Infographic: Hopes for your child’s education

A national survey from Australian children’s charity The Smith Family has asked families about their hopes for their child’s school education. The top theme from responses was ‘good or improved academic achievement’, while 6% gave answers related to ‘affording resources and having access to opportunities’. Find out more in this infographic.https://research.acer.edu.au/teacher_graphics/1235/thumbnail.jp

PISA 2022. A closer look at mathematics in Australia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative study that assesses how well 15-year-olds, who have nearly completed compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, can use their knowledge and skills to meet real-world opportunities and challenges. In each cycle of PISA, students are assessed in the domains of reading, mathematics and science. Each cycle has a domain that is the major focus and for which there is a higher proportion of questions than from the others. Mathematics was the major focus in the 2022 cycle. The mathematics assessment framework includes 2 mathematics subscales that reflect the complexity of mathematics. The content subscales (Change and relationships; Quantity; Space and shape; and Uncertainty and data) represent the core areas of mathematics knowledge that students encounter in educational curricula worldwide. The process subscales (Formulating situations mathematically; Employing mathematical concepts, facts and procedures; Interpreting, applying and evaluating mathematical outcomes; and, Mathematical reasoning) reflect the mental actions required for effective problem-solving in mathematics. This report presents the mathematics results on the content and process subscales for Australia as a whole, for the Australian states and territories and for the other groups in PISA 2022. This report also presents the results from the teacher questionnaire about the teaching of mathematics and explores the perspectives of teachers on the constructs of: goals and views about teaching mathematics; encouraging mathematical thinking; fostering reasoning; and, teaching of mathematical reasoning and 21st-century mathematics topics. Each construct examines the similarities and differences in teachers teaching of mathematics between countries, the Australian jurisdictions and different demographic groups. Similarly, the student questionnaire ascertains student perspectives about the constructs of: effort and persistence in mathematics; mathematics self-efficacy in mathematical reasoning and 21st-century mathematics topics; and, mathematics anxiety. The constructs present the similarities and differences in students\u27 attitudes and behaviours toward learning mathematics between countries, the Australian jurisdictions and different demographic groups

Teacher Practice Improvement Tool. Preliminary version

Research shows the profound impact teachers can have on student outcomes. The Teacher Practice Improvement Tool describes the practices of highly effective teachers, based on an extensive review of international research. Five domains—or aspects of practice—have been identified from this evidence. These areas of teachers’ work are strongly interrelated. The TPIT provides a point of reference for teachers to reflect on their current practices and identify areas for professional growth. This tool can be used for teacher self-reflection and to identify specific areas for further professional growth. The TPIT can also be used by aspiring teachers and other education professionals who support the work of teachers. The TPIT is part of ACER’s suite of improvement tools. ACER offers a range of school and system improvement services using these tools

Snapshots issue 20: Effort in PISA: Insights from recent data

This issue of Snapshots explores how student effort may vary depending on the perceived stakes of the assessment. We revisit the self-reported levels of effort that students invested in the PISA test and compare them with the effort they indicated they would have made if the results counted towards their school marks. Australia’s results are compared with 21 of the 81 comparison countries and economies that participated in PISA 2022,1 providing a context for understanding Australia’s position in the global education landscape. We then examine effort in PISA among different demographic groups within Australia, which can influence how students approach the PISA test. Understanding these differences is important for identifying specific areas where efforts can be focused to support particular groups of students, ensuring that all are equally motivated to perform their best

Infographic: PISA 2022 insights – Student-teacher relationships

One of the topics in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) student questionnaire is the quality of student-teacher relationships. This infographic looks at the responses of Australian students in the 2022 test cycle, by state and territory.https://research.acer.edu.au/teacher_graphics/1234/thumbnail.jp

Infographic: School student retention, enrolments and teacher growth

The Australian Bureau of Statistics release data on schools, staff and students in Australia each year. The latest data for 2024 show increases from 2023 in student retention, full-time equivalent teaching staff, and student enrolment.https://research.acer.edu.au/teacher_graphics/1238/thumbnail.jp

Pairwise Comparison Method Toolkit. A toolkit for countries to measure global learning outcomes.

This toolkit has been co-authored by the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre at the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS). ACER provides technical support to the UIS, which has been mandated to monitor the progress of countries towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) in education to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (United Nations, 2021). The GEM Centre sponsors and contributes to public goods and activities that facilitate education systems reporting against SDG 4 in a globally consistent way. Consistent and high-quality monitoring of student learning will help systems understand the strengths they have and the challenges they face. Moreover, it provides evidence to inform the development of policies and practice to improve student learning. This toolkit has been developed to help support countries to align their assessment with global standards and report against SDG 4.1. The UIS has developed a menu of options to enable countries to report against SDG 4.1.1, of which the Pairwise Comparison Method (PCM) for measuring global learning outcomes is one

Self-regulation: Skill development framework

This self-regulation skill development framework was developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing self-regulation. It provides a general definition of self-regulation and describes this construct as it applies in classroom-based learning. This framework synthesises and harmonises existing theory and research on self-regulation. It outlines self-regulation processes along prescribed strands and aspects that are informed by evidence. The strands contained within the framework are 1. Cognitive regulating; 2. Behavioural regulating; and 3. Emotional regulating. The strands are further broken down into aspects to inform teaching and assessment

Infographic: Sexual harassment of teachers

A recent survey of more than 1,000 K-12 teachers working in Australian schools has found 47% (almost all female) have experienced sexual harassment within a school environment. Here we share the 6 key findings from the survey and some of the responses from participants.https://research.acer.edu.au/teacher_graphics/1236/thumbnail.jp

Discover ACER India

This 2025 corporate profile highlights ACER India\u27s work supporting evidence-based policies and practices in South Asia. It includes collaborations and project highlights, in particular national assessment reform