Successful Transition to School for Australian Aboriginal Children: The 2005 International Focus Issue of Childhood Education Focused on the Education of Aboriginal and Indigenous Children. Guest Editor Jyotsna Pattnaik Located Too Many Excellent Articles on That Important Topic to Include in One Issue. Therefore, She will Continue to Provide These Theme-Related Articles, Here and in Future Issues‪.‬

Aboriginal people have been described as the most educationally disadvantaged group of people within Australia (Aboriginal and Tortes Strait Islander Commission, 1995). Their participation rates at all levels of education are lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1992, 1997). Many Aboriginal students continue to be affected by poverty (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, 1999) and suffer health problems, including otitis media, that adversely affect their school learning (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002). Compared with non-Indigenous Australians, Australian Aborigines have higher levels of infant mortality, more infectious diseases, and a life expectancy that is likely to be 15 to 20 years lower (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1997, 2002). Much evidence points to inequity of access to, participation in, and outcomes from Australian schools for Aboriginal children (Adams, 1998; Cronin & Diezmann, 2002). Frigo and Adams (2002) suggest that many issues emerge for Aboriginal people early in their school careers and are perpetuated throughout school life: