Protect NSW students and schools from damaging league tables

Gillard curriculum puts NSW HSC at risk

jfield — 2010-05-16T23:28:28Z

Read the Sydney Morning Herald article here: 'National curriculum content not up to scratch: critics' SMH 14 May 2010)

Dr Kaye said: "The draft national curriculum is a compromise deal with the other states that would see NSW's HSC take a big step backwards.

"Politics is defeating sound education.

"Quality and rigour have been sacrificed to get the other states on board.

"The absurdly short time for public comment is all about fitting Kevin Rudd's election timetable.

"NSW Education Minister Verity Firth must stand up to her federal colleague and send the years 11 and 12 national curricula back to the drawing board.

"She has been put on notice that the rigour of the HSC is at risk.

"Two of the state's professional teachers associations have warned that important and challenging topics in the extension subjects would be lost.

"Advanced maths concepts will disappear at a time when the state desperately needs a strong school education base to build up its science and engineering workforce.

"Literature is set to be dumped from the compulsory English course with unacceptable consequences for the cultural education of students.

"This state already has a world-standard curriculum.

"Taking a step backwards is bad news for the economy, culture and public life. It would undermine the international competitiveness of NSW.

"Ms Firth has to make good on her obligation to protect the rigour and integrity of the state's HSC.

"This time she has to stand up to Julia Gillard and say 'no'," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Gillard's high stakes testing creating school and parent NAPLAN dilemma

jfield — 2010-05-16T23:22:48Z

Commenting on a story in today's Australian ('To sit or not to sit NAPLAN: a testing question', 17 May 2010), Dr Kaye said: "NSW school principals are being forced to choose between protecting their school's reputation and encouraging students with learning difficulties and disabilities to sit for the diagnostic tests.

"This is one of the pointy ends of the 'my school' website.

"Julia Gillard is advancing her political ambitions at the expense of schools and parents of children with special needs.

"If the Deputy Prime Minister listened to the Australian Education Union, teachers and principals, she would abandon publishing averages.

"Julia Gillard's obsession with mean scores is unfairly causing special needs students to be seen as a burden on the school's reputation.

"Graphs of the spread of student outcomes would not only make it much more difficult to develop damaging league tables and other misleading comparisons of schools.

"More detailed information would also help visitors to the 'my school' website separate the scores of children of different abilities.

"By raising the stakes on NAPLAN scores from diagnostic to assessment, Julia Gillard has also put parents in a bind.

"Withholding their children from the tests might put at risk information about some students' learning needs, while allowing them to sit could undermine their confidence.

"NSW Education Minister Verity Firth has made the situation worse in this state by her mishandling of the recent dispute with teachers and her dogged support for publishing average test scores.

"It is time she stood up to her federal colleague and demanded that the 'my school' website replace averages with the spread of outcomes," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

NAPLAN test results will be abused

jfield — 2010-05-11T00:07:16Z

Dr Kaye said: "Before the ink was barely dry on her agreement with the Australian Education Union, Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard was telling the media she would continue to publish average test results.

"Newspapers and other outlets will still be able to harvest the results and publish school league tables, regardless of what other information is put on the 'my school' website.

"Schools and students will be stigmatised and the teachers will be forced to teach to the test.

"While Julia Gillard and her NSW colleague Verity Firth continue to tout their opposition to simplistic comparisons, they are providing the data that makes their publication inevitable.

"Unless average scores on the 'my school' website are replaced with more meaningful information about the spread of school performance, league tables and other misleading and dangerous comparisons will be produced.

"It doesn't matter what other material is published on the site, media outlets will still be able to harvest the average results and use them to construct league tables.

"Publishing graphs of the spread of outcomes within each school instead of the average figures would make it very difficult to produce league tables. It would also provide much richer information for parents and the community.

"Julia Gillard and Verity Firth are ignoring the obvious solutions and pushing ahead with their war on teachers," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

NAPLAN bans lifted but 'my school' problems remain

jfield — 2010-05-06T02:43:12Z

Dr Kaye said: "Having driven schools and teachers to the brink, it is time the Ministers acted in good faith and learned to listen to the genuine concerns of the education profession.

"Verity Firth has a lot of work ahead of her to repair the damage done by her intemperate threats of scab labour and yesterday's school raids.

"She can start by working with teachers to stop the formation of school league tables and to pressure her federal colleague to change the data on the 'my school' website.

"It is appalling that teachers had to threaten industrial action to force state and federal ministers to implement their promise made in June last year to take action to stop the formation of league tables and simplistic comparisons based on test results.

"NSW public sector teachers should be congratulated for acting to protect the state's students and schools from the damage done by misleading comparisons," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Firth, Gillard are responsible for NAPLAN test bans

jfield — 2010-05-05T01:18:13Z

Dr Kaye said: "Julia Gillard and Verity Firth are pursuing a war on public school teachers.

"The ministers are not listening to valid concerns raised by professional educators and experts.

"Simplistic school comparisons are distorting education and stigmatising schools that serve disadvantaged communities.

"Teachers are acting to protect all students in all schools.

"Julia Gillard and Verity Firth are trying to stop teachers exercising their professional conscience. This is a dangerous precedent that would allow health ministers to dictate to doctors the type of procedures they should administer to their patients.

"Teachers are to be congratulated for their commitment to all education and to the public system.

"The ministers should take particular note of the strong response from selective public schools where students do uniformly well in NAPLAN.

"Julia Gillard's 'my school' website could be reformed to stop simplistic comparisons.

"Replacing the average test results with far more meaningful distributions of outcomes within each school would provide more information to parents and stop the formation of league tables.

"Her persistent refusal to even talk to the Australian Education Union about their compromise offer is forcing teachers to act," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455