Monday 20 November

Tuesday 21 November

Wednesday 22 November

Thursday 23 November

Friday 24 November

Saturday – Sunday, 25 – 26 November

 

Monday 20 November

• The Sunday Times / PerthNow
  
  
  • Readers' Comments on "Ravlich Faces Education Chop"
    
    

  • Ljiljanna Ravlich has been, in my opinion, the worst education minister in living memory. She does not listen. She seems prepared to sacrifice students' education to 'save face'. She ignores and ridicules the legitimate concerns of parents, teachers and experts alike. She responds to honest criticisms of OBE and Leveling with personal invective. Time and again, her public statements are ridiculous and highly embarrassing to anyone with a double-digit IQ. In short, I believe she has done terrible damage to education in this state, and the sooner she goes, the better.
    Posted by: Steve Kessell of Willetton
    
    
  • The current Minister of Education has made a fatal error by relying on advice from her immediate circle of advisors who, it seems, have provided advice they consider she wished to hear, rather than the Minister truly listening to what classroom teachers have clearly been saying with regards to their concerns about the implementation of the OBE system in Western Australia. Any competent business person or manager understands that a major new marketing campaign requires that the product be saleable and the that sales staff are willing to be supportive of the new product. Unfortunately, we have had a situation where the Minister of Education has promoted a 'new product' that many teachers do not understand and/or do not support. Had the Minister arranged for the dissemination of useful examples to demonstrate to teachers how OBE can be effectively be implemented, there would not have been such a reluctance by teachers to engage in the new process. The fact that the Curriculum Council of WA exists as an independent authority to the government, yet has created the OBE 'malaise', has not helped the MInister to force effective change. Perhaps a new MInister of Education should have a very close look at the role of the Curriculum Council, in terms of its influence over what happens to the education of our young people.
    Posted by: Bruce Hancy of Live in Bullcreek and work in Rockingham
    
    
  • I really can't understand the thinking of people who suggest failed ministers be moved to other portfolios. Is it some sort of political NIMBY phenomenon? If I was having a house built and found that the electrician had in fact, no qualifications, training, skills or aptitude in the trade and had made an absolutely comprehensive and dangerous stuff-up of wiring the house and spent the last two years dodging me and denying it and covering up her bungling, why would I then make her the plumber on the same site - or ask if maybe she'd like to have at go at being the carpenter? Whoops - now there's a worry!
    Posted by: Peter of Perth, WA
    
    
  • Is this what Brian wants??
    Posted by: philj of perth
    
    
  • She is so incompetent she should be relegated to the back bench, along with that idiot Kobelke. Neither of them should ever have another portfolio !!
    Posted by: O. G. of Albany
    
    
  • You will get the same under a liberal government.
    Posted by: Nigel Simpson of Bibra Lake
    
    
  • I'm not a follower of politics but for some reasons Ms. Ravlich stuck out from the Crowd. Is it possible that she craves media attentions more then her portfolio. If that's the case, she should try Hollywood.
    Posted by: Kurt
    
    
  • Bring on the next election.
    Posted by: David
    
    
  • Its not before time to, what we need is a big broom and sweep this mob out of office, so we can make a fresh go of it with another party, cant wait for the next state election, my pen is ready and waiting.
    Posted by: colin s weat of benger wa
    
    
  • Mr McGowan should be relegated to the back bench, he knows why.
    Posted by: Allan of Perth
    
    
  • I guess when you cant do the job you should be removed.
    Posted by: jj of Fremantle
    
    
  • Too little too late.
    Posted by: Robin of Mexico
    
    
  • At last -Mr Carpenter has seen the light!! Halleluja!!!!!
    Posted by: averill of Perth Hills
    

  
  

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Editorial
    Teaching crisis demands urgent State action (page 16)
    
    "No one should be surprised that university graduates are voting with their feet against the choice of teaching as a career.
    
    "Applications for graduate diplomas in education at WA’s four public universities are down 30 per cent, from 998 in 2006 to 700 for 2007. The number of students taking primary education courses has dropped by 20 per cent or more.
    

    "It seems the days are gone when teachers were highly valued and respected as leaders in the community.

    "The vast disparity between financial rewards for teachers and other graduates is a telling indicator. New graduates entering the high-powered atmosphere of investment banking can expect a starting salary of around $70,000 a year. Teachers with the Education Department start on $42,885 and the top rate after seven years on the automatic salary scale is $62,863.

    "In status, teachers rank far below professionals such as doctors and lawyers.

    "They are confronted with formidable challenges such as the increasing level of violence in the classroom — in the past four months 197 teachers have reported assaults such as hitting, kicking, scratching and biting, from children as young as seven. The State School Teachers Union says these figures are the tip of the iceberg and do not reflect the level of verbal abuse which some teachers experience every day.

    "Teachers are often expected to give children the guidance and training they should normally get at home; they are blamed if children do not perform well at school; they even find themselves embroiled in domestic disputes between estranged parents.

    "The union says there is little support from the Education Department for teachers complaining of classroom violence but the department is quick to jump on a teacher if there is a complaint from a parent or child.

    "Added to the litany of teachers’ woes is the uncertainty arising from the ill-planned introduction of the unfortunate outcomes-based education program.

    "The State Government should make it a priority to develop innovative strategies aimed at stopping the rot and encouraging quality candidates to look on teaching as a satisfying and rewarding career."

    From The West Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Carpenter silent on whether Ravlich will survive a reshuffle (page 6)
    by Amanda Banks
    
    "Premier Alan Carpenter yesterday refused to confirm whether embattled minister Ljiljanna Ravlich would keep her education portfolio in an impending Cabinet reshuffle.
    

    "Mr Carpenter continued to defend Ms Ravlich’s handling of the portfolio, but would not discuss details of possible Cabinet changes.

    "He said he would not make any changes to the Cabinet until after Parliament broke for the summer recess, fuelling speculation the reshuffle could take place before Christmas. “This Christmas will mark the halfway point of our second four-year term and yes, I do intend to make some changes,” Mr Carpenter said.

    "Political commentators have predicted Ms Ravlich will be a likely target when Mr Carpenter uses his first opportunity to reshuffle Cabinet after months of debate over the rollout of outcomes based education to Years 11 and 12. Ms Ravlich has also been at the centre of controversy after claiming she did not know about a Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry into the failure of the Education Department to properly handle allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers.

    "Mr Carpenter rejected a suggestion that shifting ministers’ responsibilities was an indictment of their performance. “Change happens — the alternative is no one ever changes jobs and that’s not the real world any more,” he said."
    
    From The West Australian at link
    
    
    

• ABC News
  
  
  • Performance pay would ease WA teacher shortage: Bishop [2:05 pm]
    
    "The Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop says better financial rewards for good teachers would help ease Western Australia's regional teacher shortage.

    "Ms Bishop says a performance pay program would encourage teachers, and provide a higher quality of education.

    "The Minister is in Kalgoorlie-Boulder today, continuing her campaign for a national year 12 curriculum.

    "She says it is imperative the state and federal governments address the issue.

    "The public system is failing a significant number of our students," she said.

    "International testing shows that 30 per cent of our 15-year-olds are not reaching appropriate numeracy and literacy levels - we need to lift the standards across the country."
    

    From ABC News Online at link
    
    
    
  • Meekatharra School of the Air to be relocated
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Minister risks losing control of education
    by Alana Buckley-Carr
    
    "West Australian Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich could lose her portfolio by the end of the year, with a cabinet reshuffle expected before Christmas..."
    
    "Ms Ravlich came under fire from the corruption watchdog after it revealed her department had failed to properly investigate allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers against children. She has also been criticised for the implementation of outcomes-based education.

    "But Mr Carpenter defended her again yesterday, saying education was one of the most difficult portfolios.

    "I'm absolutely certain Ljiljanna will have a job come Christmas," he said. "I've said before that if I didn't have confidence in Ljiljanna as a minister, she would not be in the ministry.

    "Be under no misapprehension. The job of Education Minister is one of the toughest jobs in state government - and I know, I did it for four years."

    "A spokeswoman for Ms Ravlich said the minister would not comment on any potential change in portfolios. But Mr Carpenter said a reshuffle did not mean a minister was performing inadequately..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link

    
    
    
• The New York Times
  
  
  • Schools Slow in Closing Gaps Between Races [Lead story]
    by Sam Dillon
    
    "When President Bush signed his sweeping education law a year into his presidency, it set 2014 as the deadline by which schools were to close the test-score gaps between minority and white students that have persisted since standardized testing began.
    
    "Now, as Congress prepares to consider reauthorizing the law next year, researchers and a half-dozen recent studies, including three issued last week, are reporting little progress toward that goal. Slight gains have been seen for some grade levels.

    "Despite concerted efforts by educators, the test-score gaps are so large that, on average, African-American and Hispanic students in high school can read and do arithmetic at only the average level of whites in junior high school.

    “The gaps between African-Americans and whites are showing very few signs of closing,” Michael T. Nettles, a senior vice president at the Educational Testing Service, said in a paper he presented recently at Columbia University. One ethnic minority, Asians, generally fares as well as or better than whites..."

    Full story in The New York Times at link
    
    
    
    
• The Times
  
  
  • Health fears lead schools to dismantle wireless networks
    by Joanna Bale
    
    * Radiation levels blamed for illnesses
    * Teacher became too sick to work
    
    "Parents and teachers are forcing some schools to dismantle wireless computer networks amid fears that they could damage children’s health.
    More schools are putting transmitters in classrooms to give pupils wireless access from laptops to the school computer network and the internet.

    "But many parents and some scientists fear that low levels of microwave radiation emitted by the transmitters could be harmful, causing loss of concentration, headaches, fatigue, memory and behavioural problems and possibly cancer in the long term. Scientific evidence is inconclusive, but some researchers think that children are vulnerable because of their thinner skulls and developing nervous systems..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link [But see follow-on story below]
    
    

  • There's barely any evidence to support these worries
    by Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor
    
    "In the 1950s, anything that went wrong — the weather, a bout of flu, England losing at cricket — tended to be blamed on the effects of nuclear tests. There was, of course, no connection.

    "Today radio signals from mobile phones, mobile phone masts and now wi-fi installations have taken over where nuclear tests left off. Feeling a bit peaky? It’s probably that mobile mast round the corner.

    "It can’t be said often enough that there is hardly a shred of worthwhile evidence to support the worries.

    "In some US schools, and even in a university in Canada, wi-fi has been banned until it can be “proved safe”. Can Canadian academic standards be so low that they do not know it is impossible to prove anything safe? The best that can be hoped for is no evidence of risk: evidence of no risk is asking the impossible.

    "People who worry about mobile phones and wi-fi should be asked why they don’t worry about TV transmitters, radar installations, or telephones you can carry about the house, which communicate with their base stations using radio signals..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    

  • Eton leads charge to dump A levels
    
    
    
    
• The Guardian
  
  
  • [Education Secretary] Johnson warns of £1,000 fines for parents of bullies
    
    
    
    
• USA Today
  
  
  • Colleges offer homeland security major
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Private schools rake in $2b windfall
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    
    "Private schools across Australia are receiving at least $2 billion more than their entitlements under the Federal Government's school funding scheme.

    "The Catholic school system and independent Catholic schools receive most of this bonanza, netting an extra $1.6 billion for the 2005-2008 period..."
    
    "Under the formula, the schools would normally be entitled to about $23 billion over the four-year period. But because of a "grandfather clause" which protected wealthier schools from losing out if the formula was fully applied, many better-off schools have been able to maintain their funding at a far higher level..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link [Same story is in The Melbourne Age]

    
    
    
  • Copying, cheating rife at unis
    by Harriet Alexander
    
    "Universities in NSW are facing an explosion in the number of students caught plagiarising assignments and cheating in exams, with law students the worst offenders at one big institution..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    

Tuesday 21 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Ravlich must be sacked: teachers [Front page headline]
    Bethany Hiatt Exclusive
    
    "The State School Teachers Union has demanded Alan Carpenter sack Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich and has also insisted that the introduction of outcomes-based education be delayed again.
    
    "In a move which some teachers said amounted to unprecedented condemnation of an education minister by the union, about 100 delegates representing 14,000 of WA's 20,000 State school teachers voted unanimously at a weekend meeting for Ms Ravlich to be removed from the role.
    
    "Teachers accused Ms Ravlich of botching the implementation of OBE for Years 11 and 12 and condemned her handling of the recent dispute about teachers being told to mark students in grades A to E.
    
    "The vote by State school teachers, who would normally be seen as a Labor education minister's grassroots support base, represents a new low for Ms Ravlich.
    
    "The Premier is under mounting pressure from several quarters to replace her and he has refused to say whether she will retain the job as part of a pre-Christmas Cabinet reshuffle.
    
    "Ms Ravlich's position has been made more tenuous as a result of a move by the Opposition and Greens to set up a select committee of inquiry into what she knew about the Corruption and Crime Commission's investigation into the Education Department's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against teachers. The damning CCC report found that the Education Department had put its employees' welfare ahead of a safe learning environment for students.
    
    "Ms Ravlich refused to comment yesterday.
    
    "The bitter OBE row earlier this year resulted in 13 OBE courses which were due to be implemented next year being delayed until 2008, when a further 30 courses are due to be introduced.
    
    "But delegates at the weekend meeting said this would place too much pressure on teachers in 2008, therefore the 30 additional courses, including economics, maths, integrated science, dance and foreign languages, needed to be postponed until 2009. [emphasis added]
    
    "Union president Mike Keely said teachers were also angry about Ms Ravlich's decision to take the union's dispute over the use of A to E grades on reports to the Industrial Relations Commission. The commission directed the union to life its ban on the new-look school reports just weeks before the end of term.
    
    "That's had quite a damaging effect on a lot of schools and it was completely unnecessary," Mr Keely said. "And it is, in our view, the Minister being recalcitrant about a position that she didn't have to hold."
    
    "Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood has told maths teachers that he would consider pushing for a delay if they found significant problems in the new maths courses."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    Also see late edition story in The Australian
    
    
    
• ABC News
  
  
  • Teachers call for WA Education Minister's sacking [8:41 am]
    
    "Western Australia's State School Teachers Union (SSTU) says teachers have had enough of state Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich and are demanding she be sacked.

    "SSTU members voted unanimously at the weekend for Ms Ravlich to be dumped for her role in implementing the controversial outcomes-based education program and the new look school reports.

    "Union president Mike Keely says teachers are tired of the way they are treated by politicians and says it is time the Government started listening to their concerns.

    "This Minister has kept up the tradition of basically punishing teachers, certainly treating them with disrespect when there's no reason for that because our teachers are doing the best job in the world," he said.

    "If you're doing that job you deserve, as a teacher, to be treated with some consideration and respect."
    

    From ABC News Online at link
    
    
    
    
• The Washington Post
  
  
  • Those Who Pass Classes But Fail Tests Cry Foul
    by Ian Shapira
    
    "Sylvia James hardly considers herself clueless in mathematics. After all, she finished sixth grade with a B-plus in the subject and made the Honor Roll, which she saw as a victory in a challenging year of fraction conversion and decimal placement.

    "But what happened when she took the state math test?

    "She flunked it..."
    
    "Many students in the Washington region are suffering from academic split personalities. Driven by the federal No Child Left Behind law and tougher state diploma standards, the testing blitz has left these students in a curious limbo: They pass their classes with B's and C's yet fail the state exams.

    "These cases surface frequently, with one local high school reporting, for example, that a quarter of students in beginning algebra passed the course but failed the state test.

    "The discrepancies have emerged amid fierce debate over the role of testing in public education. Supporters of the federal law say standardized exams are the best way to raise academic standards and the only way to hold schools accountable for results. Critics complain that time spent on test preparation saps classroom creativity and that test scores are just one indicator among many of student achievement.

    "Students and teachers offer an array of explanations for why test scores sometimes fail to match up with grades. Some students don't take the exams seriously. Some freeze up. Still others trip over unfamiliar language. And teachers sometimes are not prepped in what the exams cover, especially when the tests are new. Occasionally, some school officials suspect, classes aren't rigorous enough to prepare students adequately..."
    
    "Defenders of standardized testing say the exams function like audits, revealing gaps in the curriculum that must be filled if the students are to reach high academic standards. Critics say that the differences between scores and grades show the fallibility of the exams, which provide only a snapshot of what a student knows..." [emphasis added]
    [It's called "moderation", a new concept in the US.    Web]
    
    Full story in The Washington Post at link
    
    

    
    
• The Guardian
  
  
  • Schools failing to spot classroom talent, says Adonis
    by James Meikle
    
    "The government has ordered hundreds of state secondary schools in England to identify gifted pupils after a fifth claimed they did not have any.

    "The schools minister, Lord Adonis, said children with special talents existed in every school, yet a census of the nearly 3,400 secondary schools in England by the Department for Education and Skills earlier this year revealed 20% did not think they had any gifted pupils. In addition, a third of secondary schools had so far failed to register any individuals with the special academy that helps with specialist tuition, online educational packages, day and residential courses and summer schools on university campuses.

    "Lord Adonis said it was "a terrible waste and all our educational policies are intended to put an end to this failure". Gifted children must not be left to their own devices and required just as much support as other pupils, especially those from backgrounds with low educational aspirations. "No child should ever feel isolated because their classmates might regard enthusiasm for learning as 'uncool'," he said..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at link

    
    
    
• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Answer to educating nation
    by Chris Bonnor
    
    "Here is a little history tale that is also about your kids' future.
    
    "It's about the way we set up our schools, funded them, deserted some and left you to pay the price.

    "It began about 150 years ago. Public schools were part of our growing democratic nation where unity, harmony and progress depended on kids growing and learning together. Catholic schools also played a part with a charter of serving the poor.

    "Leap forward to the 1960s and things start to change. Catholic schools were now the very poor cousins. They ran a campaign and gained enough government funding to bring them up to the standard of public schools.

    "Unbelievably we extended funding to other private schools which catered for the better-off and still do, by charging higher fees, despite their public funding.

    "Education slowly changed from being a common benefit for the whole community to a private benefit for individuals. In democratic and civil societies taxation supports services and organisations for the whole community. We now apparently believe that tax revenue should support private choice, regardless of how this impacts on the whole community..."
    
    Chris Bonnor is immediate past-president of the NSW Secondary Principals Council
    
    Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
    
    
    

• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Don't let schools lose their best
    by Stephen Lamb
    
    "Both the Labor and the Liberal parties recently announced plans to increase the number of selective-entry government schools in Melbourne. Labor plans to double the number to four, while the Liberal Party will increase them to six.

    "Before the election campaign there was little discussion or debate about the policy. In their campaign announcements, virtually no rationale was provided by either party on the need for more selective schools. Yet setting up more separate schools for high-ability students is highly controversial. Any separation of students in schools that leads to differential treatment needs to be justified with clear and demonstrable benefits for all students. So why introduce such a policy? What is the increase in the number of selective-entry schools meant to achieve? ..."
    
    "However, there is a huge cost to students in other schools. French scholars sometimes describe talented students in mixed settings as "pilots". They contribute to the academic climate in classrooms, contributing to discussions and being role models. Other children learn from them. If you remove these students, it can have a marked effect on learning for the remaining students. If selective schools drain other schools of their pilots then the children who remain may suffer from the absence of more highly able peers, and under-achieve relative to their potential. More selective schools may well depress mean achievement.

    "This was the conclusion reached in a report released in 2005 by the American National Bureau of Economic Research. Cross-country comparisons of school achievement revealed that systems that separate students through selective schooling or streaming tend to have larger achievement gaps between students. The report also found that selective schooling tends to reduce mean levels of school performance system-wide..."
    
    Stephen Lamb is associate professor in the Centre for Post-Compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Melbourne.
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

• The Australian
  
  
  • Education minister stands by grading system [late edition]
    by Nicolas Perpitch, AAP
    
    "West Australian Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has vowed to press on with the introduction of a new schools marking system which has prompted demands by a teachers' union for her sacking.

    "Delegates from the State School Teachers Union of WA (SSTUWA) voted unanimously on the weekend to call on Premier Alan Carpenter to dismiss her.

    "The union has accused her of botching the implementation of outcomes-based education (OBE) and the new A to E marking system.

    "It wants her sacked and another delay to the introduction of OBE.

    "I am very disappointed with the actions of the SSTUWA,'' Ms Ravlich said.

    "Ms Ravlich did not comment on OBE but said she had to implement the new grading system.

    "I have a legally binding contract with the Federal Government which is worth $230 million to the state education system annually,'' she said.

    "I value this contract ... and I do not intend to risk losing funds to WA as a result of pressure from the SSTUWA.

    "I want to provide information to parents because I think it is their right to have good and detailed information about the progress of their child.''

    "Ms Ravlich also is under pressure over what she knew about an investigation by WA's corruption watchdog into her department's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against teachers.

    "Comment was being sought from Mr Carpenter, who has not ruled out removing Ms Ravlich from her position in a cabinet reshuffle expected before Christmas..." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The Australian at link

    
    
    
  • Op Ed
    Anti-intellectual bias isn't helping us as a nation
    
    Labor frontbencher Lindsay Tanner, at the Sydney Institute tonight, laments Australia's derision of academe
    
    "... Australia is one of the few countries in the world where academic is a term of derision. We worship sportspeople and ignore intellectual achievers. We revere the practical and physical, and barely tolerate the cerebral..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Illiterate kids need a saviour
    by Jill Rowbotham, Religious affairs writer
    
    "The Wadeye local school is so underfunded that a delegation of local teachers and officials has set out from the Northern Territory to tell the nation about its plight.

    "The town, the Territory's sixth-largest, is six hours southwest of Darwin by road, but that's only in the dry season. The rest of the year it is accessible only by air.

    "Among Wadeye's 2600 population are up to 600 primary school children -- but the school has room for a maximum of 300 and there is no high school for the 300 potential secondary students..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Unis deny cheating is on the rise
    by Harriet Alexander
    
    "Figures that show student plagiarists and cheats are being caught in increasing numbers do not necessarily mean the problem is getting worse, academics say.

    "But they say there has been a concerted effort to address the problem in the wake of the 2003 scandal at Newcastle University and as students use material available on the internet.

    "Academics at the University of Technology, Sydney, which caught 292 students last year compared with 74 in 2001, according to figures obtained under freedom-of-information laws, are learning to design assignments that do not lend themselves to plagiarism, said Shirley Alexander, the dean of education..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

  • Op Ed
    Outgunned in the culture wars
    
    Intellectual life in Australia is dominated by the left wing, writes Gerard Henderson.
    
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Private funding for private schools
      
      "The debate about private schools usually gets bogged down in the details of funding schemes ("Private schools rake in $2b windfall", November 20). The real issue should be why they are publicly funded at all.

      "I see no advantage to society in isolating children based upon the wealth or religion of their parents. I suppose it can be argued that, in a free market, people can spend their money on whatever they choose. I struggle, however, to find any reasonable argument for government subsidies to those people who wish to cocoon their offspring from the wider community."

      Stephen Hambridge, Balmain
      
      

    • "It's a breathtakingly brilliant scam. First, make an estimate of parents' wealth. Second, give the private schools funding according to this formula. Third, if this formula doesn't work for the school, use the grandfather clause to get the maximum funding anyway. Invest the money and still charge exorbitant fees.

      "The only thing wrong with the scheme is that the schools shouldn't be named "non-government" or "independent".

      Margaret Grove, Abbotsford

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

• CNN
  
  
  • Court orders state to pay $1.93 billion more a year for NYC schools
    Associated Press
    
    "Albany, New Yor -- New York's highest court ordered the state Monday to increase its funding for the New York City school system by at least $1.93 billion per year to provide "a sound, basic education." ...
    
    Full story at CNN at link
    
    
    
    
  • Winds of change rattle European universities
    Associated Press
    
    "Paris, France -- German universities are trying to charge tuition. Paris schools are considering selection instead of open admission. Dutch colleges are pushing students to finish faster. Greece wants to lift a ban on private universities.

    "Change is rattling Europe's temples of learning.

    "Resistance remains fierce, driven by fears of the "Americanization" -- or commercialization -- of higher education..."
    
    Full story at CNN at link
    
    
    
    

Wednesday 22 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Op Ed
    A few clues for Ravlich in work of Friedman (page 23)
    by Tony Rutherford
    
    "... But the prime example is our public school system.
    
    "As if the continuing slow-motion catastrophe of outcomes-based education, and its botched implementation, were not enough there has been the spectacle of its utter failure to provide a safe environment for its pupils. We find that teachers are now regularly bullied and assaulted by their pupils and, far from coincidentally, that university undergraduates no longer find education an attractive career option. The physical infrastructure of schools is literally crumbling away. Rigid salaries make a mockery of dedication. Standards are often appalling.
    
    "The complaisant time-servers of the State School Teachers' Union have finally called for the Minister's resignation, or sacking. [emphasis added] At this point, one must feel a bit sorry for the hapless Ljiljanna Ravlich. It's hardly as if she was the author of every problem which now besets her. Past ministers – stretching back to the days of the last Liberal government – have a lot to answer for, too. But, in theory at least, the buck has not come to rest with her. That is a pity for all concerned, because she appears to have no real comprehension of how bad things really are.
    
    "Over and over again, the debates miss the point.
    
    "It's not just that OBE, for instance, is a bad and silly idea. The point of the debate should be that it is being imposed on every school in this State, whether or not it is a bad idea. Every school, that is, apart from the ones who have the freedom to seek an alternative, such as the international baccalaureate.
    
    "And that is very close to the point: every school should have the freedom to choose how it will deal with recalcitrant pupils: their own codes of behaviour, their own values, their own discipline. If we value teachers highly enough to let them educate our children, we should value them highly enough to let them work out the other problems for themselves. [emphasis added]
    
    "Instead, we will have more working parties, more study groups [see next article], more bureaucrats who for the most part have not been near a classroom for far too long, and more money. And we will, of course, have more bossy intrusion from a well-meaning but similarly bureaucratic Commonwealth. Bright young undergraduates will continue to stay away; older, more experienced teachers will continue to leave in droves.
    
    "This is a system which is, as they say, in denial. Not the least denial is the fact that – while it is far from perfect – the private alternative works better and is seen to work better by all those parents who choose it.
    
    "Milton Friedman would be saddened by all this. But he would hardly be surprised. Perhaps while the Minister is taking a welcome break at Gnarabup or some other quiet beech over Christmas, she might, while none of her colleagues or senior bureaucrats is looking, have a look at Free to Choose and realise that things don;t have to be this way."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Teachers alarmed at 'shortage' (page 9)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Urgent action was needed to resolve a looming crisis caused by a teacher shortage, the State's peak professional teachers' body said yesterday – as the Education Department denied a shortage existed.
    
    "WA College of Teaching chairman Brian Lindberg said there were shortages in certain subject areas and in country schools. "And there is a massive shortage of relief teachers," he said.
    
    "WACOT is setting up teacher forums to produce solutions to attract and retain quality graduates..." [And this from the mob that couldn't conduct an election (or a piss-up in a brewery)... No doubt your "forums" will fix everything, Brian.   Web]
    
    "The WACOT call comes after the State School Teachers Union demanded Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich be sacked, saying teachers had lost confidence in her handling of the portfolio..."
    
    Article includes Ravlich photo with the caption: "Rare sighting: Ljiljanna Ravlich tried to avoid the media yesterday by accessing the little-used northern entrance to Parliament House."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
• The Guardian
  
  
  • Watchdog demands urgent action to raise school standards
    by staff and agencies
    
    "Almost one in eight secondary schools was judged "inadequate" in the past year, while more than a third were no better than satisfactory, government inspectors said today.

    "The chief inspector of schools, Christine Gilbert, condemned the high failure rate and said it was "unacceptable" that the gap between the best and worst state schools was so wide.

    "She demanded urgent action to raise standards, warning: "The report card for English education has been increasingly encouraging over the past 10 years, but it is still not good enough." ...
    
    Full story in The Guardian at link
    
    Similar story in The Independent

    
    
    
• USA Today
  
  
  • No grades, no homework, no tests: Kids rule at this New York City school
    by Nahal Toosi, The Associated Press
    
    "New York — One recent day at the Brooklyn Free School, the "schedule" included the following: filming horror movies, chess, debate and making caves for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles..."
    
    "Free schools," which had their heyday decades ago, operate on the belief that children are naturally curious and learn best when they want to, not when forced to. Today, the approach is getting another look from some parents and students tired of standardized testing, excessive homework, and overly rigid curriculums..."
    
    Full story in USA Today at link
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Bruvvers push parents to the Coalition cause
    The teachers unions have hurt public education, but conservatives can save it, writes Janet Albrechtsen
    
    "Rednecks rescuing public education? Never. In fact, it's happening in pockets of North America. Accountability is back in fashion and it is a boon for public education. And it may just happen here in Australia.

    "As education becomes a pivotal issue for the Howard Government, the Coalition may end up thanking the self-styled progressive teachers unions for that electoral gift. Each time their union leaders bang on about political issues, it's a reminder that they are less interested in what ought to be their core concern: educating Australian children.

    "Far from working to destroy public education, as the teachers unions allege, the conservatives may just end up saving it. But more on that later..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Tanner's education criticism an insult to parents: Bishop
    by Matt Price
    
    "Lindsay Tanner has insulted parents by blaming them for the shortcomings of schools and teachers, Education Minister Julie Bishop said yesterday.

    "Ms Bishop labelled the Labor finance spokesman's critique of attitudes to education revealed in yesterday's The Australian as "confusing" and said criticisms of the federal Coalition failed to acknowledge that state Labor governments ran primary and secondary schools. In a speech to the Sydney Institute, Mr Tanner complained that most Australians were anti-intellectual and hostile towards education.

    "The senior Labor policy co-ordinator also berated parents for not taking sufficient interest in the education of their children and too readily blaming teachers and schools for their own shortcomings.

    "But Ms Bishop said parents were "increasingly voting with their feet" by investing in private education. "Parents are concerned about standards and excellence, which is why they're prepared to make these kinds of sacrifices," she told The Australian. "It's rather insulting to suggest otherwise." ...
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Higher Education Supplement has 18 stories today, including:
    
    
    • Teaching prize fund 'dreadful'
      
      
    • Plenty of jobs for graduates
      
      
    • [Top academic] Salaries will top $250,000
      
      
      
      
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Most Talked About: Tanner neglects role played by Left ideologues in academia [9 Letters]
      
      
      
      
• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • VCE exam a tough ask all round
    by Chee Chee Leung
    
    "A decision to adjust the scores for a VCE exam question that many could not answer has led to further complaints — this time from those who got it right.

    "VCE chiefs this month informed schools it would scale results for the health and human development exam, which was taken by almost 12,000 students.

    "The decision was made after students and teachers complained that the question covered material that was given little attention in most textbooks.

    "But students who answered the question correctly have labelled the move unfair, saying it meant they were not being properly rewarded for their effort..."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    [Original 15 November article in The Melbourne Herald Sun]
    
    
    

• The Sunday Times / PerthNow
  
  
  • More Readers' Comments on "Ravlich Faces Education Chop"
    
    

    • She is the queen of incompetence, after she has backed an unworkable system of education and turned her back on sexual allegations, she then had the nerve to claim she knew nothing about it. One blunder after another. Can you spell "accountable" Ljiljanna?
      Posted by: Greg of Perth

    • I think you mean that she is so incompetent that she should be sacked from politics completely. The WA government seems to be a total liability!
      Posted by: Anon. of Perth

    • Surely she is the most incompetent ministerof education ever. She should have been sacked well before now.
      Posted by: PJ of WA

    • If Mark McGowan cannot handle the environment portfolio - and he can't - hopefully he will do better in education - bring it on in a hurry I say. Mark McGowan is the worst environmental Minister I have even seen and is just a puppet on a string for industry and their mates in the Department of Environment and Conservation.
      Posted by: Steve Hesse of Kwinana
      
      
      
• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Losing faith in school funding
    by Maralyn Parker
    
    "Answer this: Is the nearest school to you a non-government school and is it small? If so, welcome to the future.

    "The funding of schooling in Australia is now so mad that very small faith-based schools continue to be publicly funded while much larger public schools that fall below magic numbers (about 400 for high schools and 200 for primary schools) are being closed..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
    
    
    

  • Op Ed
    Txt language here 2 stay
    by Maralyn Parker
    
    "Here is something just 2 give u apoplexy. Well that is if u hate the way texting is eroding the English language.

    "In both New Zealand and the UK texting abbreviations are now acceptable in final year school exams.

    "The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has recently accepted the use of text language in the equivalent of our higher school certificate, following a similar move by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Although users have been told they will get more points for normal English..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link

Thursday 23 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Ravlich escapes public grilling on CCC report (page 5)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    [Unless, of course, Paul Albert, or Alby Huts, or one of her many former chiefs of staff, contradict what she told Parliament...]
    
    "But the committee chairwoman, Greens MLC Giz Watson, said the list was not exhaustive and Ms Ravlich could still be called to appear before the inquiry.
    
    "This would be likely if there was any inconsistency between the evidence of the witnesses already called and the version of events given by Ms Ravlich since the damning CCC report was tabled in State Parliament in December..."
    
    "... Both [Albert and Huts] will have to break their silence to give evidence before the [parliamentary select] committee, which will also probe the circumstances surrounding their departure. The three-member select committee will report its findings to Parliament by December 7..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Op Ed
    Watchdog in warning of WA Inc trait in ministers (page 17)
    by Robert Taylor, Political Sketch
    
    10-year review finds public service CEOs are still under political pressure from above on staff appointment
    
    "... As [Public Sector Standards Commissioner Maxine] Murray points out, ministers no longer feel inclined to take responsibility for failures within their own departments.
    
    "Indeed, Mr Carpenter recently sacked Education Department boss Paul Albert when the CCC revealed systemic failures in the department's handling of staff-student sex abuse allegations.
    
    "His Minister, Ljiljanna Ravlich, got to keep her job apparently on the basis that she had no idea what was going on in her portfolio..." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor (pages 18-19)
    
    
    • My solution
      
      "Tony Rutherford is right on the money on public education (A few clues for Ravlich in work of Friedman, 22/11). The management system of WA schools is past its use-by date.
      
      "As a teacher for the past 36 years, the last four in the private sector, I see no need for the wasteful bureaucracy of Silver City. Call it privatisation, if you will, but all schools need to be locally managed and staff selected at the local level.
      
      "Parents should get funding in a way that frees them to choose the best school for their children. Similarly, the school would have the power to exclude students and their parents who did not support the agreed goals of the school. Freedom to choose is a two-way thing.
      
      "The resources spent on the centralised and regionalised bureaucracy should be spent on schools. The Curriculum Council and the college of teaching are already in place to maintain standards and provide professional development. We could start with the secondary schools which are in a mess in spite of the dedication of the teachers."
      
      Stuart Mackay, Willetton
      
      
      
    • Good move
      
      "The fact that Ian Thorpe's well-considered retirement should come at the pinnacle of his career adds another wonderful dimension to his champion status.
      
      "Those less credible and credentialled, within and outside the sports arena, who embarrassingly over-stay their welcome would do well to follow his fine example.
      
      "What do you reckon, Ljil?"
      
      Brendan Murray, Pemberton
      
      
      
    • Help solve the teacher shortage – put Ljiljanna back in the classroom (but not my child's classroom).
      
      R Riley, Thornlie
      
      
      
      
• The Washington Post
  
  
  • A Snapshot of the State of U.S. Education
    Highlights from the U.S. Department of Education's 2006 Condition of Education report.
    
    Two sample statistics:
    "The percentage of fourth-graders performing at or above proficient (meaning solid academic achievement) on the national assessment increased between 1992 and 2002 from 29 to 31 percent and has remained steady since. In 2005, 31 percent of eighth-graders performed at or above proficient."

    "From 1990 to 2005, the percentage of fourth-graders who performed at or above proficient in math jumped from 13 to 36 percent, and for eighth-graders, the increase was from 15 to 30 percent."
    

    
    
    
• The Times
  
  
  • Business executives could save badly run schools, says Ofsted
    by Alexandra Frean and Alexandra Blair
    
    * Many secondaries 'under-performing'
    * Poor leadership is the main problem
    
    "Business executives should be drafted into schools to help to raise standards, the new chief inspector of England’s schools said yesterday as figures revealed that more than half of secondary schools were under-performing.

    "Christine Gilbert, the head of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), blamed poor leadership and management in schools for persistent poor standards. “We should certainly look at drawing in heads from business and industry,” she said. “If you have teaching experience, it may get you to first base quicker, but I do think that schools could benefit from the leadership expertise of people from outside, particularly those who have taken early retirement in their 50s. They could come in as consultants or heads.” ...

    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    
    
  • Some progress, but must do better next term
    Alexandra Frean: Analysis
    
    "Nine years after promising to make “education, education, education” his top priority, Tony Blair has received a damning end-of-term report in what is likely to be the last Ofsted annual assessment of his premiership.

    "In its annual report for 1997-98, covering the first full year of Mr Blair’s tenure, Ofsted concluded that one in ten secondary schools was substantially underachieving and bemoaned the “unacceptably wide gap between good and bad schools”. This year Ofsted judges one in eight secondaries to be inadequate and expresses concern about the “gap between the best and worst”. It is hardly a ringing endorsement of nine years of Labour government..."

    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    
  • Note: There are similar stories in most UK newspapers today, including:
    
    
    • The Independent: More than half of secondary schools are failing pupils
      
      
      
      
• The Australian
  
• Editorial
  Educating Lindsay
  Sport and education – Australians like to celebrate both
  
  "What is wrong with cricketer Shane Warne receiving an honorary doctorate in business administration from a British University? For Labor's federal finance spokesman, Lindsay Tanner, it is a pantomime of the absurd. A man who boasts he has never read a book being dressed up in funny clothes for the uneducated masses back home to laugh at. This says much about Mr Tanner, a very bright politician who on this issue is out of touch with mainstream Australian thinking. It's like Labor MP Peter Garrett's choice of rugby league and Australian rules grand final week to complain that Australians would rather watch sport than ballet. In truth, a confident, modern Australia would be equally at home doing both..."
  
  "But in criticising the Government, Mr Tanner ignores the fact that education is foremost a state responsibility. It is Labor governments that have presided over curriculum revisions at the expense of core skills. Parents have not, as Mr Tanner suggests, been lulled into accepting education as glorified babysitting. Rather, they have run, chequebook in hand, to the private sector to which Labor was so hostile at the last election. Further, it is the so-called progressive Left within the university sector that is responsible for the view, criticised by Mr Tanner, that learning history is no more important than learning tapestry. Despite Mr Tanner's protests, Labor's claim on being the party of education is taking a beating, a fact borne out in last week's Newspoll. The evidence is that the Howard Government better understands what parents want and the folly of a one-size-fits-all approach..."
  
  Full editorial in The Australian at link [scroll down to second editorial]
  
  
  
• Op Ed
  Adam Connolly: Undergraduates look to overseas degrees
  Our sandstone universities are losing out to top-tier foreign institutions
  
  "Australia's higher education sector attracts more than $16 billion in public funding annually but faces increasing competition from foreign universities to train our nation's future leaders.

  "More than 850,000 Australians live overseas, mostly preferring the career opportunities that abound in the vast commercial centres of the northern hemisphere. As this green and gold diaspora grows, and the globalisation of the jobs markets continues apace, the prospect of a foreign university education is likely to become more attractive.

  "The argument is compelling. In the latest Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings, the Australian National University was voted our nation's best. Yet Australia's finest still only ranked 16th in the world, followed by the University of Melbourne at 22nd. Poll leader was again Harvard University in the US, followed by Britain's Cambridge and Oxford universities. Equal fourth were the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University, both in the US..."
  
  Adam Connolly is president of the Oxford Business Alumni in Australia. The second annual Oxford Business Alumni Forum is in Sydney tonight.
  
  Full story in The Australian at link
  
  

• Aboriginal children 'more stressed'
  by Paige Taylor
  
  "Aboriginal children are living with four times more stress than other children, and by age six most of them are already struggling at school, a landmark report has found.

  "And the survey discovered that most of the intervention programs aimed at improving the children's circumstances were largely ineffective..."
  
  Full story in The Australian at link
  
  
  

• The Brisbane Courier Mail
  
  
  • Boys need help to succeed
    by Tess Livingstone
    
    "Boys need help. That's the verdict of Queensland teachers who welcomed yesterday's Federal Government allocation of $8 million to help boys who are struggling at up to 800 schools across Australia.
    
    " Education Minister Julie Bishop said the Success for Boys program had generated strong interest, with one in five schools applying.

    "Success for Boys aims to support boys at risk of disengaging from school and improve boys' learning outcomes," Ms Bishop said. "Teachers will be provided with high-quality professional learning based on national and international research."

    "The money would allow schools to provide boys with opportunities to benefit from positive male role models and mentors, improve literacy teaching, use information and communication technology to engage boys in learning and improve indigenous boys' educational achievements..."
    
    Full story in The Brisbane Courier Mail at link

    
    
    
• The Adelaide Advertiser
  
  
  • New schools can boost grades
    by Xanthe Kleinig, education reporter
    
    "Brand new schools can improve student grades and boost teacher performance, according to British High Commissioner Helen Liddell.
    
    "Mrs Liddell, a former Blair Government minister, said she would "very much" recommend public/private partnerships, a process already used to refurbish schools in the United Kingdom.

    "By putting in new, modern infrastructure, motivating pupils and teachers more through the natural environment that they work in, you actually can show improvement in academic performance," she said."
    
    Full story in The Adelaide Advertiser at link

    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Plagiarism rises amid funding cuts
    by Anne Susskind
    
    "Behind the wave of plagiarism and other forms of cheating evident at our universities lies a bigger problem. Students paying high fees and frustrated with what's on offer are answering in kind, and getting away with whatever they can in a debased education system that has become centred on a race for credentials.

    "Particularly in expensive postgraduate courses, classes are often not stimulating or rigorous because staff are teaching students with very different language abilities and frames of reference. Academics who are rushed and under pressure to "publish or perish", or poorly paid casuals, often feel ill-prepared for the challenges.

    "All of this adds up to an environment with little respect for learning and in which students have become clients who feel entitled to pass if they simply turn up regularly and submit an essay that shows signs of trying. They are going through the hoops to buy the piece of paper..."
    
    "Funding cuts have forced universities to take in large numbers of fee-paying overseas students. They number about 240,000, or a quarter of the student body.

    "Australia's international student industry - which includes TAFE and school students - is worth $9.8 billion. But as hard and politically incorrect as it is to say, the problems are exacerbated by the overseas student influx.

    "The anger level of English-as-first-language students is rising as lecturers "dumb down" their teaching for international students, who are left bewildered by the resentment they feel comes from the first-language English speakers - after all, the international students were actively recruited by the universities, and they sat language tests which led them to believe they could make it..."
    
    Anne Susskind, a former Herald journalist, has taught at two Australian universities.
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link

 

Friday 24 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Ravlich 'friend" wins $280,000 education jobs (page 4)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    "A friend and former colleague of Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has won at least $280,000 in contracts from the Education Department in just seven months.
    
    "Gregory Philip's company, Huntly Consulting Group, was awarded contracts worth at least $279,290 between March and October, according to Government tender documents.
    
    "Mr Philip is married to Education Department acting executive director Siobhaun Mulvey..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor (page 20)
    
    
    • "The increase in student violence should not be a surprise, given the trend in society generally. Teachers have been reporting it for the past few years, with increasing numbers of children suffering from extremes of social dysfunction. Physical and verbal assaults of school staff often occur.
      
      "Why it is being left to the unions to bring this matter to the attention of the public and to protect their members? Employers are obliged to provide a safe working environment. Assaults in schools are increasing stress levels and are contributing to the teacher shortage."
      
      Peter Daniel, Lesmurdie
      
      
      
    • Ignore them
      
      "Mike Hilton is obviously at the coalface of the teaching profession (Bring back our Christmas spirit, 21/11).
      
      "His letter warns us that within the Education Department there are faceless people who are issuing teaching policies in accordance with their own politically correct agenda.
      
      "These hidden people are in an ideal position to wipe out the core values of our Christian society. They are employed by us but they seek to indoctrinate our children with their views and tear down centuries of our traditions.
      
      "It is also apparent that no one in the department will stand up to them. It is time that Education Department policy proposals were laid out for public scrutiny, with the names of the policy architects. In the meantime, our State schools should simply ignore any anti-tradition, anti-Christian, anti-history or anti-Anzac edicts which have already been issued."
      
      Keith Jones, Balga
      
      
      
      
• The Australian
  
  
  • Two years' preschool reduces failure
    by Stephen Lunn, Social affairs writer
    
    "Providing two years of quality preschool education, fast becoming the norm in many European countries, can almost halve the number of children at risk of failing later on at school.

    "But Australia's fragmented childcare policy, which differs from state to state and is beset by problems of carer supply and quality, is leaving the nation dangerously exposed to social and economic costs down the track.

    "So warned Frances Press, lecturer in Early Childhood Education and Care at Charles Sturt University, who yesterday told a social welfare conference in Sydney that all three tiers of government should be developing a better model for children before they reach school..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • End of the med school lecture
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The traditional university lecture will be scrapped by the nation's biggest medical school and replaced by online learning programs.

    "Partly prompted by a swell in student numbers expected in 2008, the University of Queensland's School of Medicine is developing an interactive web program to deliver the information now given in a lecture..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Academics fear for jobs in switch to US system
    by Lisa Macnamara
    
    "Academics fear they will lose their jobs as a result of Melbourne University's decision to introduce a US-style graduate school curriculum.

    "The claims came as academics and general staff from the Arts Faculty initiated dispute proceedings with the university, saying they were not properly consulted on a faculty restructure that would shrink 16 departments into seven from next year.

    "The revamp had left the jobs of at least 50 casual and contract support staff in doubt, workers claimed, with some blaming the new US-style curriculum for driving the reforms..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

• The Independent
  
  
  • One in 4 maths lessons 'by untrained teachers'
    by Richard Garner, Education Editor
    
    "One in four maths lessons in secondary schools is taught by teachers who have never been trained in the subject.

    "Figures reveal that at least 750,000 youngsters aged between 11 and 16 are taught maths by untrained staff. Even a rise in the numbers of would-be maths teachers attending training courses is failing to dent the problem, according to Government maths experts.

    "Many newly trained teachers only last two or three years in the profession before moving on to more lucrative careers in the City or elsewhere in the private sector.

    "The behaviour of pupils is often cited as a reason for leaving," said a member of the national literacy and numeracy strategy team.

    "Frankly, they can earn more money with much less hassle outside the classroom. Maths is seen as a hard subject. The kids behave badly in maths." ... [Sounds very familiar    Web]
    
    Full story in The Independent at link
    
    
    

• The Times
  
  
  • Boys struggling to read and write in English
    by Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
    
    "Girls aged 11 who speak English as their second language achieved higher scores in reading and writing tests than boys for whom English is their mother tongue, government statistics show..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    
    
  • Young pupils abuse teachers with sexual swear words
    by Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
    
    * Foul language rife in all schools
    * Parents urged to set better example
    
    "Children as young as 5 are consistently swearing at teachers, with nearly 20 per cent of primary school teachers claiming to have been subject to sexually abusive insults from pupils..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    
• Bishops back student fight for religious freedom on campus
  
  
  
  
  
• The Guardian
  
  
  • Regulator rules out alternative to GCSE
    by James Meikle
    
    "An alternative to the GCSE exam which has been adopted by a number of fee-paying schools will be condemned today in a report which will in effect rule out its introduction in the state sector.

    "The report will say there is no way of comparing the standards required for different grades and that the exam does not follow programmes of study required by the national curriculum for 14-16-year-olds..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at link
    
    
    

  • Veil row teacher sacked
    Press Association
    
    "A Muslim teaching assistant who was suspended for refusing to remove her veil in the classroom has been sacked..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at link
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
• Answer to cheating is as easy as BCA
  by Harriet Alexander, Higher Education Reporter
  
  "... Frustrated by suspicions that students were cheating, the department creates four variations to each multiple choice exam it prepares. If students copy the letters circled by their neighbours, they will arrive at different results. The more they copy, the worse they will do..."
  
  Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
  
  


© The Sydney Morning Herald

 

Saturday – Sunday, 25 – 26 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Grades are completely worthless: principals (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Thousands of parents are about to get letters from school principals warning them that the A to E grades assigned to their children in end-of-year reports will be meaningless.
    
    "Some principals, who plan to attach the letters to the reports, say the A to E system is an inaccurate reflection of students' achievements because of the way they are linked to outcomes-based education.
    
    "The Federal Government tied school funding to the use of the A to E grades. But the WA Department of Education and Training created the model that links these grades to OBE, instructing teachers to use software that automatically converts students' achievement in outcomes "levels" to grades.
    
    "But teachers and principals have told The West Australian the calculations are farcical because in some schools almost all students will be awarded Cs and Ds while in other schools most students in the same year group will get As.
    
    "They said this was partly because the grades were linked to achievement in eight outcomes levels, which are at the heart of the OBE controversy, and teachers and schools have widely different interpretations of what the levels mean..."
    
    [And Mike Keely, of course, blames A-E reporting, not the linkage to levels.   Web]
    
    "Rossmoyne Senior High School principal Leila Bothams will also ask parents to focus on levels and comments. A high proportion of Year 10 students would get As, but that did not necessarily mean they had the background of ability to do physics or introductory calculus.
    
    "Rossmoyne staff voted this week to also send a letter to the acting education director-general Sharyn O'Neill protesting at the way grades were being calculated. "It means students won't know where they stand and parents won't know where their children stand," one teacher said.
    
    "But Education Department curriculum standards executive director Chris Cook said A to E grades in public schools had been aligned using Statewide data so the grades reflected students' individual achievements, no matter which school they attended..." [Great Chris, so we now have "Statewide standardised meaningless grades".   Web]
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Is Ravlich involved in job racket: Libs (page 2)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    "The Opposition has called on Alan Carpenter to come clean on whether Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich was one of the ministers who has tried to influence public sector appointments despite it being against the law..."
    
    [Rehash of Education Department acting executive director Siobhaun Mulvey's husband (described as "a friend and former colleague of Ms Ravlich") and brother being awarded large Education Department contracts.]
    
    "[Opposition Deputy Leader Troy] Buswell said he had concerns about the awarding of the contracts... given the close relationship between Mr Philip and Ms Ravlich. "It seems highly irregular that a task force awards a $100,000 contract to a company owned by the husband and brother of a senior bureaucrat sitting on that task force," he said.
    
    "Ms Ravlich's office referred all inquiries on the matter to the Premier's office but his staff did not return calls or emails yesterday." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Schools take Christ out of Christmas (page 5)
    by Davin Gibson
    
    "Nativity plays have become a thing of the past and traditional carols may soon follow as political correctness puts a dampener on Christmas celebrations at government primary schools..."
    
    "The trend of taking Christ out of Christmas has angered political and religious leaders, who believe some schools tried too hard not to offend people of different cultures.
    
    "But principals who spoke to The West Australian said they had to perform a balancing act to take into account the diverse views of parents, students and teachers. Busy teacher time-tables were also an issue..."
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich said she encouraged schools to celebrate Christmas and the diversity of students."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Editorial
    Let's get the Christmas tradition back in schools (page 18)
    
    "The upholders of political correctness who fear that celebrations of the Christian essence of Christmas in schools might offend people of other faiths are not only foolish but also wrong.
    
    "Leaders of other major faiths have made it clear they have no objections to the celebrations. Indeed, they support such activities.
    
    "There is no valid reason now for schools to avoid traditional Christmas activities – in fact, there never was."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor (page 21)
    
    
    • I Disagree
      
      "Mike Hilton (Bring back our Christmas spirit, Letters, 21/11) certainly got the wrong end of the story about my comments concerning the report of Archbishop Hickey's request to bring the spirit of Christmas back to our schools.
      
      "If school communities want to increase the level of organised Christmas celebrations in their school, I am sure that many teachers would be happy to co-operate. But that's a decision which should be made by the school community, not the Archbishop or the Department of Education.
      
      "However, it is unhelpful to ask teachers, already overburdened with staff shortages, their normal work, end-of-year exams, testing, organising graduations and the Federal Minister's new reporting system to now start organising Christmas programs or events.
      
      "It is insulting to suggest that teachers do not already support many of the Australian values which the Christmas story promotes – values such as care and compassion, understanding, tolerance, inclusion and support for those less fortunately than yourself. [It's a shame that the SSTU doesn't exhibit these qualities, Mike.    Web]
      
      "However, like Archbishop Hickey, I believe we Australians have much to learn from the Christmas story. Among other things it recounts how, after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph, with their new-born child, had to flee political persecution into Egypt, where I understand they were not locked up in a refugee detention centre."
      
      Mike Keely, president, State School Teachers' Union of WA
      
      
      
      
  • TER change hits numbers for geography (page 76)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The number of high school students studying geography next year will plunge by more than a third, new data shows.
    
    "A poll of State and private schools by the Geography Association of WA confirms fears raised earlier this year that Year 10 students were abandoning geography and other humanities subjects in favour of new OBE courses such as physical education and media studies when choosing subjects for Year 11..."
    
    "Students choosing history fell 18 per cent and economics slumped 19 per cent. However, the number of students choosing political and legal studies rose marginally..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
• The Sunday Times / Perthnow
  
  
  • D'Orazio bid to scrap Upper House (Sat 25 Nov, 3 pm)
    
    
    • McGinty rebuffs D'Orazio bid (Sun 26 Nov, 2:40 pm)
      
      
      
      
• The Sunday Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Op Ed
    A to E gets a big fat F [A Victorian perspective]
    by Juliette Hughes
    
    "... The Federal Government has imposed the new reporting system on us all: schools must adopt the "plain English" A to E reporting system or lose their funding. Will it work? The older systems had a variety of ways of measuring results: some used numerical marks, some used S/N, while others used words such as highly developed or beginning, consolidating and established. And some used A to E, but certainly not in the way the Federal Government would now impose on us..."
    
    "It needs to be emphasised that a child of normal intelligence and ability will never, under the new system, get an A, no matter how well they satisfy their year's requirements. Let us be very clear: to be an A student in fourth year, your child will have to be at fifth- year standard.

    "And what about the teachers who will have to tell students who have satisfied all the year's requirements that they are only getting a C?

    "Teachers will be blamed as usual: underpaid, overworked, accountable for every damn thing that ever happens and squeezed by every ambitious, ignorant politician who knows he or she can get media coverage by slagging off at teachers and threatening their well-earned holidays. And the profession will make do, while contending with underfunded schools, large classes and community disrespect.

    "In the end, one might have to say a plague on both houses: the wordy, though well-intentioned reports of last year and the blunt, harsh instrument of the new form of A to E.

    "But if I were dealing out plagues, I think that a small and manageable thrip plague should afflict the old reports; while a large, nasty plague of biblical proportions should descend on the new A to E system. With lots of boils and scorpions."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

• The Adelaide Sunday Mail
  
  
  • Op Ed
    New SACE dumbs down curriculum
    by Kevin Donnelly
    
    "At first reading, the State Government's announcement about the proposed South Australian Certificate of Education, to be implemented in 2009, should be applauded.
    
    "After all, making sure that more students complete Year 12, providing greater curriculum flexibility and choice, raising standards and giving South Australians, in the words of Education Minister Lomax-Smith, a "rigorous and relevant certificate for the 21st century'' are all worthy of support.
    
    "Given concerns raised earlier this year by the Vice-Chancellors Committee that the proposed SACE is in danger of dumbing down the curriculum and tarnishing Adelaide's standing as the "university city'', it is also good the Government has decided not to accept all the recommendations from Success for All - the final report of the SACE Review.
    Such enthusiasm, though, evaporates on a closer analysis. One of the major flaws in Success for All is that there is no attempt to look interstate or internationally to identify "best-practice'' when it comes to designing senior school certificates.
    
    "Those countries that keep more students at school longer and that outperform Australia in international tests, instead of having a one-size-fits-all approach to the curriculum, have a range of certificates, ranging from the academic, the vocational to the trade.
    
    "The new SACE, in providing one certificate that attempts to be all things to all students, regardless of whether they want to be brain surgeons, plumbers or hairdressers, will end up with the lowest common denominator approach.
    Research investigating why some countries get the best results in international mathematics and science tests also highlights the importance of external competitive examinations.
    
    "With external exams, there is pressure on students to perform; it is easy to guarantee students do their own work and that the results achieved are comparable.
    
    "Under the new SACE, external exams will only amount to 30 per cent of each subject's assessment, with the rest based on school-based assessment.
    
    "Guaranteeing that school-based assessment is reliable, ensuring that students don't cheat and that the grades across schools are comparable, is expensive, time-consuming and unreliable.
    
    "Minister Lomax-Smith argues that the proposed SACE will be academically rigorous and that students will be properly prepared tor tertiary studies. However, Dr Tony Gibbons, from Flinders University, argues that placing what are described as "capabilities'' centre-stage can only lead to a superficial curriculum.
    
    "Capabilities like communicating with others, understanding social and political issues and applying knowledge cannot be learned in a vacuum: they are best taught within the context of subjects like English, history and mathematics as so-called deep learning is subject specific.
    
    "The fact that students are able to earn credit points from activities as diverse as work experience and being caregivers, as well as studying traditional subjects like literature - putting working at McDonald's on the same level as analysing Shakespeare's Macbeth - is also evidence that standards have been weakened.
    
    "As argued by Dr Kelvin Gregory, an academic from Flinders University's Institute of International Education, Success for All and the development of the new SACE are more about cliches like "equity'', "social justice'' and celebrating "diversity'' than developing an academically sound certificate based on evidence-based research."
    
    Dr Kevin Donnelly is executive director of Melbourne-based Education Strategies and writes regularly on education for
    The Australian
    
    From The Adelaide Sunday Mail
    
    
    
    
• The Weekend Australian
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Moral compass in the postmodern world
    
    Kevin Donnelly believes Labor is losing the argument about school values
    
    "Education has traditionally been an electoral plus for the ALP, but not any more. As a recent Newspoll survey reveals, the Coalition Government has orchestrated an eight percentage point turnaround and is running neck and neck with Labor in terms of positive voter perception.

    "Jenny Macklin, the federal Opposition education spokeswoman, argues the Howard Government's improvement is the result of cheap populism. She is wrong. As outlined in my book Why Our Schools are Failing, Australian parents are worried about significant issues such as falling standards, schools not being held accountable, the curriculum being awash with political correctness and, with government schools in particular, education failing to inculcate proper values..."
    
    Kevin Donnelly is the author of Dumbing Down: Outcomes-Based and Politically Correct -- The Impact of the Culture Wars on Our Schools (Hardie Grant, forthcoming).
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Op Ed
    Social attitudes fuel boys' sexual violence
    by Stephen Lunn
    
    "Take a close look at the next 12 to 14-year-old boy you see. Do not let the awkward, gazelle legs fool you. He and his peers have some of the most antisocial attitudes to violence against women in Australia, research shows. Rich or poor, recent migrant or fifth-generation Australian.

    "With that as a starting point, the fermentation begins. Add a couple of years of access to increasingly gratuitous violence on television and the internet, and being part of a society still too willing to excuse sexual violence, plus hormones, peer pressure and a likely lack of discipline at home. Then there is perhaps, just perhaps, a flicker of understanding of how up to a dozen young men from the western Melbourne suburb of Werribee could have found it within themselves to film some of their number urinating on a teenage girl, sexually abusing her and setting fire to her hair. Then sell the degrading footage on DVD for $5 a pop..."
    
    "John Frew, principal of Holdsworthy High School in Sydney and a veteran educator of children with behavioural problems, believes gang culture and peer pressure exert a big pull on teenage boys. But Frew does not discount the influence of genes: that boys are hard-wired to be hunters, and with that comes a level of innate violence..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Op Ed
    Straight talk from an underrated politician [Lindsay Tanner]
    by Matt Price
    
    "... But the most interesting and courageous aspect of [Tanner's] speech was the shot at parents. Too quick to blame schools and teachers for their own shortcomings, Tanner argued. Too inclined to treat classrooms as glorified child-minding centres, not showing nearly enough interest in what goes on inside.

    "At one level this is counter-intuitive. Parents are spending more on private education - often to avoid perceived poor quality, under-funded public schools - and little Jack or Jenny is increasingly being laden with interminable extracurricular classes and activities. But I think Tanner is dead right. Spend any time in schools and it's impossible not to admire the dedication, tolerance and tenacity of most teachers. Parents spend more money to provide more options, but we're often too busy or distracted to know what's really happening with our children..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Not yet time to give uni lectures last rites
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "Lectures will remain a feature of teaching in universities but the institutes' vice-chancellors believe they will be increasingly delivered in virtual lecture halls.

    "John Mullarvey, chief executive of the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee, said the way lectures were delivered would change to take advantage of technological advances but the aim of the lecture to impart information simultaneously to a large group of students would remain the same.

    "I don't think (lectures) will be superseded, they will always have their place," he said. "But a lecture may not be delivered in front of a group of people in the one room, the group might be on the internet."

    "The nation's biggest medical school, at the University of Queensland, is preparing to drop all lectures in the first two years of its course and replace them with interactive web programs from 2008. Mr Mullarvey said many universities around Australia already provided some units online in some courses and he expected the practice to become more widespread as the technology improved.

    "Universities were being forced to rethink the way they taught with the squeeze on resources and pressure from students for a more flexible approach..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Carpenter drinks in brief glory
    by Amanda O'Brien
    
    "When Premier Alan Carpenter drank his first glass of treated seawater this week it must have tasted like elixir of the gods.

    "The grand opening of the state's newest water source - the biggest seawater desalination plant built outside the Middle East - was not only a genuine good news story, it also marked the first day Carpenter has fronted the media in more than a month without being harassed over nonstop scandals engulfing his Government..."
    
    "Unfortunately for Carpenter, his rare good week isn't going to last.

    "On Monday a parliamentary inquiry, complete with public hearings, convenes to examine events around the Department of Education's spectacular failure to investigate alleged sexual misconduct by teachers.

    "The issue last month precipitated a crisis for Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich that continues to fester, and heading the witness list on Monday is the departmental head, who was dumped over the affair and two of Ravlich's former chiefs of staff.

    "The following week, the Corruption and Crime Commission resumes its public hearings, bringing Burke back into focus."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link

    
    

• The Brisbane Courier Mail
  
  
  • 'Teacher provision falls short'
    by Tess Livingstone
    
    "The State Government is being "very narrow and short-sighted" in not providing full-time teacher aides in Prep classes in state schools next year, according to its own Children's Commission.
    
    "Concerned Prep teachers yesterday said the Research Unit of the Commission for Children and Young People had advised that each Prep class should have a full-time teacher and a full-time teacher aide..."
    
    Full story in The Brisbane Courier Mail at link
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Students so poor they eat own work
    by Harriet Alexander, Higher Education Reporter
    
    "TAFE students are so poor that students at one college ate the cakes they had been set to bake as an assessment task before the teachers could mark them, an inquiry has found.

    "The TAFE inquiry found that students were dropping out of courses because they could not afford the fees, accommodation and travel, at the same time Australia is facing a skills shortage.

    "Meanwhile, 70 per cent of TAFE teachers were not permanent, and their average age was over 50, meaning the profession will face a critical shortage within five years..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Let's keep the human capacity for thought
      
      "Anne Susskind's article "Plagiarism rises amid funding cuts" (November 23) raises some interesting questions about how the "job" of being a student has changed. Susskind is correct not to blame students for this. They are meeting the "systems requirements" of modern life: Power Point presentations, dot points, job applications where employers aren't bored by more than two pages, and a school system which requires standardised test results arrived at through multiple choice (guess?) responses.

      "My primary schooling in the 1960s prepared me, through weekly composition writing, for extended, discursive prose writing. I never sat for a half-yearly or yearly exam before the School Certificate, nor was I subjected to statewide, standardised tests in years 3, 5, 7 and 8. Teachers' comments on reports were perfunctory or non-existent. There was no homework in primary school, and very little at high school.

      "Mainly, I was taught to excel at the extended composition and essay, and all testing at School Certificate and Higher School Certificate was based upon it - three-hour written exams.

      "My son, in year 7, brings home many more assignments and a homework burden I would have baulked at. It requires a lot of information-gathering, mainly from that tool which has replaced the 24-volume encyclopedia, the internet search engine.

      "I merely make the observation that times have changed, and that my son is adept at a whole lot of things different from those at which I am. And in turn, I am hopelessly incompetent in areas in which my parents and grandparents excelled.

      "Maybe in an era when it is appears that Google Knows Everything (rather than Father Knows Best?), teaching our kids to discriminate between fact and fiction and have a fully operational "detector of bovine effluent" is more important than the ability to craft a lengthy piece of prose (as fond as I remain of that idyll).

      "I am certain of one thing: my son at age 12 would have a much more sophisticated understanding of the manipulations of politicians in sending young men to far-away wars than his great-grandfather, a thoroughly accomplished horseman, did at age 24, when he embarked as part of a Light Horse regiment for Gallipoli and then the Western Front.

      "Different lives, different times, but still hope for the future. And maybe, just maybe, plagiarism and essays don't matter as long as there remains the human capacity for thought."

      Sally Edsall, Arncliffe
      
      

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

• The Sunday New York Times
  
  
  • Home Schoolers Content to Take Children’s Lead
    by Susan Saulny
    
    "... As the number of children who are home-schooled grows — an estimated 1.1 million nationwide — some parents like Ms. Walter are opting for what is perhaps the most extreme application of the movement’s ideas. They are “unschooling” their children, a philosophy that is broadly defined by its rejection of the basic foundations of conventional education, including not only the schoolhouse but also classes, curriculums and textbooks..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday New York Times at link
    
    
    
    
• The Times
  
  
  • Government will fund A-level rival (Sun 26 Nov)
    by Geraldine Hackett, Education Correspondent
    
    "The government is to fund a switch away from A-levels to an international diploma, a move that could further undermine the state exam system.

    "Tony Blair is to promise greater choice for parents with the creation of a network of state schools offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) as an alternative to A-levels..."
    
    "The plan is likely to put A-levels under even greater pressure. Universities have complained the qualification no longer allows them to select the best undergraduates because so many pupils get top grades.

    "Elite universities have therefore introduced aptitude tests, on top of A-levels, in subjects including medicine, law and history..."

    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    

  • Pre-U – the new A-level? (Sun 26 Nov)
    
    Top private schools, including Dulwich and Eton, are leading a push to bring in tougher new exams for teenagers, says Sian Griffiths
    
    "... With so many gifted pupils being denied a place at an elite university, private schools, including Eton, Dulwich and Harrow, are now turning up the heat in the fight for tougher exams for 16 and 18-year-olds.

    The threat is that some of our best schools will switch to alternatives to both GCSEs and A-levels, creating a two-tier exam system — for rich pupils in private schools and poorer ones in the state sector — unless ministers make existing tests harder. Chris Woodhead, the former chief inspector of schools, warns “we now have an exam system in meltdown”. ...
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    

  • Public school exports its teaching ethos to meet demand from rich Muscovites (Sat 25 Nov)
    by Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
    
    "In what is believed to be the first venture of its kind, Brighton College, a leading independent school, is planning to export British public school education to Russia.

    "Boarding schools in England have attracted interest from growing numbers of wealthy Russians in the past decade who are keen to give their children a high-quality education in a secure, friendly environment.

    "Brighton College is seeking to build on these links by building its own public school, 50 miles south of Moscow..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link

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This page last updated 14 August, 2008 1:42 AM