8:00

Arrival and registration

8:30

Welcome

9:00 - 10:00

Peps McCrea (Ambition Institute, UK)

10:00 - 10:50

Ben Jensen (Learning First)

10:50 - 11.15

Morning tea Sponsored by Get Reading Right

Behaviour/ AI

ALC Level 2

Maths

Sponsored by PR1ME Mathematics

Theatre

Writing

Sponsored by Little ​Learners Love Literacy

MU4

Interventions

Sponsored by PAA

ALC Level 1

11:20

Cate Whiting (AERO)

Martin Ravindran (Templestowe ​Heights)

Christine Jackson (AERO) & ​Rebecca Birch (Queenwood)

Kate Barton (St Philip’s ​Christian College)

12:00

Rebecca Birch (Queenwood)

Greg Ashman (Clarendon College)

Kathleen O’Rourke (Grose ​View Public School)

Michael Roberts (Mastery ​Schools Australia)

12:40

Vicky Leighton & Stephen ​Taylor (Brisbane Anglican ​Church Grammar)

Jennifer Buckingham (Centre for ​Education Statistics and ​Evaluation)

Justin Caban (Training 24/7) 

Ben Bailey & Karen Ray ​(University of Newcastle)

1:20

Lunch Sponsored by Training 24/7

2:10 – 3:10

Andrew Martin (UNSW)

3:15 – 3:55

Jeanette Frost & Hannah ​Matthews (AERO)

Sonia Loudon (Elevation ​Secondary College)

Jeanette Breen (No More ​Marking)

Nuella Flynn (AERO)

3:55 – 4:35

Jason Lodge (UQ)

Patrick Ellis (Catholic Education ​Office Canberra & Goldburn, ​Catalyst)

Lyn Stone (Lifelong Literacy)

Jess Colleu Terradas ​(Catholic Education ​Office Canberra & ​Goldburn)

4:40 – 5:10

Panel discussion: Andrew Martin, Peps McCrea, Nuella Flynn, Greg Ashman and Jennifer Buckingham

5:10 – 5:15

Closing remarks

Bio

Abstract

Dr Greg Ashman is Deputy Principal at Ballarat Clarendon College, ​Victoria. He writes a Substack newsletter at ​fillingthepail.substack.com and has written three books: The Truth ​about Teaching: An evidence-informed guide for new teachers; The ​Power of Explicit Teaching and Direct Instruction; and Cognitive ​Load Theory: A Little Guide for Teachers. He has a PhD in ​Instructional Design focused on cognitive load theory. Prior to ​moving to Australia, Greg worked at several comprehensive ​schools in London.

How can cognitive load theory make us better maths teachers?

In this light-hearted presentation, Dr. Greg Ashman will be reviewing the literature on ​cognitive load theory and asking what principles we can draw from it to improve the ​teaching of mathematics. In the process, he will bust a few myths and explain why ​cognitive science does not support some commo maths teaching practices

Dr Ben Bailey is a certified practicing speech pathologist and ​research academic from the University of Newcastle. His research ​focuses on supporting children’s communication development, ​including oral language, reading and writing, play and community ​participation, through innovative, co-designed interdisciplinary ​practice. By exploring the opportunities of interdisciplinary ​practice in this way, Dr Bailey’s research aims to identify ​acceptable supports with meaningful impact on children’s ​communication and broader life outcomes.

Dr Karen Ray is a registered occupational therapist and lecturer at ​the University of Newcastle. Her experience encompasses working ​with schools, both as part of learning support teams and in ​conducting research focussing on foundational skills including ​handwriting. Through collaborative approaches to foundational ​skills, Dr Ray aims to identify effective ways to support and enable ​children’s educational participation.

Co-designing an early transcription skills intervention for children with autism – Start ​Write

Children with developmental disabilities may experience difficulties in the early stages of ​learning to write, with some failing to become fluent writers over the longer term. In this ​presentation, Dr Ben Bailey and Dr Karen Ray will discuss recent findings on evidence-​based early writing instruction for children with autism focusing on spelling and ​handwriting. The presentation will also showcase the team’s current research which ​involves working with members of the autistic community, including adolescents with ​autism, parents of children with autism, educators and allied health professionals, to co-​design an early transcription skills program specifically for children with autism (Start ​Write).

Dr Kate Barton serves as Lead Educator of Gifted Education K-12 ​and Director of Learning and Teaching K-6 at St Philip’s Christian ​College in NSW. She leads initiatives to improve learning through ​evidence-based practices, including core teaching methods, MTSSs ​and coaching, and is completing research with UNSW into ​characteristics of young intellectually gifted children.

Reconciling gifted and explicit teaching practices though Cognitive Load Theory

Gifted students typically learn, think and express themselves in more complex ways and ​at an accelerated rate relative to same-age peers. Gifted teaching practices centre on ​inquiry and self-directed learning without teaching prior domain-specific knowledge, ​with teachers assuming the role of “learning facilitators”. Yet instructional designs where ​learners “discover information” are at odds with our understanding of how all students ​learn – after all, these students share the same brain architecture as all others. I discuss ​how a Load Reduction Instruction (LRI) framework can promote learning and ​engagement, with the novice-expert continuum and expertise reversal effect central to ​our understanding of teaching high ability students.

Jeanette Breen is an experienced education practitioner from ​Victoria, Australia. In addition to her education role at ​Templestowe Heights Primary, she has joined UK based company ​No More Marking as the bridge for schools. Using innovative writing ​assessment techniques, including Comparative Judgement, ​Jeanette works with schools to help realign writing instruction ​using data to sequence next steps.

Comparative Judgement is a unique process that has allowed us insights into student ​writing that we do not gain from assessing writing in any other way. The data correlations ​have led to deeper understandings of writing misconceptions, and the improvement of ​whole school teaching approaches. This presentation will share the research on how this ​reliable writing measurement technique can influence improvement and student ​outcomes.

Rebecca Birch is a teacher of English and the Director of Research ​and Practice at a top 50 independent school in Sydney, Australia. ​Rebecca has consulted for Ochre Education and has presented on ​literacy for Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn and Catholic ​Education Tasmania. She has also appeared on panels for ​ResearchED and the Gonski Institute for Education. Her current ​research interest is the link between explicit instruction and ​student wellbeing.

Using Science of Learning to Support Student Wellbeing

Wellbeing issues are increasing. However, classroom practices that provide structure ​through explicit teaching and combine autonomy support with guided practice, like load ​reduction instruction, reduce behaviour issues and motivate students. Teaching memory, ​retrieval, and desirable difficulties at the secondary level empowers students to become ​independent learners. In addition, effective study tools alleviate student stress that can ​arise from high-stakes testing and reinforce feelings of capability. Rebecca Birch ​discusses how the Science of Learning impacts the classroom and beyond, offering ​practical, evidence-based strategies for supporting students' pastoral care.

Jennifer Buckingham is the Executive Director of CESE Policy and ​Evidence in the NSW Department of Education. She was formerly ​Director of Strategy and Senior Research Fellow at MultiLit and ​before that Director of Education at The Centre for Independent ​Studies.

The role of CESE in an evidence-informed public education system

The Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation was established a decade ago as the ​first hub for education data and evaluation across early childhood, schooling, training ​and higher education. In that time it has produced influential flagship publications on ​subjects including Reading Recovery and cognitive load theory. In this presentation, ​Jennifer will talk about the work CESE is doing to help public education to be evidence-​informed, effective and equitable.

Justin Caban is a teacher, educational consultant and curriculum ​designer. His expertise in lesson design and lesson delivery is highly ​sought after by key stakeholders, as exemplified by the hundreds ​of demonstration lessons he conducts each year for teachers and ​leaders throughout Australia. Justin is a passionate and ​increasingly popular presenter, and a co-founder of the online ​professional learning platform, Training 24/7™️.

Scaffolding text structure: Teach writing using Blanks® and Blocks®

Writing is incredibly complex. Teaching students to write efficiently and effectively is ​even harder. Using writing scaffolds like Blanks® and Blocks® reduces the cognitive load ​on working memory, resulting in improved accuracy, clarity of purpose and an increase in ​the sophistication of composition. Find out how schools right across Australia are using ​these structures effectively as the spine of integrated English units.

Jessica Colleu Terradas is the Senior Officer Literacy specialist in ​Catholic Education Canberra & Goulburn, contributing to the ​implementation of Catalyst, a system-wide education approach to ​teaching and learning. Awarded a Churchill Fellowship, she met ​with international leading experts to investigate effective literacy ​screening and instructional practices to support adolescent ​strugglers. She is also a PhD student at the Centre for the ​Advancement of literacy with Professor Anne Castles, exploring ​adolescent literacy research and practice.

Exploring global perspectives: insights from my Churchill Fellowship

The presentation will highlight the key findings of my Churchill Fellowship report ​(released in June 2023) where I investigated language and literacy screening and ​intervention practices for at-risk students. The proposed solution involves a multi-tiered ​approach that includes universal screening, progress monitoring, and increasingly ​intense instruction for those who struggle in reading. The presentation will include ​international case studies. Link to the Churchill Report and website

Patrick Ellis is the Education Lead at Catholic Education Canberra-​Goulburn (CECG). Patrick has been in Principal and leadership roles ​across Catholic Education Parramatta, Wilcannia-Forbes and ​Canberra-Goulburn for the past 25 years. Patrick is a certified Lead ​Teacher and holds a Masters of Adolescent and Child Welfare. ​Patrick now leads the Teaching and Learning at CECG, including ​Catalyst, CECG’s system wide approach to teaching and learning. ​This work, informed by the Science of Learning and Science of ​Reading, has involved designing and implementing professional ​learning, resources and support across all 56 schools focusing on ​high impact teaching practice.

Catalyst: Implementation to Impact - Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn’s system ​wide transformative teaching and learning approach

Transforming lives through learning - this is the purpose of Catalyst, the approach to ​teaching and learning at Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn (CECG) that provides ​professional learning to support teachers to apply evidence-based practice in the ​classroom. Catalyst is a significant system-led implementation of the Science of Reading ​and Science of Learning. Centring on the teacher as the most important learner, it brings ​together theory and practice for a precise focus on curriculum, pedagogy and ​assessment across CECG and improve the learning outcomes of over 22,000 students. ​Now in its fourth year of system wide implementation, Catalyst has evolved over several ​years from a careful analysis of student outcomes, collective knowledge building of ​research and a determination to improve teaching practice across our 1000 classrooms. ​This presentation will explore the Catalyst journey, from implementation to impact at ​system, school and class level. Catalyst website

Nuella Flynn is Principal Policy Analyst at AERO, leading work ​translating evidence on how students learn. She was a Secondary ​Science Teacher, and worked for the Global Education Project ​delivering professional learning and teaching resources for ​Australia’s international aid program. Nuella has led a range of ​national education projects in the areas of quality teaching, ​assessment and school

Effective teaching in a multi-tiered system of supports

AERO’s model of learning and teaching can be used within a multi-tiered system of ​supports (MTSS) to maximise outcomes for all students, including those struggling with ​foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Learn about the consistently effective ​teaching practices that align with how students learn and the key characteristics of ​delivering MTSS within secondary settings. With examples from schools across Australia, ​understand how to define tiers of interventions, and access practical guidance on ​operational elements including timetabling, staffing and using data from screening and ​progress monitoring assessments to respond to student needs.

Jeanette Frost is an Implementation Consultant at the Australian ​Education Research Organisation. Jeanette has 21 years teaching ​experience across multiple primary school settings, with extensive ​middle leadership and instructional coaching experience.

Hannah Matthews is an Implementation Advisor at the Australian ​Education Research Organisation. She has experience in education ​policy, research and practice, having led national work on ​professional learning, research on childcare deserts and working as ​a primary school teacher.

A deliberate and structured approach to implementing Evidence Based Practices: what ​AERO is learning alongside schools.

Evidence-based practices provide schools with the knowledge of ‘what’ is most likely to ​work to improve outcomes for their students. But even the most well-defined practices ​can fail to have impact if implementation isn’t deliberate. This presentation will share the ​key ideas of a deliberate and structured approach to implementation, and will offer ​insights about implementation that AERO has learned from working closely with a small ​number of schools to implement explicit instruction.

Christine Jackson began her career as a secondary English teacher ​and has been involved in several projects at school, system and ​policy level. Christine's work focuses on the teaching and ​assessment of writing. She is passionate about working with ​teachers to find pathways to integrate the teaching of writing into ​all classrooms for improved student writing outcomes.

“Wow, there is so much more to writing sentences than I ever remembered doing in ​primary and high school!” Lessons learnt from AERO’s school-wide approach to ​teaching writing.

In response to AERO’s Writing NAPLAN data analysis in 2022, which highlighted the ​decline in students’ persuasive writing ability, a key recommendation was to, “Conduct ​further research to co-design and evaluate appropriate supports for the teaching of ​writing, and pilot teacher professional development and initial teacher training to ​support explicit teaching of writing strategies for areas of potential concern identified by ​this research” (AERO, 2022, p.8). Drawing from past and current research, AERO’s Writing ​Project team collaborated with schools in three states to develop, test and refine a ​Writing Instruction Framework that would support teachers to prioritise writing in all ​subject areas.

Dr Ben Jensen founded Learning First in 2014 and has advised ​numerous education systems in Australia and abroad on education ​strategy and implementation, curriculum reform and ​implementation, school improvement and accountability, leader ​and teacher professional development and training, and data, ​evaluation and accountability systems. Prior to Learning First, he ​was director of the Grattan Institute’s School Education Program, ​worked with numerous global education systems during five years ​at the OECD, served on expert groups for PISA and TALIS and on ​the Australian Government Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory ​Group.

Effective curriculum reform

The growing research and evidence on quality curriculum will be discussed with key ​distinctions made between research at the school and system level. The detail of what is ​and is not effective curriculum will then be detailed and finally the steps schools can take ​to ensure high-quality curriculum is taught in their classrooms.

Sonia Loudon is an Assistant Principal at Elevation Sec­ondary ​College, a new government school in Craigieburn, Melbourne. After ​completing her Masters in Education Policy and Manage­ment from ​Harvard University, she joined the foundation leadership team at ​Elevation to focus on the implementation of policy and evidence ​within a school context.

Intellectual Preparation: a critical step to implementing high quality curriculum

Evidence is clear that schools can secure ​better student outcomes by adopting high ​quality and shared curriculum resources. So why is it so ​hard to get teachers to use ​them? Sonia will share the importance and approach to ​intellectual preparation (IP): a ​teacher’s process of preparing and refining existing resources ​to ensure students are ​able to think, learn and engage with the key knowledge and skills ​in a lesson. Participants ​will understand how IP was introduced to address practical barriers to school and ​teacher implementation of shared curriculum resources (and in turn, maximise the ​impact of teachers’ planning and collaborative time) in a large and complex secondary ​school context.

Dr. Victoria Leighton is Director of Staff Development and ​Research, and Co-Director with Dr. Terry Byers, of the Churchie ​Research Centre at the Anglican Church Grammar School, ​Brisbane. With an emphasis on teacher professional development, ​she has a growing profile in research and publications that focus on ​translating the Science of Learning for the classroom and ​activating Innovative Learning Environments.

Steven Taylor is a Professional Development Coordinator working ​with the Churchie Research Centre at Anglican Church Grammar ​School. He is an educator of 10 years and brings over 5 years of ​experience as a year-level coordinator for A Learner's Toolkit. ​Steven focuses on translating the Science of Learning in the ​classroom and fostering student success by supporting educator ​growth through instructional coaching.

Empowering Secondary Education through Applied Research: The Churchie Research ​Centre’s Learner’s Toolkit - Transforming 40+ Schools and 5000+ Students.

The story of how the best Science of Learning is being deployed to help secondary ​schools and their students master the art of study at a pivotal time in their lives.

Over six years, A Learner’s Toolkit has refined a preparatory program that equips ​students with lifelong learning strategies. Collaborating with teachers, the program ​integrates Science of Learning theory into curricula. This presentation shares findings ​from a longitudinal analysis of data from 40+ partner schools in Australia and New ​Zealand. We also introduce the 'Me-as-a-Learner-Profile-Dashboard,' a tool offering a ​snapshot of a student's performance compared to peers at their year level, school, and ​other partner schools. This dashboard enables students and teachers to track their ​progress over time, fostering an environment that enables targeted teaching and student ​self-awareness.

Assoc Prof Jason Lodge is Associate Professor of Educational ​Psychology and Director of the Learning, Instruction, and ​Technology Lab in the School of Education and is a Deputy ​Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and ​Social Sciences at The University of Queensland. Jason’s research ​focuses on the cognitive, metacognitive, and emotional ​mechanisms of learning, primarily with digital technologies.

Learning in the age of AI: What does the evidence say?

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence has created feverish levels of hype in ​education. There are significant challenges and opportunities. However, there is much ​work to be done to determine how this new technology can best support student ​learning. In this session, we will explore the evolution of AI in education with respect to ​the established understanding of how students learn. Education is not going to be saved ​by the introduction of a tutorbot. The path forward lies in thoughtfully integrating AI to ​enhance educational experiences while preserving the integrity of the learning process.

Prof Andrew Martin is a Registered Psychologist and Fellow of the ​College of Developmental and Educational Psychologists. He is also ​Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New ​South Wales and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of ​Oxford. His research focuses on student motivation, engagement, ​and achievement—as well as classroom instruction, including Load ​Reduction Instruction. His books, "How to Motivate Your Child for ​School and Beyond" (Bantam), “How to Help Your Child Fly through ​Life: The 20 Big Issues” (Bantam), and “Building Classroom Success, ​Eliminating Academic Fear and Failure” (Continuum) are published ​in five languages.

Load Reduction Instruction (LRI): Integrating Explicit Instruction and Independent ​Learning

How do we get the optimal balance between explicit instruction and discovery learning? ​How do we ease the burden on learners in the early stages of learning and then progress ​to more challenging schoolwork? What are the differences between “novice” and ​“expert” learners and what does this mean for teaching? Load Reduction Instruction (LRI) ​is an instructional strategy aimed at answering these questions. LRI initially involves ​explicit instruction. Then, at the appropriate point in learning, LRI also involves less ​structured approaches such as guided discovery-, problem-, and inquiry-based learning. ​This presentation takes a close look at LRI, its key principles, and how to implement it in ​the classroom to enhance all students’ learning, motivation, and engagement.

Peps McCrea is an award-winning teacher educator, designer and ​author. He is Director of Education at Steplab and author of the ​ultraconcise High Impact Teaching series. Peps has three Masters ​degrees, Fellowships from the Young Academy and University of ​Brighton, and lots of distracting tattoos. Visit pepsmccrea.com for ​more.

The Science of Motivation

What is motivation for learning? How does it work? How can we influence it in the ​classroom? This session will offer a framework of 5 big ideas from the evidence on ​motivation plus 5 key strategies we can use to boost attention and effort in the ​classroom.

Martin Ravidran is currently the Year 3 leader at Templestowe ​Heights Primary School, and also a Subject Lead in Mathematics for ​Ochre Education. Hailing from Singapore, he holds education in ​high regard, and enjoys staying up to date with educational ​research through a variety of means

Teaching between the slides: Maximising the use of shared resources

This session will focus on how teachers can maximise the use of premade resources such ​as slides, and break down misconceptions around teacher autonomy in explicit ​instruction. We will highlight quality resources that teachers can access, and argue why ​teachers should consider using such resources instead of reinventing the wheel. This will ​include how to build in responsiveness despite the use of materials such as textbooks or ​slides, and how they support explicit instruction.

Kathleen O’Rourke is a 5th year FASTstream Teacher Leader at ​Grose View Public School in the Hawkesbury SoLaR Battalion. The ​only Primary Teacher to receive the inaugural Commonwealth Bank ​Schools Plus Early Career Teacher National Award, Kat co-​convenes the Middle Leaders Forum for Think Forward Educators, ​holds a Master of Education in Science of Language and Reading ​and is a casual academic in the La Trobe Master of Teaching.

Voracious vocabulary instruction: What, when and how should we teach vocabulary?

What does research say about vocabulary instruction, and how can we apply the ​evidence in primary classrooms? The NSW English Syllabus refers to seminal researchers ​Beck, McKeown and Kucan’s Tiered vocabulary words - significant but not sufficient. This ​session explores the nuances of applying this evidence alongside morphology instruction ​for Years 2-6. You too can elicit student responses such as “Don’t let the cat out of the ​bag is an example of idiom because it is a language phrase that can’t be understood by ​looking at the individual words” when teaching a vocabulary word (idiom).

Michael Roberts transformed Broadbeach State School with a ​science of learning approach, achieving remarkable results. He ​served as Executive Director at Good to Great Schools Australia, ​overseeing evidence-based reforms nationwide. Michael was on ​the Australian Government Gonski panel and championed the ​Science of Learning at Learning Difficulties Australia. Co-founding ​Mastery Schools Australia, he also leads COGlearn consultancy and ​is a founding director of Science of Teaching & Learning Australia.

Founding a new School System – Mastery Schools Australia

Explore the creation of a groundbreaking school system based on the science of learning. ​This session will delve into the origins and establishment of Mastery Schools Australia, ​examining the evidence-based principles that underpin its innovative methods. ​Attendees will learn how the school’s approach enhances student outcomes and why it ​stands as a model for modern education. We will uncover the reasons behind the ​system’s success and its impact on the educational landscape. Join us to understand ​how Mastery Schools Australia is transforming learning and setting new standards in ​education.

Lyn Stone is an educational linguist, author, and CEO of Lifelong ​Literacy: an education coaching and training organisation. Her goal ​is to help educators awaken linguistic curiosity in their students ​using creative, engaging tools and strategies that are based upon ​scientific consensus as to what constitutes best practice

Trick or Treat? What “tricky” words show us about the whole system

Every irregular word tells a story (Pinker 1999). Let’s take ten fine examples, harvested ​over years of asking teachers, “What word is hard to spell/ teach/ remember?” and tell ​their stories, whilst revealing the underlying story of the writing system. Leave this ​session with a bag of tricks to help you make every word-study session a treat.

Cate Whiting is an experienced school leader and has led school ​improvement by applying evidence-based practices in student ​engagement and behaviour, pedagogy, literacy and multi-tiered ​systems of support. Cate is currently the Principal Teaching and ​Learning Specialist leading the Engaged Classrooms Through ​Effective Classroom Management project at AERO.

Engaged classrooms through effective classroom management

The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) is developing practical guidance ​for teachers and school leaders to create safe and supportive learning environments ​through effective classroom management. Explore the evidence base and how the ​resources support teachers to refine their practice and support school leaders to lead a ​whole school approach to classroom management. Plans for further resources will also ​be shared, including a mentoring guide and tools, guidance on supporting students with ​additional learning needs and resources to support reflecting on and refining the whole ​school approach to classroom management.