The important research by Richard Teese makes it clear that, under current funding regimes, the exercise of choice by some parents erodes quality for others. The concentration of advantage in some schools concentrates disadvantage in others. Funds for equity fight funds for choice. Choice should be managed so as to ensure that segregation does not occur and that public schools are fully supported as regards their viability and their vitality as community assets.
This new publication from ACE aims to make a contribution to the ongoing considerations about how Australian education can achieve more equitable learning outcomes for all students.
The electronic version of this publication is available free of charge to current ACE members and for $10 for non-members.
The publication is also available in print at a cost of $30 for ACE members or $45 for non-members. Download the order form or contact ACE national office on 1800 208 586 to order a copy.
The original intent of this article was to gather together the debate and provide what might best be described as a select annotated bibliography on the topic of Ruby Payne and her amazing reach across schools across the US but also apparently in Australia. However just as I was consolidating all the articles I stumbled across a blog by Larry Ferlazzo posted on 6 February 2012 that obviously had the same idea. So I have started with his website but kept the extracts from some of the articles I have sourced that were not picked up by Ferlazzo.
The Four Corners program on Monday, 6 February 2012, presented by Kerry O'Brien profiled three schools, one independent and two government, who are paying close attention to teacher quality by focussing on instructional practice. The program has led to quite a debate, and in this article I profile the commentary from teachers and others.
Can the relationship between high performing teachers and students be observed and assessed at the individual level?
On 15 January an article by Alicia Wood (Putting a dollar value on having top teachers, SMH) pronounced that good teachers can influence the earning power, teenage pregnancy rates and university enrolments of their students.
The book aims to explore accountability measures and in particular No child left behind – it asks questions about how schools should be held accountable? What are the goals of education, and do the current measurement systems give an indication of progress towards all of those goals? The authors are suggesting that the act of holding the education systems accountable, changes the way people operate within the system, depending on what is measured, how it is reported and how the information generated is used. A model of an alternative accountability process is described with a view of identifying how the public might hold schools and other institutions of youth development accountable for adequate performance.
This article provides a broad update on the latest development in the NT emergency response with a particular emphasis on the education issues.
It is widely recognised that violence against women is a significant problem affecting as many as one in three women in Australia. This widespread violence has impacts more widely on families and communities throughout our society.
This article reviews the evidence on the ways in which practitioners in education find and use research and the role of organisation factors in promoting the use of research. The article concludes with a discussion of steps that school and district leaders could take to increase the profile of research in their organisations.
This report, based on a visit by a team of OECD experts, concludes that while the overall evaluation and assessment framework appears as highly sophisticated and well conceptualised, especially at its top level (national and systemic levels), there is a less clear articulation of ways for the national agenda to generate improvements in classroom practice through the assessment and evaluation procedures which are closer to the place of learning.
