tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/needs-based-funding-33636/articlesneeds-based funding – The Conversation2024-02-24T13:05:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242462024-02-24T13:05:30Z2024-02-24T13:05:30ZUniversities Accord: ‘Gonski-style’ funding is on the table for higher education. This will see some unis gain more than others<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577534/original/file-20240223-24-s0e2jv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C53%2C5946%2C3853&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-writing-on-book-6RTM8EsD1T8">Kyle Gregory Devaras/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The federal government has released the final report on a Universities Accord. Taking more than a year to prepare, it is billed as a “blueprint” for reform for the next decade and beyond. It contains 47 recommendations across student fees, wellbeing, funding, teaching, research and university governance. You can find the rest of our accord coverage <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/universities-accord-121839">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Australian universities could get more federal government funding, in changes recommended by the Universities Accord final report. But there is little detail so far on how it will be paid for. </p>
<p>The accord wants to set a target to more than double the number of government-funded students by 2050. This would see the number of students grow from 860,000 to 1.8 million.</p>
<p>On an individual student level, the accord proposes Australia adopt a “needs-based” funding model. This means universities would receive a base amount per student. Then there would be further loadings for equity students – those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students and students with a disability. Regional universities would also receive extra funding.</p>
<p>But the report is quiet on how to fund the extra places and the loadings. An <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-a-levy-on-international-student-fees-mean-for-australian-universities-215794">international student levy</a>, which was widely anticipated to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/02/explainer-whats-the-plan-to-tax-international-students-and-why-is-it-needed">included as a recommendation</a>, is not mentioned in the final report.</p>
<p>The detail on funding is left to a proposed Tertiary Education Commission to implement within a “funding envelope set by government”. </p>
<p>This sets the scene for the difficult task of designing a new funding system that will inevitably involve losers as well as winners.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-for-universities-what-if-we-funded-higher-education-like-schools-216898">Gonski for universities: what if we funded higher education like schools?</a>
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<h2>Some universities are set to gain more than others</h2>
<p>The accord has recommended that per student funding is changed so universities receive more money for students from equity backgrounds.</p>
<p>This is a similar approach to funding in Australia’s schools, introduced as part of the “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/senate/school_funding/school_funding/report/a03">Gonski</a>” reforms a decade ago.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/mitchell-institute/education/tertiary-education/gonski-for-universities-what-if-we-funded-higher-education-like-schools">Mitchell Institute modelled</a> what a Gonski-style funding model might look like, using the categories identified by the accord and based on funding rates in the school sector. </p>
<p>We found the overall funding per student would increase by about 11%, or A$1.3 billion per year.</p>
<p>Regional universities and universities in outer-suburban areas would receive the biggest share of funding increases, as they tend to enrol more students from under-represented backgrounds. The more prestigious universities, the so-called <a href="https://go8.edu.au">Group of Eight</a>, would gain the least.</p>
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<h2>Why have a new approach to funding?</h2>
<p>The accord has proposed a needs-based funding model because, it says,</p>
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<p>people from groups under-represented in higher education on average require greater support to succeed, often due to experiencing educational disadvantage.</p>
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<p>The aim is to help universities improve outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These students are less likely to go to university, and less likely to finish their studies if they do, than students from more advantaged backgrounds. </p>
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<h2>Managing funding across the system</h2>
<p>The accord is proposing a government funding cap for each university based on the number of students. The Tertiary Education Commission would manage allocations and adjust funding every year to ensure there is “sustained and system-wide growth”.</p>
<p>Built into the model are other provisions intended to remove barriers to higher education access, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>new funding rates for courses that cover the full cost of teaching them </p></li>
<li><p>fee-free preparation programs for anyone who has qualified for a government-supported university place. This is to help get students ready for their course</p></li>
<li><p>freedom for universities to make more choices about their enrolments and finances, including using government-supported places for postgraduate courses. This means some expensive postgraduate qualifications could become more affordable </p></li>
<li><p>extending government supported places to non-universities such as TAFEs, so they can offer higher education courses without having to charge full-fees. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>International student levy not mentioned</h2>
<p>One of the most controversial ideas from the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord/resources/accord-interim-report">accord’s interim report</a> in July was an international student levy. It suggested income from international students would be used to pay for the extra funding required to support the growth in equity students. </p>
<p>But the international student levy is not mentioned in the final report. Instead, the accord recommends the establishment of two funds.</p>
<p>The first is a “Higher Education Future Fund” which would be used to support infrastructure for the sector, including student housing. The recommendation is for a fund of $10 billion, with half coming from universities and the other half from the federal government. Universities with higher non-government revenue, such as high international student income, would be expected to contribute more. </p>
<p>The accord also recommends a new “Solving Australia’s Challenges Fund” to reward universities that use their research expertise and capability to solve national problems. The size of this fund is unclear.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two rows of book shelves in a library." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577703/original/file-20240224-30-wd4thp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577703/original/file-20240224-30-wd4thp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577703/original/file-20240224-30-wd4thp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577703/original/file-20240224-30-wd4thp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577703/original/file-20240224-30-wd4thp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577703/original/file-20240224-30-wd4thp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577703/original/file-20240224-30-wd4thp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">An levy on international student fees is not mentioned in the report, but there are two new funds for unis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/shallow-focus-photography-of-bookshelfs-ggeZ9oyI-PE">Priscilla du Preez/ Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-a-levy-on-international-student-fees-mean-for-australian-universities-215794">What would a levy on international student fees mean for Australian universities?</a>
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<h2>What is next?</h2>
<p>The proposals outlined in the accord report will likely result in a redistribution of federal government financial support in the sector.</p>
<p>But the report has not outlined how this will be done. Instead, the Tertiary Education Commission will be required to determine funding rates and funding caps with universities.</p>
<p>This is understandable because determining final funding models can be very technical work. But it does mean we lack a lot of crucial detail. </p>
<p>It also means a new Tertiary Education Commission (if one is set up) has a very difficult job to do in a constrained funding environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224246/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Universities Accord final report proposes Australia adopts a ‘needs-based’ funding model. On top of base funding, there would be extra loadings to support equity students.Peter Hurley, Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityMelinda Hildebrandt, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168982023-11-05T19:12:43Z2023-11-05T19:12:43ZGonski for universities: what if we funded higher education like schools?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557370/original/file-20231102-19-szrxpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C186%2C2871%2C1881&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/room-chair-lot-356065/">Pixabay/Pexels </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/universities-accord">Australian Universities Accord</a> is a major review of Australian universities.</p>
<p>Its proposals promise to have a huge impact on how Australia’s higher education system will function in years to come.</p>
<p>Education Minister Jason Clare has made <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-21/university-accord-student-higher-education-reforms-could-sting/102626504">equity a top priority</a> for the accord. This means increasing opportunities for disadvantaged groups to attend university and finish their degrees. </p>
<p>In its <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/australian-universities-accord-interim-report-and-immediate-actions">interim report</a> in July, the review panel suggested a “needs-based” funding model could be used for Australian universities, similar to what we have to determine school funding.</p>
<p>With a final accord report due in December, <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/mitchell-institute/education/tertiary-education/needs-based-funding-lessons-from-the-school-sector">our new paper</a> explores how this might work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-anu-vice-chancellor-brian-schmidt-on-the-challenges-universities-face-213994">Politics with Michelle Grattan: ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt on the challenges universities face</a>
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<h2>What is needs-based funding?</h2>
<p>Australia currently has a needs-based model for schools. This was introduced as part of the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/still-waiting-for-gonski-a-great-book-about-the-sorry-tale-of-school-funding-178016">Gonski</a>” reforms a decade ago and is called the “<a href="https://www.education.gov.au/recurrent-funding-schools/schooling-resource-standard">Schooling Resources Standard</a>”.</p>
<p>This involves a base amount for every primary and high school student and then six equity loadings. The loadings provide more funds to schools and students who need more support, including students with disabilities, low English language proficiency, First Nations students, students with <a href="https://www.myschool.edu.au/media/1820/guide-to-understanding-icsea-values.pdf">socio-educational disadvantage</a>, students in regional and remote areas, and small schools.</p>
<p>The accord review panel said a needs-based model, similar to our current school one, has</p>
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<p>potential benefits […] for learning and teaching in universities [which] takes into takes into account the costs of different courses and the socio-economic mix of students at each institution.</p>
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<p>As our paper notes, research evidence shows resources do matter. <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED563793.pdf">Many studies</a> have shown increases in per-student funding, when properly targeted, can lead to improved or higher student outcomes. </p>
<p>At the moment, <a href="https://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/policy-submissions/teaching-learning-funding/how-universities-are-funded/#">university funding is primarily based</a> on a student’s field of study. There are some extra funds for equity students, <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2023/10/Mapping_Australian_higher_education_2023_005.pdf">about A$360 million a year</a>, but this is not a key feature of the system’s design.</p>
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<h2>How might it apply to universities?</h2>
<p>In our paper we explored what would happen if a model similar the Schooling Resource Standard was introduced in Australian universities. </p>
<p>We found a needs-based funding model, using the same parameters as the Schooling Resource Standard, would see an overall 11% increase in base funding amounts to universities for government-funded students. We estimate this would mean about an extra A$1.3 billion per year in federal government funding.</p>
<p>Importantly, universities with large enrolments of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds would gain the most. Under our system, James Cook University, the University of New England and CQUniversity would receive more than a 30% increase in base funding. Charles Darwin University and Charles Sturt University would gain more than 20% in base funding. </p>
<p>The University of Canberra, University of Melbourne and Australian National University, the University of Notre Dame and University of Sydney would stand to gain the least, with an increase of 5–6% in base funding.</p>
<p>This extra funding would specifically help universities counter disadvantage by meeting extra learning needs and providing extra support to help students finish their courses. </p>
<p>We know universities with a higher proportion of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds have <a href="https://www.acer.org/au/discover/article/university-completions-and-equity">poorer completion rates</a>.</p>
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<h2>Could international student fees make university funding more equal?</h2>
<p>A needs-based model could also help with other policy challenges. </p>
<p>The interim report has already <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-universities-accord-draft-contains-spiky-ideas-but-puts-a-question-mark-over-the-spikiest-one-of-all-210383">suggested a levy</a> on lucrative international student fees. The idea is universities would pay some of the fees they receive from international students into a central fund managed by the government.</p>
<p>As we have <a href="https://theconversation.com/international-students-are-returning-to-australia-but-they-are-mostly-going-to-more-prestigious-universities-193391">noted before</a>, prestigious metropolitan universities tend to attract far more international students than other universities. </p>
<p>The idea of a levy has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-a-levy-on-international-student-fees-mean-for-australian-universities-215794">criticised by researchers</a> as complicated and risky. </p>
<p>But a needs-based model could help. International student income could be used to adjust funding to universities using a concept like the “<a href="https://www.education.gov.au/recurrent-funding-schools/schooling-resource-standards-capacity-contribute">capacity to contribute</a>” mechanism in the school sector.</p>
<p>For private schools, a “capacity to contribute” score is calculated using parents’ income. This means independent schools with more advantaged students receive less funding from the government. These schools typically charge higher fees to families. </p>
<p>This model could be applied in higher education so universities with higher international student revenue relative to domestic student revenue receive less government funding.</p>
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<h2>Remaining questions</h2>
<p>In our report, we find a needs-based model is promising. But significant questions remain: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>how should equity be measured within each loading category, and what should be the relative weighting of funding for each group?</p></li>
<li><p>what should students contribute in a needs-based funding model?</p></li>
<li><p>what formula should we use for a “capacity to contribute” measure?</p></li>
<li><p>Could there be a needs-based funding model that doesn’t increase overall funding? </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Our research also found needs-based funding models are very technical. Much more work is required to make sure it would be appropriate for Australia’s higher education sector.</p>
<p>The Universities Accord was right to identify needs-based funding as a policy direction, but it is only the first step towards a new model.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-universities-accord-draft-contains-spiky-ideas-but-puts-a-question-mark-over-the-spikiest-one-of-all-210383">The Universities Accord draft contains 'spiky' ideas, but puts a question mark over the spikiest one of all</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New analysis finds if Australian universities were treated like Australian schools, they would gain 11% in funding per year.Peter Hurley, Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityHa Nguyen, Research Fellow, Victoria UniversityMaria Prokofieva, Senior lecturer, Lead data scientist, Victoria UniversityMelissa Tham, Research fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1554552021-02-17T19:11:47Z2021-02-17T19:11:47ZAustralian schools are becoming more segregated. This threatens student outcomes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384674/original/file-20210217-21-18mpsn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MGS_Senior_Campus.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian school system is concentrating more disadvantaged students in disadvantaged schools, with serious implications for student achievement. A <a href="https://www.gie.unsw.edu.au/structural-failure-why-australia-keeps-falling-short-its-educational-goals">report released today by the Gonski Institute</a> says schools in Australia are more regressive, divided and socially segregated than in most other rich countries.</p>
<p>Our report examines how well Australian education meets our agreed national educational goals. These were most recently articulated in the Alice Springs <a href="http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/Reports%20and%20publications/Alice%20Springs%20(Mparntwe)%20Education%20Declaration.pdf">(Mparntwe) declaration</a> as “improving educational outcomes for all young Australians” through “excellence and equity”.</p>
<p>When governments provide funding to schools, obligations and expectations rightly flow from this. If one of those is promoting “excellence and equity”, it’s time for a serious revision.</p>
<h2>We’re becoming more segregated</h2>
<p>The Australian school system is increasingly concentrating disadvantaged and advantaged students in separate schools.</p>
<p>For example, all Australian schools <a href="https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/About_icsea_2014.pdf">have an ICSEA score</a>, which stands for the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage. ICSEA provides an indication of the socio-educational backgrounds of students. The higher the ICSEA, the higher the level of the school’s educational advantage.</p>
<p>Our analysis shows that in the government sector higher ICSEA schools are 26% bigger than they were in 2011, while lower ICSEA schools are marginally smaller than they were in 2011. Lower ICSEA Catholic schools are around 10% smaller than they were in 2011. </p>
<p>Our data show higher ICSEA schools in all sectors are not only growing in size, but have an increasing concentration of highly economically advantaged students. The reverse is happening in lower ICSEA schools.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-inequality-in-australian-schools-make-them-less-socially-segregated-95034">To reduce inequality in Australian schools, make them less socially segregated</a>
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<p>While some might think this is just the natural order of things, rising inequity creates major and ongoing structural problems that hold back our national education system. Both the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/equity-in-education_9789264073234-en">OECD</a> and <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/995-an-unfair-start-education-inequality-children.html">UNICEF</a> have warned Australia of the risks of our growing educational inequity. </p>
<p>The rise in inequity is not just a problem for the most disadvantaged. It creates a burden with impacts across schooling. The distortions in school growth, according to level of advantage and location, mean management of the school system is unstable — and policies that give all students “a fair go” are actually difficult to implement. </p>
<p>This leads to “needs-based” approaches. But these are inevitably complex and often fail in implementation. The <a href="https://saveourschools.com.au/funding/the-facts-about-school-funding-in-australia">Gonski funding model</a> is one example.</p>
<h2>We’ve gone backwards since Gonski</h2>
<p>The first Gonski review argued additional funding for schools should be allocated on the basis of need. If implemented, this would have boosted equity funding to all sectors. But while funding since the Gonski review pays homage to the language of equity, the data about the overall distribution of funding don’t tell the same story.</p>
<p>Since 2011, the percentage increase in government per-student recurrent funding of Australia’s low ICSEA (under 1,000) schools has been more than the increase to high ICSEA (over 1,000) schools. However, funding aggregated from all sources shows less advantaged schools are no further ahead. And some schools and school sectors have received greater growth in funding – even when needs are matched and accounted for. </p>
<p>My School data also show Australia’s very remote schools, on average, received the same percentage funding increases as major city schools – despite metropolitan areas having clear social and educational advantage. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A school bus sign on a rural road." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384678/original/file-20210217-21-fyrpiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Remote schools, on average, have received the same amount of funding as metropolitan schools — even under a needs-based funding model.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-bus-stop-warning-road-sign-398839681">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>There is no simple answer to why this happens, but it is an inevitable consequence of a competitive system of schools. While the Gonski review recommended independent oversight of the funding arrangements, this was never implemented.</p>
<h2>So, what do we do?</h2>
<p>We acknowledge responses to the report will include the perennial “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/catholic-leader-dismisses-school-funding-reform-as-flight-of-fantasy-20210217-p573a2.html">it’s too hard</a>”. </p>
<p>And while we acknowledge choice of schooling has a strong hold on the Australian psyche, we are calling for a new conversation about what obligations might contribute to more equitable outcomes in all schools. Our report offers ten policy recommendations.</p>
<p>These include fully funding non-government schools with comparable governance and accountability arrangements as government schools, and banning them from charging fees. This means reframing all schools, and consequent funding, as a “<a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/School-choice-and-school-vouchers-an-OECD-perspective.pdf">public good</a>” across all sectors. </p>
<p>The fully funded non-government private schools would still be run by the same organisations as before, and abide by the same educational philosophy. But no student would be turned away. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/03/16/myth-busted--private-schools-don-t-save-taxpayers--dollars.html#:%7E:text=Their%20report%2C%20'The%20School%20Money,culture%20publication%20Inside%20Story%20today.&text=The%20researchers%20said%20this%20is,level%20as%20similar%20public%20schools.">Our previous study</a> revealed combined state and federal recurrent funding of non-government schools is close to, and in many cases exceeds, combined government funding of government schools. </p>
<p>In effect, this means the taxpayer saves little by funding competing systems. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-primary-private-schools-should-be-fully-funded-by-governments-but-banned-from-charging-fees-131753">Australian primary private schools should be fully funded by governments — but banned from charging fees</a>
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<p>One of the biggest barriers to achieving educational equity is the lack of routine reporting of school education outcomes relating to <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2017-section-11-equity-groups">equity groups</a>, as is <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2017-section-11-equity-groups">required in higher education</a>. For example, the ICSEA does not make a single appearance in any annual <a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-2018">national reports on schooling</a>. </p>
<p>To improve equity in schooling, we need clear analysis, monitoring and targeting of inequity. To gain due policy attention the <a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-2018">National Report on Schooling in Australia</a> needs to report on school data and student attainment across all equity groups, across time. We simply cannot allow this growing problem to go unrecognised in our annual national school report card. </p>
<p>Our report team includes two former school principals (one government, one non-government) and a former education minister. We are sensitive to the positioning of diverse interested voices, but we can’t help concluding that something’s got to give. </p>
<p>Rising school inequity means inclusive schooling, providing “a fair go” for all Australian children, is increasingly a pipedream. Growing segregation and residualisation among Australian schools also mean students are less likely to engage with peers from a wide range of backgrounds. In the long term both these issues will lead to shifts in Australian society and character.</p>
<p>We cannot continue to put the important work of structural school reform in the too-hard basket. If we do, countless students, teachers, communities and our nation will continue to suffer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One recommendation to fix inequity in Australia is for the government to fund non-government schools to the same degree as government schools, while banning them from charging fees.Rachel Wilson, Associate Professor in Education, University of SydneyPaul Kidson, Lecturer in Educational Leadership, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1108792019-03-06T00:10:32Z2019-03-06T00:10:32ZWhat the next government needs to do to tackle unfairness in school funding<p>School funding debates in Australia are complex and messy. Stakeholders routinely complain about being hard done by. But the real unfairness is that state schools get less government funding than governments themselves say the schools need, and will continue to do so. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-australias-school-funding-debate-whats-at-stake-100023">Explaining Australia's school funding debate: what's at stake</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, many private schools are already funded at 100% of their target level, and the rest are on the way. </p>
<p>This fails the playground test: the lament of a five-year-old when an adult says one thing and does another. Australian school funding is unfair because it doesn’t live up to its own rules and standards.</p>
<h2>School resources</h2>
<p>Needs-based funding has broad public and political support. <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiz197Vm7rgAhVLbysKHROkAuwQFjAAegQIDhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.education.gov.au%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdoc%2Fother%2Freview-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0Uc5xE4HaPofEjAgt8OOAJ">David Gonski’s 2011 report</a> stated differences in educational outcomes should not be the result of differences in wealth, income, power or possessions. It’s written in <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/australian-education-act-2013">legislation</a>, which defines each school’s target level of government funding, or Schooling Resource Standard. </p>
<p>Under the SRS, every student receives a base amount of funding. When parents choose a non-government school, base funding is reduced according to their capacity to contribute. Students with higher needs attract more funding, regardless of their parents’ capacity to contribute.</p>
<p>No model is perfect, but the structure of the SRS is sound. Schools get more money if their students need it. </p>
<p>Parents can (generally) afford to exercise their right to choose, because non-government schools that serve disadvantaged communities are nearly fully funded by government. Meanwhile, taxpayers save money – at least in theory – when parents opt out of the state school system. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-2-0-is-this-the-school-funding-plan-we-have-been-looking-for-finally-yes-77081">Gonski 2.0: Is this the school funding plan we have been looking for? Finally, yes</a>
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<p>Of course the formula could be improved. The SRS is long overdue for a refresh. </p>
<p>A proposed <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjS8MHZnLrgAhVEWH0KHfoPDPoQFjAAegQIChAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.education.gov.au%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdoc%2Fother%2Fnational_school_resourcing_board_ses_review_final_report.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1D10TAMXaq8pWmVjW67LJ6">new model for calculating parent’s capacity to contribute</a>, based on their family income, still needs to be finalised and legislated. But it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-australias-school-funding-debate-whats-at-stake-100023">clearly fairer</a> than the previous model based on where families lived.</p>
<p>Looking beyond the formula, the federal Coalition’s A$1.2 billion <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/what-choice-and-affordability-fund">Choice and Affordability Fund</a> <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-government-giving-catholic-schools-10-times-what-they-need-analysis-20180923-p505gz.html">should go</a>. It subsidises low-fee private schools even when <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-why-catholic-primary-school-parents-can-afford-to-pay-more-102643">parents can afford to pay their way</a>. And education systems (such as Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican, plus state education departments) need to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/09/catholic-schools-say-we-should-trust-them-on-funding-this-is-not-good-enough">better account for how they distribute the funding they receive as a lump sum</a>.</p>
<h2>Theory doesn’t necessarily translate to practice</h2>
<p>But these issues pale in comparison with the gap between funding theory and funding practice.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/new-model-for-school-funding-that-wont-break-the-budget-69406">Very few schools actually get their target level of government funding.</a> Most schools get less, some much less. A few schools get more. And a handful of high-fee private schools – the schools least in need of extra cash – get <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/881-Circuit-Breaker-New-Compact.pdf">nearly three times what the formula says they need</a>.</p>
<p>The discrepancies are not random. Government schools educate the bulk of disadvantaged students, but in 2017 were funded at 90% of SRS on average. The non-government school average was about 95%. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-22/counting-the-cost-of-the-education-revolution/10495756">analysis</a> by the ABC shows the funding gap grew over the past decade. Because parents pay fees, non-government schools should never get more public dollars per student than comparable government schools. A decade ago, one in 20 private schools did. By 2016, it was more than one in three.</p>
<h2>What about the coming decade?</h2>
<p>Under <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-passage-of-gonski-2-0-is-a-victory-for-children-over-politics-79828">the Coalition’s 2017 legislation</a>, federal funding will transition to 80% of SRS for private schools and 20% for government schools. It will be consistent across states – a big improvement. And overfunded schools finally lose funding, something Labor never managed to achieve.</p>
<p>The 2017 legislation also requires minimum contributions from state governments. But based on the recently signed <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-reform-agreement-0">National School Reform Agreement</a>, it looks like most government schools will be stuck at 95% of their target level (20% federal funding, 75% state), while private schools will hit 100% (80% federal, 20% state). </p>
<p>And there’s one last sting in the tail. The National School Reform Agreement allows state governments – for the first time – <a href="http://saveourschools.com.au/funding/public-schools-are-defrauded-by-billions-under-new-funding-agreements/">to claim depreciation, transport and part of their expenditure on regulatory authorities</a> as up to 4% of their contribution to school funding. But only for government schools. This reduces effective funding for government schools by about A$2 billion per year by 2027. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-funding-work-in-the-catholic-school-system-78469">Explainer: how does funding work in the Catholic school system?</a>
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<p>Under Coalition policy, the effective funding for each state school will plateau at 91% of SRS, while non-government schools get full whack. Private schools serving disadvantaged students will continue to get more taxpayer dollars than similar government schools. As a five-year-old might say, it’s not fair.</p>
<p>Labor is on course to deliver fairer funding, having committed to building on the 2017 legislation. Labor should lock in the new model for calculating parents’ capacity to contribute, instigate a broader review of the SRS formula and abolish the Choice and Affordability Fund. </p>
<p>Labor has also promised <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-pledges-a-14-billion-public-school-boost-20181009-p508ok.html">A$14 billion extra for government schools over a decade.</a> This would <a href="https://www.theeducatoronline.com/au/news/opinion-school-funding-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/256207">lift the federal contribution to 22.2% of SRS by 2022</a>. Yet government schools would still be underfunded relative to SRS, especially if states could continue to count depreciation, transport and regulatory expenditures as if they represented real money for schools.</p>
<p>If Labor wins the 2019 federal election, it should leverage its budget war chest to renegotiate the national agreements so states can no longer claim depreciation, transport and regulatory expenditures as part of their schools funding. That would put government schools on track to reach 97.2% of SRS. Not quite full funding, but within touching distance.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-victoria-have-australias-lowest-rate-of-public-school-funding-106772">FactCheck: does Victoria have Australia's lowest rate of public school funding?</a>
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<p>For an average government school, the difference between 91% and 100% of SRS is about A$1,500 per student per year. With just half of that money, a typical state primary school could employ two dedicated instructional leaders to improve teaching practice and pay for relief time for other teachers to work with them. Fair funding just might transform the education of the children at that school and the thousands of schools like it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p>Schools funding doesn’t pass the playground test of fairness: state schools get less government funding than governments themselves say the schools need.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/950342018-04-19T20:06:18Z2018-04-19T20:06:18ZTo reduce inequality in Australian schools, make them less socially segregated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215550/original/file-20180419-163966-1hgnql9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Needs-based funding is necessary, but it can only do so much.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">marco antonio torres/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>According to the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/universal-basic-skills-9789264234833-en.htm">OECD</a>, 17% of Australian young people leave secondary school without achieving basic educational skill levels. They conclude that eliminating school underperformance would reap enough fiscal benefits to pay for the country’s entire school system. </p>
<p>Educational inequality takes many forms, and is a problem because it stunts the potential of young people. This underachievement has negative impacts for young people themselves, which in turn has negative impacts for the larger society. Low educational outcomes are related to <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/C822971247C9CAD1CA2578BD0013DAEC?opendocument">diminished health</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775702000389">unemployment</a>, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features40Mar+2010">low wages</a>, <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/other-publications">social exclusion</a>, <a href="http://youthlaw.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Rethinking-Justice-VulnerabilityReport2016-Red-Cross.pdf">crime and incarceration</a>, and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2010.00685.x">teenage pregnancy</a>. </p>
<p>Inequalities between students from different social backgrounds already exist when they start primary school. Worryingly, these inequalities increase as students progress through the education system. </p>
<p>This week, the <a href="https://www.ceda.com.au/">Committee for Economic Development of Australia</a> (CEDA) published a <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/85/CEDA_How_unequal_Insights_on_inequality_April_2018_web.pdf?1524116407">report</a> about inequality and its negative effects for people and the larger society. The report includes chapters on inequality in education, workplaces, geographic inequality and inter-generational inequality. </p>
<h2>Inequality in Australian schools</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.sstuwa.org.au/news-home/2017/d/naplan-data-shows-continuing-large-achievement-gaps-between-advantaged-and-disadvantaged-students">report</a> shows NAPLAN achievement gaps between year five students from high and low educated parents are the equivalent of more than two and a half years of learning in reading and about two years in writing and numeracy. For year nine students, the gaps are even larger: about four years in reading and numeracy, and four and a half years in writing. </p>
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<p><a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/21/">Data from PISA</a> shows similar inequalities. Australian students from the highest socio-economic status (SES) quartile substantially outperform those from the lowest SES quartile in reading, maths and science. The equity gap represents almost three years of schooling in all three domains.</p>
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<p>These inequalities of educational outcomes are partly driven by poverty and disadvantage outside the school. But these socioeconomic inequalities are then amplified by schooling. This is because socially advantaged students in Australia often receive more educational advantages than their less privileged peers, not less. </p>
<p>Inequalities of educational opportunities and experiences are a result of socially segregated schools. Australia has <a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/equity-in-education/resource-gaps-between-advantaged-disadvantaged-schools-among-the-largest-in-the-world">one of the largest resource gaps</a> between advantaged and disadvantaged schools in the OECD. Australia has large the largest gap in the shortage of teachers between disadvantaged and advantaged schools among all OECD countries. </p>
<p>Disadvantaged schools in Australia also have far fewer educational materials (books, facilities, laboratories) than high SES schools. This gap is the third largest in the OECD, with only Chile and Turkey showing larger inequalities between schools. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-in-indigenous-literacy-and-numeracy-not-remotely-or-in-cities-88704">Closing the gap in Indigenous literacy and numeracy? Not remotely – or in cities</a>
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<h2>To tackle underachievement, we need to do two things</h2>
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<li><p>Give early, targeted and intensive support to students as soon as they start to fall behind. This is what Finland does, with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680939.2010.493230">almost 30% of its students</a> receiving such an intervention at one time or another. It’s one of the best ways to ensure students don’t fall between the cracks. But it requires resources, so we need to give more money to the schools and students who need it. This is where needs-based funding plays a role.</p></li>
<li><p>Make our schools more socially integrated. It’s the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1080/01411920903144251">most effective</a> way to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9GwxXpOP738C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Kahlenberg,+R.+(2001)+All+together+now:+Creating+middle-class+schools+through+public+school+choices.+Washington+DC:+Brookings+Institution%3B&ots=AVaQhMzYEM&sig=lqtDrxpf4gQg3qSrtUEZF2ebOL0#v=onepage&q&f=false">raise achievement</a>. A socially mixed or average student composition creates conditions that facilitate teaching and learning. Middle-class and/or socially mixed schools are also much less expensive to operate because they have fewer students with high needs. Less expensive running costs frees up funds which can be used for targeted and intensive support for students who need it. </p></li>
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<h2>How do we reduce school social segregation?</h2>
<p>If we look to Commonwealth countries that have less segregated schooling than Australia, such as New Zealand, Canada and the UK, we can see two inter-related things. They have a much smaller proportion of schools that charge fees, and smaller qualitative differences between schools in terms of their facilities and resources. </p>
<p>These countries show both of these things can be done while maintaining diverse schooling options. We can still have schools with different faiths, philosophies and orientations, in addition to a strong and robust public school system.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/educational-disadvantage-is-a-huge-problem-in-australia-we-cant-just-carry-on-the-same-74530">Educational disadvantage is a huge problem in Australia – we can't just carry on the same</a>
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<p>While the latest federal school funding approach is moving in the right direction, it’s still based on an inherent contradiction that reduces its effectiveness. On the one hand, we have a funding policy that promotes unequal resourcing between schools via a large fee-paying school sector. This inevitably leads to a socially stratified school system, which increases educational inequalities and underachievement. </p>
<p>We then try to mitigate those negative consequences of our funding policy with a different funding policy (redistribution via needs-based funding). The two prongs are working against each other, which is not only educationally ineffective but also fiscally inefficient.</p>
<p>Needs-based funding is necessary, but it can only do so much. It’s much more effective if we don’t have schools with high concentrations of poverty and disadvantage. Needs-based funding will not be much more than a band-aid if it’s not accompanied by greater structural reform in the way we fund and organise schools. </p>
<p>Needs-based funding redistributes some funding from schools with lower needs to those with greater needs, but it will do little to reduce school segregation. And so the result of our efforts to reduce underachievement will be modest at best.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95034/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Perry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Needs-based funding is necessary, but it can only do so much. It’s much more effective if we don’t have schools with high concentrations of poverty and disadvantage.Laura Perry, Associate Professor, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949792018-04-15T05:12:55Z2018-04-15T05:12:55ZHow to solve Australia’s ‘rural school challenge’: focus on research and communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214843/original/file-20180414-543-tx3r3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To enhance the opportunities for children, we need to ensure we have vibrant and valued rural communities with a strong social and economic future.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent release of the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/independent-review-regional-rural-and-remote-education">report of the independent review into rural, regional and remote education</a> provides a much-needed focus on the unique challenges and opportunities rural, regional and remote communities encounter. Ultimately, this is an issue of the place of these communities in contemporary Australian society.</p>
<p>The review was commissioned in March 2017, with the aim of improving education outcomes for rural students and their access to higher education. It sought to identify new and innovative approaches to achieve this.</p>
<p>The “rural school challenge” has existed since the advent of compulsory education. But this is the first major national report since the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/projects/rural-and-remote-education-inquiry">Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Inquiry into rural and remote education</a> 18 years ago. Sadly, progress towards a more equitable educational experience, outcomes from schooling and access to higher education has been slow in the intervening years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/educational-disadvantage-is-a-huge-problem-in-australia-we-cant-just-carry-on-the-same-74530">Educational disadvantage is a huge problem in Australia – we can't just carry on the same</a>
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<p>We cannot waste the opportunity this report provides to refocus our attention on Australia’s rural communities and the students in them.</p>
<h2>What does the report say?</h2>
<p>The report makes 11 recommendations, and identifies four priorities:</p>
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<li><p>establishing a national focus for regional, rural and remote education, training and research to enhance access, outcomes and opportunities</p></li>
<li><p>focusing on research for successful learning and building young people’s futures – school leadership, teaching, curriculum and assessment</p></li>
<li><p>addressing the information communication and technology needs in regional, rural and remote locations, and</p></li>
<li><p>focusing on the transitions into and out of school.</p></li>
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<h2>A national research programme</h2>
<p>The focus of research in two of these four priorities is important and timely. Here, the report highlights as much about what we don’t know as what we do know.</p>
<p>Australia has a vibrant and internationally renowned rural education research community. <a href="http://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/issue/archive">There have been many studies here in Australia</a>, and overseas, that engage with the issues and ideas put forward in the report. But <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/grants">research funding</a> has been declining in a tight budgetary environment. It has has also focused on issues of schooling only, including <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au">teacher quality</a>, <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au">NAPLAN</a> and <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum">national curriculum</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214844/original/file-20180414-127631-o6zgv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to take a drastically different approach to attracting and retaining good teachers in rural communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through this time, much <a href="https://www.spera.asn.au/events/conferences/">rural, regional and remote education research has been highlighting the problem</a> with the “metro-centric” one-size-fits-all approaches preferred in public policy over the last two decades. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/standardised-tests-are-culturally-biased-against-rural-students-86305">Standardised tests are culturally biased against rural students</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Nonetheless, the resulting projects have identified strategies that work: attracting rural students into teaching, specifically <a href="http://www.rrrtec.net.au">preparing teachers for rural schools</a>, embedding curriculum in local contexts, innovative information and communication technology approaches to enhance curriculum access and new resourcing models, to name a few.</p>
<p>A national research focus will facilitate a unique opportunity to scale up innovations that exist in the sector. It will also ensure our focus is broadened from school-centric research to broadly-based rural education and community research. </p>
<p>We need a ten year focus, with significant and guaranteed funding to develop and implement a longitudinal research agenda. That might seem like a long while, but considering that a child is at school on average 13 years puts it in perspective. When we note the report makes recommendations related to early childhood education through to post-secondary education and training, we’re looking at approximately 22 years of a persons life.</p>
<p>A sustained, rigorous and funded national research program will confirm Australia’s leading international position in rural education research. The challenges we face are not unique to us, they are shared, for instance, by Canada, the US and China.</p>
<p>To activate this, we need to build a small group of five to ten specially trained researchers across the country dedicated to rural, regional and remote research. This leading group of researchers would be at the forefront of identifying success and “scaling this up” - using these insights in more communities and with a greater coverage. They can then provide a rolling review of the success of the implementation of the recommendations in the report.</p>
<h2>A return to equity</h2>
<p>The report places equity back in the centre of the educational agenda, rather than equality and resource redistribution. Through the sustained focus on rural, regional and remote, the report highlights these communities have unique needs that go beyond the funding they receive – though that remains important – and the school gate.</p>
<p>In doing so, it highlights the limitations of the “one size fits all” approach to public policy that has dominated until now. While such approaches might work on a national scale when the vast majority of the population live in major cities, the population outside that space get hidden among the averages.</p>
<p>For instance, the report highlights the need to ensure the relevance of the Australian Curriculum and its implementation for rural, regional and remote students. It reminds us there is another dimension beyond the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools">Gonski 2.0 pre-occupation with the distribution of resources</a>. There is also what schools do with those resources, and how they tailor their work to meet the unique needs of their communities. This is where we need sustained and detailed research.</p>
<h2>The staffing challenge</h2>
<p>Meeting the unique needs of the community is only possible if there are appropriate teachers in the schools to do so. It’s not surprising, then, that the challenges of staffing are a major theme. <a href="http://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/112">Many approaches have been tried throughout Australia</a> to train, attract and retain appropriate teachers for rural, regional and remote communities. If we’re going to ensure the equitable distribution of skilled teachers in these schools, we need to try something radically different.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-a-radical-rethink-of-how-to-attract-more-teachers-to-rural-schools-83298">We need a radical rethink of how to attract more teachers to rural schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Beyond the school gate</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214842/original/file-20180414-127631-tx69y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Challenges to rural education are largely influenced by factors outside the classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While critically important, the challenges of rural education go beyond getting the right teachers into the right school. They are largely influenced by factors outside the school gate, such as the local economy, employment opportunities and <a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/ceraph/regional-wellbeing">community well-being</a>.</p>
<p>This is an area of urgent further research. The report recognises educational achievement exists within the community and the local social and economic issues. But an understanding of how these interrelate in rural, regional and remote contexts remains undeveloped. </p>
<p>To enhance the opportunities for children, we need to ensure we have vibrant and valued rural communities with a strong social and economic future. Such communities are also attractive places for professions to relocate to, have a career and raise a family.</p>
<h2>Rural innovations need to be ‘rural’</h2>
<p>The report makes plain that the needs of rural, regional and remote communities are unique. This is a rural research agenda, not education research with a rural twist. As such, it’s crucial the government’s response, and researchers, heed the theme of the report – each community is distinct, and needs to be considered for what it offers. Then, by recognising this uniqueness, we can explore what innovations are scalable across different communities, and how they need to be tweaked to be successful in each new context.</p>
<p>There is already success in rural, regional and remote schooling. We need the courage to identify this success, understand it, and facilitate collective networking to grow this success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Roberts receives funding from the Australian Government. He is Chief Editor of the 'Australian and International Journal of Rural Education'. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Hattie is the Chair of AITSL and receives research funding from the ARC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Piccoli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A government review of regional, rural and remote education tells us we need to recognise the uniqueness of and understand successes in these communities to improve outcomes for these students.Philip Roberts, Associate professor, University of CanberraAdrian Piccoli, Professor of Practice, School of Education, UNSW SydneyJohn Hattie, Professor, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/880172017-12-03T19:17:53Z2017-12-03T19:17:53ZSTEM education in primary schools will fall flat unless serious issues are addressed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196638/original/file-20171128-2025-v4edym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not all schools have access to enough equipment for their students, which means they waste time building, un-building and re-building their projects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been two years since Prime Minister Turnbull <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/pyne/media-releases/national-innovation-and-science-agenda">announced his innovation agenda for schools</a> and the allocation of funds to boost science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education. But there’s a growing gap between what was promised and the reality of what all schools can access. </p>
<p>STEM education in Australia won’t realise its full potential unless we address issues of resources, equity, teacher professional learning, the needs of students who speak English as an additional language and may have low literacy and numeracy skills, and ageing school facilities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-solve-our-stem-skills-problem-bring-in-the-professionals-87513">Want to solve our STEM skills problem? Bring in the professionals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Building teacher confidence and capacity</h2>
<p>Two recent Australian <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4891119/Exploring_technology_integration_in_teachers_classrooms_in_NSW_public_schools">studies</a> involving nearly 1,000 primary school students sought to determine whether a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34736745/Switching_Middle_School_Teachers_onto_STEM_Using_a_Pedagogical_Framework_for_Technology_Integration_The_Case_for_High_Possibility_Classrooms_in_Australia">new teaching model</a> would build teacher confidence and capacity in STEM. Data was collected from surveys, teaching plans, observations in classrooms, interviews with teachers and principals and focus groups with students. </p>
<p>The studies found the ten week units of inquiry-based learning using the new model are effective. Teachers, regardless of how much science or maths they’ve studied, are prepared to step up and tackle teaching more difficult concepts like computational thinking, laws of motion and light conduction. For example, one early career teacher said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I feel like I am in my element. Teaching simple coding has been really great. Primary school teachers have the ability to teach really relevant concepts for the future and be excited by it. Students pick up on your excitement. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Having children do experiments, finding problems, using authentic equipment, like a digital heat thermometer or circuit boards, and hands-on learning were priorities in most classrooms. This includes co-teaching large groups of students with a team of colleagues. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S6jOloXrG2E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A Year 3 student from one of the two studies explaining hydraulics.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One mid-stage career teacher said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Having students work in a small teams with their peers is powerful, they are in the tasks and want to find detailed solutions to scientific problems. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Project-based learning and experiences where students designed and tested prototypes (like the hydraulic pump) were common and teachers <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=professional_dev">reported</a> significant growth in their confidence and capacity across both studies. Only time will tell whether momentum is sustained after the studies conclude.</p>
<h2>Five emerging concerns in STEM education</h2>
<p>The studies succeeded in building teacher capacity and confidence, but also brought to light five concerns about STEM that current education policies and programs do not adequately address. </p>
<p><strong>Resources</strong> </p>
<p>Hands on materials for STEM often cost money. For example, the simple circuits, boards and connecting wires needed in the electricity topic. Most classes in the research shared materials, and this could mean building a circuit then pulling it apart for the next class to reuse the same equipment. This might be a good scientific exercise, but it wastes time and causes frustration. One student said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We do a lot of building, unbuilding and rebuilding because we don’t have enough wires to go around. It’s annoying to have to start all over again each lesson. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-in-the-classroom-can-improve-primary-mathematics-83431">Technology in the classroom can improve primary mathematics</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Equity</strong></p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Southgate_Fair-connection-to-professional-careers.pdf">a rising STEM equity gap</a>. Most of the schools had very old hardware – so the “T” in STEM was left hanging. Technology was not well connected and software needed urgent upgrading. I have conducted research across school sectors in different states, both rural and urban, and the gaps between who has and who has not in STEM are stark. This brings into focus the necessity to fast forward the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-02/malcolm-turnbull-announces-schools-funding-boost/8489806">Gonski 2.0 recommendations</a> for needs-based funding. </p>
<p><strong>Teacher professional development</strong></p>
<p>Teacher learning in STEM education must continue to be supported with targeted funds for teachers to plan units of work together for their continuous professional development is necessary. The default of hiring outside organisations to teach coding and conduct experiments often means teachers stand back while others work with their students. This does little to build personal professional capacity and confidence. </p>
<p><strong>Literacy and numeracy levels</strong></p>
<p>Students need proficiency in <a href="http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/National%20STEM%20School%20Education%20Strategy.pdf">literacy and numeracy</a> for effective STEM learning in primary school education. Low literacy and numeracy levels of students who spoke English as an additional language in Year 6 at some schools made STEM hard. An experienced teacher said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We only have 10 students who can read the content of lessons without help. So 45 students can’t successfully make meaning from instructions or video footage they are given. How do these students access the language they need for STEM?</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Ageing classrooms</strong></p>
<p>Ageing physical spaces with small classrooms were common in most primary schools. These schools had meagre classrooms with lots of students, cramped spaces and no storage space for large STEM constructions. </p>
<h2>Current hive of STEM activity</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/2016/01/spi-2016-stem-programme-index-2016-2/">good news</a> is there’s plenty of excellent STEM activity in Australian schools right now. Some examples are <a href="http://www.youngscientists.com.au/">early childhood discovery programs</a>, coding clubs, <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Education/Community-engagement/National-Science-Week-2017/Celebrating-STEM-in-Schools-2017">CSIRO resources</a>, <a href="https://csermoocs.adelaide.edu.au/">online courses</a> to support application of the digital technologies curriculum, <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-for-the-future/future-focused-learning-and-teaching">classroom re-design</a> and <a href="https://maas.museum/event/future-park/">museums</a> that offer interactive STEM experiences for teachers and students.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/support-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics">Early Learning STEM Australia pilot</a> is one measure planned for pre-schools in disadvantaged communities in 2018. Increased attention to the five big issues with STEM will support the pilot’s impact for teachers and students in more vulnerable primary schools. Access and equity must be made priorities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Louise Hunter receives funding from the NSW Department of Education. </span></em></p>We need to address issues like access to resources, teacher professional development and ageing classrooms to get the full benefit of STEM education in primary schools.Jane Louise Hunter, Senior Lecturer, School of Education; Associate Member, STEM Education Futures, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/770812017-05-03T01:55:44Z2017-05-03T01:55:44ZGonski 2.0: Is this the school funding plan we have been looking for? Finally, yes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167624/original/file-20170503-4096-nbi5nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catholic schools and over-funded schools will lose out the most.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>They used to say that a week is a long time in politics. How last century! Now a day is a long time in politics, or at least the politics of school funding.</p>
<p>Just yesterday morning, I was arguing that school funding was at an impasse. By early afternoon that had all changed, along with the federal government’s rhetoric on school funding. Instead, we were introduced to Gonski 2.0. </p>
<p>For the first time, Education Minister Simon Birmingham has <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-announces-schools-funding-and-a-new-gonski-review-77011">proposed a credible plan</a> to deliver needs-based funding. </p>
<p>But is this the plan we have been looking for?</p>
<h2>Where we were at before the announcement</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonksi report in 2011</a> was an inspired attempt to move past decades of funding wars. </p>
<p>Negotiated or bastardised (depending on your point of view) in its implementation <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">by the last Labor government</a>, it was at first derided, then supported, then buried by the Coalition under Tony Abbott.</p>
<p>The re-boot of leadership under Malcolm Turnbull left school funding in limbo. The resulting policy vacuum led to a messy and unfocused debate. </p>
<p>Labor continued to claim that the only true path was to add billions of dollars to school funding. But Labor’s figures are greatly inflated because of its unwillingness to make tough decisions – or recognise the benefits of historically low wages growth.</p>
<p>At one point, Turnbull suggested to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) that funding should be split, with the Commonwealth paying for non-government schools and states paying for government schools. But this is a terrible idea with <a href="https://theconversation.com/split-funding-idea-for-schools-has-big-risks-and-few-clear-benefits-57102">big risks and few benefits</a>.</p>
<p>Birmingham then publicly supported needs-based funding, but could not explain how we would get there. </p>
<p>Grattan Institute <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-model-for-school-funding-that-wont-break-the-budget-69406">published our own plan last November</a>, arguing that the Coalition could deliver Gonski-style needs-based funding without more money, if it made some tough decisions about indexation and over-funded schools. </p>
<h2>What has now changed?</h2>
<p>Flanked by the big-Gonski himself, Turnbull and Birmingham finally announced the Coalition’s plan.</p>
<p>1) They recommitted to the principles of Gonski, which they referred to as genuine needs-based funding and branded as <em>Gonski 2.0</em>. </p>
<p>2) They promised not to tinker with the overall design of the funding formula for each school, called the “Schooling Resource Standard” or SRS. (The details of the SRS formula should be reviewed, since there are flaws and the original analysis was done with too little evidence. But the formula follows the core design suggested by Gonski, and makes sense.)</p>
<p>3) They disentangled Commonwealth and state funding, arguing that Commonwealth funding should depend on need, not on where students live. </p>
<p>So now, for the first time, the Commonwealth will have a simple and transparent way to explain how it funds schools:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Every school has a target level of funding, the SRS</p></li>
<li><p>Government schools receive Commonwealth funding equal to 20% of SRS (up from 17% on average today)</p></li>
<li><p>Non-government schools receive Commonwealth funding equal to 80% of SRS (up from 77%).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This is a big change from the current model, under which comparable students in similar schools could receive thousands of dollars more or less from the Commonwealth depending on which state or territory they live in.</p>
<p>States and territories will be expected to maintain their real level of funding, but will not otherwise be tied to the SRS formula. </p>
<p>This gives states some flexibility in how much they invest in schools, a good idea in a federal system. </p>
<p>So far so good. But for the numbers to add up, five more changes were needed.</p>
<p>4) Turnbull and Birmingham reduced the long-term indexation rate so that school funding will grow in line with a blend of wages and CPI after 2021. </p>
<p>This change will save billions of dollars over the long term compared to the current legislation. </p>
<p>5) They extended the timeline out to 10 years, giving the power of compound interest more time to do its magic. </p>
<p>6) They tweaked some of the special deals Julia Gillard struck with the Catholic school system. These tweaks will have the effect of expecting parents to contribute more, especially in Catholic primary schools.</p>
<p>7) They finally overturned the mantra of “no school will lose a dollar”, thereby saving maybe $1.5 billion over the next decade.</p>
<p>8) They added new money to the pot compared to the 2016 budget – $2.2 billion over the next four years, substantially more over the long term.</p>
<h2>Who are the big winners and losers?</h2>
<p>Compared to the Labor proposal, most schools, sectors and states will feel like losers. But taxpayers are big winners. </p>
<p><a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/circuit-breaker/">Grattan’s analysis shows</a> that Labor’s plan is far more expensive than required, a huge problem given the state of the federal budget.</p>
<p>Compared to the 2016 budget, the big winners are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Government schools in states that are currently underfunded, especially New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland</p></li>
<li><p>Western Australia, which receives much less from the Commonwealth for its government schools</p></li>
<li><p>Underfunded independent schools (especially the lower-fee schools, some of which are the most underfunded schools in the entire country). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Compared to the 2016 budget, the big losers are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Catholic schools, which will lose a number of special deals (especially for the Australian Capital Territory which had a special deal all of its own); more analysis is needed to understand whether they will be worse off overall</p></li>
<li><p>24 highly over-funded schools that will have their per-student funding cut</p></li>
<li><p>About 300 slightly over-funded schools that will have their funding slowed or frozen. It is not entirely clear who these schools are at this stage. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Where does this all leave us?</h2>
<p>We can now move on from the phoney war to a genuine debate about a concrete and credible proposal. Three things should happen now.</p>
<p>First, there will need to be much broader consultation than has occurred so far. The multitude of states, sectors and other stakeholders in schooling will need to mollified, even if some will never be fully satisfied.</p>
<p>Second, the federal government needs to pass legislation to give effect to the new funding arrangements. This is a big task: timing is tight, given the current deal runs out before the start of the 2018 school year. The senate will be a challenge. </p>
<p>Third, Gonski himself will lead an expert review, to report by the end of this year. His task is to synthesise the evidence on what works and provide advice on how the extra funding should be spent.</p>
<p>Many shots are still to be fired. But this clear, positive approach could be just what we need to get us past the squabbling on funding – a key hurdle so that we can move on to the issues that will really drive improvements in school education.</p>
<p>If that happens, everyone will be a winner, especially Australia’s students. </p>
<p>Well, maybe not everyone. If Gonski 2.0 sticks, the Labor party will need to find a new signature issue to take to the next election.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>• This piece was amended on 3 May to correct a point that was made. The piece suggested that the 300+ schools that will have their funding cut will “probably include government schools in the ACT that are currently funded well above target”. However it is not yet clear who these schools are. The sentence has been amended to reflect this.</strong> </p>
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<p>•<em>Do you have a question about school policy and recent education announcements? Leave your questions in the comments and we’ll pass them on to an expert.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p>For the first time, Education Minister Simon Birmingham has proposed a credible plan to deliver needs-based funding.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/694062016-11-27T19:14:13Z2016-11-27T19:14:13ZNew model for school funding that won’t break the budget<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147515/original/image-20161125-15351-1v414nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new model proposes to fix school funding arrangements.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Funding schools according to the needs of their students is something of a Holy Grail in Australia: something that we want very much but that has been very hard to achieve.</p>
<p>Every school has a “target” rate of funding for each of its students that takes into account the fact that disadvantage, disability, language difficulties and other factors make it more challenging and more expensive to educate some students than others.</p>
<p>But schools are not funded according to their needs-based target. Schools are funded based on a complex mix of <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">historical arrangements and special deals</a>. </p>
<p>Some schools are <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-some-australian-private-schools-are-overfunded-heres-why-66212">over-funded</a> when compared to their target. But most schools are under-funded across independent, Catholic and government school sectors.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">ACT Independent schools receive combined government funding at over 150% of SRS.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan school funding model, based on analysis of data from Commonwealth Department of Education and Training</span></span>
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<p>Lifting all schools to their target funding levels is extremely costly under the current model - we estimate that it would cost more than A$3.5 billion each and every year to fund all schools even at 95% of their target. </p>
<p>But times have changed and unprecedented low wages growth means that needs-based funding has never been easier to achieve than right now. </p>
<p><a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/circuit-breaker/">We propose a new deal</a> that aligns funding to need for the same amount of money. We create big savings by reducing the automatic annual growth on school funding (indexation), affecting all schools. We then reallocate these funds to the most under-funded, getting all schools to their target by 2023. </p>
<h2>How will this work?</h2>
<p>The first step is to fix funding arrangements to set all schools on a course to their target within six years. In parallel, we recommend reviewing the formula for determining needs-based targets to ensure we are aiming for the right target, and adjusting targets if required.</p>
<p>The second step is to introduce transparency in funding arrangements through an independent body, to ensure funding goes where it is needed most. </p>
<p>The third step is to ensure that funding improves teaching and learning. We propose investing in new roles for expert teachers to drive improvement in our classrooms. </p>
<h2>What does the new model mean for schools?</h2>
<p>There will be winners and losers. But there already are. And the current arrangements ensure that the winners stay winners and losers stay losers because school funding grows according to what you got last year, not what you need this year. </p>
<p>Within six years we could level the playing field with very few schools experiencing any loss in real terms.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan school funding model, based on analysis of data from Commonwealth Department of Education and Training</span></span>
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<h2>Fixing funding arrangements</h2>
<p>To fix funding arrangements, we propose reducing the automatic annual growth (indexation) of both target and actual funding per student to recognise the low inflation environment we now live in. Historically education wages have grown each year by about 3% to 4%, but since 2015 this has been dropping and education wages are now growing at about 2.5% each year.</p>
<p>School costs are mostly wages, so school funding indexation should be linked to wage growth in order to maintain its real value over time. But the current (fixed) indexation rates were designed when wages growth was higher and are now over-generous.</p>
<p>Changing indexation arrangements will affect all schools – it slows the growth of every school’s funding target, as well as the actual funding they receive, in line with real cost growth. </p>
<p>The budgetary savings these changes generate are significant and should be redistributed to closing the needs-based funding gap.</p>
<p>We propose additional changes to funding arrangements to ensure all schools reach target funding levels within six years. </p>
<h2>Plan for overfunded schools</h2>
<p>For overfunded schools, we recommend freezing the growth of per student funding until they return to their target funding level. </p>
<p>For example, a school that is over-funded by 10% would receive no funding growth per student for four years, at which time it has returned to target and would then recieve normal funding growth. </p>
<p>This requires over-turning the Gillard government’s promise that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3572064.htm">“no school will lose a dollar”</a>. If no school loses a dollar, some overfunded schools will take more than a century (if ever) to return to target funding levels. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that this is politically challenging. </p>
<p>The independent schools lobby warned the Turnbull government not to treat it as an <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/dont-treat-us-as-an-easy-target-private-schools-issue-warning-over-funding-20160927-grphju.html">“easy target”</a> after education minister Simon Birmingham flagged the idea on <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/qa-simon-birmingham-says-some-private-schools-overfunded-20160926-grp1ji.html">ABC’s Q&A show in September</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, even with a freeze on indexation, many schools will take decades to return to target levels, because some schools are funded nearly three times as much as the formula says. A list was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/full-list-1-billion-flowing-to-wealthy-private-schools-officially-classed-as-overfunded-20160930-grs6nz.html">published recently</a> in the Sydney Morning Herald. </p>
<p>For these highly overfunded schools we recommend year-on-year funding cuts over six years from 2018 to 2023 to spread the impact and ensure all schools reach 95-100% of their target funding levels by 2023. </p>
<p>While tough, these schools have been receiving far more than they need and the change will be easier for them to manage in a low inflation environment. And the most over-funded schools typically have high fees and get the bulk of their revenue from parents, not from the government. They are not the struggling schools in the system.</p>
<h2>Plan for underfunded schools</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, schools that are under-funded will receive boosted indexation to help them catch up over time. Schools that are very under-funded (below 90% of their target) will require top-up payments spread over six years to reach their target funding by 2023. </p>
<p>This will benefit schools in all sectors - in fact, some of the most under-funded schools in Australia are actually independent schools.</p>
<h2>What does this mean for budgets?</h2>
<p>The model will cost the Commonwealth exactly the same as the 2016 Budget over the next four years – and offers significant savings when compared to the funding arrangements under legislation. </p>
<p>The implications however are very different for individual states and for each school sector in each state. </p>
<p>Whether an individual state’s budget will be better or worse off under the model depends on the rate at which per student funding is growing at present (information not publicly available) and how well schools are currently funded compared to the target.</p>
<p>A state like Victoria with under-funded schools will need to step up under the model and spend more on their schools than they have in the past. But it will also receive more Commonwealth funding.</p>
<p>ACT government schools are currently over-funded schools, and the ACT could potentially bank savings under the compact. But it will also receive less Commonwealth funding.</p>
<h2>Funding must improve teaching and learning</h2>
<p>Fixing school funding arrangements – so that actual school funding matches target school funding – will help to maintain a fair and inclusive education system. </p>
<p>But fixing school funding arrangements is only part of the battle. Just as importantly, schools must spend their funding well.</p>
<p>We need structures and approaches that will improve teaching quality to ensure school funding is well spent. </p>
<p>To maximise student learning progress, teachers need to use evidence-based teaching practices in the classroom, including <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/targeted-teaching-how-better-use-of-data-can-improve-student-learning/">targeted teaching</a> and the types of practices described by John Hattie in <a href="http://visiblelearningplus.com">Visible Learning</a>. </p>
<p>We propose investing in teaching quality, through two new roles that recognise expertise in teaching.</p>
<p>Master Teachers and Instructional Leaders will work in and across schools to drive improvements in teaching effectiveness in their subject areas. These roles provide a mechanism for spreading the use of evidence-based teaching practices to all Australian classrooms.</p>
<p>The new model we propose is a circuit breaker. It aligns school funding to need, invests in teaching quality, and maintains most schools’ purchasing power, without breaking the budget.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Griffiths does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new proposed deal on school funding delivers the Gonski funding within budget.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteKate Griffiths, Associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.