Browse the AERO collection

We found less than 1 in 5 students who perform below the national minimum standards in literacy and numeracy in the Year 3 NAPLAN tests catch up and stay caught up.

We look at who is not sitting the tests and why that matters.

There are many research reports, articles, ideas and resources designed to help teachers and education systems. How, though, can teachers be sure what they choose to do will work? The answer is evidence.

The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) is looking for educators, teachers and leaders from Australian schools and early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to prioritise and shape its research and resources.

A new analysis of NAPLAN data reconfirms that while students’ backgrounds influence their literacy and numeracy achievement, their results are not wholly determined by socio-economic background.

We might associate ‘top schools’ with having the lion's share of academic high-achievers. However, when we look at the distribution of achievement across all students within schools and compare it to average differences between schools, the story is not so straightforward.

Schools and services often have cultures of sharing and discussing evidence, but less support exists for practitioners to actively change their practice based on evidence.

Research, and the evidence it provides, helps educators be more intentional in their practice. It also guides important policy decisions to improve children’s outcomes and life trajectories.

Our experiences in the early years shape the developing brain, laying foundations for lifelong learning and resilience.

Danielle Toon, Co-Director of Evidence for Learning (E4L), shares insights and learnings from the Getting Evidence Moving in Schools (GEMS) project to help improve the use of research evidence in schools.

Jen Jackson, Early Childhood Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education Policy at the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University, explores evidence use in early childhood education and care.