May 3 2018

Newsletter Articles

Catholic sector welcomes Gonski 2.0 recommendations

The National Catholic Education Commission has welcomed the report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, Through Growth to Achievement, released by the Australian Government this week.

In a media statement, the NCEC’s acting executive director Ray Collins said, while there is a need to look at the report in further detail, the wide-ranging report appears consistent with the submissions lodged by Catholic education entities, takes into account current educational research and thinking, and responds to the key challenges being faced by Australian schools and systems.

Mr Collins said on first impressions, the recommendations reflect many of the strategies identified in Catholic sector submissions, including:

• the need for a national evidence base and broader performance and assessment measures for teachers to use beyond standardised testing
• ensuring a national approach to learning and performance measures across early childhood to post-school pathways
• ensuring teachers are well-supported with professional learning
• ensuring greater autonomy for teachers and principals
• identifying strategies to lift the status of the teaching profession, and
• a renewed commitment to prioritising capabilities within the Australian Curriculum.

“In particular, we welcome the recommendations to ensure a strong foundation for the early years of schooling and a stronger focus on capabilities such as critical thinking, creativity and complex problem solving.”

“This will require broad-based assessment and performance measures that teachers can use to inform their teaching and learning programs,” Mr Collins said.

“Catholic education strongly supports the report’s recommendations that reduce the administrative and reporting burden on teachers and principals to ensure more time for their own professional learning and instructional leadership.

“The focus on personalised learning to achieve one year’s learning gain for each student regardless of their starting point is a commendable goal, which will make it absolutely necessary to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and distractions to learning and teaching, and will have critical implications for the resourcing and funding of schools and systems,” he said.

The NCEC believes greater consultation and a national discussion is needed for the recommendations to develop a national approach to Years 11 and 12 and the ambitious introduction of a new national education agreement in 2019.

Mr Collins said the implementation of the review’s recommendations will be challenging as they require the cooperation of state and territory governments and all school sectors, and will involve significant reform within school communities.

“This is a substantial report but one that will be challenging to implement, largely because of its reliance on the cooperation of all sectors and governments. Many of the recommendations rely on reform at the school or classroom level, which requires appropriate support, resources and local leadership.

“Central to the successful implementation of the recommendations is the recognition of the needs of school systems - such as the Catholic system, the nation's largest provider of schooling outside government - to have the necessary autonomy to address need.

“It’s a big challenge that will require a significant commitment from all governments and we hope that the upcoming federal budget will reflect the costs involved in implementing these proposed reforms, as well the recommendations from the recent report into Regional, Rural and Remote Education.”

Gonski 2.0: An overview

The Australian Government released the final report from the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools titled, Through Growth to Achievement, this week.

The review panel was formed in June 2017 led by businessman David Gonski and consisting of educational and business experts from across the country, including Dr Lee-Anne Perry the executive director of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission.

The review, which received 279 submissions from education, community organisations and the business community, identified three priorities for intervention:

• Priority one: Deliver at least one year’s growth in learning for every student every year
• Priority two: Equip every child to be a creative, connected and engaged learner in a rapidly changing world
• Priority three: Cultivate an adaptive, innovative and continuously improving education system

The report also made 23 recommendations under five themes:

• Laying the foundations of learning before the school years and in the home environment
• Equipping every student to grow and succeed with the knowledge they need and a focus on growing each individuals’ skills
• Creating, support and valuing a profession of expert educators including building on the government’s reforms to date in teacher education
• Empowering and supporting school leaders with experience and autonomy
• Lifting aspirations with quality assurance, data and evidence-based research

Source: Through Growth to Achievement (2018)

In a joint media release, the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Federal Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham accepted the recommendations of the “landmark report” in-principle, and said it outlined a blueprint for reform for the future.

“The review finds that Australia’s education system needs to reform for the future. While many other countries have been changing their education systems to keep pace with the challenges they face, the performance of Australia’s schools has stagnated and declined, both in comparison to other nations and in real terms. For example, between 2000 and 2015, the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment shows Australia dropped from 4th in the world for literacy to 16th, 7th in mathematics to 25th and 4th in science to 14th,” the media release reads.

In a media release, QCEC executive director Dr Lee-Anne Perry said the report highlighted both the strengths of the Australian education system but also the need for continuous improvement.

“We have a strong system with hard-working teachers and students, but we need to build on that foundation, stretch and extend our system further, so we can be sure our students are achieving the best possible education outcomes,” Dr Perry said.

“Teachers need to be able to identify how students are progressing with their learning, support them as they progress and report on that to parents,” she said. “A key part of being able to do that is ensuring that our teachers are supported with what they need to make each student’s learning as individual as possible.”

The review was established to examine evidence and make recommendations on how school funding should be used to improve school performance and student outcomes.

The government has supported the recommendations “in-principle” and has referred it to the Education Council of the Council of Australian Governments. Education ministers will consider the recommendations as part of negotiating a new national agreement and new bilateral agreements. These will cover all schools, both government and non-government. The Council of Australian Governments agreed to conclude the agreement by September 2018.

Parent engagement welcomed by Catholic parents

Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) has welcomed the review’s recognition of the importance of engaging parents in their children’s learning, from the early years and right through young people’s learning at school.

In a media statement, CSPA chair Karl Rodrigues said, “the recommendation for strong and developing evidence of the benefits of parent engagement on children’s learning will support the development of an evidence-informed definition of parent engagement and will assist in driving improvement in policies and practices around parent engagement”.

He also acknowledged the need for a more standardised framework to better engage parents, while recognising there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, saying “parent engagement needs to be contextualised to the local school”.

Funding needed for Gonski 2.0 reforms

While there has been wide-ranging initial support for the recommendations proposed in the Gonski 2.0 report, the key challenge is ensuring adequate funding for what experts describe as “expensive” reforms.

The report recommends a move away from age or level-based learning towards personalised teaching based on each student’s needs to ensure one year of learning gain for all students. It also recommends a new assessment and performance tool to support teachers in delivering improvements.

According to The Australian, the Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe called on the federal government to adequately fund schools before proposing a new testing and assessment tool for classrooms.

“Taking a test does not improve education outcomes, rather it identifies where there are student learning needs and then schools can target programs to support their students,” said Ms Haythorpe.

Melbourne Graduate School of Education academic John Hattie, who consulted with the review panel, said a large number of schools were already doing innovative things and the report provided a framework for scaling that up.

“No question this will be expensive,” he said. “But as I told the review panel, don’t do anything unless it’s going to make a difference. And this will.”

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham, who will meet with his state counterparts on Friday, said the total cost of the recommendations would depend on the agreement of the states and territories and the speed in which they would scale the reforms.

“Ultimately it will be a fraction of the cost of the tens of billions of dollars Australians invest in schools each year,” Senator Birmingham said. “Done well, these reforms can deliver a much better return on investment.”

According to the Courier Mail, Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace warned the recommendations could not be implemented without significant additional funding.

“Quite clearly if you are looking at a tailored educational program that will require additional staffing that will require additional funds from the Commonwealth,” Ms Grace said.

The education sector will be looking towards the Federal Budget which will be delivered next Tuesday night (8 May) to see the impact of the Gonski 2.0 recommendations on education spending.

Australian Training Awards

The Australian Training Awards are the peak, national awards for the vocational education and training (VET) sector, recognising individuals, businesses and registered training organisations including vocational student of the year and school-based apprentice of the year.

The awards are the culmination of the state and territory training awards with winners from each state and territory eligible to compete at the national level in aligned categories and seven categories available by entering directly.

Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Karen Andrews MP, called for applications for the award program.

“The Awards recognise outstanding achievements in skills and training and I urge people and organisations to get applications in by 31 May,” Minister Andrews said. “I want to see the best in our sector recognised for investing in vocational education and training, either as a provider or someone who has benefitted from receiving a nationally recognised qualification.

“So whether you’re an individual, or you represent a secondary school, registered training organisation or a local business, if you have a good story to tell about your experience in skills and training, submit your nomination for this year’s awards and the opportunity for national recognition.”

Nominations close 31 May 2018.

News in brief

• Gonski 2.0 could spell major changes to NAPLAN and HSC. Read more
• Child-led learning has dragged Australia down says Kevin Donnelly. Read more
• ATAR scaling has increased pressure for HSC students - opinion piece by Year 12 student. Read more
• The gap in NDIS funding is higher than expected because more children are signing up. Read more

Statistical Snapshot

A new report from the Grattan Institute shows there are strong advantages for students who attend university, even if they do not finish their degree.

More than 50,000 students who started university in Australia this year will drop out. While there are some costs, the research showed students who had not completed a university degree still enjoyed a strong advantage in the jobs market. Key findings from the report include:

• on average, students pay $12,000 for an incomplete course
• students who study part-time are much more likely to drop out than full-time students
• students who enrol in three or four subjects a year – half as many as a full-time student – have only about a 50 per cent chance of completing their course in eight years
• students with ATARs below 60 are twice as likely to drop out of university as otherwise similar students with ATARs above 90
• three in five students with an incomplete degree surveyed for the report believed their course had still taught them useful skills
• nearly eight in 10 commencing bachelor’s degree students had completed their qualification within eight years or were still enrolled
• most students who left their qualification before completing think they would be better off in their lives with a degree than without
• the majority of students who exit the system do so within the first year

Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said the share of students leaving university without completing a degree is around where it was a decade ago — despite the expansion of university access to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“That’s a real achievement given there are more students at Australian universities than ever before,” Ms Robinson said.

“The reasons why some students do not complete their degrees are complex and often beyond the control of those students and their universities. It can include everything from sudden ill health and financial difficulties through to the challenge of juggling work, study and family life,” she said.

Featured website

Now in its 19th year, National Walk Safely to School Day is an annual event where all primary school children are encouraged to walk to school and be more aware of pedestrian safety. The event will be held throughout Australia on Friday 18 May 2018.

Reflection

“Further transformation of Australian schooling will be challenging, particularly in Australia’s federated education model. However, we cannot let the challenge of delivery daunt our ambition. To aim lower would unfairly limit the life opportunities of young Australians and the prosperity of Australia as a whole. Instead, we should set our ambitions high, confident that we have the resources and talent to be a world-leading school education system that enables every student and every school to achieve educational excellence.” – Through Growth to Achievement