The parents are more interested in the happiness, safety and social development of their children, says a position statement being drafted by the Australian Parents Council, a national federation of organisations representing parents of non-government school students. The council's executive director, Ian Dalton, said parents ranked happiness and safety way ahead of student results in public tests.

"Schools and teachers do need to be accountable for their performance in respect to supporting parents. From our point of view, governments and parents are looking at this from a different point of view," he said.

"For most parents, academic performance ranks below many other priorities. This is something the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority needs to get its head around."

The Australian Parents Council has surveyed parents and found they generally rank school performance criteria in order of priority as follows

The happiness and safety of students.
That the school is clear about its objectives and operates consistently in ways that reflect its stated mission.
Whether the school and its teachers encourage a culture of partnership with parents.
The kind of people the students generally turn out to be.
How well the principal and teachers seem to know students.
The academic qualifications of teaching staff.
Behaviour management strategies.
Participation of teaching staff in professional development.
The atmosphere or “feel” of the school.
Students' results in public tests or exams.
The school's reputation in the community.
Students' sporting or artistic achievements.

The draft position paper says the reporting of school performance "must be driven by data that respect the sensitive interactions between home, school and the community".