National issues – Page 9

Do Smaller Classes Make a Difference and is it Cost Effective?

Trevor Cobbold / July 27, 2008September 21, 2019 / ACT issues, National issues

The Liberal Party proposal to reduce class sizes from about 30 to 21 in Years 4-6 in government schools will be popularly received. Reducing class sizes is one of the very few education policies that are widely endorsed by teachers and parents.

The Opposition is to be congratulated for committing a large funding increase for government schools. However, across the board reductions in class sizes are expensive and there are more cost effective ways to improve student outcomes.

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.

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Call for $500 Million to Curb Bullying in Schools

sosaustralia / May 15, 2007June 29, 2019 / Media releases, National issues

Save Our Schools (SOS) today called on the Federal Government to provide $500 million to put an additional counsellor in each government school to deal with bullying and other behaviour problems.

Spokesman for the public education advocacy group, Trevor Cobbold, said it was time that the Howard Government matched its rhetoric on bullying and school violence with resources on the ground.

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Small Schools Achieve Better Results for Students from Low Income Families

Trevor Cobbold / October 5, 2006May 28, 2019 / National issues, School closures

A stream of research studies in recent years has added substantially to our knowledge about the relationship between school size and student achievement. It shows that student socio-economic background is a major factor in how school size affects student outcomes. This has important implications for the Stanhope Government’s proposal to close 39 schools and to partially close 5 other schools.

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The Hobbit Effect – Small Schools Work

Trevor Cobbold / September 9, 2006May 28, 2019 / National issues, School closures

Numerous studies have documented that small schools effectively boost student achievement, especially among at-risk students. A new research report published this month summarizes the vast research literature that explains just why small works in schooling.

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