Are Finland’s Vaunted Schools Slipping?

Posted on Friday December 13, 2013

Leading Finnish education expert, Pasi Sahlberg, comments on Finland’s slip down the rankings on international test results from the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA)._ >> Read on...

Pyne Misled Parliament on School Autonomy Evidence

Posted on Tuesday December 10, 2013

The Federal Education Minister misled the Parliament last week in claiming that school autonomy in staffing and budgeting increases student outcomes. He demonstrated a cavalier disregard of the evidence on school autonomy. >> Read on...

Media Release: PISA Test Results Prove that Increased Funding Should be Allocated to Disadvantaged Students and Schools

Posted on Thursday December 5, 2013

The new PISA international test results highlight the need for a new funding scheme that directs more money to disadvantaged schools and students. >> Read on...

Australia's 2012 PISA Results

Posted on Wednesday December 4, 2013

The PISA 2012 study shows that Australia’s reading and mathematics results have declined and that the declines have been larger in private schools than government schools. It also shows continuing large achievement gaps between rich and poor. >> Read on...

Private School Registration in the ACT to be Strengthened

Posted on Monday December 2, 2013

The registration process for private schools in the ACT is to be strengthened following the endorsement of the recommendations of a review by the ACT Minister for Education. >> Read on...

Bureaucrats in Nowhere Land on School Autonomy

Posted on Wednesday November 27, 2013

In Senate Estimates last week Greens Senator, Penny Wright, exposed the ignorance of Federal Education Department officials about research evidence showing that school autonomy over budgets and staffing has little to no effect on education outcomes. >> Read on...

South Korea's Education Success Has a Dark Side

Posted on Monday November 25, 2013

South Korea’s highly successful education system has a dark side that Australia would do well not to emulate. >> Read on...

Schools Advisory Council Calls for More Transparency in the Registration of Private Schools

Posted on Thursday November 21, 2013

The ACT Government Schools Education Council has called for changes to the registration process for private schools. It says that the transparency and objectivity of the process should be improved. >> Read on...

Pyne Misleads on School Autonomy Results

Posted on Wednesday November 20, 2013

Christopher Pyne has used highly selective and misleading evidence to support his claim that greater school autonomy for independent public schools will improve school outcomes. The overwhelming evidence indicates he is mistaken in his claim. >> Read on...

Private Schools Are No Better Than Public Schools

Posted on Monday November 18, 2013

Christopher Pyne’s agenda to make government schools more like private schools is under challenge before it has got off the ground. A new education research brief from Save Our Schools shows that private schools do not achieve better results than public schools. >> Read on...

New US Studies Show that Public Schools do Better than Private Schools

Posted on Monday November 18, 2013

Two new US studies also show that results in private schools are no better than in public schools, and may be worse. They add to the evidence from new Australian studies that making public schools more like private schools is not the answer to improving school education. >> Read on...

Study Shows Catholic Schools Have Lost any Academic Advantage over Government Schools

Posted on Friday November 15, 2013

A new study shows that Catholic school results have fallen relative to government schools over the past 20 years and that Catholic school results are similar to government schools. >> Read on...

The Victorian Government is Floundering in Education

Posted on Wednesday November 13, 2013

A school principal blasts the Victorian Government’s new teacher appraisal scheme as hare-brained and insulting to teachers and principals. >> Read on...

Australia’s Declining School Results are Due to Ineffective Private Schools

Posted on Tuesday November 12, 2013

A Melbourne University study shows that the decline in Australia’s performance in international tests over the last decade is primarily due to falling results in both Independent and Catholic schools. >> Read on...

SOS is Taking a Break

Posted on Tuesday September 3, 2013

Save Our Schools is taking a break. We will be back in mid-November. >> Read on...

Australia is in the Top League of All-rounders

Posted on Monday September 2, 2013

Australia is ranked equal fourth in the world in terms of the proportion of students who are top performers in reading, mathematics and science. This puts paid to criticisms that Australia ignores top students. >> Read on...

Test Scores Have Declined for Low Achieving as well as High Achieving Students

Posted on Thursday August 29, 2013

PISA test scores have declined for high and low achieving students since 2000, but those for high achieving students recovered somewhat after 2006 while those of the lowest achieving students have continued to decline. >> Read on...

Independent Panel to Review Private School Registration Process Welcomed

Posted on Tuesday August 27, 2013

Save Our Schools has welcomed the appointment of an independent panel to advise the ACT Minister for Education on the review of the in-principle approval and registration process for private schools in the ACT. >> Read on...

SOS Calls for Sweeping Changes on the Approval and Registration of Private Schools

Posted on Friday August 23, 2013

Save Our Schools has called for sweeping changes to the legislation and administrative regulations governing the approval and registration of new ACT private schools. It has made 23 recommendations for change in a submission to the Government review. >> Read on...

The Defenders of Privilege in Education Are on the Counter-attack

Posted on Tuesday August 20, 2013

The arguments of defenders of privilege in education are not supported by the evidence. There is no substantial evidence that high achieving students are being ignored and that socio-economic background has little impact on student results. >> Read on...

South Korean Students Go to School Twice – Once in the Day and Again at Night

Posted on Friday August 16, 2013

Cram schools are big business in South Korea. They are a factor in the country’s education success, but they are also a factor behind increasing education inequality. >> Read on...

Reports Concede the Lack of Evidence for School Autonomy

Posted on Tuesday August 13, 2013

The lack of evidence that school autonomy leads to increased student outcomes is increasingly conceded by reports and some commentators in Australia. >> Read on...

Minister Ignored Dept Advice on New Private Schools

Posted on Thursday August 8, 2013

Information obtained through a FOI request by Save Our Schools shows that the ACT Minister for Education ignored advice by her department in granting in-principle approval for two new private schools. >> Read on...

Business Council Ignores Evidence on Performance Pay

Posted on Wednesday August 7, 2013

The Business Council of Australia’s support for teacher performance pay ignores the evidence. Research shows it does not increase school or student results. There is also no relationship between performance pay for executives and corporate performance. >> Read on...

School Autonomy Has Created a Privileged Set of Schools in WA

Posted on Tuesday August 6, 2013

Christopher Pyne wants to extend the “independent public schools” model in WA to other states. Principals in low SES schools in WA say that it creates a priviliged set of schools while low SES schools struggle to attract and retain high quality teachers. >> Read on...

Financial Questions About New Islamic School

Posted on Monday August 5, 2013

There are several financial issues about the new Islamic school in Canberra that need answers. >> Read on...

Registration of New Islamic School Should be Postponed

Posted on Friday August 2, 2013

The ACT Education Minister should postpone consideration of the application of At-Taqwa Islamic school for provisional registration until the school obtains a permanent site.< >> Read on...

Directorate of Education Figures Refute Minister’s Claims on Private School Registration Panels

Posted on Tuesday July 30, 2013

Official figures show that the registration of private schools in the ACT is now being decided by a “club” of private school interests. Regulations requiring registration panels to be independent are being ignored by the Minister for Education. >> Read on...

Follow SOS on Twitter

Posted on Monday July 29, 2013

You can now follow SOS on twitter >> Read on...

No Evidence of “Rich Genes”

Posted on Friday July 26, 2013

A recent report by the Productivity Commission claims that genetic factors contribute significantly to the achievement gap between rich and poor. The claim is based on flimsy evidence. There is no evidence to show that genetic differences contribute to the educational gaps between high and low SES students or different ethnic groups. >> Read on...

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