Australia Association for Research in Education
Higher School Certificate
No honour in the honour roll
This is part three of an ongoing commentary begun in 2021 and continued in 2022. The current HSC …
More Amazing Secrets of Band Six (part two ongoing until they fix the wretched thing)
EDITOR’S NOTE: When Simon Crook wrote The Amazing Secrets of band six last year for AARE, I had …
Why we must abandon the 2021 HSC now
A stop-start directive to return to schools has been going on for over a month and produced anxieties for teachers, students and their families. How can we respond to the confusion this has produced, particularly regarding Year 12 students? The argument mounted here is that there really is only one way to respond and that …
The amazing secrets of band six (and what you should know)
Part two of this story was published in March 2022. New South Wales, Day 1, Term 1. A whole staff meeting to begin the school year. At some point after the Principal’s address, the Leader of Learning (or similar) starts their Powerpoint to go through the previous year’s HSC results subject by subject, particularly the …
Preparing children for work. Is this the best we can do for our students?
I am concerned that recent reforms to the NSW Higher School Certificate are based on a narrowly conceived …
The study of novels and poetry is essential for senior secondary students
The serious dumbing down of the senior English syllabus in NSW will have significant repercussions for students, employers, …
Direct link between teaching and learning with laptops and better HSC results in biology, chemistry and physics
Most Australian students in years 9 to 12 were provided with a laptop courtesy of The Digital Education …