Student learning and assessment
4 May 2018
Gonski is right: We must make better use of our best teachers
David Gonski’s “2.0” review, released this week, recommends the creation of structured career pathways that value teaching expertise and keep excellent teachers teaching. This would build the capacity of the education system and enhance the status of the profession.
13 April 2018
Regional and rural students need to be a national policy priority
Australia needs to improve the school outcomes of regional and rural students. Non-Indigenous students in regional areas are already three-to-six months behind their metropolitan peers by Year 3. Remote and very remote Indigenous students can be up to six years behind the national average by Year 9.
8 February 2018
Closing the gap in Indigenous literacy and numeracy? Not remotely – or in cities
Every year in Australia, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results show Indigenous school students are well behind their non-Indigenous peers.
8 February 2018
The shocking truth about Australia’s efforts to ‘close the gap’
The “gap” between Indigenous and other school students is even bigger than official figures show. Grattan research reveals that Year 9 Indigenous students in very remote areas are five years behind in numeracy, six years behind in reading, and seven-to-eight years behind in writing. Even in the cities and regions – where most Indigenous students live – the gap is three to four years by Year 9.
7 December 2017
How to achieve excellence in Australian schools: a story from the classroom
A new Gonski review is examining how to achieve educational excellence for Australia’s 3.8 million school students. The success of the review will ultimately depend on whether its recommendations lead to better practice in the classroom. And the best way for policy makers to improve classroom practice is to develop a more adaptive education system.
26 November 2017
How to achieve excellence in Australian schools
Australia’s school education system is not fit for purpose, and we need to rethink the way we teach students, support teachers and run schools. The “Review to Achieve Excellence in Australian Schools”, led by David Gonski and due to report next March, offers a reform opportunity that must be seized.
2 August 2017
How to improve our schools – submission to House of Representatives committee inquiry
Australia faces three overarching challenges in school education: improving the teaching of core academic skills and content; changing parts of what we teach and how we teach it to help young Australians develop their skills and capabilities; and reducing the disparities between educational haves and have-nots. In this submission to a parliamentary inquiry, Pete Goss details how we can make progress on all three.
17 March 2017
Poor behaviour in class is not acceptable but zero tolerance is not the answer
The promise of “zero tolerance” from federal education minister Simon Birmingham is well meaning but can do more damage than good. Poor behaviour in class is not acceptable but zero tolerance is not the answer.
3 August 2016
Education funding: we should be wary of simplistic arguments about money and outcomes
Today’s Naplan results show that literacy and numeracy skills among Australian school children have plateaued. It’s a concerning outcome and federal politicians have immediately entered the fray.
20 June 2016
Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into the National Education Evidence Base
Gathering good evidence of what works in classrooms is vital to building better schools.