New publications

This report draws on research undertaken to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government services. Among a number of other initiatives, there have been improvements made to the reporting of early childhood, education and training services. Profiles are included for children's services, school education, and vocational education and training; and frameworks for peformance indicators are outlined. Future directions for policy and reporting are also provided. School education is covered in Volume 1 Chapter 4. Both Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the report are available online. See statement from the Productivity Commission and statement from NSW Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth,both 29 January 2010.

Effective practice in the middle years is examined. The text provides practical ideas about how to evaluate programs; a variety of case studies describing innovative practice; and a review of key issues related to student engagement. It also includes an evaluation framework that draws on the perspectives of students and their teachers in finding out what works in their particular contexts; specific strategies that can be used to evaluate school-based initiatives; advice on building a collaborative inquiry culture among teachers; and a description of successful teaching and learning strategies. Adapted from publisher's description.

This teaching and learning resource is designed to help upper primary and lower secondary school students understand the meaning of Australian citizenship. It comprises five student-centred inquiry-based learning activities that are linked to the state and territory school curricula and that cover democratic beliefs, present case studies of Australian citizens, and examine what it means to be an Australian citizen, as well as the role and purpose of citizenship in contemporary society. Three online interactive activities complement the five learning activities. Each school will receive a copy of the resource; alternatively, the full resource is available online.

The Critical Reading Inventory (CRI) provides a profile of readers' performances, including their ability to respond thoughtfully to text, which can become a solid basis for differentiated instruction and flexible grouping in the classroom. The book provides instructions for administering, scoring and interpreting the CRI; and is accompanied by case studies, tutorials and video demonstrations. This edition includes a program for scoring word-list percentages, and reading and comprehension scores; tutorials for scoring miscues, retelling and comprehension items; and expanded technical support. Adapted from publisher's description.

This report examines and describes the ways in which 44 primary and secondary schools in Britain used creative teaching approaches to engage students and improve learning. The schools were selected due to students' reported enjoyment of lessons, their curricula and their outcomes. The surveyed schools strove to engage pupils to ask questions, make connections between concepts, think creatively, participate and critically reflect on their learning. Examples of quality creative learning were those that were carefully planned, that were embedded in the curriculum, that met national standards and that were supported by the leadership. Approaches used open-ended questioning and encouraged student independence, while guiding students and keeping learning goals in mind. Good professional development was key to developing high-quality creative learning environments. The full report is available online.