This paper presents estimates of endogenous peer effects in pupils’ school achievement using data on national test scores, across multiple subjects and cohorts, for the population of primary school pupils in Years 3 and 5 (aged 7/8 and 9/10 years) in the Australian state of Victoria....

This study finds that approaching 10% of the variation in high school student achievement is explained by teacher effects in Australia. It uses data from the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) sample of Australian Year 8 students to estimate achievement in mathematics and...

While reading to children affects the development of their own early reading skills, the set of numeracy activities studied here and undertaken by Australian parents with children before they start school had no impact on their Year 4 achievement in mathematics. It is possible that other,...

While is it widely accepted that adults with poor reading skills have inferior labour market outcomes, little is known about whether low reading proficiency in school is a precursor to inferior labour market outcomes in adulthood. We fill this gap in the literature using education and labour...

Differences between boys and girls in their attitudes towards mathematics are apparent among students in Year 4 in Australia. While not more engaged in their classes, boys indicate that they like mathematics and are more confident about their ability in it than girls. These differences increase...

This study looks at whether differences in student attitudes towards mathematics and science between Victorian students and those in selected other countries can explain differences in student achievement between them. We find that they cannot. In general, in the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and...

This paper presents estimates of achievement-related peer effects on school pupils' literacy using data from national test scores, across multiple literacy or language-related measures and student cohorts, for the population of public secondary school pupils in Years 7 and 9 (aged 12/13 and...

We review the empirical literature on the causal effects of welfare-to-work policies on the employment of low-income parents and the intergenerational impacts on their children. We focus on welfare policies that change benefit levels, activity requirements, time-limits and inwork benefits. These...

This study uses longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to study the long-run effects of completing vocational education and training (VET) on a set of labour market outcomes (employment, wages, earnings, hours and occupational status). It...

This study uses longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to provide a descriptive analysis of teacher careers in Australia, looking at transitions in and out of teaching, the length of spells spent teaching, remuneration and job satisfaction in...