If ever the Rudd Government needed to smash provider capture it is now, with teachers and school principals threatening rearguard blackmail to derail the essential shift towards transparent reporting of school performance.

By threatening to stop members conducting national literacy and numeracy tests or to withhold results, teachers' unions and principals' associations have betrayed their real intention: to shield their members from community scrutiny.

Should they succeed, the losers will be students, the wider society and the economy.

The row centres on educators' demands for legislation to prevent publication of school-by-school results - so-called league tables. The outburst appears to have been prompted by the admirable work of two state-based newspapers, The Courier-Mail in Queensland and The Mercury in Tasmania.

The newspapers put the public interest first by publishing school-by-school results from national literacy and numeracy testing.

Read entire editorial: http://tinyurl.com/mkbwg7

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Using league tables to keep score of schools entrenches division

Chris Bonnor, May 29, 2009

Despite the denials and spin, it was just a matter of time before national assessment test results appeared in the form of school league tables.

Even the weak set of principles and protocols agreed by all governments didn't stop the recent publication of lists of schools, ranked by student achievement, in Tasmania and Queensland.

The newspapers that created league tables out of these tests have also dished up generous serves of high-minded rhetoric about transparency, the right to know and school choice.

While some cautions were issued along with the lists of schools, there was nothing about the errors, false assumptions and borderline fraud inherent in publishing such information.

The recent outbreak of school league tables represents a new low standard in misinformation about schools, but one aided and abetted by official encouragement and confusion.

While the Rudd Government previously declared that such tables "will not be a product of the new framework", Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is also Education Minister, only a few days ago welcomed "the cleansing sunshine of public scrutiny".

So what is wrong with throwing the spotlight on comparative school performance? Years ago I almost convinced a tabloid journalist to run a shock-horror story on the fact that 50 per cent of school students were persistently below average. The penny eventually dropped.......

Read entire article: http://tinyurl.com/nzoqnq

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School league table plans 'oppressive'

Emma Macdonald, Canberra Times, 28/05/2009

State and territory education ministers are too scared of losing billions of dollars in federal funding to oppose Rudd Government plans to allow league tables of schools, a former Dean of Education at the University of Melbourne says.

International education consultant Professor Brian Caldwell said new reporting standards agreed between the states, territories and Commonwealth would lead necessarily to league tables and direct comparisons of schools and this would spell disaster for Australia's education system.

Newspapers in Tasmania and Queensland have already published league tables based on preliminary school results with other states and territories set to follow once governments publish school results on the internet by the end of the year.

Professor Caldwell will deliver the Agitation Hill Lecture in Castlemaine, Victoria, tomorrow in which he will condemn the Rudd Government's $14.7billion planned spending on school infrastructure as wholly inadequate.

Professor Caldwell said this figure would need to be tripled if planned expenditure in Britain was used as a benchmark for Australia.

Read entire article: http://tinyurl.com/nnnuub

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Education agitation against “league tables”

Professor Brian Caldwell, ABC Radio “Life Matters” 28 May 2009

League tables (school performance results) should be banned by parents and teachers.

The government's insistence on making results public defies most professional advice, and ignores international experience, according to educational consultant Professor Brian Caldwell.

He's calling on parents and teachers to reclaim their local schools, and use 'radical dissent' to prevent the government from publishing school data.

Listen now or download audio at http://tinyurl.com/n74ruh

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Want world class schools? It’s time to agitate!

Brian J. Caldwell, Agitation Hill Lecture, 29 May 2009

Agitation Hill in Castlemaine was the site of a major uprising in 1853 following the decision of Governor La Trobe in 1851 to introduce a monthly licence fee on the goldfields of Victoria. Others were the Monster Meeting at Forest Creek, the Red Ribbon Rebellion around Bendigo and the dramatic events at Eureka in Ballarat in 1854.

These agitations and the language of radical dissent they invoked were key events in the story of democracy and responsible government in Australia.

It is time for the community to adopt the language of radical dissent; agitate for significant, systematic and sustained change; and above all, become more fully engaged in the governance of public education.

This is necessary if Australia is to have world-class schools in which all students in all settings secure success. It is necessary but not sufficient for this engagement to occur at the level of peak organisations of teachers, parents, businesses and governments.

It must occur in dramatically different ways at the local level.

Read entire lecture at: http://tinyurl.com/lu8n8z

Brian J. Caldwell is managing director of Educational Transformations and professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne where he was dean of education from 1998 to 2004. This paper was delivered in the Agitation Hill Lecture Series in Castlemaine on 29 May 2009.

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PRESSURE ON PRIVATE SCHOOL PARENTS

Private schools move to bankrupt parents

Peter Hawkins, Sydney Morning Herald, May 30, 2009

Sydney's private schools have been trying to force parents into bankruptcy to recover millions in unpaid school fees, and the numbers are expected to soar as the financial crisis worsens.

Recent court records show the elite schools St Joseph's College, SCECGS Redlands, Kincoppal-Rose Bay, The Scots College, St Stanislaus College in Bathurst and Cranbrook School have started bankruptcy proceedings against 13 families to recover more than $500,000. This follows earlier reports that every week parents are losing their homes to bankruptcy actions brought by schools owed up to $2 million in fees.

Roger Mendelson, the chief executive of Australia's largest debt collector, Prushka, said there had been a 25 per cent increase in schools pursuing debtors to bankruptcy in the past year. But Mr. Mendelson, who represents about 20 Sydney schools, predicts it will get even worse.

"I'm expecting quite a big spike towards the end of this year of parents who are in arrears now, but the schools haven't taken action yet," he said.

Read entire article: http://tinyurl.com/mkfmkh

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Wealthy private schools show no mercy to parents in trouble

John Kaye MP, Media release: 30 May 2009

The public purse shows abundant generosity to six elite institutions that are driving parents who fall on hard times into bankruptcy.

Dr Kaye said: "St Joseph's College Hunters Hill, SCEGGS Redlands, Kincoppal, Scots College, Cranbrook and St Stanislaus College receive $23.9 million from the state and federal governments each year. Despite these handouts and their huge resource bases, these elite institutions are pursuing parents who have fallen victim to the global financial crisis.

"While this is normal behaviour for a business, schools are supposed to demonstrate qualities like generosity and mercy. Instead these schools with luxury facilities are showing their students it is ok to kick people while they are down.

"Each of these institutions has plenty of capacity to cushion families against economic hard times. They could have spent some of their use the $23.9 million dollars in government subsidies to allow these families to pay their fees after the economy had improved.

"NSW Education Minister Verity Firth should justify the continued funding of schools like Cranbrook, SCEGGS and Scotts. I think she would find it a difficult task," Dr Kaye said.

Read entire release: http://tinyurl.com/nok6kf

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CYBER-BULLYING

Bullying in our schools under reported and cyber bullying on the rise

Hon Julia Gillard MP, Minister for Education, 1 June 2009

Research released today by the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard shows the prevalence and impact of covert bullying in Australian schools is under-reported and there has been a concerning increase in cyber-bullying.

The reports, the Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study and Behind the Scenes: Insights into the Human Dimension of Covert Bullying, provide valuable insights into the changing nature of bullying.

The research, which involved 7000 young people from 124 schools around the nation, found bullying and particularly cyber bullying to be cruel, torturous, ostracising and intimidating.

Most disturbingly, many of these young people said they did not report incidents of cyber bullying because they were scared their mobile phone or computer would be taken away from them.

Both reports recommend a review of the 2003 National Safe Schools Framework. The Australian Government has already commissioned Erebus International to undertake the review of the Framework. As part of the review process, school leaders, teachers, families and appropriate stakeholders will be consulted. The review is expected to be completed by the end of May 2010.

Read entire release: http://tinyurl.com/oeshz3

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South Australia strengthens power of principals to counter cyber-bullying

Hon Jane Lomax-Smith MP, Minister for Education, 28 May 2009

The power of principals to protect their students from bullying has been extended beyond the school gate, in response to the widespread reach of techno-savvy bullies.

Principals are now able to suspend or exclude students who threaten the safety or wellbeing of others in the school community, regardless of where and when incidents occur.

Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith says cyber-bullies do not respect school hours.

“Through new technologies, students can become victims of cyber bullying at any time of the day, night or week,” Dr Lomax-Smith says. “We must do all we can to protect students’ rights to learn and feel safe and supported when they are at school.”

Read entire release: http://tinyurl.com/p6zxe9

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PARENTS & SCHOOLS IN PARTNERSHIP

Tying Education to Future Goals May Boost Grades More Than Helping with Homework

Science Daily, May 21, 2009

Helping middle school students with their homework may not be the best way to get them on the honour roll.

But telling them how important academic performance is to their future job prospects and providing specific strategies to study and learn might clinch the grades, according to a research review.

"Instilling the value of education and linking school work to future goals is what this age group needs to excel in school, more than parents' helping with homework or showing up at school," said lead researcher Nancy E. Hill, PhD, of Harvard University.

She examined 50 studies with more than 50,000 students over a 26-year period looking at what kinds of parent involvement helped children's academic achievement.

"Middle school is the time when grades and interest in school decline," said Hill. "Entering puberty, hanging out with friends, wanting distance from parents and longing to make one's own decisions, win over listening to parents and studying."

Parents' involvement in school events still had a positive effect on adolescents' achievement, Hill said, but not as much as parents' conveying the importance of academic performance, relating educational goals to occupational aspirations and discussing learning strategies.

Read article: http://tinyurl.com/rdztej

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TOWARDS AN AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

A national curriculum needs national teaching standards

Australian Council for Education Research, ACER News, May 2009

ACER’s Dr Lawrence Ingvarson argues in a recent paper that because curriculum standards go hand in hand with standards for teaching, a partnership between these two areas would be of great benefit to Australian education.

Two significant developments in this area have recently taken place: the creation of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and the National Partnership on Quality Teaching (NPQT).

The success of each of these developments depends on the success of the other. For example, national curriculum statements will have important implications for what teachers should know and be able to do. However, successful implementation of a national curriculum will depend fundamentally on the willingness and capacity of teachers to meet those standards.

Read entire article: http://tinyurl.com/mh74yp

National curriculum and national professional teaching standards: Potentially a powerful partnership by ACER’s Dr Lawrence Ingvarson is No. 184 in the Seminar Series of the Centre for Strategic Education.

The report is available at http://tinyurl.com/mabwo9.

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SCIENCE EDUCATION

Teacher Earth Science Education Programme

The Teacher Earth Science Education Programme (TESEP) is designed to help middle school [upper Primary and lower Secondary] teachers make better use of their time teaching Earth Science in their classrooms through the provision of

Professional Development workshops
Updates to existing resources
New resources
Ideas for field trips
Access to teachers experienced in this field

While aimed at middle school teachers, teachers from all school levels will benefit from attending the programmes on offer.

TESEP operates under the auspices of the Australian Science Teachers Association (ATSA) and is funded through donations from a wide variety of partners. TESEP activities are managed through the ASTA head office with oversight by the TESEP Chairperson, Jill Stevens, the TESEP Executive Officer, Greg McNamara, and an advisory board comprising personnel from ASTA and key industry, government and professional societies. TESEP is managed at a state level by experienced teacher coordinators.