ACER eNews
Premier Bracks opens ACER Dubai office
Victorian Premier Steve Bracks officially opened ACER's new Dubai branch office during his recent visit to the Middle East. The new office is situated in Dubai's Knowledge Village and is ACER's first overseas office. Noel Campbell, Ambassador of Australia to the UAE and Qatar also officiated at the opening, which took place on March 10. Read More
New research effort needed to improve Indigenous educational outcomes
ACER recently called for the establishment of a new and rigorous national research agenda into ways of improving educational outcomes for Indigenous students. The call coincided with the release of a review of Indigenous education research and policy which argues that, despite good intentions and considerable funding in recent years, educational outcomes for Indigenous students remain well behind those of non-Indigenous students. Read More
Alternatives to school suspensions
ACER's Research Director of Early Childhood Education, Alison Elliott recently contributed an opinion article to Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper regarding trends for suspending students from school. Professor Elliott's article was published following the release of Queensland figures on school suspensions. Read More
ACER UPDATE
Literacy in the Middle Primary Years
The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria has invited ACER to conduct the next phase of the longitudinal Literacy Advance Research Project, which will track the literacy development of the original cohort of Year 1 students (1998) into Year 7. An additional component of this phase involves an exploration of effective practices for literacy development in Years 3 and 4.
ACER to manage national PISA 2006
ACER was advised recently of its successful bid to manage Australia's participation in the 2006 OECD PISA survey. This project will run in parallel with ACER's management of international PISA. The national project will collect, analyse and report on the performances of Australian 15-year-olds in PISA 2006. The primary focus of this study will be on students' scientific literacy levels. ACER also managed the PISA national data collection and analysis in 2000 and 2003.
Indigenous education web site
A new section on the ACER web site dedicated to Indigenous education is now up and running. The site includes ACER research into Indigenous education, publications and reports from external organisations as well as useful links. New pages on the Education of Boys and Brain Research and Learning will be established in the near future. See Indigenous Education.
New catalogues released
During February ACER Press released five new catalogues listing resources in education, educational assessment, psychology, human resources and parent education. These catalogues are available from ACER Press.
Celebrating 10 years in Camberwell
ACER recently celebrated 10 years in the Prospect Hill Road Camberwell offices. Staff moved in to the new office space in March 1994, from the premises in Hawthorn where ACER had been based since 1963. ACER now has two offices in Camberwell (Prospect Hill Road and Camberwell Road), Sydney and Dubai.
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