Videos on High Stakes Testing

Posted on Saturday May 25, 2013

View two great videos of news reports on high stakes testing – one from Australia and one from New York. Both should be compulsory viewing. >> Read on...

New Study Shows that School Autonomy Fails to Increase Results of Lower Achieving Students

Posted on Friday May 24, 2013

A new study has found that school autonomy has little effect on student performance and fails to improve results for lower achieving students. It adds to the weight of evidence that increasing school autonomy does not work. < >> Read on...

Students Got Raffle Tickets to do NAPLAN

Posted on Tuesday May 21, 2013

Some schools offered students special inducements to do the NAPLAN tests last week. One Tasmanian school offered free breakfasts, raffle tickets and lunch and a movie with a teacher to encourage students to do the tests. >> Read on...

Senate Education Committee Rebuffs Govt & Coalition on School Autonomy

Posted on Friday May 17, 2013

The Senate education committee has delivered a major rebuff to the Federal Government and the Coalition on school autonomy. It says that there is no clear evidence that greater school autonomy leads to better student performance. >> Read on...

More Stories About NAPLAN

Posted on Thursday May 16, 2013

Some more stories about NAPLAN this week. >> Read on...

A Day in the Life of NAPLAN

Posted on Thursday May 16, 2013

Some stories about NAPLAN this week from a Canberra government school. >> Read on...

Study Shows Schools Rorting Test Results

Posted on Thursday May 16, 2013

A new study of Florida’s high profile school accountability program has found evidence of rorting by schools. It shows that schools were classifying low-performing students into exempt categories that are excluded from the school performance grading so as to artificially raise their test scores. < >> Read on...

Education Minister Should be Sacked for Turning the Approval Process for New Private Schools into a Shambles

Posted on Tuesday May 14, 2013

Save Our Schools has called on the ACT Chief Minister to sack her Education Minister and overhaul the approval process for new private schools in Canberra because the Education Minister has turned the approval process into a shambles. >> Read on...

Media Release: Conspiracy of Silence About the Right to Withdraw Children from NAPLAN Tests

Posted on Monday May 13, 2013

There is a conspiracy of silence amongst education authorities about the right of parents to withdraw their children from the NAPLAN tests which begin Tuesday. >> Read on...

Canberra Private School Sets a Great Example on NAPLAN

Posted on Saturday May 11, 2013

A Canberra private school has set a great example for other schools in dealing with NAPLAN and informing parents that they can withdraw their child from the tests. >> Read on...

Approval of New Belconnen Private School Conflicts With Previous Assessment

Posted on Friday May 10, 2013

The new private school in Belconnen has been approved even though a similar application by another private school was rejected only five years ago because of excess capacity in the area. < >> Read on...

Media Release: Secret Approval of New ACT Private Schools Is Farcical and Cowardly

Posted on Wednesday May 8, 2013

The ACT Minister for Education gave secret approval last December for three new private schools in Canberra. A new private school in north-west Belconnen will draw enrolments from existing schools in Belconnen, add to excess capacity and threaten the future of some schools >> Read on...

Yes, There is Something Fishy About NAPLAN (and My School)

Posted on Monday May 6, 2013

A television commercial linking a children’s fish-oil supplement to NAPLAN tests produced an outcry last week. A whole industry is being built around NAPLAN testing that is undermining a balanced education and lifestyle for young children. >> Read on...

Public Education Builds Social Cohesion

Posted on Sunday May 5, 2013

A Los Angeles parent pays homage to public education and its role in building social cohesion.< >> Read on...

More Evidence that Test-Based Accountability Narrows the Curriculum

Posted on Friday May 3, 2013

A new academic study has found that test-based accountability measures in the United States have narrowed the curriculum in schools. >> Read on...

Closing the Opportunity Gap

Posted on Wednesday May 1, 2013

A new book sets out comprehensive policies to close the opportunity gaps in education. >> Read on...

The OECD Endorses Gonski

Posted on Monday April 29, 2013

The OECD has endorsed the findings of the Gonksi report on school funding that the current system lacks coherence and transparency and that reducing inequities in education is a key policy challenge for Australia. >> Read on...

Market-Based Education Policies in the US Have Failed to Increase Student Results

Posted on Friday April 26, 2013

A review of market-based education “reforms” in the United States has found that they have not delivered the success promised. >> Read on...

The Economic Case for Gonski

Posted on Tuesday April 23, 2013

The economic case for the $6.5 billion investment in disadvantaged schools and students recommended by the Gonski review of school funding is just as compelling as the equity and social justice case. >> Read on...

Social Segregation in Schools is Increasing

Posted on Friday April 19, 2013

Social segregation in Australia’s schools has increased markedly over the past 25 years. Students from low income families are highly concentrated in public schools while private schools have much larger proportions of their enrolments from high income families. >> Read on...

ACARA Head is Mistaken on Test-Based Accountability

Posted on Monday April 15, 2013

The head of ACARA is incorrect in claiming that Australia is avoiding the US-style consequences of high stakes testing accountability. Australia is introducing payments to governments, schools and teachers based on test results which create incentives to cheat, rig results and narrow the curriculum. >> Read on...

High Proportions of Asian Children Participate in Extra Tuition

Posted on Sunday April 14, 2013

A new survey shows that much higher proportions of Asian children participate in extra tuition outside school compared to Australian children. >> Read on...

A Parent Speaks Out on the Expansion of Testing

Posted on Friday April 12, 2013

A parent says that national testing of science will ruin science education for students and teachers. >> Read on...

Share Your NAPLAN Stories

Posted on Thursday April 11, 2013

The next round of NAPLAN tests is only a few weeks away. Tell us your stories and information about the effects of NAPLAN in your school. >> Read on...

The Standardised Testing Racket

Posted on Monday April 8, 2013

Testing scandals in the United States reveal the problems ahead in Australia as NAPLAN test results are used to rank schools and reward teachers, schools and governments. >> Read on...

The Challenges of Teaching Under High-Stakes Testing

Posted on Thursday April 4, 2013

A Professor of Education says that US schools are no longer designed to produce educated citizens but rather places to produce test results. Is this the future for Australia’s schools under NAPLAN and My School?< >> Read on...

New Group to Oppose NAPLAN Tests

Posted on Tuesday April 2, 2013

A new group called The Boycott NAPLAN Coalition has been set up to oppose the NAPLAN tests. >> Read on...

The Market in Education has Failed in Sweden

Posted on Tuesday April 2, 2013

The introduction of a market in education in Sweden has failed. Since the introduction of government funding for private schools Swedish school results in reading, science, and mathematics have fallen and social stratification and segregation in schools has increased. Private schools have no better results than public schools. < >> Read on...

Symposium on Applying Market Principles to Education

Posted on Thursday March 28, 2013

An international symposium conducted this month by the Swedish Academy of Sciences examined the consequences of school choice for the efficiency and equity of schooling and the consequences of applying market principles for systems of governance, accountability and the teaching professions. >> Read on...

Media Release: Outrageous that Rich Schools Decide Funding for the Disadvantaged

Posted on Tuesday March 26, 2013

SOS says that it is outrageous that the Independent Schools Council of Australia, representing the wealthiest schools in Australia, gets to negotiate the funding loadings for disadvantaged students while representatives of government schools are excluded from negotiations. Government schools enrol the vast majority of disadvantaged students. >> Read on...

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