From ACER Press

Driving School Improvement: Practical strategies and tools is designed to support school leaders in practical, adaptable and context-specific ways to advance their school’s improvement journey. The focus of the book is implementation. A broad collection of tools, activities and pro formas are provided, which have been used successfully in a range of schools. School leaders can begin at their school’s point of need and select the path that is most valuable to their setting. This second edition builds on the success of the original resource and, with extensive feedback from the field, delivers significantly expanded, refined and updated research, case studies and techniques to help schools meet the implementation challenge. With the help of Driving School Improvement, whole-school improvement can be embedded so that it becomes truly sustainable, resulting in measurable long-term progress in learning outcomes for schools, teachers and students.

Play-based learning has long been a means of facilitating teaching and learning in the early childhood years. The Walker Learning Approach, an Australian-designed, evidence-based play pedagogy, provides a solid base and foundation for intentional and responsive teaching in the early years. The program's systems and practices support teams of early childhood educators in a consistent approach that ensures continuity and predictability for children, educators and families. Early Childhood Play Matters provides guidance and many practical ideas on implementing the Walker Learning Approach within early childhood learning practices. Topics include: Intentional teaching How to minimise time spent on planning and documentation while producing clinical and professional records How to set up open-ended play learning experiences to promote skills How to scaffold with intention and purpose for learning How to communicate effectively as an educator How to honour and build relationships with children and families. It also includes organisational ideas and resources, a full-colour section of photographs, templates for planning, assessment and reporting activities, and a bibliography for further reference. Early Childhood Play Matters concentrates on the most formative years of education (birth to six years of age), with intentional, rich and rigorous play-based opportunities for young children. It builds upon the successful work that Shona Bass and Kathy Walker have achieved in play-based curriculum in the early and primary years nationally and internationally. Early Childhood Play Matters Resources Daily/Weekly Record Sheet Individual observation and planning record (IOPR) Statement of intent: Early Childhood Education generic planning indicator

Following the success of Play Matters 2nd ed., Engagement Matters is the next stage of the Walker Learning Approach for implementation with primary students in Grades 3-6. Engagement Matters provides a step-by-step, practical guide for teachers, emphasising student engagement, empowerment and achievement, and importantly, personalised learning. The transition from Grade 2 into the middle and upper primary years is made seamless through the provision of tips, activities and explanatory theory. Engagement Matters will equip schools with the capacity to actively engage students in their learning across all subject areas and diverse contexts. In doing so, Engagement Maters effectively lays the foundations for ongoing engagement and successful learning throughout the school life. The book contains a full colour section of photographs to highlight key themes. Download the Appendices documents for planning, assessment and reporting activities here: Planning Materials Editable Templates

In this highly successful resource, Kathy Walker demonstrates the key principles of the Walker Learning Approach that she has developed over 15 years of observation, participation and presentation in schools and child care centres across Australia. Play Matters provides practical guidance and innovative strategies for teachers working with young children from preschool to Grade 2, through a unique balance of explicit instruction in literacy and numeracy skills and personalised, explorative learning. The book promotes the active engagement of all young children, with an enhanced focus on children from diverse backgrounds as well as children with specific needs. Play Matters is packed with pedagogical features to support implementation in any educational setting. It contains a full colour section of photographs. Organisational ideas and resources are provided, along with a comprehensive bibliography for further reference and advice. Download the Appendices documents for planning, assessment and reporting activities in Word or PDF.    

School leaders are tasked with assisting students to make the next steps in their learning journeys, regardless of the students’ starting points. For students who are struggling, the next steps are often clear, but for students who are achieving beyond the expected level it can be difficult to know how best to challenge them. Leading improvement for gifted and talented students provides a framework for a set of high-impact strategies that individually and together can be the focus of improving high-level outcomes for gifted and talented students across the school. Professor John Munro brings his considerable experience to this complex problem, addressing the theoretical understandings of how high-ability students flourish and the practical requirements of meeting the needs of these students in today’s classrooms. Key chapters discuss what high ability looks like, what high-level outcomes are, how to identify students who display high-level outcomes in fields beyond literacy and numeracy and how school leaders can equip their educators with the ability to differentiate both the curriculum and their teaching. Topics such as twice-exceptional students, classroom culture, students from diverse backgrounds and social and emotional wellbeing are also addressed as part of a whole-school strategy for enhancing educational provision for high-ability students. Leading improvement for gifted and talented students is an essential evidence-based resource for all school leaders who wish to ensure that every child achieves their full potential.

School leaders have ready access to assessment data, motivating efforts to improve literacy outcomes of their students, but it can be difficult for principals to decide how to achieve these goals within their school’s existing strategic plans and policies.Associate Professor Robyn Cox brings her decades of experience in language and literacy education to this handbook for school leaders. The book supports principals’ understandings of the intricacies of teaching literacy and the best ways to improve practices and subsequent outcomes in each school’s unique context.With an opening chapter focusing on using and interpreting evidence, Associate Professor Cox outlines strategies for addressing the key areas of oral language, grammar and writing, vocabulary and early reading as well as providing advice around diagnostics and tailored intervention for students who require further support. She includes reflections from school leaders on each topic and pays particular attention to the needs of students from non-English speaking backgrounds.Leading improvement in literacy teaching and learning provides a framework for a set of high-impact strategies that individually and together can be the focus of teacher professional learning, school improvement and student literacy achievement.

School leaders have ready access to assessment data, motivating efforts to improve the numeracy outcomes of their students, but it can be difficult for principals to decide how to achieve these goals within their school’s existing strategic plans and policies. Emeritus Professor Peter Sullivan brings his decades of experience and research in mathematics teaching and education to a carefully curated selection of proven practices and effective approaches that will help primary and secondary school leaders empower teachers and achieve improved numeracy outcomes for their students. With links to high-impact teaching strategies and the OECD’s Future of Education and Skills 2030 framework, the book gives school leaders insights into professional learning opportunities and practices that can align improvement visions and goals with effective classroom approaches. Quality learning experiences, lesson structure, learning sequences, classroom culture, collaborative planning and effective teaching are addressed in ways that will help school leaders improve not only students’ numeracy and mathematics outcomes, but also their critical and creative thinking skills, enabling classroom learning to be transferred to real-life contexts. Leading improvement in mathematics teaching and learning provides a framework for a set of high-impact strategies that individually and together can be the focus of teacher professional learning, school improvement and student numeracy achievement.

More than ever before, the wellbeing of students, staff and the school community must be a priority for principals and school leaders.Leading Improvement in School Community Wellbeing provides a framework for a set of high-impact strategies that individually and together can be the focus of improving wellbeing across the school. The book provides school leaders with key research-based school improvement practices, authentic case studies in the form of principals’ reflections, and, crucially, practical explanations outlining how to choose a particular practice and how to successfully embed or implement that strategy within the school. Asking ‘What’s happening?’, ‘What’s working’? and ‘What’s next?’, the three parts of the book provide tools to assess the school community’s wellbeing strengths and needs; to determine actions required to improve student and staff wellbeing; and to effectively implement wellbeing strategies across the school for the benefit of the entire school community.

Teachers, Students and the Law is an indispensable pocket-sized resource that guides primary and secondary school teachers through the many complex legal issues that can arise in school environments. Covering key topics including duty of care, cyberbullying, discrimination, privacy and family law, among others, the book provides concise, plain-language information in an easy-to-use format.This fifth edition incorporates revised and expanded information and references, including online learning and pandemic advice, with an up-to-date directory of national contacts and services.

Kit goes to school with her friends Harley and Vanya, and always tries her best at everything she does. Arlo is too loud, too close, just too... much. But when a moving van pulls up next to Kit’s house one weekend, Kit and Arlo find out they have a lot more in common than they thought. Join Kit, Arlo and their friends as they navigate school, home life and friendships, and learn more than a few things about how to get along. Kit and Arlo Find a Way: Stories about consent for 8–12 year olds is a much-needed consent teaching resource for Grades 3 to 6. An action-packed and relatable fictional chapter book, Kit and Arlo is a page-turning journey of upper primary school kids – Kit, Arlo, Harley and Vanya – developing and exploring friendships with plenty of ups and downs. Entertaining and compelling as a standalone narrative, Kit and Arlo’s secret weapon is that it contains all of the complex components of consent and includes respectful relationships education in an age-appropriate format. Teachers and parents can read the story, chapter by chapter, and then use the discussion points and ‘read and respond’ notes to facilitate conversations around consent in child-friendly ways. For schools and families needing a more in-depth consent and respectful relationships curriculum, a dedicated Kit and Arlo resources platform houses evidence-based teaching activities, videos, webinars, podcasts, resource links and lesson plans designed to tie in with the story. Kit and Arlo Find a Way is a vital resource for schools and families doing the essential work of empowering kids with decision-making skills that will carry through to their interactions and relationships later on in life. The Educational Publishing Awards Australia (EPAA) also recognised the importance and quality of this resource, awarding Kit and Arlo Find a Way wins for both the Educational Chapter Book and Outstanding Primary Resource categories.  NSW government schools should navigate to the NSW Department of Education’s Student Wellbeing external programs catalogue here to learn more about accessing this resource.  Key topics include: body boundaries and safety verbal and non-verbal cues developing a sense of self, personal strength and self-determination understanding that the responsibly of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ should be shared understanding that shared activities should have enthusiastic, affirmative and ongoing consent having the courage to withdraw consent understanding gendered stereotypes, coercion and power imbalances learning to have empathy for others managing disappointment when someone changes their mind how to be an upstander when someone is being harmed the keys to respectful relationships and better friendships. Teaching consent to children For schools and families needing a more in-depth consent and respectful relationships curriculum, a dedicated Kit and Arlo resources platform houses evidence-based teaching activities, videos, webinars, podcasts, resource links and lesson plans designed to tie in with the story. Consent is integral to human relationships throughout our whole lives. It is complex and also surprisingly simple. The basic principles of consent must always apply to all of our connections, including with family, friends, work and play.  However, people are complex. In different situations, we can experience a range of different feelings, thoughts and emotions. In order to be sure that someone wants to share an experience with us equally, and that they are giving affirmative permission. We need to make important choices and decisions to ensure we always have and give consent.  Download the resources here.

The role of a school principal is an extremely challenging one. Principals are required to be educators, business managers, strategic planners, counsellors and most importantly, leaders. While there are professional development opportunities and short courses available for aspiring principals, many principals work their way up to the role without receiving any formal training in the specific skills required to successfully lead a school and its community. Neil Barker argues in Ecosystem leadership: an approach for schools that in order to improve school leadership and subsequent student outcomes, principals and leadership teams need to better understand how to lead together; to be intentional about the school’s leadership and to methodically and deliberately develop a collective leadership approach. Based on the organic and interconnected ecosystems found throughout the natural world, Ecosystem leadership provides practical, hands-on activities and templates to assist school leaders in developing collective leadership skills and practices. The book sets out 5 key leadership elements for school leaders to address: context, vision, processes, focuses and impact. Ecosystem leadership provides a collaborative, self-improving approach to leadership that is systematic, integrated and comprehensive. It describes a system of leadership that is fit for purpose, based on a school’s unique context, and always with improving student outcomes at the forefront.

Problem-based learning is a powerful alternative to drill-and practice or skills-based learning, especially within maths, but it can be difficult to source rich materials that engage an entire class.The Creative Activities in Mathematics series provides a wealth of investigations and open-ended active learning activities, designed to engage students with mathematics and develop their problem solving, collaboration and mathematical skills.Book One provides 12 different class activities suitable for students in lower and middle primary school (Foundation to Year 4), along with teaching notes and staged lesson plans. Each activity is a whole-class investigation with open-ended answers that takes a particular scenario and develops it over three levels. This enables it to be used both at different year levels and with students of differing ability in the same class. All activities are firmly rooted in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and linked to the content descriptors of the Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability strands.   Student materials Download a full set of activity sheets that provide a framework for student responses. These can be printed or copied for use in class. Download activity sheets Additional online resources Part 1: Number and Algebra Chapter 1: Numbers and words Simon Singh's Black Chamber - http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/index.html The Caesar cipher - http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/caesar.html Caesar’s method (The Caesar cipher) - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CaesarsMethod.html Chapter 2: Cats and dogs How cats age - http://www.calculatorcat.com/cats/cat-years.phtml Chart of cat ages to human ages - http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/agechart.htm Dog years calculator - http://www.onlineconversion.com/dogyears.htm How to calculate a dog's age in years - http://www.ehow.com/how_8461704_calculate-dogs-age-years.html The lifespan of animals - http://sonic.net/~petdoc/lifespan.htm Chapter 3: Difference and sum problems 1089 problem - http://www.mathsisfun.com/1089.html 1089 and a property of 3-digit numbers - http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/Arithmetic/S1089.shtml Mathematical magic tricks: The 1089 problem - http://www.numericana.com/answer/magic.htm#1089 Chapter 4: Arks and Tarks Missionaries and cannibals problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionaries_and_cannibals_problem The river crossing puzzle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_crossing_puzzle Tricky crossings - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tricky-crossings Chapter 5: The farmyard problem The farmyard problem - http://nzmaths.co.nz/problem-solving-strategies#The Farmyard Problem Chapter 6: The 12 game Game theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory Blackjack - http://www.pagat.com/banking/blackjack.html Pontoon - http://www.pagat.com/banking/pontoon.html Nim games - http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=4221   Part 2: Measurement and Geometry Chapter 7: Classroom shapes Polyhedron net animations - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/polyhedron-net-animations.html Pyramids - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/pyramids.html Pyramid animations - https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/pyramid.html The Dubai Pyramid - http://inhabitat.com/ziggurat-dubai-carbon-neutral-pyramid-will-house-1-million/ The Louvre Pyramid - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre_Pyramid The Shrine of Remembrance - http://www.shrine.org.au/The-S... Chapter 8: Jenny's jelly bean problem Maximum volume of a lidless box - http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMAT6680Su09/Park/As12dspark/As12dspark.html Chapter 9: Horrible Hal’s humungous hall Tessellation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessellation The Alhambra - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tassellatura_alhambra.jpg MS Escher - http://www.mcescher.com/Galler...   Part 3: Statistics and Probability Chapter 10: The longest name Chinese names - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_name Sri Lankan names - http://www.babynology.com/sri-... (Link inactive) German names - http://www.babynamescountry.com/origins/popular_german_baby_names1.html English names - http://www.babynamescountry.com/origins/popular_english_baby_names1.html French names - http://expat-friendly.com/?Top... Top baby names in 2011 for Australia - http://www.kidspot.com.au/baby... Top baby names in 2011 for England - http://www.kidspot.com.au/baby... Top baby names in 2011 for the United States - http://www.kidspot.com.au/baby... Top baby names in France - http://expat-friendly.com/?Top... Top 20 pet names - http://www.bowwow.com.au/find-... Pet name search - http://www.bowwow.com.au/find-a-name-for-your-pet/pet-name-search.aspx Chapter 11: Penny’s Pet Shop No way José - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/no-way-jose?parent_node= Lonely pig - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/lonely-pig?parent_node= Chapter 12: The teddies’ race That's not fair - http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/resource/thats-not-fair?parent_node Dice roller - https://www.random.org/dice/ Dice roller - http://www.roll-dice-online.com Dice roller - https://www.random.org/playing-cards/ Additional sites Maths 300 - https://maths300.com NRICH - http://nrich.maths.org/ NZ Maths - http://nzmaths.co.nz AMSI TIMES (The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools) modules - http://schools.amsi.org.au/times-modules/

Problem-based learning is a powerful alternative to drill-and practice or skills-based learning, especially within maths, but it can be difficult to source rich materials that engage an entire class.The Creative Activities in Mathematics series provides a wealth of investigations and open-ended active learning activities, designed to engage students with mathematics and develop their problem solving, collaboration and mathematical skills.Book Two provides nine different class activities suitable for students in upper primary school (Years 4 to 7), along with teaching notes and staged lesson plans. Each activity is a whole class investigation with open-ended answers that takes a particular scenario and develops it over four levels. This enables it to be used both at different year levels and with students of differing ability in the same class. All activities are firmly rooted in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and linked to the content descriptors of the Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability strands.   Student materials Download a full set of activity sheets that provide a framework for student responses. These can be printed or copied for use in class. Download activity sheets Additional online resources Part 1: Number and Algebra Chapter 1: Hours in a day Leap day timeline - http://www.timeanddate.com/date/leap-day-timeline.html Leaplings - http://patch.com/minnesota/edina/what-s-a-leapling-fun-leap-year-facts Leap years - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/time/leapyear/ Days of the planets - http://www.universetoday.com/37481/days-of-the-planets/ How long is a day on Jupiter? - http://www.universetoday.com/15084/how-long-is-a-day-on-jupiter/ The Hebrew calendar - http://www.judaica-guide.com/the_hebrew_calendar/ Why are there 24 hours in a day? - http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/11/15/3364432.htm Decimal time - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time Internet time - http://www.timeanddate.com/time/internettime.html Chapter 2: Magimaths Mind-reading card trick - http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_card_trick1.htm Two wrongs do make a right - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/twowrongs.php Mathemagic - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/mathemagic.html Guess your number - http://izismile.com/2011/02/01/it-will-guess-your-number.html Magic shuffles - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/magicshuffles/ Wizardy - http://www.milaadesign.com/wizardy.html All change - http://www.cs4fn.org/mathemagic/coins.php Mind reader - http://www.sandlotscience.com/... I can read your mind (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVrmQipRvpY&NR=1&feature=endscreen Chapter 3: Mr Mac’s iPhone Apple's guide to battery life - http://www.apple.com/au/batteries/ Egyptian fraction calculator - http://www.had2know.com/academics/egyptian-fraction-calculator.html   Part 2: Measurement and Geometry Chapter 4: Hubcaps Rotational symmetry (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlWXuT4R3oI Indigenous Instyle Dunghutti-Ngaku Aboriginal Art Gallery (DNAAG) - http://dnaag.com.au/ Rose windows - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_window Rotational symmetry - http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/symmetry-rotational.html Chapter 5: Goats and wheels Locus of points on rolling objects - http://www.math-mate.com/chapter44_3.shtml Cycloids - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Cycloid.html Cycloids (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohP0clzK5rc The cycloid family of curves - http://curvebank.calstatela.edu/cycloidmaple/cycloid.htm   Part 3: Statistics and Probability Chapter 7: Sports shots Goal kicking - http://www.afl.com.au/news/201... Standard normal distribution - http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/standard-normal-distribution.html Chapter 8: Roman gamblers How many dice? - http://nrich.maths.org/692 Chapter 9: The school fete Hans Rosling and the magic washing machine (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sqnptxlCcw The Likert scale - http://www.surveygizmo.com/sur... Additional sites Maths 300 - https://maths300.com NRICH - http://nrich.maths.org/ NZ Maths - http://nzmaths.co.nz/ AMSI TIMES (The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools) Modules - http://schools.amsi.org.au/times-modules/

Problem-based learning is a powerful alternative to drill-and practice or skills-based learning, especially within maths, but it can be difficult to source rich materials that engage an entire class.The Creative Activities in Mathematics series provides a wealth of investigations and open-ended active learning activities, designed to engage students with mathematics and develop their problemsolving, collaboration and mathematical skills.Book Three provides nine different class activities suitable for students in lower and middle secondary school (Years 7 to 10), along with teaching notes and staged lesson plans. Each activity is a whole-class investigation with open-ended answers that takes a particular scenario and develops it over four levels. This enables it to be used both at different year levels and with students of differing ability in the same class. All activities are firmly rooted in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and linked to the content descriptors of the Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability strands. Student materials Download a full set of activity sheets that provide a framework for student responses. These can be printed or copied for use in class. This set also includes a number of extension activities for advanced students. Download activity sheets Additional online resources Part 1: Number and Algebra Chapter 2: The Tower of Hanoi Francois Édouard Lucas - http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lucas.html Tower of Hanoi simulation - http://www.towerofhanoi.org/ Tower of Hanoi simulation - http://britton.disted.camosun.... Tower of Hanoi simulation - http://www.mazeworks.com/hanoi... Scientific calculator - http://web2.0calc.com/ Chapter 3: Nim-like games The 21 game - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim#The_21_game Nim history - http://www.archimedes-lab.org/game_nim/nim.html Nim - strategy game or scam? - http://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A20725760 Win at Nim - http://www.archimedes-lab.org/How_to_Solve/Win_at_Nim.html   Part 2: Measurement and Geometry Chapter 4: Hidden treasure The Story of Mathematics - http://www.storyofmathematics.com/ Euclid - http://www.storyofmathematics.com/hellenistic_euclid.html GeoGebra - http://www.geogebra.org/cms/do... Compass and straight-edge constructions - http://schools-wikipedia.org/w... Circumcentre of a triangle - http://www.mathopenref.com/constcircumcenter.html Hexagons - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Hexagon.html Chapter 5: Tessellations Attack on the pentagon results in discovery of new mathematical tile - http://gu.com/p/4b9b3/sbl Penrose Tiles - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PenroseTiles.html Polyominoes: A big word for a lot of fun - http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/L... Polyominoes and other animals - https://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/junkyard/polyomino.html Pentominoes: An introduction - http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk... About pentominoes - http://isomerdesign.com/Pentomino/ Tetraominoes - http://www.cut-the-knot.org/blue/TetrominoFaultFree.shtml Chapter 6: How high is a building? Basic clinometer from classroom materials - http://www.instructables.com/id/Basic-Clinometer-From-Classroom-Materials/ Make a clinometer - http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Clinometer How to make a clinometer (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMLcU1Qknts Basic rangefinders - https://people.rit.edu/andpph/text-rangefinder-basic.html Make a simple rangefinder - http://www.ehow.com/how_7857303_make-simple-rangefinder-mirrors.html   Part 3: Statistics and Probability Chapter 7: Greedy Pig Greedy Pig - http://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/greedy-pig-0 Greedy Pig - http://nrich.maths.org/1258 Game of Pig: Sixes - http://www.math.usu.edu/~schneit/CTIS/GreedyPig/ Dice roller - http://www.roll-dice-online.com Dice roller - http://www.brockjones.com/dieroller/dice.htm Virtual dice - http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custo... Chapter 8: Pascal's triangle Pascal's triangle - http://www.mathsisfun.com/pascals-triangle.html The hockey stick theorem - http://luckytoilet.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/the-hockey-stick-theorem-an-animated-proof/ Pascal's triangle and its patterns - http://ptri1.tripod.com/ Pascal's triangle (video)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUqHdxxdbyM Linking newspaper rings, Pascal's colours and poetry of math - http://mathmunch.org/tag/pascals-triangle/ Chapter 9: Monty Hall's problem Monty Hall's problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem Monty Hall's problem simulation - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/science/08monty.html?_r=0# Monty Hall's problem simulation - http://www.stayorswitch.com/ Monty Hall's problem simulation - http://blossoms.mit.edu/legacy/monty-hall/index.htm Monty Hall's problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTosh1aZ5fs Monty Hall's problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhlc7peGlGg Bertrand's box paradox - http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/june72013/index.html Bertrand's box paradox - http://blog.zymergi.com/2013/06/bertrands-box-paradox.html Two envelopes problem - https://www.math.hmc.edu/funfa... Two envelopes problem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_envelopes_problem Two envelopes problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Odh-7Cz1d8 Sleeping Beauty problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty_problem Sleeping Beauty problem - http://measureofdoubt.com/2011... Sleeping Beauty problem - http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/41208/the-sleeping-beauty-paradox Sleeping Beauty problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cqbf86jTro Sleeping Beauty problem (video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL52lG6aNIY Three prisoners problem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Prisoners_problem Monty Hall and three prisoners - http://www.mathrecreation.com/2009/03/monty-hall-and-three-prisoners.html Classic probability problems - http://probabilityblogger.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/classic-probability-problems-revisited.html The birthday paradox - http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-the-birthday-paradox/ The birthday paradox - https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/probability-shared-birthday.html Boy or girl paradox - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_or_Girl_paradox Additional sites Maths 300 - http://www.maths300.esa.edu.au... NRICH - http://nrich.maths.org/ NZ Maths - http://nzmaths.co.nz/ AMSI TIMES (The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools) Modules - http://schools.amsi.org.au/times-modules/

While an immensely rewarding role, the work of a school principal can be a lonely one, made up of brief encounters and regular interruptions, steep in responsibilities and accountabilities and free from accolades. Research shows that principals often feel there is nothing that really prepares them for assuming full and ongoing responsibility for a school. The I’m the Principal project utilised the Australian Professional Standard for Principals as a framework to consider key aspects and contributors to principal learning, action, influence and identity through interviews with 50 practising principals drawn from the various sectors and levels of Australian school education. I’m the Principal is a record of the study of the work of the principal today, containing personal, first-hand comments, experiences, values, beliefs and concerns. It speaks to the successes and the challenges of the role. I’m the Principal is a timely and thoughtful must-read for anyone wanting to explore and understand the value and worth of a school.

A follow-up to the best-selling How to Get Your School Moving and Improving, author Stephen Dinham's new title brings together essential research and understandings of how educators can lead teaching and learning. Leading Learning and Teaching is a thorough, comprehensive sourcebook on school improvement and best-practice leadership, including extensive references, case studies and evidence to back up arguments. Written by a recognised and influential expert in the field of education leadership, all school leaders should have access to this vital resource.

School leaders face complex challenges, that typically have multiple causes and often persist despite everyone’s best attempts to address them. Addressing complex challenges requires juggling both the big picture, and the specific parts of the challenge. Without a roadmap, this process is fraught and unlikely to succeed in improving outcomes. In order to make a difference, schools need adaptive expertise; a skill which can be learnt through professional conversations and inquiry. In Leading professional conversations, Emeritus Professor Helen Timperley deftly outlines the key enablers for effective professional conversations – relationships, resources, processes, knowledge and culture – which support teachers to be independent learners and result in positive impact on educational, social and emotional outcomes for students. Featuring examples from real conversations between school leaders and educators, and practical templates which can be adapted to suit the contexts of your school, Leading professional conversations is the school leader’s guide to thinking and acting evaluatively, knowledgeably, metacognitively, collaboratively, responsively and systematically, to engage in deep professional learning and genuine improvements in practice.

Today’s school leaders are faced with the increasingly daunting task of leading their schools to improve, to innovate and to become ever more responsive to change. There are many resources to help schools to engage with improvement frameworks, but few that directly address the complexity of the challenges that inevitably arise along the way. Based on extensive research in the field, including the outcomes of a five-year project on school improvement and professional learning in Australia and New Zealand, Leading Professional Learning: Practical strategies for impact in schools identifies the challenges that school leaders face when leading professional learning and development in their schools as part of an improvement agenda. Renowned professional development expert, Helen Timperley, has collaborated with a team of prominent authors, including Fiona Ell, Deidre Le Fevre and Kaye Twyford, to uncover the reasons underpinning these challenges and to provide practical strategies on how to address them. Case studies, excerpts from real teachers’ experiences and step-by-step examples of useful strategies, including the spiral of inquiry, give school leaders the tools they need to tackle complex challenges in teaching, learning, curriculum delivery and pedagogical practice in both primary and secondary settings. Leading Professional Learning: Practical strategies for impact in schools is a hands-on resource for school leaders to identify specific professional learning and development issues that accompany the learning and change process and to overcome them in their schools.

A Commitment to Growth: Essays on Education is an edited collection of materials that Geoff Masters has published over the last seven years, including the ground-breaking Reforming Educational Assessment (Australian Education Review; No. 57). This collection is mostly comprised of shorter pieces such as the influential Five challenges in Australian school education and other essays and posts relating to themes of: effective use of assessment; focus on growth and progress; and school and system improvement. The four sections of the book are: Part 1: ‘Big Five’ Challenges in School Education. Part 2: Is School Reform Working? Part 3: Reconceptualising Educational Assessment. Part 4: Schools as Learning Organisations.  The editors have drawn on this body of writing by Professor Masters in an attempt to tell the story of these past seven years. If the beginning of this story was the publication of Reforming Educational Assessment: Imperatives, principles and challenges (AER 57), the release of the report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, might be seen as the end of the beginning. With a greater understanding and emerging consensus of the challenges, implications and needed approaches, the next chapter in the story must focus on what Masters has called ‘the hard work of improvement’.

This timely book highlights the need to reconceptualise Maths and Science Teacher Education Programs (ReMSTEP) in order to revitalise Mathematics and Science teaching approaches within primary and secondary schools. Through a series of seven ‘innovations’, such as offering Mathematics and Science specialisations within primary pre-service teaching programs, or creating opportunities to connect scientists and mathematicians with both pre-service teachers and practitioners in developing activities for school contexts, ReMSTEP recognises that teacher graduates are powerful change agents for making maths and science curricula more engaging, challenging and relevant for primary and secondary students.

Strong Foundations: Evidence informing practice in early childhood education and care celebrates the progress made by the Australian early childhood education and care profession since the implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework. Recognising this progress, Associate Professor Anna Kilderry and Honorary Professor Bridie Raban lead a team of 33 notable contributors from 11 universities and institutions across Australia, who focus on the challenges of access, equity and quality that remain across the sector. Together with a Foreword by Professor Alison Elliott, Strong Foundations brings together knowledge and insights from research in education, health, social care, child safety, science, mathematics and the arts. The book addresses policy requirements from the Early Years Learning Framework, the National Quality Standard and Quality Improvement Plans and includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. With an emphasis on professional practice expectations, it showcases evidence from Australian and international research and provides case studies of how early childhood educators are applying evidence-informed actions in a wide variety of child care centres and services. Strong Foundations translates high-quality research and supports the everyday practice of early childhood educators and the subsequent long-term outcomes for children in their care, their families and their communities.

Creative Arts in the Lives of Young Children draws together two essential strands in contemporary educational discourse - the critical importance of high quality care and education in the early years, and the central role that imaginative arts experiences can and should play in the lives of all young children. This book closely aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework, and also addresses curriculum requirements for the Arts in the early years of school. It highlights the potential for quality arts experiences to transform educational outcomes through: Enhancing and developing children's creativity and imagination Encouraging children's problem-solving abilities Exposing children to a diversity of cultures and a broad and inclusive world view Scaffolding and modelling positive attributes and habits of mind to help children flourish in the 21st century. With contributions from academics and teachers, foreword by Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchet, addressing topics from play and storytelling, to literature, drama, puppetry, music, visual media and art appreciation, Creative Arts in the Lives of Young Children is essential reading for pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as for parents and caregivers. The rich research base is readily supported by real-world examples, practical activities and ideas for further thought. With a particular focus on birth to age eight, the subject matter and suggested experiences can be adapted to suit children of all ages, with diverse needs and across a wide range of learning contexts.