Major Newspapers
and links to web
sites related to the articles
For newer articles
(after 09.04.07) - click
here
Performance pay for teachers
– see also articles below 24.02.2007, and UK references
Pay teachers on performance SMH 9.04.07 Editorial
Parity's the question for teachers SMH 9.04.07
The last thing anyone would want to be is a
lousy teacher, especially one who has to face up to a room full of
adolescents day after day.
An opinion piece by
Lyndsay Connors and Jane Caro. Lyndsay
Connors chaired the former NSW Public Education Council and is a former head
of the Commonwealth's Curriculum Development Council. Jane Caro is the
convener of Priority Public, has two daughters who attended public schools in
Northern Sydney Region, has contributed articles to the P&C
Journal (Term 4, 2006 and Term 4, 2005), and to NewMatilda.com.
Student teachers in need of places The
Age 9.04.07
Professor Sue Willis, Monash
University's dean of education,
and president of the Australian Council of Deans of Education,
estimated that about 60 per cent of schools declined when asked to take
students.
Schools ban birthday cake over health concerns SMH 8.04.07
Schools are banning students
from bringing birthday cakes to class in an effort to curb unhealthy eating
habits.
Julie Bishop’s plan for principals to set teacher pay
SMH 6.04.07
SCHOOL principals would be
the final arbiters of teacher salary increases under Federal Government plans
to introduce performance pay in all public schools from next year.
The Minister for Education,
Julie Bishop, will put the recommendation to state and territory education
ministers when they meet in Darwin on Thursday.
Aboriginal Housing
Company chief executive, Mick Mundine, who says having the proposed private St Andrew's
Cathedral School campus for indigenous children in Redfern next to the Block would segregate indigenous children from the main
school, when students at St Andrew's could learn from having them at the main
campus. It is akin to setting up "another black school", he says.
A $2.5 million Federal Government
taxpayer-funded campaign will warn parents not to smack their children.The Australian Childhood
Foundation's website website Kids
Count advises parents (in 16 languages) that smacking children teaches
them that violence is acceptable later in life.
700 classroom teachers in state and private
schools face the sack if they fail to register with the Queensland College of
Teachers by Friday next week.
Teachers in NSW government
schools could be paid based on how well they perform instead of their length
of service, according to the new Minister for Education.
John Della Bosca yesterday
took a big step in breaking the State Government's long-held opposition to
merit pay for teachers, his first in a series of changes expected to confront
the strong grip unions hold on education in NSW.
Mr Della Bosca said he wanted to consult parents,
students and teachers more broadly. "I want to listen to people at the
coalface," he said. "I obviously want to and have to talk to the
P&C [Parents and Citizens Association], but I also want to find out what
the other parents [think]."
Anti-doping officials have defended
drug testing schoolboy rowers in the nude, saying it is a common procedure
and the regatta was raided after a tip-off from an insider.
The private schoolboys, from
Newington College and Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore), gave
samples to Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority officials at an
inter-school regatta on March 17.
THOUSANDS of school-leavers with average
Year 12 scores would be funnelled into US-style "community college"
courses instead of heading straight to university, under a radical strategy
to free up hundreds ofmillions of dollars for the tertiary sector.
The Parents Jury is calling for the Government to rein in food manufacturers
and restrict the use of the marketing phrase "fat-free" to products
which are also low in kilojoules and sugar. (The Parents Jury is a web-based network of parents who wish to improve the food and
physical activity environments for children in Australia).
A Report Card on the performance of last year's Queensland Year 12
students has busted the myth students must study science and maths to achieve
a top Overall Position (OP) score, which guarantees entry into university.
Princess Mary of Denmark is leading
the fight to protect her young subjects from the torment of bullies. Proving
again that she is beloved of the Danish people, the anti-bullying program the
princess introduced from Australia is being met with great success.
Morris Iemma’s new cabinet 30.03.07
SMH NEWS.com.au The
Education Ministry goes to former finance minister John Della Bosca, who will
also be the minister for the Central Coast, and retains the industrial
relations portfolio.
Current Ministers – not
updated since the elkection yet.
The Nationals' leader in the
Senate, Ron Boswell, outlined a plan for a tax rebate, designed to combat
childhood obesity.
"While much has been
done by governments and schools to promote the concepts of healthy eating, the
opposite side of the equation, that of physical activity, needed more
emphasis," he said.
"I think playing sport
for children is really important, (because) it teaches them to mix socially,
teaches them to be part of a team, and then you've got all the health
benefits.
"I think it makes them
better citizens in the long run and gets them out from in front of the
television."
Senator Boswell said the
policy would allow a child's primary carer to claim up to a $250 tax
deduction each year for each child up to the age of 17.
STUDENTS who are bad spellers but can tap
out a fast text message deserve credit for their "digital
literacy", a Queensland academic has claimed.
With plans underway for a
new English syllabus in Queensland schools , Professor Erica McWilliam has
slammed the current "moral panic" about declining literacy
standards.
The assistant dean of
research at the Queensland University of Technology's education faculty said
spelling was sometimes overrated in the modern world.
"When a young person writes 'cu l8r', you can either look at it as bad
spelling or as an impressive short messaging capacity," Professor
McWilliam said.
A HUMAN rights youth forum
at Parliament House in Sydney promoted the views of the Scientology founder,
L. Ron Hubbard, and was organised by a group linked to the Church of
Scientology.
ONE of the oldest private schools in rural
Australia, The Armidale School, has been left reeling by allegations that one
of its senior teachers has been engaged in internet child pornography.
SCHOOLS and parents have condemned
the Federal Government's highly touted $90 million chaplain program as
unsuitable and a waste of money.
Dianne Giblin from the Federation of Parents &
Citizens Associations NSW said: "We are not supporting chaplains in
schools. It is not the Government's responsibility to fund religion. That is
the role of the church."
New State Government figures show that last year
the highest resignation rate was in the Riverina, where 1.8 per cent of
teachers handed in their notice.
Schools Duped – Investing
In Our Schools. Coffs Coast
Advocate 23.03.2007
Many schools along the Coffs Coast were shocked, and
angry, to learn that the amount had been reduced to a maximum of $100,000 for
government schools. (See also Minister
Bishop’s announcement and previous SMH article 15.03.07)
ALL schools, public and private, will be funded on
the basis of "need and fairness" if Labor wins office, Kevin Rudd
will announce today as he buries Mark Latham's hit list of non-government
schools once and for all.
ALP Web Site 19.03.07
Labor will not cut funding to any government or
non-government schools. We are about supporting schools rather than taking
money away from them .
Labor will invest in our schools. As a consequence, no school will be worse
off, no school will have its funding cut.
Federal Labor is now working on options for funding schools and its approach
to the next four year schools' funding round (2009-2012). This will be
reflected in Labor's detailed schools funding election commitments.
Federal Labor will consult widely with the Catholic and Independent education
systems on our approach to schools funding generally and on detailed funding
issues.
PRIMARY school classes in
years 3 to 6 are becoming overcrowded because too many teachers are being
diverted to meeting the State Government's policy of cutting the size of
infants classes.
The Public Education
Alliance said the class size reduction policy - keeping class numbers in
kindergarten to year 2 to a maximum of between 20 and 24 pupils - means fewer
teachers were available to take classes from year 3 onwards.
Public schools will be equipped with interactive
whiteboards connected to each other via a broadband network, under a $158
million election promise by Premier Iemma.
Professor Stephen Dinham, University of
Wollongong, says primary schools need teachers who are specialised in maths
or the humanities to stop children switching off science and to improve
literacy and maths skills. "Students are becoming
disengaged because the work is not challenging enough," he said.
"We underestimate what kids can do. Bright kids in maths can be stifled
if their teacher can't extend them."
(See the story on page 10 of the Term 1, 2007 P&C
Journal by Professor Dinham on the importance of leadership in
schools).
The article airs claims that promises made by the
Federal Government regarding the Investing In Our Schools Program have been
broken. Minister Julie Bishopp defends the Government’s actions.
National standard for new teachers The
Australian 12.03.2007
Teacher
graduates will have to meet uniform standards of literacy and numeracy for
the first time under a national system to accredit education courses.
The
draft framework, approved by state and territory teacher registration boards
and obtained by The Australian, sets out mandatory requirements that
education courses must meet for teachers to be registered in government,
Catholic or independent schools across the nation.
Ballina High School has a
jet-flight simulator and pupils are studying a NSW Board of Studies-approved
aviation course not available at any other Australian school.
Note that Ballina High also
has a Marine Centre which featured in the Term 1, 2007 P&C
Journal.
NSW Election promises on education.
Teachers are being made the scapegoats for the disruptive
changes that are under way in society - and in education. By Dale Spender.
ICAC Report Welcomed Media release 1 March 2007
Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt said today she welcomed
today's release of the Independent Commission Against Corruption's report
into HSC take-home assessment tasks, noting no findings of corrupt conduct
were made.
POPULAR film-sharing website
YouTube will be banned from computers in Victoria's 1600 public
schools in a bid to clamp down on bullying.
Educational Disadvantage
– articles about Tony
Vinson’s report “Dropping off the edge”.
Opinion – Adele Horin
Educational
advantage, and its opposite, start early in life. And while some kids are
merely slow off the block, and others show pluck and resilience in the face
of dysfunctional families, many youngsters never catch up.
GOVERNMENTS must do more to
relieve areas of disadvantage which are intensifying in Australia through a
lack of education and worsening poverty, a new report has found.
The report,
released today by Professor Tony Vinson of Sydney University, identifies the
most disadvantaged areas in Australia and examines the factors leading to low
socio-economic areas.
A lack of
education is one of the most recurring themes of the report, "Dropping
off the edge: the distribution of disadvantage in Australia", Prof
Vinson said.
"Education
plays a crucial role in the onset and persistence of that pattern of
disadvantage and a whole lot of things follow on from it."
But he said
there are so many other factors which cause disadvantage, including low
family income, disability/sickness, criminal convictions, low computer skills
and long-term unemployment.
Vinson’s
speech at the launch of “Dropping Off the
Edge”.
Summary of report (4 pages, pdf) Download further material.
National Curriculum
As politicians squabble over credit for the idea of a
national school curriculum, details of how it would work are scarce, writes
Anna Patty.
KEVIN Rudd has pledged to
introduce a back-to-basics national curriculum in maths, science, English and
history within three years of winning office.
In a challenge to teachers' unions, Mr Rudd said union leaders would not be
offered a place on the National Curriculum Board to be established to develop
consistent national curriculums from kindergarten to Year 12.
NSW faces
yet another threat to its Higher School Certificate, with Labor yesterday
joining Federal Government calls for a national curriculum.
Kevin Rudd backs a common
curriculum across all States.
Federal Education Minister
Julie Bishop accuses Rudd of copying her policy on national curriculum.
Establishing a National Curriculum to improve our
children’s educational outcomes pdf, 605kb from ALP web site
NSW law does not allow
students who do not attend scripture to take part in structured lessons and
official guidelines say these students should instead take part in
"self-initiated learning" such as homework or reading.
The P&C said that a
non-theological study program for students who did not want to attend
scripture would provide a meaningful alternative.
OBESITY
Britain bans advertising of junk food during children's
television programs. Federal
Health Minister Tony Abbott, rejected any wide-ranging review of junk food
advertising in Australia.
Performance pay for
teachers
Teacher bonuses: you do the maths Feature
article SMH
24.02.07
Difficult
schools in Bill Clinton's home town of Little Rock were selected for an
Arkansas merit-pay pilot scheme because they had large minority populations, high
levels of poverty and subpar academic results. Teachers received bonuses of
up to $US10k. The article explores whether merit pay for
teachers could revolutionise Australian schools – but asks the
question: who is fit to grade them - principals, bureaucrats, parents or
… pupils?
Wrong to link results with teacher pay: expert SMH 24.02.07
Lawrence
Ingvarson, a research fellow at the Australian Council of Educational
Research, commissioned by the Federal Government to research performance pay
for teachers, says student results provide an invalid base for identifying
high-performing teachers for pay rises.
Letters: They're sure performing (Click link & scroll down letters) SMH
22.02.07
A broader view of a teacher's worth SMH
23.02.07
By Dr Geoff Newcombe, executive director of the Association of
Independent Schools of NSW
Letters: Comparative studies on pay (Click
link & scroll down letters) page SMH 23.02.07
“I don't
understand why assessment of teachers is proving so difficult. Yearly
appraisals and audits are a fact of life in public hospitals, where I have
worked for most of my life”.
Family say in teachers' pay faces all-round ridicule SMH 22.02.07
A proposal
that students and parents have a say in teacher pay rises has been
universally ridiculed. Teachers, academics and the NSW Government all favour
pay rises founded on performance, but said basing them on parent views and
student results was absurd.
Letters: Don't
pit teachers against each other (Click link & scroll down letters) SMH 22.02.07
Families get say in teachers' pay rises
SMH 21.02.07
Teachers' pay 'lifts school standards' NEWS.com.au
21.02.07
Minister hopes school unions 'see sense' NEWS.com.au 21.02.07
Federal
Minister Julie Bishop wants student and parents to have a say in performance
pay for teachers by 2009.
UK: Understanding Teacher’s Pay (including performance pay)
Word document
UK: Teacher Net - Pay
and Performance
UK: Performance
pay for teachers: Is it working? (pdf - 1 page) or download full
article by Richard Belfield and David Marsden - LSE Centre for Economic
Performance
UK: Recent article on National Union of Teacher’s site (pdf)
Toilet repairs a flash in the pan, say teachers SMH
20.02.07
The NSW Premier defends his
$2 billion infrastructure spending for schools announced at Labor's campaign
launch – see articles below and Enews
on this site.
Education's most pressing task SMH 20.02.07 Lyndsay Connors
Exodus of experienced
teachers from NSW public schools, peaking about 2012.
ALP Election Funding announcements
Premier promises more for schools NEWS.com.au 19.02.07
After some
criticism of his education package, Premier Iemma promises more as the
campaign unfolds.
Iemma accused of fudging spending SMH 19.02.07
THE NSW
Government's spending announcement on education has been dubbed a
reannouncement by the Opposition and the Teachers Federation.
Iemma recycles $2b pledges SMH 19.02.07
MORRIS IEMMA launched his re-election campaign yesterday
with more than $2 billion of largely rebadged announcements about education
and water, and a commitment to introduce a "domestic violence"
charge in an effort to shame perpetrators.
In front of
the slogan "More to do, but heading in the right direction", the
Premier announced a Labor government would spend $2 billion on school capital
works - "the biggest infrastructure program that public education has
ever seen". But only $280 million of this spending over four years is
new. The rest was announced in the last state budget.
Flushing cash into schools Daily Telegraph 19.02.07
PUBLIC schools urgently in need
of toilets and halls will be given a $2 billion upgrade under a State
Government plan.
Co-ed tries singles scene SMH 17.02.07 Killara High School
There is a growing belief that separating
boys and girls in the early years of high school is the way to improve
performance, writes Louise Williams.
Letters
School staff
at their best when solving a problem SMH 21.02.07
Trial by jury: parents put fast-food giants in the dock SMH
17.02.07
The Parents Jury is a web-based network of
parents who wish to improve the food and physical activity environments for
children in Australia. It includes an
online forum which will take on the food industry by putting its marketing
tactics on trial.
The Parents Jury is an
initiative of the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, Diabetes
Australia - Vic, The Cancer Council Australia and its member bodies, and
VicHealth, who have provided financial, administrative and technical support
to establish The Parents Jury.
Lean and green organic canteen a high-school hit
SMH 17.02.07
Newtown High School of the Performing Arts Canteen goes
fully organic.
New graduates are filling up to a fifth of vacancies in
public high schools in western Sydney and rural NSW.
YEAR 12 students in every state would study the same core subjects and be
judged to the same standards under a proposal that beefs up the Federal
Government's push for a national leaving certificate.
Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop made the comments as she released
a report by the Australian Council for Educational
Research, which compared the way five senior secondary subjects were taught
in different states.
Stephen Smith, the Opposition education spokesman, said he was in favour
of a national curriculum, while NSW's Education Minister, Carmel Tebbutt,
said she was concerned a new system would lower standards for NSW students.
LABOR premiers have been challenged by the Howard
Government to embrace a national education framework, after a high-level
report found "bewildering" inconsistencies across school
curriculums.
Report: Year 12
Curriculum Content and Achievement Standards (DEST site)
An analysis of the content, curriculum and standards
in Year 12 English (including Literature), Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry
and Australian History.
Minister Julie Bishop’s address on Education and Economic Growth 1.02.07
– outlines her views on the issues and drivers in education to The Committee For The Economic Development Of Australia in Brisbane.
Parents understand increasingly that reading to children from birth to
five years is vitally important. (Sadly, that doesn't mean they're all doing
it.) By Mem Fox, author of kids’ books.
LITERACY and numeracy levels
have fallen in NSW public schools despite increased government funding per
student.
Parents queuing for places in DET pre-schools. Blog.
There's a simple
solution to the problem. Education in government schools shouldn't be free.
Or, put another way, government schools should be allowed to charge
compulsory fees from parents.
The writer is John Roskam, Executive
Director of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA)
The IPA describes itself
as an independent, non-profit public policy think tank, dedicated to
preserving and strengthening the foundations of economic and political
freedom. They believe in the free market of ideas, the free flow of capital,
a limited and efficient government, the rule of law, and representative
democracy.
Fixing our embarrassing lack of investment in
schools, TAFEs, technical colleges, and universities will cost money. Not
fixing the problem will cost a whole lot more.
New
Federal ALP policy on Early Childhood education
AN election battle looms over
preschool education after Labor unveiled a $500 million blueprint for
play-based learning, which the Coalition immediately promised to trump.
Early start: infants to learn about school under ALP plan
SMH 30.01.07
Opposition leader Kevin
Rudd promises parents to 15 hours a week of early childhood education in an
early election promise that aims to tackle both child-care shortages and
concerns about preparing children for school. The ALP would spend $450
million a year to offer parents up to 40 weeks a year of early childhood
education for four-year-olds.
Related articles - SMH 30.01.07
Pick me, pick me … both sides chase the parent vote Opinion
Spend money on
children aged between 0 and 5, the argument goes, and they will make it back
several times by staying longer and performing better throughout the time
they spend at school and further education.
Policy timing causes ripples – Comment
Will Rudd's childhood education policy work? - News Blog
Related background from Kevin Rudd’s website
Giving Our
Children The Best Possible Start Media Statement – 29.01.2007
Early
Childhood Education Announcement Press Conference - 29.01.2007
New Directions: Early
Childhood Education Paper - Universal access
to early learning for 4 year olds (pdf, 238 kb) .
ACER REPORT: Early Childhood Education: Pathways
to quality and equity for all children, Australian Education Review No 50
BAD behaviour by students is
driving new teachers out of the job, with some quitting after just 12 months
in the classroom. Fears about effectively
controlling troublesome children - and even "difficult"
parents" - is partly responsible for the high burnout rate, new
data shows.
As 750,000 children
return to school across NSW, a national survey of beginner teachers has found
up to 20 per cent believe they will not last five years.
School heads condemn classroom conditions Sun
Herald 23.01.07
Report on the annual School Principals
Committee State of Our Schools survey, prepared by the Australian Education
Union. When asked to highlight their priorities, 47.84 per cent listed
information technology and computers, 34.22 per cent - playground equipment
and 44.52 per cent – air conditioning. Library books, sports and
science laboratory equipment were also of particular concern.
Cost
of a public education exceeds $100,000 Sun Herald
23.01.07
Reports an Australian Scholarships Group
study which says that educating a child in the public system from preschool
to year 12 could cost more than $100,000
First lesson is the high cost NEWS.com.au 30.01.07
Rudd challenges PM to education debate
NEWS.com.au January
24, 2007 03:10pm
SMH January
24, 2007 - 3:19PM
FEDERAL Labor Leader Kevin Rudd
has challenged Prime Minister John Howard to a debate on education, saying
Australia wins the "wooden spoon" award when it comes to investment
in the sector.
Rudd vows education revolution SMH 23.01.07
Report on Kevin Rudd’s Address To The
Melbourne Education Research Institute. Labor says
education, be it early childhood, school, tertiary, vocational or mature-age,
can no longer be regarded as an issue of social expenditure alone.
Australians behind, says Rudd Daily Telegraph 23.01.07
LABOR leader Kevin Rudd has flagged a huge
increase in education spending should he win this year's Federal election.
See Kevin
Rudd’s address, entitled An
Education Revolution For Australia's Economic Future – also download the full discussion paper in pdf
from the same page.
Teach a lesson at election Article
+ Blog Daily
Telegraph Wed
17 January, 2007
Maralyn Parker laments
the fact that public education is not an issue in the 2007 NSW State
Election, and that those organizations representing public education
haven’t yet started campaigning in earnest for an election only 2
months away.
(There are also links
to other contributions by Maralyn Parker items from the above).
Students who “fail” may not get HSC award
SMH 11.01.07
·
Exit credential proposal for students who leave before
completing year 12
NSW Government rules out
withholding the HSC from students who fail to
meet minimum standards of achievement. SMH 12.01.07
El cheapo laptop could transform learning in developing
countries SMH 01.01.07
Website for One Laptop per Child — a learning tool created expressly for the world's
poorest children living in its most remote environments. Completely different
from Microsoft and Apple in cocept, some believe
that kids will best learn the system by exploring it and then teaching each
other. First computers planned to be on site in 2007.
Time to seize initiative back from elitist schools SMH 28.12.06
An opinion piece by Jessica Nash, who completed
Year 12 in 2006 at Killara High School. The article gave
rise to a number of letters to the Editor:
Letters in support
Class equity starts with an end to school sabotage SMH 29.12.06
Letter -
alternative view Public school parents need to help themselves SMH 30.12.06
Costly lessons: private school fees soar again SMH 17.12.2006
Article by Hugh Mackay about the differences between self
esteem and self respect.
Wholesale rejection of student gradings SMH 13.12.2006
Students' academic success can be a matter of principal SMH 11.12.2006
Influence of the school principal on academic performance.
Based on the work of Professor Steve Dinham, Australian Centre for
Educational Leadership, University of Wollongong. See also the article by
Professor Dinham in the P&C Journal – Term 1, 2007 to be published
late February.
Science teaching needs overhaul Sun Herald 10.12.06
Includes quotes from Professor
John Rice, Dean of Science, UTS Article
Funding windfall for private schools - $2bn SMH 20.11.2006
Funding for Private Schools - Media release. John Kaye,
Greens NSW Education spokesperson. 15 November, 2006
Funding
Spreadsheets (provided by John Kaye of the Greens)
NSW, Victoria and
ACT.
Independent Private Schools
Catholic Private Schools
Cheating at Unis SMH 20.11.2006
A- E Reports to Parents
Schools now have a choice of using Grades A to E or an equivalent
five-band scale describing achievement levels (outstanding, high, sound,
basic or limited). Reports cards will be required to include a key showing
the A to E scale, alongside the five-band descriptive scale. SMH 27.9.2006 Herald Article
School Chaplains plan – Bob Carr and Catholics not
convinced SMH
30.10.2006
Foreign Students – what happens to their fees SMH 13.11.2006
Proposal for school leaving age to be raised to 16 in NSW SMH 17.11.2006
Sale of school site breaches policy SMH 17.11.2006
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