From Monday 18 December 2006 through Sunday 21 January 2007, PLATO's Breaking News coverage is on "Summer Holidays", and will be limited to Western Australian OBE - Courses of Study articles, plus other local "high-profile" education stories, with the occasional education article from The Australian. The home page will be updated only once a day, normally in the evening.

Full coverage will resume on Monday 22 January 2007.

Monday 8 January

Tuesday 9 January

Wednesday 10 January

Thursday 11 January

Friday 12 January

Saturday – Sunday, 13 – 14 January

 

Monday 8 January

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Letters to the Editor (page 16)
    
    
    • "Steve Kessell’s piece on OBE (Time to Cane OBE and Can Levels, 4/1) was refreshingly cogent, clear and concise. May all concerned students, parents, teachers and school administrators hope that Mark McGowan takes the retired professor’s logical, well-researched arguments on board and confine the gobbledegook and edubabble of OBE to the "S" bend from whence it came."
      
      Brendan Murray, Pemberton
      
      
      
    • "Thank you, Steve Kessell. Mark McGowan take note – these are our kids, our future. We need to go back to basics and get rid of this ridiculous OBE system before it's too late."
      
      Rebecca Durstan, Beckenham
      
      
      
    • "With poor literacy and numeracy rates of students in the recent testing, and the correlation with OBE, I can only wonder about the next generation of teachers who have come through this system. Commonly, teacher courses have one of the lowest TER scores as it is. This is of grave concern for the future generations of students."
      
      Wendy Sekuloff, Geraldton
      
      
      
    • "Thanks to The West Australian for making the reading public of WA aware of the results of the WA literacy and numeracy testing program.
      
      "Now all readers know that in global testing of the type that WALNA is, the results are greatly influenced by postcodes (i.e. they reflect socioeconomic differences), girls do better than boys, approximately 20 per cent of the population struggle with academic performance and that such tests are heavily weighted towards a white Anglo-Saxon upbringing.
      
      "Now that all readers know what any student of educational measurement 101 knows and because no teacher needs a global test to be told which student in their class is having difficulty, perhaps The West Australian could lead a fight against the continual waste of taxpayers' money that WALNA testing is and encourage those in charge to put the money into schools."
      
      D H Phillips, White Gum Valley
      
      
      
    • "Tony Rutherford can't help himself (Homework lesson for McGowan, 3/1).
      
      "Whenever he can find the slightest excuse to kick a union, he will. On this occasion it was the State School Teachers Union which, contrary to his belief, is rarely consulted by ministers for education, Labor or coalition.
      
      "It is a refreshing novelty to read that the new Minister will actually consult with the organisation which represents most government school teachers and administrators in this State. [Even if it represents them badly?   Web]
      
      "He then goes on to suggest that the Minister should really be seeking out "those who are skilled in practice" rather than those who "prefer the consolations of slick theorising". That, I suggest, brings the Minister right back to the teachers union which happens to represent "those who are skilled in practice", unlike the Chamber of Commerce and Industry who are more likely to be versed in no practice and a few very old theories..."
      
      "... with a complete hand-off from parents on the education of their children, how does Rutherford think that the Minister is going to fix the low literacy and numeracy scores? It is a problem that goes well beyond the education portfolio."
      
      David Balfour, Beckenham
      
      
      
      
• The Australian
  
  
  • Poor students must rely on charity
    by Lisa Macnamara
    
    "University students unable to afford food and rent will be forced to ask charities for help after special loans and subsidies were cut in response to the Howard Government's ban on compulsory student union fees.
    
    "Struggling students in Sydney and Queensland will this year be referred to welfare agencies such as the Salvation Army after the campus-run interest-free loan scheme, textbook and food subsidies were scrapped or reduced in response to the imposition of voluntary student unionism..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Priorities all wrong
      
      "On the very day The Australian reports the trashing of Education Minister Julie Bishop’s federal budget proposals for increased school and science funding ("Howard takes a razor to budget” 4/1), Channel Nine’s commentary team tell us that the PM has promised $25million to upgrade the SCG. Our cricketers have performed incredibly well but what does this announcement say about national priorities at a time when Australia desperately needs scientists of the highest quality in its efforts to become a clever country?"
      
      David Dyer, Ballarat, Vic
  
  

Tuesday 9 January

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Plan for manners lessons in WA schools (front page)
    by Dawn Gibson
    
    "School students would learn table etiquette, the art of polite conversation and how to shake hands properly under a proposal to put manners on the agenda in WA classrooms.

    "Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop and State shadow education minister Peter Collier want State schools to make good manners an integral part of lessons throughout the education process in a bid to make young people more aware of their responsibilities.
    
    "The push comes as a Perth finishing school prepares to launch a modern manners class, an updated version of book-on-the-head etiquette and deportment, to help Years 11 and 12 students move easier from school to the adult world.
    

    "The course will be pitched at government and private schools with topics such as using the correct silverware for different courses, dressing for a job interview, the importance of small talk and how to introduce a business associate.
    
    "Ms Bishop, who has called for manners to be taught in all schools, said it was up to individual schools to decide on specific classes. She believed a stand-alone subject was not necessary if values education was taught explicitly and integrated into school life from an early age.
    
    “The teaching of good manners and acceptable social behaviour begins at home as a responsibility of parents,” she said. “However, schools should also reinforce parental expectations of good behaviour by championing a sense of civility, good manners, tolerance and respect.”
    
    "The State Opposition favours a stronger focus on manners as part of the wider school curriculum.
    
    "Mr Collier said the loutish behaviour at the Skyworks and rock concerts showed lack of respect for other people and property that could be nipped in the bud if parents and schools taught community responsibility.
    
    "Also, many young people grew up with no idea how to behave appropriately in social situations, particularly at formal events.
    
    "Natalia Josephs, whose company Image Power is behind the manners course, plans to approach principals in the next few months.
    
    "The Education Department said State schools already taught values from kindergarten up, including respect for others and social responsibilities. They were also taught life skills, personal grooming and job interview preparation."
    
    From The West Australian at link
    
    

  • Alston (page 14)
    

    
    © The West Australian
    
    
    

• The Guardian
  
  
• Scotland shows way forward for flexible tests
  by Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
  
  "Flexible testing has been at the heart of the assessment system in Scottish schools since the early 1990s, but it begins from a child's first year in primary school, aged five, and lasts until they are 14, when the focus on formal exams usually begins.

  "The curriculum in Scotland is far less rigid and centrally controlled than in the rest of the UK, and allows teachers and local councils more freedom and autonomy to decide if and when a child will be tested. It is an autonomy that Scottish educationalists take pride in.

  "Mary Simpson, an authority on Scotland's assessment policy at the University of Edinburgh, said a great deal of trust is placed on the teacher's skills to judge a child's progress and suitability.

  "Scotland has always had a much more egalitarian, bottom-up trust in the teacher," she said..."
  
  Full story in The Guardian at link

  
  
• Government proposes changes to national tests
  by Alexandra Smith
  
  "Pupils aged 11 to 14 will take more frequent tests at stages when teachers feel they are ready, it emerged today, but ministers denied this will bring an end to national tests altogether.

  "The education secretary, Alan Johnson, is today publishing a series of education reforms which are also expected to include intensive one-to-one lessons for pupils who struggle in English and maths.

  "Under the current system, pre-GCSE national tests assess pupils at the end of each national curriculum key stage - by their teachers when they seven, and through tests in English, maths and science when they are 11 and 14.

  "Officials envisage the new pilot scheme involving two test opportunities each year, in December and in May or June. Teachers will enter any pupils they feel are ready to move up to the next national curriculum level..."

  Full story in The Guardian at link
  

 

• The Independent
  
  
  • Bright pupils to take tests early under national curriculum reform
    by Richard Garner, Education Editor
    
    "Bright pupils will be fast-tracked so that they can take their national curriculum tests and exams early under a new government blueprint to be published today.

    "And youngsters struggling in class will be given free, one-to-one tuition to help them keep up with their classmates.

    "The twin moves are proposed in a consultation document from the Secretary of State for Education, Alan Johnson. The proposals come in response to an inquiry into education published last week which warned of the danger of pupils getting "stuck" in school and failing to make progress in the three Rs.

    "Ministers are anxious to ensure that no child gets left behind in school and that all children are stretched so that they can achieve their full potential.

    "The inquiry team, headed by the chief inspector of schools, Christine Gilbert, recommended that children should take their national curriculum tests "when ready" - rather than testing every child of the same age on the same day, regardless of their abilities..."
    
    Full story in The Independent at link
    
    
    

• A report worse than Levels?
  
  The New York Times: Several states now send students’ Body Mass Index scores home to parents.
  
  
  
  

Wednesday 10 January

• The Australian
  
  
  • Editorial
    Victims of fashion
    
    If you can read this, don't thank outcomes-based education
    
    "One need not have a doctorate in education to understand that if one stops penalising students for spelling and grammar mistakes in English classes, and instead allows them to treat a promotional movie poster as a "text" equivalent to a book published between proper covers, academic standards will inevitably decline. Or to grasp that an overweening emphasis on largely disproven student-centred teaching methods such as constructivism might not be good for teaching students the fundamentals. Or to think there might be something wrong when teacher training colleges spend just 10 per cent of their time teaching how to teach. Yet in falling for precisely these fallacies, the educational establishment of Western Australia – and indeed state governments across the country – have allowed young people to make it to Year 7 and beyond while remaining functionally illiterate.

  "The verdict is in on Western Australia's great experiment in throwing over musty old teaching methods in favour of the trendiness that is outcomes-based education, and the results are not pretty. According to figures from the state's Department of Education, just 80 per cent of Year 7 students meet the reading benchmarks, or base standards. The numbers also show this same cohort of students has gone backwards since being tested two years ago. And similarly poor results have been recorded in the field of numeracy.

  "While it is easy to snicker at the outrages of Western Australia's curriculum boffins, it must never be forgotten that ultimately lives and careers are at stake. The one in five Year 7 students found to be functionally illiterate will, if corrective measures are not taken quickly, help form a low-skilled underclass with few employment prospects – all due to an educational fad. [emphasis added] Nor is this a problem solely confined to Western Australia. Urgent remedial reading programs are required to try to catch those students left behind by fads and trends. And education ministries across the country need to abandon the faddism that threatens to create a permanent underclass at a time when Australia is in urgent need of skilled workers."
  
  From The Australian at link [scroll down to third editorial]

  
  
  • Students fall below literacy standard
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "About one in five students who completed Year 7 in Western Australia last year are functionally illiterate, failing to meet minimum national standards in reading, writing and spelling, and performing well below the national average.
    
    "But two years ago when the same group of students were in Year 5, they recorded one of the nation's highest performances in literacy tests, with more than 90 per cent reaching the minimum standard.

    "The 2006 results of the West Australian Literary and Numeracy Assessment released late last year show almost 84 per cent of Year 7 students met national reading standards while about 85 per cent met writing standards and 84 per cent met numeracy benchmarks.

    "By comparison, 92 per cent of the same students in Year 5 met reading standards for that level of school, with 87 per cent meeting the Year 5 writing standard and the numeracy standard..."
    
    "The head of the federal Government's literacy review, Ken Rowe, said part of the problem had been the poor teaching of reading in previous years, with inadequate teacher training compounded by the whole language method, which relied on children recognising words rather than sounding them out.

    "Dr Rowe, from the Australian Council for Educational Research, and the University of Western Australia's Bill Louden, who have just completed a literacy and numeracy review for the state Government, said a flattening of results was expected between Years 5 and 7, reflecting the onset of adolescence and the more demanding standards.

    "But national reports show some states report a rise in student performance, compared to when the same students were in Year 5..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    

  • The Higher Education Supplement has 12 stories; several deal with the ageing academic workforce
    
    
    
    
• The West Australian
  
  
  • Schools can't be parents, says Minister (page 12)
    by Dawn Gibson
    
    "The WA Education Minister has hit back at claims public schools were failing to teach children manners, saying he was far more worried about students getting the basics of good literacy and numeracy than whether they held their cutlery properly..."
    
    "My focus as Minister is on those big issues – literacy, numeracy, academic performance, making sure students who are not academically inclined get access to good vocational programs..."
    
    "WA Council of State School Organisations president Rob Fry also called for parents to accept more responsibility. He said social trends such as parents working longer hours meant some families left it up to teachers to instruct their offspring in basic social niceties.
    
    "Mr Fry said schools should first look to improve the manners and grooming standards of their staff.
    
    "He had come across teachers who thought it was acceptable to turn up for work in dirty jeans or T-shirts with rude slogans and others who let students balance cans of Coke on their desks while they worked. "There is a dress standard and I hope this Minister enforces it," Mr Fry said." [Teachers: I think he means you should all dress like Mr Fry. Web]
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    • Sidebars (page 12)
      
      
      • The Polite Way to Success
        
        
      • Workplace etiquette in as old pomp bows out

 

Thursday 11 January

• The Australian
  
  
  • Teaching 'low-status profession' [News.com story, added to their website at 1:05 am AEDT, so probably not in 'paper' edition]
    by Justine Ferrari
    
    "The low tertiary entrance score required to become a teacher has undermined the status of the profession and the standing of teachers in the eyes of parents and the community.

    "A study by the federal Education Department says students are rejecting teaching as a career and that parents consider it a "low-status job" and "semi-professional".

    "Low university entrance requirements have lowered the status of teaching and resulted in a lower-quality teaching workforce," the study says.

    "Teaching is (seen as) low-paid, low-status work, and there is negative publicity about the teaching profession and about teachers."

    "While university entrance levels reflect the demand for courses, the study highlights how the low demand for science and teaching courses is feeding the low-status of the profession.

    "The study, Attitudes to Teaching as a Career, analyses research from around the world about the regard in which teaching is held, and confirms the view expressed by prominent Australian scientists and educators that low scores detract from the prestige of science and science teaching.

    "The Australian reported on January 2 a comparison of tertiary entry scores showing the score required to study a bachelor of science degree was among the lowest of any degree.

    "Studying traditional Chinese medicine, fashion design or sports management required higher scores than a science degree, while studying to become a sports teacher needed a higher score than becoming a science teacher or scientist.

    "The Federal Government study found that high academic achievers, who typically study maths and science at the senior level, cited the salary, promotional pathways and status of teaching as too low.

    "Successful mathematics and science students are more likely to be attracted to other careers," it says.

    "The study raises the option of paying science teachers at a higher level to attract students into the profession.

    "It was suggested in particular that the pay should match what science graduates receive in industry," it says.

    "Teachers who are paid more stay longer in teaching, and those who are able to get higher-paid jobs outside teaching do leave earlier."

    "The findings are echoed in a smaller survey of students studying to become maths and science teachers at Western Australia's Edith Cowan University, which found a love of the subject was the main reason for choosing a career in the classroom.

    "The study by Vaille Dawson, co-ordinator of secondary maths and science education at ECU, suggests universities relax prerequisite subjects to open up courses to students who failed or did not study higher level maths and science at school.

    "Dr Dawson said many students were turned off maths and science in the early years of high school and were unable to resume their studies at university, when their interest might again be sparked.

    "At present, bridging courses cater only for lower levels of maths and science for students in courses such as nursing, engineering and economics.

    "Under Dr Dawson's proposal, universities would offer six-month certificate-style courses in high-level maths and sciences that would qualify students for tertiary study." [emphasis added]
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Op Ed
    A chance to dump the dumb approach
    by Kevin Donnelly
    
    Education standards are rightly an election issue
    
    "In signalling standards in education as a national priority, along with water and the environment more broadly, the Prime Minister has ensured education will be a key election issue in 2007.
    
    "This is as it should be. One of the key drivers for economic growth and international competitiveness is the quality and rigour of a nation's education system. How young people are taught to define the "good life" and education's contribution to the cultural and moral health of the community are also vitally important indicators of a civilised society.

    "Concerns about standards are widespread and each week there is additional evidence that state and territory education systems underperform and, with one or two exceptions, adopt a second-rate approach to what is taught and how it is assessed.

    "The West Australian Government attempted to bury the issue by releasing the results of statewide tests in literacy and numeracy between Christmas and New Year. Approximately 20 per cent of Year 7 students failed to reach the minimum benchmark, described as the minimum standard of performance below which students will have difficulty progressing satisfactorily at school.

    "Such students are destined for educational failure and no amount of Lathamesque cant about parents reading to their children - as argued by the WA Education Minister Mark McGowan - can disguise the fact that the education system is primarily responsible for teaching the basics. [emphasis added]

    "In 1996, national tests in reading and writing showed that approximately 30 per cent of Year3 and Year5 students failed to reach the minimum benchmark; since then, Australia's performance in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study tests has placed us in the second 11, and countries we once outperformed now achieve better results.

    "The TIMSS tests involve about 46 countries and measure student ability in mathematics and science at years 4, 8 and 12. In addition to being outperformed by countries such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, The Netherlands and the Czech Republic, Australia fails to get enough students to perform at the highest level.

    "In the 2002-03 TIMSS science test, only 9 per cent of Year 8 Australian students performed at the advanced level, compared with 25 per cent from Taiwan and 15 per cent from Japan and England. In mathematics, only 7per cent of Australian Year8 students performed at the advanced level, compared with 44 per cent of students in Singapore.

    "There is also a significant gap between Australia's better performing and less able students. Successful countries are able to get more children performing at the higher end of the scale, but Australia has a long tail of underperforming students.

    "Remedial courses in basic algebra and essay writing for undergraduates are now the norm and many first-year courses have been dumbed down in response to falling standards.

    "What's to be done? Unlike the educrats who argue that concerns about standards are a media beat-up, the first thing to do is to admit there is a problem. Next, we need to benchmark the state and territory approaches to curriculum against world's-best practice and what research tells us supports teachers and students in the classroom. As opposed to our outcomes-based education, with fads such as whole language, fuzzy maths and a feel-good approach to assessment, stronger performing overseas systems have a syllabus approach to curriculum.

    "A syllabus approach gives teachers academically rigorous, clear and succinct road maps of what to teach. The curriculum is year level specific, there is regular testing and feedback to students, and there is greater time on-task in the classroom, with more formal, whole-class teaching.

    "Although there is much about teaching that cannot be measured or quantified, it should be possible to draw on what research tells us about effective classroom practice and the best way to raise standards.

    "The billion-dollar US national research program Project Follow Through that evaluated different approaches to teaching over a number of years, concluded that more formal methods of classroom interaction - where teachers teach rather than facilitate - achieved stronger results.

    "Unlike the whole-language approach prevalent in Australia, where students are taught to look and guess instead of learning the relationship between letters and sounds, the research also tells us that the more traditional approach to reading, represented by phonics and phonemic awareness, is the most effective.

    "As a result of outcomes-based education, teachers are drowned in hundreds of vague and superficial outcome statements that they have to monitor and evaluate. While the curriculum is central in any attempt to raise standards, teachers are equally important and more needs to be done to support them in their work." [emphasis added]

    Kevin Donnelly is director of Melbourne-based Education Strategies and author of Dumbing Down, to be published this month by Hardie Grant Books.

    From The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Students drop science for boom degrees
    by Dorothy Illing, Higher education writer
    
    "Queensland's economic boom is sparking renewed interest in engineering and architecture degrees from thousands of students hoping to be part of the state's multi-billion-dollar infrastructure program. But the worrying decline in popularity for science looks set to continue, with fewer students being offered places in the field, despite Premier Peter Beattie's bid to create a "smart state". [emphasis added]
    
    "About 44,500 people will today be offered a place at a university in Queensland, the first state to make its main round offers for the year. It is an unusually high success rate, benefiting 88 per cent of those who applied.

    "With extra commonwealth places still flowing through the system, it is probably easier than ever to get into many courses, particularly in Queensland, where low demand for places is translating to lower entrance scores.

    "On a scale of 1-25, an overall position (OP) score of 13 will get students into a bachelor of arts course at the sandstone University of Queensland this year. In other states, that is equivalent to about 72 out of 100..." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • ALP to bow to teacher unions: minister
    by Jewel Topsfield, Canberra
    
    "Labor may want to adopt the Government's education policies but ultimately it will cave in to union demands, federal Education Minister Julie Bishop says.

    "The powerful Australian Education Union and Independent Education Union have slammed Labor's new education spokesman, Stephen Smith, over his claims that teachers should be marked on their performance in the classroom.

    "The AEU, which represents 165,000 staff from public schools and TAFE colleges, this week warned Labor would not benefit from a teacher-funded advertising campaign during the federal election unless it developed "positive policies" that differentiated it from the Government.

    "Ms Bishop yesterday said the ALP did not have the courage to stand up to the unions even though it was in the interests of students and parents.

    "We welcome Stephen Smith's adoption of Liberal policy on raising standards through national consistency and holding schools and teachers more accountable to student outcomes — but it's all just talk, as he can never deliver on his promises," Ms Bishop told The Age.

    "The teacher unions will undermine him and the Labor Party on these issues. Labor is captive to the unions and already the teacher unions have threatened to withhold campaign funding from the ALP.
    
    "In a letter to Mr Smith, the Independent Education Union criticised his suggestion that teachers be marked on performance. The AEU is expected to condemn his comments at its national conference next week.

    "Education consultant Dr Kevin Donnelly said it was important that teachers were accountable, but it needed to be done in a sensitive manner.

    "It's a double-edged sword. If you look at some of the debates in the US and the UK, there is a line of argument that if there is too much accountability and it is too intrusive and too bureaucratic that it's more difficult to attract good teachers and to keep them," he said.

    "Mr Smith remains on leave and unavailable for comment."

    From The Melbourene Age at link

  
  
  
• The West Australian
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • "I wonder whether education ministers will ever understand that there is no point in turning out kids who dress well and can say please and thank you if the little buggers can't read, write or count."
      
      Rod Rogers, Balga
  
  

Friday 12 January

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Spelling slips in State schools (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Nearly one in four State primary school students cannot spell well enough to achieve minimum standards, despite benchmarks being so low that Year 3 pupils who score as little as 35 per cent are considered to be performing adequately.
    
    "The WA Literacy and Numeracy Assessments spelling results released yesterday show that 25 per cent of Year 7 pupils in public schools failed to achieve the minimum benchmark even though they had to get just 50 per cent of questions correct.
    
    "At Year 5 level, 21 per cent of students failed to reach the benchmark, which was set at 40 per cent. Nineteen per cent of Year 3 students were unable to reach minimum standards.
    
    "The results also show there has been no improvement in student performance in spelling over the past three years, despite increased spending in the State education budget. Only government school data is available because private schools have not released their results.
    

    "Just three schools — Booragoon, Hollywood and North Cottesloe – had every student achieve the minimum standard in Years 3, 5 and 7 in last year’s tests.
    
    "Education director-general Sharyn O’Neill said: “The assessments are a diagnostic tool and one of the many pieces of information used by schools to identify students who need support.”
    
    "Education and Training Minister Mark McGowan said children who spoke English as a second language and students with special needs were included in the data.
    
    "He said WA spelling benchmarks had been set intentionally high, which meant students who did not meet the benchmark could still spell.
    
    “I would be loath to change the benchmarks and ‘dumb down’ the results so that students look like they are all above a certain level,” he said.
    
    "University of WA education dean Bill Louden, who has just completed a Statewide review of literacy and numeracy standards, said it would be a great pity if the teaching of spelling suffered in an increasingly crowded primary school curriculum.
    
    “Spelling is extremely important, because children who can’t spell will make people draw all sorts of other conclusions about the quality of their thinking and writing,” he said.
    
    "The assessments are a series of exams to measure performance in key areas.
    
    "The Government made public the results of the reading, writing and numeracy tests but authorities did not reveal the spelling results. The school-by-school results breakdown was released only after pressure from The West Australian."
    
    From The West Australian at link
    
    

    • Also: Spelling League Tables [schools range from 100 % of students meeting the benchmark, to only 9 per cent meeting it – not a typo: 9 per cent]
      
      
      
  • Letters to the Editor

    Five Letters on education today: Four address teaching manners at school (should be taught at home) and one deals with student behaviour (in a word: atrocious). [Since the Letters do not remotely deal with OBE or assessment, and tend to be repetitive, I don't plan on copying them.]
    
    
    

• The New York Times
  

• 46 New York City Schools Join List of Those Failing in Student Performance Standards Under U.S. Law
  by Elissa Gootman
  
  "Forty-six New York City schools have been newly identified as failing under the federal No Child Left Behind law based on their students’ performance in the 2005-6 school year, the State Education Department said yesterday.
  
  "Elsewhere in the state, 27 schools have similarly been deemed failing, a designation that means they could eventually face penalties . At the same time, 52 schools across the state, including 27 in New York City, performed well enough last year to return to good standing..."
  
  "Schools are deemed failing, or “in need of improvement,” if they fail to make “adequate yearly progress,” a standard set by the state, in the same category for two years in a row. In a hallmark of the federal law, schools are judged not just on the overall performance of their student body, but also on the scores of various subgroups, like special education students. This means that even a school highly sought after by parents could wind up on the dreaded list.
  
  "Only schools that receive federal Title I antipoverty money are in danger of being designated as “in need of improvement.” ...
  
  "When schools are designated as failing, parents must be notified and given the right to request that their children be transferred. But New York City, like many school districts across the country, limits the number of transfer requests it grants.

  "Each year that a school fails to make progress brings another set of requirements. Ultimately, districts may close failing schools; over the summer New York City closed 19 poorly performing schools..." [emphasis added]
  
  "Because some failing schools closed, and the poverty status of others changed, the statewide total of failing Title I schools dropped to 506 from 511 based on 2004-5 test results. New York City now has 335 such schools, up from 332."
  
  Full story in The New York Times at link
  
  

  • Democrats Push for Changes to No Child Left Behind Law
    
    "Democratic Congressional leaders on Monday called President Bush’s signature education law too punitive in its sanctions on public schools and pledged to increase educational spending, signaling the stance they will take this year in negotiations over the law’s renewal..."
    
    
  • Excerpt from Year 8 standardised English Test, Virginia USA [The Washington Post]
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Negative image of teachers
      
      "The federal Education Department report ("Parents, students see teaching as a ‘low-status job’ “, 11/1) fails to acknowledge that outstanding young people are choosing teaching as a career.

      "Had the department looked closer to home, it would have found little basis for such negativity. Recent research amongst students enrolled in the University of Sydney’s teacher education degrees reveals that 96 per cent had an entrance score above 80, and nearly half had an entrance score above 90.

      "At Sydney, students whose marks would have qualified them for high status courses such as law, economics and commerce are choosing teaching, saying they are passionate about making a difference to young people’s lives. Even more reason for hope, the majority see teaching as a long-term career, and two-thirds are willing to teach in the public system.

      "Despite these promising signs, the sources cited by the department’s report reveal the root cause of the current problems. For example, a study of UK undergraduates found that 36 per cent had been discouraged from teaching by the lack of support from politicians, and a further 32 per cent by the negative image of teachers in the media."
      
      John Hughes, Pro-Dean, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney NSW

  
  
  
• BBC News
  
  
  • Tables turned: changes this year
    by Gary Eason, Education editor, BBC News website
    
    "There are several significant changes in this year's secondary school league tables in England.

    "The new benchmark - the "gold standard", as the government describes it - is the proportion of pupils attaining the Level 2 threshold (five or more GCSEs at A* to C or equivalent), including English and maths GCSEs.

    "This standard was reached by 45.8% of pupils, the tables confirm (the provisional figures were published in October): 43.8% of pupils in state schools and 71% of those in the independent sector - of which more in a moment..."
    
    Full story at BBC News Online at link

 

Saturday – Sunday, 13 – 14 January

• The Sunday Times / PerthNow
  
  
  • Yes, Minister now for OBE (page 63)
    by Grahame Armstrong
    
    "If political trickery was a school subject, Education Minister Mark McGowan would get top marks.
    
    "Without making a single "policy" announcement since assuming control of WA schools, Mr McGowan has got voters talking about every education issue except the bogy one – OBE.

    "Yet, Mr McGowan has done nothing but moralise.

    "His strategy, though tediously old and worn, is popular with new education ministers, whether Labor or Liberal.

    "The idea is to talk tough on old-fashioned discipline.

    "There's no evidence that it works but, and here's the key, it's music to the ears of parents.

    "Mr McGowan's formula is one of righteous politics.

    "Without necessarily doing anything, he simply preaches virtues: parents should read to their children at night, kids need to dress smarter and read more literature in high school.

    "Poor Ljiljanna Ravlich – if only she could have thought of it first, she might still be the minister.

    "Education is supposed to be the Government's flagship portfolio, but it's been nothing but trouble since the last election. Like an old truck, it got bogged in the muck that is OBE. Mr McGowan's orders from Premier Alan Carpenter were simple and direct: get the truck out and back on the road.

    "That won't be easy. No one, including the previous minister's office, has been able to explain to me what OBE means.

    "When The Sunday Times asked for a "nutshell" explanation of OBE, the then-minister's office responded with an avalanche of emailed documents, graphs and diagrams, the like of which hasn't been seen since Kim Beazley's noodle nation education policy.

    "I suspect the detailed explanation would have to be delivered by parcel courier.

    "For people outside the education bureaucracy, and that's most of us, OBE means Order of the British Empire or, in a nutshell, a medal for chivalry.

    "But you can't blame the new Minister for trying.

    "Desperate times call for desperate measures and he has the small matter of an election to win.

    "In this newspaper on December 17, the week he was appointed Minister, Mr McGowan said parents should stop watching television and start reading to their children and helping them with homework.

    "The next week, he said high school students wouldn't be able to pass TEE English and literature unless they read several books – including some classics.

    "And then last week, he said unruly public school students would be banished to special good-behaviour units.

    "Hard to argue with. I'm just surprised the Minister has not announced publicly that he supports motherhood.

    "Mr McGowan's virtuous statements are designed to distract our attention from the dreaded OBE and the latest TEE results, which show government schools overall are slipping further behind private schools.

    "If standards drop any lower under Mr McGowan's watch, don't be surprised if he calls for a return of the cane.

    "I'm only guessing, but making little Johnny wear a necktie and blazer to school will not necessarily improve his marks in English and maths.

    "I think parents are more interested in what little Johnny might learn in the classroom, how he is taught and how he is tested.

    "Mr McGowan has the job ahead of him. This week, new figures shamefully show one in five students who completed Year 7 in WA last year are functionally illiterate and performing well below the national average.

    "One in four WA primary schoolchildren cannot spell even basic words.

    "The head of the Federal Government's literacy review, Ken Rowe, said part of the problem had been the poor teaching of reading in previous years, with inadequate teacher training compounded by the whole language method, which relied on children recognising words rather than sounding them out.

    "What is Mr McGowan's plan to improve literacy standards? That is what parents want to hear from the Minister.

    "Hopefully, his policy involves more than motherhood statements.

    "Ironically, when federal Education Minister Julie Bishop this week suggested students should be taught manners, Mr McGowan said he was more worried about the basics of a good education.

    "Really? Like wearing neckties, blazers and buttoned shirts?

    "Parents will only start to value education more than their cars and homes if ministers like Mr McGowan stop treating them like fools.

    "Academic excellence requires real policy solutions in the classroom, not political spin.

    "Mr McGowan, an ambitious Minister who likes to project himself as a future premier, is displaying a worrying sign of putting style ahead of substance.

    "The education of our children is too important for that."

    From The Sunday Times / PerthNow at link
    
    
    
    
• The West Australian
  
  
  • OBE to get 'three Rs' (page 4)
    
    "The State's expert on the "three Rs" is to become the new head of the Curriculum Council.
    
    "Professor Bill Louden, dean of the University of WA graduate school of education, has been appointed chair of the council for the next three years.
    
    "The widely-published expert on educational change, science education and literacy has acknowledged there are problems to resolve with OBE."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Top student teachers go to private schools (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Private schools are luring WA’s most promising teaching students before they sit their final exams in a trend which forces the State system to choose staff from a much smaller pool.
    
    "University of WA teaching director Di Gardiner said about 110 of the university’s 150 teaching students who were seeking jobs in WA this year had been offered places at Catholic and independent schools well before their November exams.
    

    "She said that, even though many students wanted to work in public schools, the Education Department made its staffing decisions so late that students often took the first offer. [emphasis added]
    
    “They would rather have the security of knowing they’ve got a contract than risk getting a job in a less desirable location and perhaps not knowing until the day before school starts that they have to go there,” she said. “It means the department is selecting from a much smaller pool of graduates.”
    
    "Private schools are luring new teachers with better salaries and conditions. Teachers could expect to earn about $7000 a year more if they signed with elite independent schools, which also promised smaller class sizes and access to state-of-theart facilities.
    
    "A teacher at Willetton Senior High School, considered one of the top State schools for academic performance, said he earned about $62,000 at the top of the pay scale. “The classrooms are appalling. They are drab, unpainted and not maintained,” the teacher said. “Every time it rains the roof leaks and there are ankle-deep puddles in the corridor, making the carpet so mildewed it stinks.”
    
    "A teacher at an elite boys’ schools at the same level gets about $69,000 a year with extra pay for the 80 hours a year they are expected to spend on activities such as sport or debating.
    
    "State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely said the recruitment system gave an unfair advantage to already advantaged schools.
    
    "Education Minister Mark McGowan said he was confident the State system, employing 800 graduates a year, attracted high quality graduates but conceded the department needed to change its employment strategies.
    
    “Last year, the recruitment process started around five weeks earlier than usual. However, to remain competitive it is apparent we need to consider alternative recruitment approaches for this year,” he said. [emphasis added]
    
    "Notre Dame University education dean Michael O’Neill said many of the institution’s 180 teaching graduates would have already found work in private schools.
    
    "Edith Cowan University head of education Greg Robson said it was too early to say whether its 750 graduates had found jobs but he was aware some had already been recruited by private schools."
    
    From The West Australian at link
    
    
    

• The Washington Post
  
  
  • For Teachers, Being 'Highly Qualified' Is a Subjective Matter
    by Michael Alison Chandler
    
    'No Child' Standards of Content Mastery Widely Interpreted
    
    "To overhaul public education, the No Child Left Behind law required a massive expansion of student testing. But it also called for states to ensure that all teachers in core academic subjects are "highly qualified" to help students succeed -- an unprecedented mandate that has delivered less than promised.

    "The law, which turned five years old this week, has held schools to increasingly higher standards for student achievement. For teachers, however, standards meant to guarantee that they know their subjects are often vague and open to broad interpretation.
    

    "Legal loopholes and uneven implementation by states and the U.S. Department of Education have diluted the law's impact on the teaching workforce, some education experts say. They say that meeting the standards of quality is more about shuffling paper than achieving two vital goals: ensuring that teachers are prepared to help students succeed and reducing the teacher talent gap between rich and poor schools.

    "Meeting the qualifications has become an exercise in bureaucratic compliance," said Andrew J. Rotherham, a member of the Virginia Board of Education and a former education adviser in the Clinton administration. "It's not a process that gets at the fundamental issues of quality or effectiveness." Congress may soon tackle those issues as it considers renewing the law..."
    
    "In late 2005, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings pushed back a June 2006 deadline for states to reach full compliance with the highly qualified teacher requirement, giving them a one-year pass if they could demonstrate progress. Spellings said states would not lose federal funding if they submitted a plan with an acceptable definition of highly qualified teachers, accurate data and steps to ensure that experienced and qualified teachers are spread equitably among rich and poor schools..."
    
    "According to the federal law, to become highly qualified, a first-year teacher must have a college degree, a full state license and some mastery of content -- provable by coursework or a standardized test.

    "The first two requirements are straightforward. The third has been interpreted in many ways, particularly for veteran teachers -- defined in Virginia and Maryland as those with at least one year of experience -- for whom the law is more lenient.

    "To prove expertise, teachers can choose from a menu of options that often have little to do with subject matter.

    "In Maryland, teachers can show they know their subjects in part by taking education courses or earning teaching awards. Virginia offers credit for developing curricula, mentoring other teachers or attending a 30-hour "content knowledge institute." ... [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The Washington Post at link
    
    
    

• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Labor stands by teacher claims
    by Jewel Topsfield, Canberra
    
    "Labor is ignoring the wrath of teachers, with education spokesman Stephen Smith standing by his inflammatory claims that teachers should be assessed on their classroom performance.

    "Mr Smith repeated his push for teacher assessment in a response to the Independent Education Union, which wrote to the shadow minister warning that the federal ALP must distinguish itself from the "populist and ideologically driven policies" of the Government.

    "In a letter to federal secretary Lynne Rolley, Mr Smith said all the studies showed that one of the most important factors in determining the quality of a child's education was the quality of the teacher.

    "Given this, in my view, it necessarily follows that as a community and as a nation we need to apply some form of quality assessment of teacher performance in the classroom," he wrote.

    "The quality of the teaching Australian teachers deliver must be measured to the extent necessary to ensure young Australians get the best education possible."

    "Ms Rolley this week branded Mr Smith's calls for teachers to accept more assessment as "unhelpful and disappointing", saying his comments added to the "anti-teacher" political climate.

    "She asked who would assess teachers and what would be assessed, saying teaching was already an incredibly regulated profession.

    "The Australian Education Union, which represents 165,000 staff from public schools and TAFE colleges, was also furious. It warned that Labor would not benefit from a teacher-funded advertising campaign during the federal election unless it developed "positive policies" that differentiated it from the Government.

    "During the 2004 election, the union spent $1.5 million on advertising that highlighted the generosity of government funding of private schools.

    "In his letter, Mr Smith said he had no fixed view on how teacher performance would be assessed. He said he would consult teachers, their representatives and the states. "This is not a process that I consider would diminish teachers in the eyes of the community but rather enhance them," he said.

    "It helps ensure that the highest standards are upheld by the profession as a whole."

    "Mr Smith said everyone must work together to ensure policy measures were directed at improving results.

    "If that means trying to find a way to help teachers be the most effective educators they can be, then it must also be part of our objective," he said.

    "Victorian Principals Association president Fred Ackerman said Victoria had a comprehensive system of annual performance reviews for teachers.

    "We would always be concerned when people in positions like his come out with broad-brushed statements that are somewhat emotive and provocative," he said.

    "They are sometimes a strategy to divert attention from other issues in education, particularly school funding."

    From The Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    
    • Editorial: Labor must pass the test on grading teachers' performance [12 Jan]
      
      
      
    • Op Ed: Teachers need assessment, not silly attacks, by Christopher Bantick [12 Jan]
      
      
      
      
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Stop harassing them

      "Few people realise that rigorous assessment of a teacher's practice is already taking place. The Victorian Institute of Teaching assesses first-year teachers with what could be called a one-year parole period — new teachers must develop a folio of examples of their good teaching practice, followed closely by an assigned teacher colleague. Added to this, many schools already have a means to review established teachers, with a panel of their peers reporting to an outside assessor ,who then reports back to the principal, who then meets with the assessed teacher.

      "If teachers "are the single most important factors determining a child's education" (Opinion, 12/1), let's stop harassing them about assessing their teaching practice and let them get on with the job."

      Claudia Priori, West Footscray
      
      

    • True measure
      
      "Teachers' capabilities need to be measured, but let's not do it with half a ruler. Yes, let's measure their skills, how they obtained them and especially who trained them, but also measure all the factors that help to make a good teacher. Measure their workload, the work they take home, their timetable, their preparation time and the extra work they are asked to do. Measure their resources or lack thereof, the age and suitability of the equipment they use and the training they have had in using this equipment. Measure the number of students they have and the size and condition of their classroom(s). Above all, measure the pressure and stress teachers are under, and then maybe we can have some measurable understanding of what makes a good teacher."

      Vic Camilleri, Keilor East
      
      

    • Grading's failure
      
      "The Age is to be congratulated in calling on the Opposition to demonstrate a serious commitment to improving the quality of education (Editorial, 11/1), but while it is true that our best teachers should be rewarded and underperforming teachers challenged to improve or forced to leave, your emphasis on grading teachers is misplaced. I fail to understand why so many people believe that grading improves performance. I left the education sector more than 15 years ago to join the "real world" and have never been "graded". I have had to present proposals that were successful or not. I have been before interview panels for both employment and promotion. I have been a member of interview panels and on the other side of performance reviews.

      "Grading employees one against another has never been on the agenda. Managers make up their minds about the performance of employees on a number of indicators. At a recent Australian Human Resources Institute conference, a representative from a major bank told how the bank had trialled grouping employees into bands according to performance. The process was abandoned when it did more harm than good. Why do we believe a similar process would work for teachers?"

      Chris Curnow, Mordialloc
      
      

    • Talk to teachers
      
      "Teachers already write a detailed weekly work program, keep records of children's progress, use a uniform reporting method and common teaching methods. The VIT exists to examine teachers' fitness and competence. Principals have hire/fire power. Exactly why do we need a grading system? Haven't we already got one? If you don't do your job to the principal's liking, you get the push. The insinuation that teachers have poor standards and need someone to bring them into line is offensive. Talk to some teachers. Find out if they have been holding back change. I think you'll find they haven't.

      Geraldine Fogarty, Heidelberg
      
      
      

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Top schools charge $4000 just to enrol
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    
    "Some of Sydney's most prestigious private schools are charging parents as much as $4000 in non-refundable fees to enrol their children, on top of tuition fees that can cost more than $20,000..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link

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This page last updated 13 August, 2008 0:34 AM