Category: Equity in education

A report on Australia’s education performance released by the COAG Reform Council this week is not good news for Australian governments. It appears that all the education changes at both the Federal and state/territory levels over the last five years have had little impact. The results strengthen the case for increased funding for disadvantaged students as recommended by the Gonski Review of School Funding.

Overall student results have stagnated with little to no improvement between 2008 and 2011. Large differences remain between the results of high and low socio-economic status (SES) students and between Indigenous students and all students. There was no improvement in the results for low socio-economic status (SES) students and only partial improvement for Indigenous students. Continue reading “School Results Stagnate and High Inequity Remains”

A new study has found a large gap between rich and poor in completion of high school in Australia. It also found that students from lower income families are less likely to be encouraged by their parents to complete high school.

According to the study about 66% of children from low socio-economic status (SES) families currently complete high school compared to 90% of students from high SES families and 78% for medium SES students. Continue reading “Parent and Student Expectations Influence School Completion Rates”

A new analysis shows that students from high socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds in Australia are more likely to be better taught than disadvantaged students. Low SES students have less exposure to teaching practices that are associated with higher results.

Continue reading “High SES Students Get Better Teaching”

Despite claims by the Coalition spokesman on education, Christopher Pyne, Australia does have an equity problem in education. International comparisons of school results show high inequality in Australia which is strongly linked to student background.

There is a learning gap of six years between the bottom and top 10% of 15 year-old students in Australia. This gap is larger than the average for developed countries and amongst the largest of the top performing countries. In addition, the results of the bottom 10% of students in Australia are amongst the lowest of the other top performing countries, but higher than the average for developed countries.

The learning gap between rich and poor is also high at about three years of learning between the bottom and top 25% of students by socio-economic background. This gap is larger than in nearly all other top performing countries. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are doing much worse in Australia than in most other top performing countries. Continue reading “High Inequality in Learning Outcomes Demands Action”

Low income, Indigenous and remote area students can expect little support from a Coalition Government. According to the Coalition’s spokesman on education, Christopher Pyne, Australia does not have an equity problem regarding school outcomes despite overwhelming evidence that it is the major challenge facing Australian education. Continue reading “Pyne Denies the Facts on Inequity in Education”

The Victorian Government recently announced changes to the Education Maintenance Allowance which provides assistance to low-income families for textbooks, stationary, excursions and school uniforms. Until now half the allowance was paid directly to parents and the other half to schools. From 2013, an increased allowance will be paid to parents but no payments will go to schools. The Government says that the savings achieved will allow more equity-based funding to be provided to schools with a high proportion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. The following article on the changes was contributed by a Victorian school principal. Continue reading “Many Victorian Schools to Miss Out on Equity Funding”

The latest national literacy and numeracy results (NAPLAN) show that government education policies have had little to no impact on student achievement in Australia since 2008. There has been virtually no change in overall average results, in the results of disadvantaged students and in the large gaps between the results of disadvantaged and advantaged students. Governments are failing disadvantaged students and their families.

Continue reading “Fund Disadvantaged Students and Everyone Benefits”

An OECD report on equity and quality in education to be released this week will add pressure on the Australian Government to come up with a more equitable system of school funding. The report says that students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds are twice as likely to have low results as other students. It recommends that governments should better target funding for disadvantaged students. Continue reading “New OECD Report Calls for Greater Fairness in Education”