Around Australia, there is a growing movement toward teaching informed by the science of learning. This is helping to improve the quality of teaching and is key to lifting learning outcomes. The schools most in need of consistent, high-quality practice are those with the most disadvantaged students. Marsden Road Public School is a role model in effective teaching and leadership — delivering explicit teaching, focusing on foundational literacy and numeracy, promoting clear behavioural expectations, and refraining from educational fads. The result has been transformative for its teachers and students. Despite its mostly disadvantaged student population — many from non-English speaking and refugee backgrounds — the school has significantly out-performed similar schools over recent years. How can more schools overcome the odds? What are the sources of success at Marsden Road and schools like it? What are the challenges that schools like Marsden Road face?
