Senate Education Committee Rebuffs Govt & Coalition on School Autonomy
May 20, 2013, Hits:59
The Senate education committee has delivered a major rebuff to the Federal Government and the Coalition on school autonomy. It says that there is no clear evidence that greater school autonomy leads to better student performance and recommends more r...
Read morePunishment not the answer to teacher performance
May 15, 2013, Hits:111
The threat of punishment has little effect on the behaviour of school children, says Ned Manning, but our leaders seem to think that it will work on their teachers. If you take a long view of the evolution of our education system there are some cont...
Read moreYes, There is Something Fishy About NAPLAN (and My School)
May 6, 2013, Hits:145
A social media outcry last week forced the withdrawal of a television commercial linking a children's fish-extract supplement to success in the NAPLAN tests. Television advertisements for Nature's Way Kids Smart Omega-3 Fish Oil supplements finished...
Read moreThe Standardized Testing Racket
April 8, 2013, Hits:183
It is NAPLAN test week next month in Australia. It is also testing season in the United States which has coincided, once again, with another round of cheating scandals highlighted by the dramatic indictment of one of the nation’s top school superinte...
Read moreHey politicians, leave those teachers alone
March 13, 2013, Hits:393
Making it harder to enter teaching while continuing to throw graduates to the lions won't solve anything. The only way to attract the best and brightest is by making teaching desirable again, writes Jane Caro. A young woman I know who scored over 98...
Read moreCuts Won't Secure Europe's Future
March 11, 2013, Hits:208
Schools and teachers throughout Europe are in crisis in the wake of massive funding cuts. Austerity measures, aimed at preventing financial meltdown, are savaging education systems across Europe. In some countries, teachers’ salaries have been cut ...
Read moreThe Battle For Proper Education Funding
March 8, 2013, Hits:308
Many educators returned to the classroom this year with modest pay increases, worried about reduced education budgets. In Victoria, teachers and support staff marked Valentine’s Day not with roses but a strike, feeling jilted by a Premier who had p...
Read moreNAPLAN: It Doesn't Add Up
March 6, 2013, Hits:426
NAPLAN testing needs a new approach if it’s to benefit students and schools. The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy has been the subject of vigorous debate since it was introduced five years ago, but 2012 may well have been a water...
Read morePrivate Schools to Triple-Dip Under Baillieu Plan
March 5, 2013, Hits:245
Private schools around Australia and in Victoria would get a hidden windfall gain of up to $90 million a year from the Baillieu funding plan proposed as an alternative to the Gonski model. Victorian private schools would gain up to $55 million and pr...
Read moreNAPLAN'S Unintended Consequences
March 5, 2013, Hits:253
A survey of almost 1000 teachers last year, by Murdoch University’s Dr Greg Thompson from the School of Education, has found that NAPLAN is of little benefit in improving literacy and numeracy, creating less inclusive classroom environments and lower...
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