Choice and competition – Page 13

New study shows that competition and choice do not raise student achievement

Trevor Cobbold / December 17, 2008April 8, 2019 / Choice and competition

At the heart of the Rudd Government’s policy of reporting individual school results is an assumption that competition between schools will raise student achievement. The theory is that reporting school results will better inform parent choice of schools and the competition between schools for enrolments will act as an incentive for schools to improve student achievement. Continue reading “New study shows that competition and choice do not raise student achievement”

Choice or Equity in Education?

Trevor Cobbold / August 22, 2008June 20, 2026 / Choice and competition, Equity in education

This paper, by Trevor Cobbold, was delivered to the Education Summit in Sydney in June 2008.

It argues that choice has failed the promise of its advocates to improve education outcomes and that it has not only deflected education systems from dealing with the major challenge of inequity in education, but has exacerbated inequity.

The result has been to reinforce privilege in education. The paper further argues that while choice in any education system is inevitable and cannot be denied, it should be strictly controlled in order to give priority to improving equity in education. The paper also sets out some fundamental steps to improve equity in education in Australia.

Market Dogma Won’t Do

Trevor Cobbold / December 7, 2007April 8, 2019 / Choice and competition

A recent article by Henry Ergas, head of the Asia-Pacific Division of CRA International, an international consultancy firm, vigorously defends the Howard Government’s record on education and other issues (Australian Financial Review, 30 November 2007). Continue reading “Market Dogma Won’t Do”

The Great School Fraud

sosaustralia / July 3, 2007May 28, 2019 / Choice and competition, National issues

This article is a summary of The Great School Fraud, a paper prepared for the Australian Education Union by Trevor Cobbold. The full paper can be downloaded below.

The Howard Government has consolidated the social divide in education in Australia by increasing the privatisation of schooling and promoting competition to determine who gets what in education. It is all based on fraudulent claims.

Continue reading “The Great School Fraud”