International benchmarking of school performance continues to attract strong interest at governmental level as well as among Australian education systems. This interest is evident, for example, in the Grattan Institute report Catching up: Learning from the Best School Systems in East Asia, and in the Australian Government's Review of Funding for Schooling, which states that 'funding arrangements should be aimed at achieving an internationally competitive high standard of schooling'. In this issue Curriculum Leadership publishes an article covering an earlier report of continued relevance: How the World's Best-performing School Systems Come Out on Top, from McKinsey and Company. The report identifies reforms undertaken in 20 systems from a variety of regions, all with improving levels of performance, with the potential to be replicated by school systems elsewhere.
A year 5 teacher helps her students learn grammar by applying the metalanguage used in the Australian Curriculum: English to passages from a novel – Practically Primary.
An expert examines issues surrounding the adoption of ICT in schools, and the potential of technology to enhance students' learning – Oxford Review of Education.