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Breaking
News: Week of 12 January 2009
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From Monday 15 December 2008 through Sunday 18 January 2009, PLATO's Breaking News coverage is on "Summer Holidays", and will be limited to MAJOR Australian education news items. Major overseas stories will be added if and when time permits. The home page may be updated only once a day, normally in the evening.
We anticipate that full coverage will resume on Monday 19 January 2009.
Saturday – Sunday, 17 – 18 January
- The Age
- Op Ed
Arts lost in blackboard jungle of curriculum
Bafflingly, arts education remains excluded from the Federal Government's proposed national curriculum and early childhood education framework. This is despite the fact that "the arts" is now one of the eight compulsory learning areas, from preschool to university entrance, in every state, and has been for more than a decade, with full approval from all education systems. This followed the first national curriculum initiative in 1991, and years of struggle.
- Letter to the Editor
- Joy of education
"Amanda McCleery's assault on "study for study's sake" (Letters, 9/1) exemplifies the need for the more well-rounded education offered at Melbourne University.
"Sure, let's leave the real privilege of learning to the wealthy and encourage short-sightedness in our middle-class children so they never think beyond the self-made reality of "mobile phone and internet bills". What a ludicrous concept, devoting time and money to become a well-rounded individual with a global outlook who can be competitive with those who have the education that McCleery looks down on.
"Australia does not need more mindless drones for the rat race. A liberal arts education, such as that offered at Melbourne, allows young people to sample different areas they might like to specialise in later. In the process, they become cultured, well-informed and able to think beyond the "world of mortgages and debt". Education is always worth the time."
Lynda Fajardo, Banfield, Toorak
- The Telegraph [UK]
- How will the recession affect your child's education?
by Cassandra Jardine
"... With house prices plummeting, groaning credit cards and the spectre of job insecurity, it isn't just the children who will be tested in these exams, but the schools themselves. Have they got their sums right? Are they now disappearing beyond the reach of the struggling middle classes? The uptake of places following these exams will be the first concrete evidence of whether there is to be a flight from private to state education.
"The cost of privately educating a child from three to 18 is awesome. Fees for 2008-9 rose an average of 6.2 per cent to £11,253 and the number of schools with fees of more than £25,000 increased almost fourfold to 51. A private education now costs more than the average house.
"So far, the private sector is claiming to have seen no downturn: schools report that Open Days have never been busier. Over Christmas, a couple of rural prep schools closed but Jonathan Cook, general secretary of the Independent Schools' Bursars Association says this is "normal". Last week, 25 unidentified schools were rumoured to be up for sale, causing a guessing game among anxious parents, and accusations of "panic-mongering" from David Lyscom, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council about the "supposed exodus" from the private sector..."
Full story in The Telegraph at link
- The Washington Post
- TWELVE linked articles offering advice to US Secretary of Education designate Arne Duncan!
To view the other 11, click on the "View All Items in This Story" link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Elite students exploit uni entry scheme [Lead online article]
by Anna Patty, Education Editor
"Students from exclusive private schools appear to be exploiting a special consideration scheme to gain bonus points for university entry, claiming health disadvantages at much higher rates than their public school counterparts.
"A former Universities Admissions Centre assessor says the upsurge in claims has been so noticeable that "there appears to be an outbreak of anxiety and depression in some private schools".
"At least one Sydney medical clinic is promoting a service that, for about $600, will give students a completed application form for special consideration by the Board of Studies and the Universities Admissions Centre.
"Universities can award students up to 10 bonus points above their Universities Admission Index if the centre accepts their application for special consideration under various categories including financial hardship, disrupted schooling, refugee status, illness and disability. The extra points can make all the difference in helping some students get into the course of their choice..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
© The Sydney Morning Herald
- Heckler: Full marks for manipulating system
- The West Australian
- Op Ed
Private sham on school contrasts made public (page 20)
by Paul Murray
"The double standards and dissembling that have characterised the debate over publication of secondary school academic performance statistics — the so-called league tables — were demonstrated beautifully in two advertisements that appeared within three pages of each other in Saturday’s edition of The West Australian.
"On page 18, under the heading “Something to celebrate”, Catholic schools trumpeted that they had produced the last three Rhodes scholars, from Aquinas, La Salle and Corpus Christi colleges. Well done.
“Catholic education: changing the world . . . one graduate at a time,” it said.
"Just three pages later, a private schools association, which includes Aquinas, criticised the publication of tables in the newspaper that day which rank schools on five measures of academic performance.
“League tables have the potential to be divisive in pitting school against school; sector against sector and gender against gender,” the Australian Heads of Independent Schools Association said.
“They compare students who have every opportunity for success against those with limited access, resources and opportunity.”
"Such assertions could be aimed equally at the Rhodes scholars advertisement, particularly in relation to $10,000-a-year, boys-only Aquinas.
"Why is it OK to highlight individual academic excellence from a school but not its overall academic performance?
"Just what was the purpose of the Catholic schools advertisement other than to attract new students? And did that advertisement not pit “sector against sector”?
"What the AHISA line tries to downplay is the highly competitive nature of education services, particularly, but not exclusively, within the private sector.
"Why shouldn’t parents question the academic performance of schools where they are expected to pay up to $16,000 a year in fees? Why wouldn’t a western suburbs family consider enrolling their child at Shenton College, the top ranked public school at number 11, with fees of only $235?
"And why shouldn’t parents who send their children to under-performing public schools, which may suffer because of a lack of resources, be alerted to the situation?
"The hypocrisy of some of the colleges that signed the AHISA advertisement is stark, given how they use favourable league table results in their marketing.
"Second-ranked St Hilda’s, for example, told parents in its January newsletter last year that it “was listed in the top 10 schools 15 times, more frequently than any other”.
"The West Australian began publishing rudimentary versions of the league tables in the 1990s against very strong opposition.
"In those days the newspaper obtained rudimentary data at considerable expense through Freedom of Information laws. Over the years we managed to win access to increasingly sophisticated measures of academic performance until, in 2006, the Curriculum Council released the information voluntarily.
"The West Australian has never argued that the tables give a complete picture of any school’s performance to convince parents where to send their children.
“Most parents will weigh up other factors before arriving at such an important decision,” it said in a January 1999 editorial. “For example, the school’s proximity to the family home, its after-school and cultural activities, the quality of its teaching staff and size of classes. But that does not mean its academic record should be hidden.”
"That argument is just as valid today against the same self-serving opposition. Interestingly, none of the doomsday predictions of the critics has eventuated in more than 10 years of publication.
"Two former education writers, Keryn Ashworth and Susan Hewitt, were instrumental in flushing out the data in the early years and finding ways of putting it into a meaningful form.
"Hewitt, now a mother looking ahead to her children’s secondary schooling, was still at it last week in a blog on thewest.com.au, pointing out that parents are a lot smarter than the colleges make out.
“We understand that league tables are an academic ranking, and we understand that they don’t take into account things like extracurricular work or pastoral care,” Hewitt wrote.
“But that doesn’t mean academic rankings aren’t extremely important and something many parents are not only interested in, but also put a premium on. Private schools know that too, it just sounds egalitarian if they pretend they don’t.”
"Some of the responses to the blog gave an insight into the way the information is used.
“League tables are a useful tool,” wrote Susanah, with two children at private schools. “As useful as any other. I’ve chosen the high schools my children attended from one thing only though. The body language of the students who attend them.
“It usually tells you everything you need to know about how successful the school is, both academically and socially. Next year my youngest teenage child is starting at a new school for Year 11. A government school.”
"One blogger who claimed to be a school principal said wealth and privilege had very little to do with success at school. “I’ve seen many wealthy students achieve very little and quite obviously the opposite,” he wrote.
"His keys to school success are:
• Strong parental support and encouragement of students.
• A strong desire to achieve and a willingness to work at achieving.
• A good school that has good teachers who care about what they do.
• A school that is well resourced.
"It’s time the private schools realised that the world has moved on and they can’t stop the flow of information. At the very least, they should just drop the double standards."
From The West Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
League tables
“How satisfying to read the advertisement from the WA branch of the Australian Heads of Independent Schools Association regarding the inappropriateness of publishing so-called league tables of our high schools (Advertisement, 10/1).
“Every year, following the release of the TEE and WACE results, school principals, teachers, parents and those responsible for the administration of our government and non-government schools have to explain to current and future parents, as well as the broader community, why the tables really say almost nothing about the quality of education provided in their schools.
“AHISA is to be warmly congratulated for presenting an outline of what really constitutes the measure of success for a student leaving Year 12.
“School administrations receive plenty of statistical information which can be used to review their programs and evaluate their delivery. For most of the wider community, this information is in fact almost meaningless. Parents need to know what is the success of their particular child in a particular school.
“It is purely time to do away with the publication of such sadly misleading information.”
Cathie Kros, Hamersley
“Much attention is drawn to the published TEE result league tables and a lot of schools would use their position on this table as a significant performance indicator for the year.
“There is, of course, potential for schools to manipulate the TEE result to some extent with the selection of students allowed to sit the TEE, although this approach would be rare. A lot of the consistently high TEE performing schools attract high academic students who are striving for the top TEE scores and this ensures continuity.
“Many students who would be more suited to non-TEE subjects in these high-performing schools would be directed to study VET subjects and this inadvertently helps to improve the schools’ overall TEE results.
“One performance indicator missing from the TEE tables is the transformation that takes place in many schools to even get students to the point of graduating at Year 12 – these are certainly not high academic students but their performance is still worthy of a mention.”
Ron Peckitt, Duncraig
- ABC News
- Opposition demands teacher vacancy figures
"The State Opposition is calling on the Government to reveal how many teaching positions are yet to be filled in Western Australia's public schools.
"With less than three weeks before the school term starts, the Education Department says it can not provide an estimate of how many teaching vacancies it has.
"The Opposition's Education spokeswoman Michelle Roberts says the Government has a responsibility to inform the public if the state is facing a teacher shortage.
"People may not realise that there are still vacancies and options for them to take up teaching so I think the sooner the Government and the Minister comes out and says what the situation is, the better," she said.
"A spokesman for the Education Minister Liz Constable says she is being briefed on the situation and should have the information within the next 24 hours."
From ABC News at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Editorial
University places for sale
"Next week the University Admissions Centre releases its main round of offers to students. Obtaining a place in a desired course is a big step in the lives of thousands of young people, so it is important the system for determining offers be as objective as possible. Regrettably, as revealed in the Herald yesterday, the system is far from being beyond reproach.
"The offers are based on universities admission index scores, compiled using school assessments and results in the Higher School Certificate. We now learn that pupils from private schools have been especially zealous in seeking to have UAI scores increased by claiming their performance suffered due to a health disadvantage. These disadvantages include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression.
"Up to 10 extra points are available through this process. When you consider that often less than one point separates pupils from the course they desperately want to get into, the attraction of the process is clear.
"You have to wonder if some of these health problems ought to be accepted as a reason to boost scores. Many teenagers facing the HSC will be understandably anxious, and presumably there are health professionals prepared to attest to this for a fee. These payments can involve hundreds of dollars for a consultation and preparation of the necessary forms.
"This system was started with the best of intentions, and many of those using it have genuine reasons for doing so. But its disproportionate use by pupils from private schools, whose families are often more wealthy than average, suggests that in some cases it is being exploited to provide an unfair advantage for those with the ability to pay.
"This is the second problem related to the HSC to emerge this month. A fortnight ago we described how some schools make far more use than others of provisions that give students with special needs more favourable conditions in which to take their exams. One example involved pupils who had been given extra time in which to complete their exam, due to a combination of these conditions plus lax supervision. The pupils taking most advantage of this loophole also attend private schools, where in some cases up to 30 per cent of HSC candidates have been granted special treatment. This might be understandable if these schools were doing more than their fair share of educating children with special needs, but in fact the opposite is generally the case.
"Two responses to this situation spring to mind. One is that, in order to protect the integrity of the HSC and UAI scores, arrangements regarding special considerations of all kinds need to be cleaned up. The other is that perhaps everyone involved should take a step back. UAI scores matter, but they are not as crucial to future satisfaction and happiness as many people might, quite understandably, be thinking they are at this time of the year."
From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Widespread rorting of uni student allowance
- The Guardian
- Gordon Brown launches package of measures to boost social mobility
British teachers to receive £10,000 bonuses to work in the worst-performing schools.
Similar story from BBC News
- The Telegraph [UK]
- Demand for education staff rises as unemployed seek training
The education sector is one of the few areas of the labour market that is actually growing during the downturn, driven by a desire among the unemployed to receive training.
- The Age
- Letters to the Editor
Two each on art and sex education
- The Australian
- Student exams face hi-tech overhaul
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"National Curriculum Board head Barry McGaw will spearhead an international project to devise a new method for assessing school students, measuring the skills they possess rather than their ability to memorise facts.
"The multi-million-dollar project was launched in London yesterday by three of the world's leading technology companies -- Cisco, Intel and Microsoft. They said the aim was to resolve the gap between what was taught in schools and the skills required in the workplace.
"The project aims to develop a computer-based assessment system that could be adopted around the world and would test students' knowledge in cross-disciplinary problems, spelling the end of closed-book exams testing students' memory.
"In a policy paper released at the Learning and Technology World Forum in London, the companies argue that reforming student assessment is the key to transforming education to bring it into the 21st century.
"Businesses, entire economies and society generally have made dramatic changes over the past decades, much of it enabled by the widespread use of ICT (information and communications technology)," the paper says.
"Yet most educational systems operate much as they did at the beginning of the 20th century.
"The memorisation of facts and implementation of simple procedures is less important; the ability to respond flexibly to complex problems, to communicate effectively, to manage information, to work in teams, to use technology and to produce new knowledge is crucial.
"These capabilities are rarely taught in schools or measured on typical assessments."
"Professor McGaw, who will run the project through Melbourne University, was appointed executive director of the project.
"He will oversee five working groups headed by other education experts charged with specifying 21st-century skills in a way that can be measured and finding ways of integrating technology into schools. The OECD, which runs the Program for International Student Assessment tests of 15-year-olds, is interested in incorporating the skills in in 2012.
"Professor McGaw said yesterday the challenge was to define the new skills clearly and "not throw out the baby with the bath water" by abandoning fundamental knowledge in the disciplines in pursuit of the new skills.
"He said the cross-disciplinary and creative approaches sought by business could not be taught in isolation, but were learned as part of the basic disciplines.
"When industry talks about the skills it needs, it should ask whether they're the skills on which it hires people or on which it fires them," he said.
"In hiring an engineer or an accountant, they're concerned the people are very competent in the specialist area and hoping at the same time they will be able to work with other people, deal with problems. Whereas in firing people, it's not usually because they're good engineers or accountants but because they don't have the other skills."
"The policy paper outlines initial core skills as the basis for a new kind of assessment, covering creativity and innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, information fluency and technological literacy.
"It argues that high-stakes assessments, such as Year 12 exams, determine what is taught in schools irrespective of what is dictated in the formal curriculum, and so changing the assessment will change what students learn.
"The project aims to develop computer-based assessments that measure students' knowledge of foundational ideas in school subjects and their application to real-world situations.
"An example assessment presents students with a scenario of having to control a population of hares in a park, requiring them to communicate with other rangers, evaluate information received, make and test their predictions, and present recommendations."
From The Australian at link
- Wage deal no fix for WA teacher shortage
by Nicolas Perpitch
"Western Australia could still be about 100 teachers short when the new school year starts, despite a recent wage deal that made them the best paid in the country.
"The shortfall would have been worse except for the economic downturn, which has seen many older teachers shelve plans to retire and instead top up their superannuation funds.
"Education Minister Liz Constable acknowledged the shortfall was a problem, but said the pay deal -- signed late last year -- and a recruitment drive had helped attract 32 teachers from interstate and 79 from overseas.
"The Department of Education and Training last year predicted the shortfall of state primary and secondary school teachers across 770 schools this year would be 200, increasing to more than 2000 by 2015.
"But a department spokesman said exact figures for this year were still being determined.
"State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne said the pay deal, which will give teachers a pay rise of up to 22 per cent over three years, and the economic conditions, had helped. She estimated the state would be short of 100 teachers when school started on February 2. Under the pay deal, struck between the union and the Barnett Government in December, a graduate public school teacher will earn a salary of $51,331, and could earn more than $70,000 if they opt for a remote placement.
"Opposition education spokeswoman Michelle Roberts said the shortfall was unacceptable.
"They've had plenty of time, and given the economic circumstances and the new pay deal, there's really no excuse for not having close to a full complement," she said.
"But Ms Constable said the problem was inherited from the previous Labor government, with a shortfall of 264 teachers in 2007 and 134 teachers last year, when 100 staff were moved from central and district offices into teaching positions.
"She was optimistic the shortfall this year would be well below 200, although it was unrealistic to expect a full complement of teachers.
"There's a shortage of maths teachers, there's a shortage of male primary school teachers," she said. "We've got to overcome that shortage."
"Ms Gisborne warned that the situation would worsen as the 26 per cent of teachers aged over 55 retired in coming years."
From The Australian at link
- ABC News
- Maths trust calls for teaching shake-up
"A mathematics organisation says Australia risks falling into a rut unless there is a change in the teaching of maths in schools.
"The Australian Mathematics Trust, based at the University of Canberra, says teachers follow the syllabus too closely and should teach more problem-solving exercises.
"The trust's executive director, Peter Taylor, says there are signs that Australia's performance in the subject is slipping.
"He says part of the decline is due to a lack of adequately trained teachers.
"The teachers who are adequately trained are fantastic teachers, but the problem we've got is that there are not enough of them," he said.
"Many of the people who are teaching mathematics have actually been trained to teach something else - they've been retrained later on because of this shortage of maths teachers."
"Mr Taylor says with work on a national school curriculum under way, it is time to reconsider the way the subject is taught.
"There's a case for just getting out of teaching people in highly planned ways and students are training for particular types of exam and prepare them more for problem solving in real life," he said.
"The trust says enrolments for advanced maths at schools and universities have been declining since the mid 1990s."
From ABC News at link
- The Age
- Op Ed
The perils of boganism are home grown
by Geoff Strong
Parents' attitude to education is the key to their children's success.
[The new Melbourne Lord Mayor condemned "boganism" recently.]
"... Much attention is aimed at failings of the state school system. Politicians of both sides find it easy to imply poor teaching is responsible for the weakness of this sector and the drift to private schools.
"Sure, there are lousy teachers in the state system — and in private schools. But what no politician is criticising, at least not in public, is that a large part of the education problem for Australia's working class lies in lousy attitudes in the home.
"Year after year, the ranks of higher education achievers, whether it is in the VCE, International Baccalaureate or at university are represented by Asian or European migrants in numbers disproportionate to their numbers in the population. They come from cultures where teachers are respected.
"The country is bewailing a shortage of the highly skilled, probably most visible in the academically demanding professions such as medicine, yet what we are doing to acquire these skills is exactly what we do with anything we find inconvenient to produce at home — we resort to imports..."
"So instead of politicians throwing up smokescreens such as teacher performance pay, it is time they had the stomach to look at one of the main causes of the problem. Home truths they might be called." [emphasis added]
Full story in The Age at link
- Letters to the Editor
- A firm hand
"Cherryl Barassi has hit the proverbial nail on the head with her explanation of what troubles our youth (The Age, 13/1). The only way to change things is begin early and teach these values in our schools, as they appear lacking in the home.
"Young children need to be taught boundaries and to understand that there are consequences to bad behaviour. There is too much namby-pamby. Kids do not understand psychological debriefings following an indiscretion at the age of two..."
Vince Galtieri, Strathmore
[plus two Letters on arts education at that link]
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Heckler: A private education and proud of it
Let's get a few things straight from the outset: I went to a private school; my parents aren't rich; they worked hard to pay for a total of 39 years of private education for their three daughters. Should they or I be ashamed of this? No.
I'm tired of the whingeing about private schools, their pupils and parents. The beauty of earning income is that you can spend it on whatever you choose. My parents chose to spend a significant portion of their earnings educating their kids. We worked hard at school and did well, the only way we knew how to repay them.
- Athletes claim bonus marks in HSC, says Greens MP [13 January]
Elite sporting students are among those applying for bonus marks for university entry under a special consideration system that private school students in particular appear to be exploiting.
- The Washington Post
- Education Nominee Is Warmly Received in Senate
Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, President-elect Barack Obama's pick for education secretary, promised yesterday to work to expand preschool, build the ranks of quality teachers and support such initiatives as charter schools and performance pay, setting out an agenda that won him broad bipartisan support at a Senate confirmation hearing. Duncan's warm reception before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee indicated that he will be confirmed without a hitch.
Similar story in The New York Times
- The West Australian
- WA schools desperate for staff (page 3)
by Bethany Hiatt
"With less than three weeks to go before the start of the new year, the Education Department still needs to find nearly 170 teachers for State schools.
"Education Minister Liz Constable revealed yesterday that 169 teachers were needed and she could not guarantee that State schools would be staffed fully when students returned on February 2.
“There are a large number of positions under offer and I am confident that the number will decrease substantially by the start of school,” she said.
"Relief teachers or administrative staff would be used temporarily to make sure all classes had a teacher. Fifty-three teachers had been recruited from overseas and 32 from interstate.
"At the start of last year, State schools were short by 134 teachers. That was an improvement on 264 in 2007."
From The West Australian at link
Similar story in The Sunday Times online / PerthNow at link
- Valid TEE excuses rise 30 pc (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Students who lost school friends in tragic accidents swelled the number of TEE candidates applying for special consideration in their exams last year to more than 400.
"Figures released yesterday show the Curriculum Council’s sickness and misadventure committee approved 423 of the 457 applications for missing an exam or not performing at their best because they were ill, injured or traumatised.
"This was an increase of about 30 per cent on last year, when 311 were accepted from 342 applications.
"Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood attributed part of the increase to “significant tragedies” which affected students from at least four schools late last year.
"The number who cited a significant life event for special consideration rose from 36 in 2007 to 82 last year and those citing death of a close friend or immediate relative rose from 21 to 33.
"They included students from Corpus Christi College, Bateman and Leeming Senior High School, whose friends were in a car accident in which three students died.
"Students from Winthrop Baptist College lost their social studies teacher when he was struck by lightning while leading Year 11s on an excursion to Thailand.
"And students from Woodvale Senior High School were distressed when a former classmate died after being bashed in a Woodvale park.
"Mr Wood said last year marked the first year that physical education studies included a practical exam.
“As anticipated, a number of students had arm and leg injuries that made it difficult or impossible to complete those examinations,” he said.
"Thirty-eight students claimed they had broken or injured legs or feet and 17 said they had arm or hand injuries.
"Valid exam excuses also included 23 cases of pharyngitis, 11 for gastroenteritis, six for difficulties in getting to an exam, six for painful periods and one for being pregnant.
"The Curriculum Council also revealed that 10 students were caught cheating or breaking the rules during last year’s exams. Six had mobile phones, one had an MP3 player, one made a false declaration and the others had unauthorised calculators."
From The West Australian at link
- Uni science, IT courses popular (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
"WA students are flocking back to courses in information technology and science as universities increase the total number of places on offer.
"The first round of tertiary offers at WA public universities will be known today by the 15,244 applicants who have secured a place.
"Figures from the Tertiary Institutions Services Centre show a 5.5 per cent increase in university applications from last year.
"A big increase of 15 per cent in applications from mature-age students offset a 1.6 per cent drop in school leaver applications.
"More than 81 per cent of applicants will receive a first round offer, down from 82.8 per cent last year. Of these, 77 per cent have been offered their first preference.
"University of WA admissions centre manager Wayne Betts said there had been a small surge in applications for information technology courses, which have been down for several years after the dot.com crash. “I think in a sense a corner has been turned in that field,” he said.
"Science had also jumped dramatically, with 798 offers compared with 661 last year. Mr Betts said that could be because of the Federal Government slashing HECS debts for science students.
"UWA won most school leavers this year but all universities will offer more places than they did last year.
"Acting vice-chancellor Bill Louden said UWA had sent out almost 4300 offers, up 6 per cent on last year and the most offers the university had made for undergraduate courses. It was because of overall increased demand for UWA courses.
“We’ve managed to keep cut-off scores at similar levels to last year, despite increased demand in areas such as environmental design (architecture) and science,” he said.
“Medicine, dentistry and law continue to experience strong demand and we’ve made more offers in courses such as music and education.”
"Murdoch deputy vice-chancellor Gary Martin said a new computing course in cyber forensics was proving popular, as was games art and design.
"He said the global financial crisis might have been responsible for a slight decline in commerce-related courses while the same factor might have sparked increased interest in economics.
"Edith Cowan University student services director Glenda Jackson said it had made 3422 offers through TISC, 25 more than last year. It was still processing more than 200 applications made through alternative entry options.
"Sport science and health science were proving popular this year, she said.
"Curtin acting deputy vice-chancellor (strategy and planning) Val Raubenheimer said students had shown increased interest in computing, mass communication, architecture, construction management and health. Demand also remained strong for resources-related courses."
From The West Australian at link
- ABC News
- Education Minister to target student behaviour
"The Western Australian Government has promised to hire an extra 50 school psychologists to help improve student behaviour.
"The four-year, $19 million package will also see $10 million spent on appointing more chaplains to public schools.
"Education Minister Liz Constable hopes the package will create a safe learning environment.
"The behaviour management package is a response to what teachers are telling us, that in some areas and in some schools behaviour management is a major issue and of course schools have changed, students have changed," she said."
From ABC News at link
- AM Program: NT teachers facing violence in classrooms
"The school year is over but the problems plaguing the education system in the Northern Territory continue.
"Territory students, particularly Indigenous ones, continue to score the poorest results in Australia.
"Now the Territory's education union says staff are leaving because of a rise in violence in schools. The union estimates that seven per cent of the teacher workforce in the Territory is on sick or stress leave because of having to deal with attacks from students..."
Full transcript available at this link
- The Australian
- Performance the key test for schools
by Andrew Trounson
"Greater performance monitoring of schools, students and teachers is needed amid evidence that increased government spending in education is not necessarily translating into better results.
"In a policy paper released yesterday, Andrew Dowling of the independent Australian Council for Education Research said performance - as opposed to school funding or teachers' pay - would be the new "bottom line" in school education.
"While governments globally are increasingly investing in education, allocating $2 trillion to the sector in 2006, performance has been little changed, according to global management consultancy McKinsey & Co.
"Although that might reflect extra spending going into areas that are not tested, such as vocational training, physical education and special needs students, Dr Dowling said it still highlighted the need to focus on system "outputs" rather than spending.
"There is growing evidence in terms of reputable studies to suggest that this type of output measurement system and knowledge about how schools and students perform in relation to each other is actually effective," he said.
"A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development group in late 2007 found that students from school systems with high levels of accountability, autonomy and choice had higher achievement in reading, maths and science.
"Dr Dowling noted that although it was true that countries boasting strong school performance, such as Finland and South Korea, had little formal student testing, strong performance might be the result of other factors, such as the lack ofethnic diversity in those countries.
"The paper provides backing for federal Education Minister Julia Gillard's push for greater transparency in school performance. But Dr Dowling said the evidence for the effectiveness of introducing penalties and awards was unclear and needed more research.
"Such penalties and rewards are strongly advocated by New York's head of education, Joel Klein, who visited Australia last year at Ms Gillard's invitation."
[So, even if you're teaching a class of 17 year old Bogans, that are still learning the alphabet and how to eat with a spoon, you'd better get results ! Web]
From The Australian at link
Similar story in The Sydney Morning Herald
- Universities pitch for an extra $2.2bn in funding
Universities are urging Canberra to boost budget funding to the sector by about 20 per cent in a pre-budget proposal that would deliver an extra $2.2 billion... "The university sector, starved of public funding for the past decade, has a significant backlog of priority expenditures that would see an immediate return to the economy in terms of short-term spending on instrastructure [sic] and employment," peak body Universities Australia said in its submission to Treasury yesterday.
- BBC News
- Schools should embrace technology
No one is saying that technology is a substitute for good teaching, which remains at the core of effective education. On the contrary, technology provides teachers with powerful tools to boost what they are already doing in the classroom: explaining, demonstrating, involving and engaging pupils in learning. Technology can help teachers bring their subjects to life like never before.
- The Times
- State grammar schools beat private sector for A levels
Grammar school pupils outperformed their privately educated counterparts at A level by a record margin last summer, piling more pressure on the beleaguered fee-paying sector.
- The West Australian
School ‘levels’ stick, four months on (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
“Nearly four months after coming to power the State Government has not followed through on assurances made before and after the election that is would abolish the contentious “levels” at the heart of outcomes-based education assessment.
“Abolition of levels from kindergarten to Year 10 was part of Liberal Party Policy, but apart from saying she would back commitments made by former shadow minister Peter Collier soon after she became education minister, Independent MP Liz Constable has dodged the issue.
“She said yesterday it was not part of the plan mapped out for the Government's first 100 days in office, which finished on December 31. But she had been gathering evidence and seeking advice from different people, including assessment expert David Andrich.
“Critics say the eight OBE levels are too broad for accurate assessments because they provide little distinction between high and low achievers.
Levels were abandoned in Years 11 and 12 in early 2007 but they are still used in many primary and lower secondary schools.
“Professor Andrich, who is based at the University of WA and was Dr Constable's PhD supervisor, has said previously that levels were an inaccurate measure.
“Dr Constable said it was important to assess in ways that were easily understood by students and parents.
“Asked what would replace levels if they were phased out, she said, “I think grades do the trick.”
“But she would give no firm commitment on whether or when that might happen. “One of the issues with levelling is that at some schools they seem to like it,” she said.
“Marko Vojkovic, chairman of teachers' lobby group Plato, said just because some teachers liked levels didn't make them a valid form of assessment.”
From The West Australian
- State schools get extra help for disruptive pupils (page 19)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Recruiting more school chaplains and psychologists would provide vital support to State schoolteachers who struggled to control disruptive students, Education Minister Liz Constable said yesterday.
"Dr Constable said the first stage of the State Government's behaviour management strategy, launched yesterday, provided $10 million over four years for schools to hire school chaplains, $8.8 million to appoint an extra 50 psychologists on top of the 212 already in schools and $252,000 to train 25 school psychologists in mental health first aid this year and 15 next year.
"She said students and families had changed and children now brought different social problems to school.
"The behaviour management package is a response to what teachers are telling us, that in some areas, in some schools, that behaviour management is a major issue," Dr COnstable said.
"State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne said while extra psychologists were welcome, more might be needed."
From The West Australian
- Letter to the Editor (page 22)
- I've got an idea
"Our Education Minister thinks that making books cheaper will assist literacy in WA (report, 13/1). I have a better idea. Get rid of the Curriculum Framework and everything to do with OBE. Then not only literacy, but also other school subject results will improve."
Patrick F Whalen, Yokine
- The Australian
- Education revolution requires rethink on school funds
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"The success of the Rudd Government's education revolution rests on a fundamental rethink of school funding, with former Labor policy adviser and education professor Jim McMorrow calling for a comprehensive review of state and federal arrangements.
"In a report to be released today, Professor McMorrow calls for a national review examining funding policies across the public and private schools sectors by the two levels of government.
"With the states responsible for providing the bulk of funding for government schools, worth more than $100 billion over the next five years, Professor McMorrow says their fiscal situation is making it increasingly difficult to meet that goal.
"If the promised education revolution in Australian schools is to take root, it must be based on a fundamental and comprehensive policy review," he says.
"The schools funding juggernaut has evolved from 40 years of policy accretion.
"It cannot be turned around without a fundamental reconsideration of policy goals, priorities and responsibilities."
"In the report on commonwealth school funding commissioned by the Australian Education Union, Professor McMorrow says reform cannot happen if commonwealth and state governments develop and apply their educational and funding policies in isolation.
"In the case of non-government schools, reform requires an agreement with the school authorities on their roles and responsibilities relative to the level of public funding they receive.
"With the schools funding arrangements set until 2012, Professor McMorrow says an opportunity exists to conduct such a review, examining "policies for curriculum, assessment, reporting, infrastructure and resources within Australia's evolving federal system of government".
"Releasing the report at the AEU conference in Melbourne, federal president Angelo Gavrielatos supported the call for a holistic review of schools funding, saying the current arrangements were unsustainable.
"We can't afford to continue this dichotomy where private schools are primarily funded by the commonwealth, with which revenue-raising powers rest, while government schools are primarily funded by the states, which have an ever-decreasing, ever-tightening budgetary situation to deal with," he said.
"The McMorrow report says the Rudd Government has given public schools their first significant funding increase in more than a decade. Following agreements at the Council of Australian Governments meeting in November, public school funding will be increased by $556 million in real terms by 2011-12 compared with the 2007-08 figure.
"This brings the share of commonwealth funding for government schools to 37 per cent -- up from the 35 per cent of the last Howard budget, and worth about $300 per student or an extra teacher in every public school.
"While Mr Gavrielatos welcomed the increase, he said the public schools' share of commonwealth funding was still much lower than the 43 per cent they received when the Howard government took power in 1996.
"It would require an additional $1.4 billion to return public schools' share of funding to that level," he said.
"And the extra $2.8 billion provided to government schools under the COAG agreement was less than the $3.5 billion in over-funding given to private schools exempted from the funding formula based on the socioeconomic status of students."
From The Australian at link
Related stories in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
- Overseas teachers recruited to help relieve shortage
by Amanda O'Brien, WA political reporter
"Vengesai Mahlangove has been in Australia four days. He's never visited before and knows only what he's learned when searching the internet.
"He hasn't seen the Goldfields town of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, 600km east of Perth, where he is due to start work as a science teacher in two weeks.
"He hasn't seen the house where he will live.
"His wife, Loreen, is still packing up their former life in London and will not be joining him for six weeks. He's alone in Perth caring for his five-year-old daughter, Megan, who travelled with him.
"But the 33-year-old Zimbabwean-born teacher could not be happier. Mr Mahlangove said yesterday, "It is frightening, but I've travelled a lot and, when I saw the advertisement about teaching in Australia, I loved the challenge."
"Mr Mahlangove is one of dozens of teachers who will front West Australian classrooms next month after a bumper overseas recruitment drive. They have come from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Poland, Fiji, Canada and Britain to start a new life and help end the chronic teacher shortage that has plagued the state for years.
"Teachers have also been poached from across Australia, including 25 from Tasmania. But the migration surge is still not enough to beat the shortfall.
"State Education Minister Liz Constable admits almost 170 teacher vacancies are yet to be filled, two weeks before school begins. Dr Constable said 81 experienced overseas teachers had signed up to work in country schools -- double the number of overseas teachers recruited the previous year.
"Fifty-three would start work next month and the remaining 28 would begin in July.
"Mr Mahlangove was trained in Cuba but his teaching career was honed in Zimbabwe and more recently in London, where for seven years he taught chemistry to 11- to 16-year-olds.
"He said yesterday he was ready for anything. The prospect of the formidable heat that can stifle the Goldfields in summer was dismissed as "not a problem" after the searing heat of Cuba. The expected isolation was better than the congestion of London; the sense of the unknown was "nothing" compared to the struggle and danger of life in Zimbabwe.
"It will be great," he said."
From The Australian at link
- The Age
- Redundant textbooks force pupils to turn over new leaf
Discontinued editions are pushing up the cost of an education.
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Letter to the Editor
- Let's test this theory
"When a research fellow from an organisation that develops standardised tests for schools produces a policy paper that advocates more standardised testing for schools, should we be surprised ("More school tests needed, says report", January 15)?
"When Andrew Dowling of the Australian Council for Educational Research produces data that shows teachers will teach to these tests in increasing intensity and that maybe they are not achieving anything and should be scrapped, that will be news."
Michael Burke, Mullumbimby
- BBC News
- Heads told: No excuse for failing
England's Schools Secretary Ed Balls has told schools that "poverty is no excuse for failure", [and] criticised an "unacceptable excuses culture" in some secondary schools
Saturday – Sunday, 17 – 18 January
- The West Australian
State schools close uni rank gap (page 15)
by Bethany Hiatt
“State school students have been closing the gap on their independent school counterparts in university entry rankings, new figures have revealed.
“Tertiary entrance rank data for students from public, independent and Catholic schools shows the median tertiary entrance rank for all independent schools was 85.15 last year, just 6.3 points higher than the public school sector median TER of 78.85. Four years ago, the gap was 9.85 points.
“The data obtained from the Tertiary Institutions Services Centre under freedom of information laws also shows the proportion of State School students with a TER was 43 per cent last year, compared with 47 per cent in 2004.
“This decline in numbers contrasts with an increase in students from private schools. There were 57 per cent of students with a TER in independent and Catholic schools last year compared with 53 per cent in 2004.
“Department of Education and Training school support programs executive director David Axworthy said schools worked closely with students to ensure they chose course options that gave them the best chance of individual success.
“It is important to remember there are now more alternative pathways to university entrance and students are becoming more aware of these options,” he said.
“Mr Axworthy said the department had recently provided extra funding to allow schools to run revision seminars outside hours to boost students' TEE chances.
“The figures also show that State schools are becoming better at getting their students into university. Four of the top 10 schools with the highest percentage of students offered a place in their university course of first preference were public.
“Manjimup Senior High School topped the list with 85 per cent of the 41 students who applied to a university offered their first choice.
“Principal Kerry Mather attributed its success to experienced counsellors and highly committed parents. “We coach our kids to aspire high and our parents and our school have high expectations of all our students,” she said.
“Ms Mather said about 40 per cent of students chose to to TEE each year. “Our students have choices and not all of them choose to do the TEE,” she said.
“High-fee independent schools had the highest median tertiary entrance ranks. Christ Church Grammar School topped the list with a median TER of 92.55, followed closely by St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls with 92.50 and St Mary's Anglican Girls' School.
“A TER is a rank between 0 and 99.95, derived from a combination of final exam scores and school assessments, which indicates where a student is place in relation to all other students in a year group. For example, a student with a TER of 80 is in the top 20 per cent of the total Year 12 school leaver population.”
From The West Australian
- The Sunday Times
Teaching snub (page 17)
by Paul Lampathakis
Foreign search ignores WA graduates
“WA teaching graduates are frustrated they haven't been offered jobs – despite reports of more teacher shortages and the Government's overseas recruitment drive.
“Several graduates contacted the Sunday Times this week after Education Minister Liz Constable revealed a shortfall of 169 teachers and said the Government was recruiting in countries such as Kenya.
“Edith Cowan University teaching graduate Gemma Gardner, 26, said she and about 20 graduate friends were perplexed by the overseas recruitment drive, because they were still trying to get jobs through the Education Department.
“She refuted the department's explanation that local teachers might not be getting jobs because they were fussy about where they taught.
“I've told the department I would work wherever,” the early childhood teaching graduate said.
“I would even take part-time. I just want a job.
“I've been bugging them (the department) and saying 'What's going on, have I missed out?' “They're saying 'Be patient'.”
“Miss Gardner said she had been a teacher's assistant before deciding to study teaching.
“I love being around kids and just have a passion for it and that's basically all I want to do now,” she said.
“She said she as others had been hesitant about speaking out because of possible retribution by the department, “but I thought, maybe it's time that someone spoke up, because I know a lot of people feel the same.”
“Dr Constable said graduates had raised the issue with her and she had investigated.
“The department has supplied an explanation that indicates that many of these graduates have qualifications and preferred teaching locations where there are no vacancies,” she said.
“Graduates who indicated on their applications they were prepared to teach anywhere were more likely to be offered a job than those with “a preference to teach at a specific school in a specific subject”.
“But Dr Constable said all the overseas recruits were teaching in specialist areas in rural schools.”
From The Sunday Times
- Op Ed
Nothing to show for WA boom
by Liam Bartlett
"West Australians have every right to feel dudded. The so-called unrivalled boom has come and, according to the official figures, gone, and has left not much.
"Take a drive through city streets and try to get a sense of what the "once-in-a-lifetime'' economic picnic delivered.
"There's the odd new chrome and glass monolith with the name of a mining company stapled to the side of it, but apart from that, where's the public benefit? Where's the social dividend associated with all the prosperity?" ...
"Is our education system the best in the country as a result of the extraordinary run of prosperity? Certainly not.
"Truth be told, we spent half of it arguing the merits of OBE and the other half trying to find the courage to axe it completely..." [emphasis added]
Full story in The Sunday Times at link
- Op Ed
Wise up to trade-off
by Phil Haberland
"Listen Beryl, if the kid wants to leave school and do a trade, let him. No point him being a university egghead if he doesn't want to.
"Anyway, it could be handy having a sparkie in the family."
"This type of conversation no longer takes place at the Aussie kitchen table – but it used to.
"What is it with this mad rush to get our children into university? Why all this angst as to whether private or public schools will deliver little Portia or Hamish an acceptable TEE result?
"Do kids really have to stay at school until they are 17 and finish Year 12?
"What's so bad about them calling it quits at the end of Year 10?
"In the old days, it was called going out and learning a trade, and that was fine with many families.
"The Sunday Times reported last week that more than 3600 17-year-olds in WA were not registered at a school or TAFE. These young adults have made up their minds as to where they'd rather be – sitting in a classroom is not it.
"When Mother Nature distributed intelligence among individuals in the human race, it was not done equally. So, we end up with Einstein at one end of the spectrum and CEOs of failing publicly listed companies who continue to pay themselves performance bonuses at the other. Not everyone is destined for university.
"Former WA Labor education minister Mark McGowan may have got it wrong by insisting that the compulsory leaving age for school should be 17.
"Yet the recent Bradley Higher Education Review called for a national target where 40 per cent of our 25 to 34-year-olds will have attained a university degree by 2020. As a nation, is this the right way to be heading?
"Some would argue that we need 40 per cent of our young population holding a questionable university qualification like we need a hole in the head..."
Full story in The Sunday Times at link
- Rip-off in uniforms (page 27)
Should schools require ‘branded’ uniforms when generic look-alike items are much cheaper?
Full story in The Sunday Times
- Letters to the Editor (page 61)
We took our children out of private school
“I wish “experts” would just talk to a teacher before they make sweeping statements (“Posh versus public TST, January 11). Some points to consider:
“Last year, we moved our children from a private school because of the lack of staff dedication, to our local government school. They now have dedicated teachers, fantastic education programs and the parent community is friendly and supportive.
“I am also a teacher in a government school who has been meeting with colleagues to review and plan for this term. We will go into our classrooms many times in the next few weeks.
“As for cars in car parks after school, where did this method of assessing teacher dedication come from? I have five children and often leave straight after school to collect them from school. However, I do at least three hours work and preparation each night at home.
“My sister teaches in a private school. Our pay is the same and we both work as hard as each other. In fact, she has more students in her class than I do.
“Enough teacher bashing! It's no wonder none of our youth wishes to enter this profession and subsequently standards are dropping.”
Rebecca Bentley, Iluka
Making a difference
“As a teacher in our state schools over the past 28 years, I feel compelled to write in support of the vast majority of teachers and administrators who work extremely hard in a system that continues to cop unfair criticism.
“During a recent stint as a deputy principal in a remote and difficult-to-staff school, I worked with colleagues whose dedicated efforts impressed parents, DETWA personnel and the wider community.
“I couldn't help being swayed by the passion, professionalism and preparedness of graduates and experienced teachers to take on extra duties for the benefit of their students, especially those clearly disadvantaged in terms of isolation and unsupportive home backgrounds.
“No bottomless pit of resources or pool of privileged socio-economic backgrounds from which to draw capable, behaviourally sound students. Just hard work from men and women committed to making a difference.”
Brendan Murray, Pemberton
- The Weekend Australian
- Bid to lift Aboriginal education
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"Teachers have called for the school year in indigenous communities to be extended to 48 weeks, and for the schools to take on the role of community centres offering after-hours courses and family assistance.
"Australian Education Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos, representing government school teachers, said it was time to explore different educational structures and models for indigenous students.
"In his opening address to the AEU federal conference in Melbourne yesterday, Mr Gavrielatos said the federal and state teaching unions were prepared to discuss radical ideas to develop schools as education complexes that could build capacity within communities as well as improve the educational achievement of indigenous students.
"By any measure, we have a long way to go in order to achieve an equality of learning outcomes for indigenous students," he said.
"The actions of the federal Government with respect to the needs of indigenous students and their communities remain inadequate and misguided, to say the least.
"The provision of education to indigenous students cannot be more of thesame."
"Mr Gavrielatos proposed a number of models to be considered, including extending the school day and year, up to 48 weeks from 40 or 41 weeks, and establishing education complexes delivering pre-school, school and vocational education.
"He suggested raising the status of schools within a community by making them a hub for after-hours activities, offering programs in collaboration with other government agencies such as health and sport. In an interview before the speech, Mr Gavrielatos said initiatives would need to be developed in partnership with communities, whose needs might differ from one to another.
"Whatever we do in our schools, no matter which schools, high expectations and expecting nothing less from and for all students is vital," he said.
"There is no doubt that in some areas across Australia, the fundamental issues of access and equity are yet to be resolved, let alone equity of learning outcomes.
"In some communities, governments are ... failing to even provide a school, let alone going beyond that to achieve equity of learning outcomes."
"Mr Gavrielatos said innovative approaches to staffing should be explored, such as bringing in extra teachers for periods of time or reallocating more senior and better-paid members of staff, such as assistant and deputy principals, to remote schools to attract other teachers to the area.
"There are a number of models available where we could look at the temporary deployment of expert teachers into the more difficult-to-staff and isolated settings," he said.
"Without taking anything away from beginning teachers, teacher experience, continuity and stability contribute significantly to improved student outcomes."
"Mr Gavrielatos said new teachers should be appointed at least a month before the end of the school year to allow a structured handover from teacher to teacher, and for incoming teachers to get their house in order before starting in a new town.
"At the moment, most appointments are made at the beginning of the school year, after the previous teacher has left the school."
From The Weekend Australian at link
- The Independent
- Workers turning to teaching for new career
Beleaguered workers are registering their interest in becoming teachers in droves, new figures showed today. Official figures from the Teaching and Development Agency (TDA) showed that in the past two and a half months, 424,802 people made inquiries through their website. For the same period in 2007/08 (November 1 2007 and January 14 2008), there were 283,641 inquiries - a rise of 50%.
Sex muths agoo I cudnt spel techa and now i are won? Web
- The Age
- Letters to the Editor [Sunday]
- Four Letters on sex education
- Letters to the Editor [Saturday]
- What we don't need: more testing
"Given that school performance has "barely improved in recent decades" (The Age, 15/1), Andrew Dowling from the Australian Council for Educational Research appears justified in suggesting that "investing more resources in schools is not enough". He adds: "Output measures, such as measuring students' performance through standardised tests in literacy and numeracy, are the new bottom line."
"Could Dr Dowling tell us what proportion of the $2 trillion spent worldwide on education since 1996 has been wasted on research and how much has been wasted on testing for standards? Both have been the centre-pieces of every unsuccessful attempt to improve teaching outcomes. Why should more of the same make any difference?
"This approach is predicated on the false assumption that incompetent teachers and poor teaching methods are to blame for learning failure. Teachers, after all, teach according to policies and philosophies imposed upon them as the result of educational research.
"Academics would be better employed investigating the aspects of childhood development that lead to learning success, and the factors responsible for under-achievement. If Dr Dowling's research and recommendations are accepted by governments, the only "bottom line" to benefit from measuring literary and numeracy performance will belong to the ACER."
Tim Mirabella, former primary school principal, Somerville
- Easy money
"RE "Redundant textbooks force pupils to turn over a new leaf" (The Age, 16/1). I have something to add to the debate. When my kids were at university, I noticed the textbooks prescribed by the lecturers were often written by the lecturers themselves. And these, too, were "updated" regularly, meaning they had to be purchased new.
"It was a conflict of interest if ever I saw one."
Jill Rosenberg, South Caulfield
All Alston cartoons are © The West Australian Newspaper
All media quotations, photographs and cartoons © their respective publishers
This page last updated 24 January, 2009 10:17 PM
