Ralph Lattimore, Men Not at Work: An Analysis of Men Outside the Labour Force, (this staff working paper is part of a stream of Productivity Commission research focused on labour participation issues, which commenced with the Commission's study for CoAG on the Economic Implications of an Ageing Australia)
Philip E Ross, The Expert Mind, Scientific American, 2006 August (studies of the mental processes of chess grandmasters have revealed clues to how people become experts in other fields as well)
Anthony Seldon, More exams, less education, The Spectator, 2005 June 18 (analysis and creativity come second to the right scores)
Justin McCurry, Konnichi what? Japanese are forgetting how to be polite, The Guardian, 2005 February 7 (the Japanese are so poor at speaking their own language that they may soon have to refer to a government manual)
Martin Fackler, Parents hail champion of rote learning, Australian Financial Review, 2005 February 7, p.32 (for purchase; same as As test scores fall, Japanese schools get harsh lesson, Wall Street Journal, 2004 November 3 ? (subscription required, but see in The Education Gadfly))
Maths tests "putting off pupils", BBC, 2005 February 4 (too many maths tests from the age of seven are damaging pupils' enthusiasm and knowledge)
University scraps maths degree, BBC, 2005 February 11 (Hull University is to scrap its maths degree course because of "falling interest" in the subject)
Sounds "help pupils with reading", BBC, 2005 February 11 (using traditional phonics to teach rading and spelling gives children a sizeable head-start)
Workers' skills "frustrate" firms, BBC, 2005 February 15 (the number of companies having trouble recruiting adequately skilled staff has risen by 50% in a decade)
Key to intelligence questioned, BBC, 2005 February 15 (maths is processed independently of language, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
Stephen Byers, The cost of lost youth, The Guardian, 2005 February 16 (it is time for Labour to make child poverty and social exclusion a priority)
Geraldine Bedell, When words fail them, The Observer, 2005 February 20 (shockingly, a quarter of our children leave primary school illiterate; so why ignore the solution?)
Big fall in university languages, BBC, 2005 February 25 (there has been a "marked national decline" in students studying modern languages)
Teenagers "must pass 3Rs test", BBC, 2005 February 23 (Education Secretary Ruth Kelly promises a "relentless drive" to improve skills needed for work)
Michele Hanson, Everyone in charge talks rubbish now, The Guardian, 2005 February 28 (daughter and boyfriend Sam are planning to teach English abroad; only one obstacle blocks the way: their grammar)
Peter Kingston, Hi-tech crisis looms, The Guardian, 2005 March 1 (a lack of high-level skills threatens the survival of the UK's engineering industries)
Rebecca Smithers, Internet degrees a disgraceful waste, The Guardian, 2005 March 3 (a government initiative to offer British university degree courses over the internet has been condemned a "a disgraceful waste" by MPs)
Paul Carr, It makes no sense to try and censor, The Guardian, 2005 March 7 (rulings over television advertising make little sense in a world that is increasingly dominated by the internet)
The Dirty Work:
Australia's Skills Shortage,
ABC, 2004 November 2004
Skills shortage
threatens rates,
ABC, 2005 February 22 (transcript of a TV discussion)
Phil Revell, Professionals, or parrots?, The Guardian, 2005 March 8 (why ministers make decisions about education without too much input from those on the inside)
Rebecca Smithers, Scheme to redress skills shortage, The Guardian, 2005 March 17 (the government pledged yesterday to address the shortfall in adults' basic skills by boosting opportunities for on-the-job training and expanding the number of places on apprenticeships for young people)
PhD students take remedial English classes, ABC News Online, 2006 October 3 (the director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Michael Good, says about a third of the Institute's PhD science students do not know the basic rules of written English)
Adrian Wooldridge, A survey of talent: The battle for brainpower, The Economist, 2006 October 5 (talent has become the world's most sought-after commodity; the shortage is causing serious problems)
Frank Barrington, Participation in Year 12 Mathematics Across Australia 1995-2004 International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics and the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, 2006 May 31 (PDF; "even though overall mathematics enrollments have been maintained, there has been a significant net loss of students taking the Year 12 mathematics optionsin which higher-level mathematical skills are taught."; p.iv)
Hyam Rubinstein, The crisis in maths in Australia, Online Opinion 2006 May 16
Building Australian ICT Skills 2006 May (PDF; Report of the ICT skills foresighting [sic] working group; official press release)
Mark Metherall, Where are all the scientists?, Sydney Morning Herald, 2006 July 18
Department of Education, Science and Training, Science, Engineering and technology Skills Audit
Brent Logan, Learning Before BirthEvery Child Deserves Giftedness, AuthorHouse, 217pp (background)
Ryuta Kawashima, Brain Training (Brain Age)