schools 1994–2008. While students were found to perform well overall, the report noted that children at risk are 'not being adequately identified and are difficult to track through the education system'. The report recommends a 'greater focus on the child at risk, not the school they are enrolled in', improved training for the teachers of those children most in need, and school partnerships with preschools and with parents to increase children's school readiness. The report also found that the achievement of students in regional and rural areas had poorer results than metroplitan students, and that the gap was widening. Adapted from media release 22 October 2008. See also article in the Sydney Morning Herald 22 October 2008.

This report on the USA's key Reading First program provides findings from surveys completed in Spring 2005 and 2007 by K–3 teachers, principals and reading coaches in nationally representative samples of  Title I (disadvantaged) Reading First schools and Non-Reading First schools. It also draws on state and national databases that provided measures of school-level reading scores on state assessments across all school districts nationwide. See earlier Curriculum Leadership item covering public commentary on the preliminary report.

This paper reviews some of the recent qualitative literature on children’s perspectives on economic disadvantage. Nine analyses, all published since 1998, and all of them involving in-depth interviews or group work with children aged between 5 and 17, are examined in detail. The studies cover a range of issues including exclusion from activities and peer groups at school and in the community; perceptions of ‘poor’ and ‘affluent’ children; participation in organised activities outside of school hours; methods of coping with financial hardship; support for parents in coping and in seeking and keeping employment; and aspirations for future careers and lives. (Adapted from the paper's original abstract.) Published as SPRC Discussion Paper No. 149.

This book is a toolkit of design principles, creative ideas and projects for primary school environments, aimed at inspiring staff, pupils and parents. It is designed to help schools take an inclusive approach towards rebuilding, refurbishing and upgrading premises. The idea for this publication came from the DfES initiative 'Classrooms for the Future': a series of projects around the country exploring what a classroom in the 21st century should be like. The publication contains examples from the UK and overseas of such projects. Adapted from publisher's description.

This book is designed to give parents, teachers and other professionals who work and play with young children a confident understanding of communication and language development for children from birth to age eight. The author emphasises the importance of children's relationships and communications with others. The book covers early communication and language; achievements of young bilinguals; stories, narratives and language play and their significance in literacy development; and emerging literacy in homes, early years settings and classrooms. Adapted from publisher's description.

The study, number 53 in the LSAY Research Report series, covers young Australians’ perceptions of the career advice received in secondary school. The study was based on information collected from a group of more than 8,000 young Australians who had been 15 years old in 2003, most of whom were in Year 10. Annual phone interviews from 2003–2005 were used to collect students' opinions on the extent and value of career advice they had received. The most common type of career advice activity was found to be written material and handouts, followed by a talk from the school’s career advisor. In years 10, 11 and 12, an individual conversation with the career advisor was perceived as the most useful. Group discussion was seen as the least useful by students at all three year levels. Career advice appears to be delivered equitably to students across all schools and within schools. See executive summary and publisher's media release.