Speech ...An excerpt from the PM's NPC speech on education reform
27th August 2008
“Simplistic league tables don’t really tell us how well a school is performing...What parents most want to know is what difference a school is going to make – in other words, the extent to which it is adding value to the results of their students”.
Last year I said that Australian school students deserve a higher level of
transparency concerning the overall performance of their schools. The
Government is committed to investing substantially in our schools to deliver
better outcomes. But we will not be making those investments without demanding
greater accountability in return.
As I said in January 2007, we are committed to a greater quantitative effort in the funding of the school system, but beyond that qualitative performance is equally important. I appreciate there can be debate about the most reliable indicators of school effectiveness.
But I cannot understand why public institutions such as schools should not be accountable to the community that funds their salaries and their running costs. Right now, we do not have accurate, comprehensive information to allow rigorous analysis of what schools and students are achieving.
This must change. Parents have a right to information to inform their family’s decision making about school enrolment. It is important, too, that this information gives parents the full picture. Simplistic league tables don’t really tell us how well a school is performing.
They don’t tell us about the student population that the school started with – and its level of educational advantage. Everyone understands why a private school on Sydney’s north shore might do better than a comprehensive government high school in the outer suburbs. But it is not unreasonable to expect that schools with a similar mix of students and similar starting points should do equally well.
What parents most want to know is what difference a school is going to make – in other words, the extent to which it is adding value to the results of their students. Parents overseas can get this information. Australian parents – and students – deserve the same. That is why today I announce that we will be making agreement on individual school performance reporting a condition of the new national education agreement to come into effect from 1 January 2009.
Within a year, we want to see increased information available to Australian parents. And within three years, a report that shows not just how their child is doing, but how their child’s school is performing compared to similar schools. Knowing where there is underperformance will help us to target additional resources.
I know some will resist these changes. There is little doubt that greater transparency will reveal some schools in Australia may be seriously underperforming and may have been struggling for some time.
Many, but not all, of these schools serve disadvantaged communities. Many, but by no means all, of these schools are in the government school system. We should not tolerate underperformance. It damages the students irreversibly. It fails their families. And therefore it must change. Where it is clear that individual schools are not up to the mark, we need to be prepared to invest money and effort to lift their performance.
And where despite best efforts, these schools are not lifting their performance, the Commonwealth expects education authorities to take serious action – such as replacing the school principal, replacing senior staff, reorganising the school or even merging that school with other more effective schools.
Tough action is necessary if we are to achieve real change. And it’s tough action that our reform payments will reward. A third focus of our school reforms is to tackle underachievement in our most disadvantaged school communities. In Australia, socioeconomic status is more strongly associated with educational achievement than it should be.
I have already referred to the OECD research which found that students in the lowest socioeconomic quartile lagged those in the highest socioeconomic quartile by 2½ years. If Australia is to be the land genuinely of the fair go, we must do a better job in ensuring that every young Australian gets a decent education.
That is why today I announce that we will pursue a further National Policy Partnership with the States and Territories to tackle underachievement in our schools. There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to school underperformance – but we can give schools more control over their performance and more support in achieving better outcomes.
We can provide more funding and greater discretion to principals and local school communities to address their specific local conditions. That is why, beginning next year, this National Policy Partnership will contain measures to help:
- attract high performing principals and teachers to underperforming schools;
- provide funding for intensive learning activities and additional coaching for those students who are falling behind;
- create robust networks of parents, other schools, local communities and businesses to help students in transitioning successfully to work or further education; and
- to provide incentives for individual schools to extend their reach through longer opening hours, after-school study support, sports and other activities to help keep students engaged in their studies.
To make a real difference, we anticipate that governments will need to commit to additional investments of around $500,000 per year for an average sized school. This funding should target areas where intensive learning support can make the greatest difference to student outcomes – like early intervention and support for children with developmental challenges.
I want to see these resources beginning to be deployed in our most
disadvantaged schools within the next 12 months. The measures that I have
outlined today will involve a lot of public debate in the period ahead. But I
intend to take these measures to COAG for agreement by year’s end.
NOTE: This is an excerpt from the PM’s NPC speech on education reform; for the full speech, click on: http://www.alp.org.au/media/0808/spepm270.php