Professional Educator Volume 8 Number 3 September 2009

In This Issue

EDITORIAL and INSIDE INSIGHT

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD - Solution

OPINION - School improvement: It's about effective teachers

School improvement depends less on school building programs or the publication of league tables than on the collective wisdom of the teaching profession, says Greg Whitby.

FEATURE - Good and bad eLearning: How do we tell one from the other?

John Connell looks at some of the thorny issues arising out of the use of technology in teaching and learning - and 'creepy treehouse syndrome.'

THE PROFESSION -

Future-proofing schools

Is it possible for schools to position themselves for sustainable success? Brian Caldwell's answer is a resounding yes.

Leading our schools

A national professional development program for school leaders is building a reputation for pushing the boundaries of learning for principals, says Shaun Rohrlach.

Performance appraisal and school enterprise

Performance appraisal can help us develop the people skills, enabling systems and enterprising schools we need for the kind of society we want. Ted Cousens explains.

CLASSROOM CONFIDENTIAL - We have the technology: Effective contemporary learning

Technology is now shaping effective contemporary learning, as Seamus O'Grady explains.

TRANSITION - Star transitions through partnerships

When you address transition by building partnerships between primary and secondary schools, everyone's a winner. Anthony Hockey explains.

RESEARCH -

Using assessment data for improving teaching practice

Teachers best respond to student learning needs when they have detailed information about what their students know and can do through high-quality assessment data, but they also need opportunities to develop their knowledge as they delve into the assessment information, says Helen Timperley.

Making local meaning from national assessment data

Can a data-driven overview of school performance enable educators to interrogate the performance of year groups over time and identify the impact of interventions and organisational changes? Absolutely, says Helen Wildy.

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE and IN BRIEF

ISSUES -

Australian schooling and federalism: Time for a new settlement

Jack Keating highlights some of the structural weaknesses in Australia's education system and proposes a path towards a cooperative rather than competitive federalist approach to schooling.

Beyond the Intervention

When it comes to Indigenous education, particularly in remote communities, fly-in, fly-out experts and crisis politics don't work. Susannah Ivory explains why.

REVIEW

Coaching: Approaches and Perspectives

THE DIARY

AS I SEE IT... Rock 'n' roll will never die

Returning from his latest Sydney road trip, rock legend Danny Katz finds that the love of, um, books is alive and well.