New publications

The 2011 edition of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators provides a broad array of comparable data on education systems. The indicators show who participates in education, how much is spent on it, and how education systems operate. They also illustrate a wide range of educational outcomes, comparing, for example, student performance in key subjects and the impact of education on earnings and on adults' chances of employment. Statistics and analyses for each indicator are available online. See also article in The Age, article in The Australian both 14 September, and report on Ninesmsn 13 September 2011.

In this paper the authors identify various educational paths involving school and post-school study and assess the effectivness of these in relation to post-school outcomes at age 25 years. They use the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth and find that, for males, undertaking an apprenticeship after completing senior secondary and university are attractive paths. For females, the best path is that of university study, even for those with low academic orientation. Adapted from publisher's description. The full report is available online.

A significant proportion of young people have complex social, health, emotional and cultural needs associated with social exclusion and disadvantage. These needs must be met before schooling can be effective. However, these needs cannot be met in isolation or by institutions or agencies acting alone, and conventional school systems are failing to meet these needs. Schools cannot ensure a quality education for young people without specialist service delivery and support. In Australia, extended service schooling is a means to extend and integrate service provision for children and young people in high-need contexts. Extended service schooling may be school-based, or 'school-linked', ie formally connected to the school but delivered through other sites. The report provides a summary of Australian and international literature and practices regarding extended school service models. The full report is available online.

The authors examine the benefits and drawbacks for school students in combining paid employment with their studies, looking particularly at the impact of paid work on their academic results. They find that young people who combine school and work are distributed right across the school population. Results show that individuals can combine school and work with minimal impact on their study if the hours are modest. The authors used data from the 2003 cohort (Y03) of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. Adapted from publisher's description. The full report is available online.

Traditionally, small-group math instruction has been used as a format for reaching children who struggle to understand. Math coach, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, uses small-group instruction as the centerpiece of her math workshop approach, engaging all students in rigorous 'math exchanges'. Teachers are shown how to mediate small-group discussions and direct thinking as K–3 students share problem-solving strategies, discuss how math works, and move toward more effective and efficient approaches and greater mathematical understanding. Adapted from distributor's description.

Families Matter focuses on two complementary studies that document how families with young children are integrating digital media into the rhythm of daily life. Results from a survey of more than 800 parents of children aged 3 through 10 reveal how parents across the USA feel about raising children in a digital age. Detailed case studies provide further insight into these statistics, probing how parent attitudes toward technology, along with family values, routines, and structures, are shaping young children's experiences using digital media. This research assumes an ecological view of development and learning, which considers the many different spheres of influence, from parents to peers to the social and economic context, that a child now must navigate while growing up. Adapted from publisher's description. The full report is available online.

Many mathematics educators call for proof to be a central part of the mathematics education of students at all grade levels. In this new collection, mathematics educators articulate the connected K–16 'story' of proof. Such a story includes understanding how the forms of proof, including the nature of argumentation and justification as well as what counts as proof, evolve chronologically and cognitively and how curricula and instruction can support the development of students' understanding of proof. Adapted from publisher's description.

The internet resources of a single cultural institution or university campus are usually segregated into silos, each with its own dedicated search system. The prominence of multidisciplinary research, the increase in the use of primary materials, and the desire to make new connections across disparate materials all would be advanced by the offering of single search to open up all the collections to the researcher. This report summarises discussions during a series of workshops involving five tertiary institutions. It highlights emerging practices in providing access to LAM collections, with a particular emphasis on successful strategies in the quest for single search. Adapted from the report, which is available online.