Fighting for Equity in Education
//The following statement was prepared by Save Our Schools in the context of the 2020 Summit. It is intended to contribute to the ongoing public dialogue about the priorities in school education in Australia.
It says that the priority is to improve equity in education, that all children should receive an adequate education and that students from different social groups should receive similar education outcomes. Continue reading “A Vision for 2020: Achieve Equity in Education”
//The Minister for Education, Andrew Barr, claimed last week that the report on student performance commissioned from the Australian Educational Research Council (ACER) shows that “our lowest socio-economic students performed better than their counterparts anywhere else in Australia” [ABC News, 26 March 2008]. He also made a similar claim in a media release on the report.
This claim is false. The ACER report clearly shows that 15 year old students from the lowest socio-economic status (SES) levels do no better than those in at least several other states.
Continue reading “False Claims by Minister on ACER Report”//Trevor Cobbold, spokesman for Save Our Schools, recently delivered an address to a forum on the future of public education in the ACT sponsored the ACT Public Education Alliance. The address makes four key points:
The paper also canvasses some broad policy proposals to address key weaknesses in the ACT school system.
Continue reading “A High Quality, Low Equity and Socially Segregated School System”
//Save Our Schools said today that the report on student performance in the ACT by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is a devastating indictment of the performance of the Stanhope Government in education.
SOS spokesperson Trevor Cobbold, said that the report shows that there are large inequities in education outcomes in the ACT and declining student achievement in key areas. Continue reading “Report Shows Stanhope Govt. Fails on Education”
//There was an orgy of self-congratulation by the ACT Government following the publication of national school results last week. In the extravagance, some irksome realities were ignored.
Continue reading “Self-Congratulation on School Results Ignores Real Problems”//ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey has said the ACT Government’s education policy is failing too many Canberra students.
“I congratulate ACT teachers for their efforts towards achieving
excellent achievements for many Canberra students” Dr Foskey said today.
“However, the Greens are concerned about the alarming and growing gap between the achievements of students from high and low income families, as the Productivity Commission’s latest report has made clear.”
Continue reading “Education policy fails kids”//Save Our Schools today called for a major effort to lift school outcomes for disadvantaged students in the ACT. SOS spokesman, Trevor Cobbold, said that the ACT Government had to act in the light new evidence that shows a large and growing achievement gap between students from high and low income families. Continue reading “Call to Reduce Chasm between Rich and Poor in School Outcomes”
//Save Our Schools (SOS), a public education advocacy group, has called on the Rudd Government to reduce the achievement gap in education outcomes in Australia. SOS spokesman, Trevor Cobbold, said today that glaring inequities revealed by the PISA 2006 study shows the need for a real revolution in education in Australia.
Continue reading “PISA Study Shows the Need for a Real Education Revolution”
//A new report just published by the UK charity, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, has highlighted need to address the educational divide. It shows that children growing up in poverty and disadvantage are less likely to do well at school. Family disadvantage is passed on from one generation to the next in a cycle of underachievement. The report says that the attitudes and experiences that lie behind social differences in education need to be addressed to break this cycle.
Continue reading “Addressing the Social Divide in Education”
//Save Our Schools strives for a high quality public education system that: