tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/public-versus-private-education-10196/articlesPublic versus private education – The Conversation2016-12-09T16:38:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/702382016-12-09T16:38:45Z2016-12-09T16:38:45ZDoes a free place at an independent school really trump going to a state school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149447/original/image-20161209-31385-1lljfrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/527757256?src=p2WLcknbdMLZBe6FH4rkzQ-4-35&id=527757256&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/statement-from-the-new-prime-minister-theresa-may">her first statement as prime minister</a> in July 2016, Theresa May said that “if you’re at a state school, you’re less likely to reach the top professions than if you’re educated privately”. Such claims have often prompted calls for access to independent schools to be made easier for low-income students. However, questions remain about whether programmes to widen access reach the students targeted or produce the desired outcomes for them.</p>
<p>On December 9, in response to recent government demands that independent schools strengthen their connections with state schools <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/09/theresa-may-takes-on-private-schools-as-she-warns-institutions-m/">to maintain their charitable status</a>, the Independent Schools Council (ISC) announced a <a href="http://www.isc.co.uk/media-enquiries/news-press-releases-statements/joint-funding-could-see-10-000-free-new-independent-school-places-every-year/">proposal to create up to 10,000 free places</a> in independent schools every year for low-income families. These places would be jointly funded by independent schools and government. </p>
<p>Rather than adopting the prime minister’s requirement that independent schools create or sponsor new state schools, the ISC is effectively reviving and expanding <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-has-helped-poor-pupils-into-private-schools-before-did-it-work-70222">the Assisted Places scheme</a>. This offered around 75,000 free places at independent schools to students between 1981 to 1997 before the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/may/26/private-school-alienated-poor-pupils">incoming New Labour government abolished it</a> and used the funding to reduce class sizes in state primary schools.</p>
<h2>Assisted places</h2>
<p>A 1998 study looking at the impact of the Assisted Places scheme suggested that it <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240526722_The_assisted_places_scheme_Its_impact_and_its_role_in_privatization_and_marketization">did not increase diversity in the system</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-has-helped-poor-pupils-into-private-schools-before-did-it-work-70222">enhance opportunities</a> for the target group of working-class and inner-city children. Instead, it may have simply reinforced elitist tendencies within the English education system. A survey of former assisted place-holders in adulthood <a href="http://www.wiserd.ac.uk/news/media/press-releases/assisted-place-holders-have-enduring-social-networks-and-bet/">also found that</a> while they regarded themselves as “successful” in terms of their education and careers, they attributed this to ability and hard work, rather than the schools themselves. Around half of them had sent their own children to private schools, perpetuating the elitism noted in the earlier study.</p>
<p>But beyond whether assisted places in independent schools actually help targeted students, are independent schools actually better than state schools? While many studies have attempted to explore whether independent schools are superior in terms of student attainment at school and beyond, they tend to have been small in scale or focused on a particular part of the school system. <a href="http://www.cem.org/attachments/publications/The%2520ISC%2520Report%2520-%2520January%25202016.pdf">Research undertaken for the ICS in 2016</a> took a broader view, looking at students from the age of four and found a difference in GCSE grades between independent and state schools, which they associated with the equivalent of two additional years schooling by the age of 16 for independent school students. </p>
<p>However, the study was also clear that unidentified external factors could have affected their findings. It seems likely that the development of “soft” skills, such as influencing and networking, often associated with independent school students and likely to derive from experiences and connections outside of school, may <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-mobility-why-does-private-school-give-you-such-a-leg-up-45739">also give them an edge</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">Contacts already learned and made.</span>
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<p>And despite their profile and subsequent success, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-good-year-for-private-schools-but-at-what-cost-to-everyone-else-58664">only 7% of the total student population</a> attend independent schools, which makes it difficult to compare their outcomes with the much larger group of state-school students. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/state-school-students-get-better-degrees-than-private-school-pupils-with-same-a-levels-10504225.html">Research published in 2015</a> by the Higher Education Funding Council for England initially found that more state-school students achieved a first or upper second class degree than independent school students, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/university-funding-body-made-disturbing-blunder-with-claim-state-school-students-perform-better-a6718201.html">until it was revealed</a> that they had got their figures the wrong way round. It was not revealed where the perpetrators of the error in HEFCE had gone to school.</p>
<p>One of the main problems is that the independent vs state school issue casts such a long shadow that proponents of either side of the divide tend to seize on whatever evidence they can as a vindication of their view. </p>
<p>The more important point is that, regardless of how far you accept the available evidence of independent schools’ superiority in terms of student achievement or career success, ICS’s new proposal would only involve a relatively small number of young people. At the same time, it runs the risk of entrenching existing divides and, alongside the <a href="https://theconversation.com/grammar-schools-have-a-long-history-of-being-dominated-by-middle-class-children-64198">revival of grammar schools</a>, increasing selection. Evidence from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development suggests thatincreasing selection <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-37364697">does not improve the performance of school systems</a> overall. This means that the ICS proposal may benefit the few that are able to access it, but is likely to have a much greater negative effect on the many that do not.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Jopling 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 proposal may give 10,000 free places a year to low-income students, but private schools may not be a better fit.Michael Jopling, Professor in Education, Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/449172015-08-02T20:08:19Z2015-08-02T20:08:19ZIs your child less likely to be bullied in a private school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90254/original/image-20150730-22674-1plardw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is the data correct that there are fewer bullies in elite schools, or is something else at play? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/foxschumacher/16793504311/">FoxSchumacher/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The most recent Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia (<a href="https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/">HILDA</a>) survey data revealed that twice as many parents of public school students reported their children had been bullied compared to private school parents. </p>
<p>Is it really the case that more bullying occurs in public schools? And should this affect a parent’s choice of school for their child?</p>
<h2>Do these results reflect what’s happening?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/hilda/Stat_Report/statreport_2015.pdf">HILDA</a> tracked a sample of 13,000 households in New South Wales between 2001 and 2012. The data on schools comes from 2012 when participants were asked a range of educational questions. </p>
<p>Households with school-aged children were asked whether or not their child was bullied at school. A higher proportion of parents of children in state schools reported their child was bullied compared with private schools. The differences were greatest for high schools, with 22% of parents at state schools reporting their child was bullied, compared to 15% in Catholic and 11% in other private schools. </p>
<p>So is this information likely to be accurate? There is no reason to suggest the sample is not representative of the NSW population. However, given the question about bullying is based on one question only (with no definition of bullying apparent in the report), it would be useful to draw comparisons with other research. </p>
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<span class="caption">Do bullies discriminate by sector?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yum9me/891746029/">Yum9me/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>There is actually very little research comparing bullying rates at private versus state schools. This is probably because schools are unlikely to agree to take part in research that makes direct comparisons between schools on such a sensitive topic. </p>
<p>There is, however, a similar population sample survey conducted by the US government. In this <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005310">study</a>, parents whose children attended state schools (29%) also reported higher rates of bullying than parents whose children attended private schools (22%). So does this mean an individual child is less likely to be bullied at a private school? </p>
<p>Parents want the best for their child and are attracted to schools that report good data for students on academic, behavioural and social outcomes. But whether your child will have the same experience as children who have gone before depends on whether the results reported are the result of what happens at the school or whether they are inherent to the sample of children who attend the school.</p>
<h2>Misinterpretation of statistics</h2>
<p>A team of New Zealand researchers conducted some <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10734-008-9114-8#page-1">interesting research</a> on individual and school factors affecting students’ academic success at school and later success in tertiary education.</p>
<p>They found the success of a school can be judged by educational programs but not by the demographics of who attends the school. Given general school-leaving results reflect both demography and education programs, they are not a valid measure of a school’s educational quality.</p>
<p>Students’ academic achievement is influenced not only by the educational program a school offers but by what the individual student brings to the school in terms of genetic capability, family support and prior learning. </p>
<p>Almost all state schools are required by law to accept all students in their catchment area. Private schools are not bound by this requirement. Private schools attract a selective population of students whose parents can afford the fees and who are conscientious enough to have enrolled their child many years in advance. </p>
<p>Most private schools also have enrolment applications that exceed their quota, so they can screen for academic ability and behaviour. These schools do not end up with a representative sample of students (and neither do the minority of state schools that have merit entry). </p>
<p>It is therefore a fallacy that we can deduce the relative benefit schools can provide for our child by simply comparing outcome data across schools.</p>
<h2>More at-risk minorities in state schools</h2>
<p>There is no research to my knowledge that examines the differences in effectiveness of private or state schools in preventing or addressing bullying. However, we do know that private schools start with different populations of students from state schools. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the HILDA report shows that family income and the proportion of parents holding university degrees are highest in non-Catholic private schools and lowest in state schools; state schools also have a higher proportion of single parents.</p>
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<span class="caption">There are more at-risk minorities in state schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beckywithasmile/5639109917/">Beckywithasmile/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The greater diversity of students at state and private schools results in state schools educating more students at risk of being bullied. Several demographic factors on which state and private schools differ <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/spq-0000008.pdf">have been found</a> to be <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795511">relevant to the risk</a> of a child being bullied. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/spq-0000008.pdf">Children with a disability</a> are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795511">much more likely</a> to be victims of bullying and violence at school than other students, as are children enrolled in <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2008-17775-001">special education classes</a>. </p>
<p>Parents’ educational level <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10826-013-9820-4">has been found</a> to discriminate bullied from non-bullied children. Children whose father is absent (likely to be more often the case in single-parent families) are also at <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2008-17775-001">greater risk of victimisation</a>.</p>
<p>This suggests that the differences in victimisation between private and state schools may not be due to a higher level of victimisation across all state school students; rather they may reflect a higher proportion of a minority of children who are frequently victimised.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/recurring/report-on-government-services">2015 Productivity Commission report</a> also provides evidence that a much higher proportion of at-risk students attend state rather than private schools. </p>
<p>In 2013, 84% of Indigenous students and 76% of students with a disability attended state schools. Nationally in 2013, the proportion of students with a disability was significantly higher in state schools (6.2%) than in private schools (3.6%).</p>
<p>Around <a href="http://www.eventoffice.com.au/ssl/downloads/NCAB_Program.pdf">10% of children in Australia</a> are bullied on a daily basis. For these frequently bullied children, victimisation tends to be chronic over time. It can <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J008v19n02_03#.VbmTx0KqpBc">continue even when children change schools</a>, which includes crossing from primary to middle or secondary school contexts. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005789414000847">In a study at the Parenting and Family Support Centre</a>, where making a fresh start at a new school was part of an intervention for some of the children, there were at least as many successful transitions for children moving from private to state schools as for children moving from state to private schools. What was more important was the ability of the child to fit in and make friends at the new school.</p>
<h2>So is a child less likely to be bullied at a private school?</h2>
<p>Although more parents from state schools report their child is bullied than do parents from private schools, this could result from the higher proportion of at-risk students who attend state schools. Therefore we cannot conclude that an individual child will be less likely to be bullied if they attend a private school.</p>
<p>There is bullying at all schools. A number of factors impact a child’s risk of being targeted for bullying. These include school management, the child’s social and emotional skills, support from friends and the parenting they receive. </p>
<p>Children’s friendships at school <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9923467">are an important protective factor</a> against bullying. So whether your child already has good friends or is likely to be able to make good friends at a school is an important factor in choosing a school for your child. </p>
<p>Supportive family relationships <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20132419">help protect children</a> against the emotional consequences of bullying at school, so families should take lifestyle factors such as the financial burden of school fees and long travel times into account when choosing a school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karyn Healy conducts ongoing work with state schools and occasional work in private schools.
She coordinated the trial of Resilience Triple P, an intervention for the families of children bullied at school, which was funded by the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Recent survey data revealed that twice as many parents of public school students reported their children had been bullied compared to private school parents.Karyn Healy, Program Coordinator (Psychologist), Resilience Triple P program Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/436242015-06-22T05:46:15Z2015-06-22T05:46:15ZLeaked school funding proposals: should we be worried?<p>The <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-school-reform-paper-proposes-cutting-federal-funding-20150621-ghtkkz.html">leak of four reform proposals</a> for Australian schooling from a confidential draft of the Green Paper on the <a href="https://federation.dpmc.gov.au/">Reform of the Federation</a> has triggered panic and confusion across the country. But while the proposals may seem worrying at first glance, they need to be put in context.</p>
<p>First, these are not policy announcements. They are merely the next step in the long, exhaustive White Paper process, following the launch of the <a href="http://federation.dpmc.gov.au/issues-paper-4">issues paper exploring roles and responsibilities in education</a> late last year. </p>
<p>Discussion and feedback from that paper has been digested by the White Paper Taskforce in the Prime Minister’s department, and now have taken some rudimentary form as a collection of policy reform options in a draft of the Green Paper. </p>
<p>These options are now the subject of confidential and collaborative discussions with Australia’s state and territory governments – discussions intended to critique, elaborate, amend and refine. Following these revisions, the Green Paper will be publicly released for everyone else to view and have their say.</p>
<p>The Green Paper is a <a href="http://federation.dpmc.gov.au/faq-page#n168">consultation document outlining a range of possible solutions</a> to the key problems as assessed by the government. Public submissions are encouraged. </p>
<p>Only after all of this feedback, and yet more research, more consultation with stakeholders and further discussions with the states, will the Commonwealth release the end product – the White Paper – next year. </p>
<p>This document will officially state the government’s preferred policy settings and approach on government roles and responsibilities in education, health, housing and financial relations. Even White Papers, however, are far from implemented policy: they are just preferred policy settings.</p>
<p>Second, the proposals leaked to Fairfax Media are not at all surprising to those that read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-government-to-take-a-back-seat-in-education-35714">background “issue paper” on federalism in education</a>, which repeatedly argued that schooling outcomes would likely be improved if the Commonwealth returned some or all of its responsibilities in school education to the states. It also raised the possibility of alternative funding structures.</p>
<h2>Proposal 1: make states and territories responsible for all schools</h2>
<p>This could improve the targeting and effectiveness of education funding and programs. But it must be accompanied by commensurate funding from the Commonwealth to the states. </p>
<p>Having two levels of government making funding and program decisions independently distorts policymaking, dilutes the effectiveness of programs and distracts schools from their own cohesive and tailored plans for enhanced learning. </p>
<h2>Proposal 2: make states responsible for public schools, and Commonwealth non-government schools</h2>
<p>This could exacerbate the inequities and policy perversions created by two levels of government pulling independent policy levers independently, and provide incentives to reduce expenditure at the expense of the other level.</p>
<h2>Proposal 3: reduce Commonwealth involvement in schools, without significant structural change</h2>
<p>This is the most likely scenario of the four draft reform options, and depending on the detail it could see significant improvement. Productive collaboration between states and Commonwealth could enhance targeting of needs-based funding and by extension equity and excellence throughout all school systems. </p>
<h2>Proposal 4: make the Commonwealth the dominant funder of all schools</h2>
<p>This would be unlikely and unwise. The <a href="http://www.appa.asn.au/content/gonski-report/Review-of-Funding-for-Schooling-Final-Report-Dec-2011.pdf">Gonski Review of School Funding</a>, and the Commonwealth government itself, both repeatedly state that policy experience and expertise in schooling is held by the states, not the Commonwealth. </p>
<p>Connected to this fourth draft proposal was a suggestion that wealthy families pay fees to send their children to public schools and that Commonwealth funding for schools be connected to family ability to contribute. This fee impost could incentivise families to shift to private schools, exacerbating the residualisation in Australia’s school system from the public system to private schools.</p>
<p>Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne quickly distanced himself from this proposal: </p>
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<p>However, public schools around the country already charge a variety of fees and levies. In most states, schools can legally charge for things <a href="http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20150211-School-costs/20150211-School-costs-presentation.pdf">“not directly related to providing free instruction”</a>.</p>
<p>Excursions, uniforms, music instruction, and school photos usually incur extra costs. On top of that, many schools ask for money for building funds and more. School principals cite inadequate government funding as the reason for these parent payments.</p>
<p>In 2013, Victorian parents of public school students <a href="http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/reports_and_publications/latest_reports/2014-15/20150211-school-costs.aspx">paid</a> A$310 million to schools – an average of A$558 per student. This was an increase of A$70 million, or 29%, since 2009. Schools in wealthier areas charge and collect much more than this. Schools educating disadvantaged families charge far less and have a low collection rate. </p>
<p>The Victorian Auditor General’s Office <a href="http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/reports_and_publications/latest_reports/2014-15/20150211-school-costs.aspx">found</a> “parent payments have become essential to the provision of free instruction in government schools”; “schools are charging parents for items that should be free”; and the Victorian Department of Education:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… has no oversight on what items and how much schools charge parents.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We need to do away with the myth that public education is free and talk about how government and communities can <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/the-shared-work-of-learning/">work together to better support schools and students</a>. Schools have been operating without necessary support for too long. Greater coordination, collaboration and support is urgently required.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43624/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Hinz is a member of Need to Succeed, which advocates for needs-based, sector-neutral school funding, and has spoken at their Victorian symposium.</span></em></p>The leak of four reform proposals for Australian schooling has triggered panic and confusion across the country. But while at first glance the proposals may seem worrying, they need to be put in context.Bronwyn Hinz, Policy Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy (Victoria University) & PhD Candidate, School of Social and Political Sciences & Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/436112015-06-22T02:34:19Z2015-06-22T02:34:19ZWithdrawing federal funding for public schooling would exacerbate two-tiered system<p>Fairfax press has <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-school-reform-paper-proposes-cutting-federal-funding-20150621-ghtkkz.html">reported</a> the federal government’s green paper on <a href="https://federation.dpmc.gov.au/">reforming the federation</a> has suggested four possible scenarios for school funding:</p>
<ol>
<li>Give states and territories complete funding responsibility</li>
<li>The federal government to fund independent schools, while states and territories fully fund public schools</li>
<li>Reduce overall federal involvement in schools</li>
<li>The federal government to become the major funder of schools.</li>
</ol>
<p>Given there is nearly a A$30 billion shortfall in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-education-budget-report-card-f-for-fail-41746">school funding</a> from 2018 in this year’s federal budget, it can be assumed that number 4 is the most unlikely scenario. Given the Coalition’s commitment to <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/renewing-federalism">small central government</a>, it is most likely they would support divesting in school funding, pushing back onto the states and territories.</p>
<p>The opposition has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-22/labor-condemns-proposed-fundamental-shift-in-schools-funding/6562562">condemned</a> the proposed changes. The government was quick to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/22/christopher-pyne-rules-out-rich-paying-fees-for-public-schooling">rule out</a> means-testing parents who send their children to public schools. Education minister, Christopher Pyne took to Twitter:</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"612755616591810560"}"></div></p>
<p>However, the question remains: if the federal government withdraws from funding public schools, which is looking increasingly likely, how will the states and territories pick up the slack?</p>
<h2>A two-tiered school system?</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/editorials/value-for-the-education-dollar/story-e6frg71x-1226903790451">user-pays</a> mentality should be no surprise, considering that in the past 18 months the government has attempted (unsuccessfully) to introduce a GP co-payment and privatise the university sector by deregulating fees.</p>
<p>I have argued <a href="https://theconversation.com/pyne-misses-the-point-in-education-reform-26233">previously</a> that the reform agenda misses one of the most important questions: what kind of society do we want to live in? A two-tiered system of schooling will have devastating effects on our social fabric, widening an already too large and persistent <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-poor-kids-continue-to-do-poorly-in-the-education-game-23500">equity gap</a>. </p>
<p>Under a market approach to schooling, poor students will be even <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/students-captive-to-market-forces-and-unfair-school-funding-models-20131208-2yza6.html">worse off</a>. Considering the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/21/australian-inequality-rising-as-top-20-increase-wealth-and-income-report">rising inequality</a> in Australia, this will only further exacerbate the situation.</p>
<p>The 2011 <a href="http://www.appa.asn.au/content/gonski-report/Review-of-Funding-for-Schooling-Final-Report-Dec-2011.pdf">Gonski Review</a> of School Funding was a sector-blind, needs-based and equitable funding model, which had at its heart the promise that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>all students have access to a high standard of education regardless of their background or circumstances.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite claiming to be on a <a href="http://www.themonthly.com.au/politicoz/november/1385419988/unity-ticket">unity ticket</a> for school funding in the lead-up to the 2013 election, the Coalition government has gone against many of Gonski’s recommendations, including the bulk of Gonski funding.</p>
<p>The focus on whether parents <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/wealthy-parents-could-be-forced-to-pay-for-public-schooling/story-fnihslxi-1227409005468">might have to pay</a> more to send their children to public schools is a distraction from the real situation, which is that the government is increasingly seeking to <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-and-schools-spending-growth-must-eventually-be-slowed-abbott-23622">divest</a> in public health and education.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/school-funding-co-payment-for-wealthy-a-matter-for-states-pm-says/story-fn59nlz9-1227409186021">statement</a> that school funding is a matter for the states and territories belies the broader federalism “reform” agenda that puts market logic at the heart of education, health, welfare and other social services; turning them from public goods to private commodities.</p>
<h2>Why we should all fight for public education</h2>
<p>A common neoliberal myth supposes that if everyone is working in their own economic, social and political interests, then it will have benefits for others. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2015/jun/21/so-much-for-trickle-down-bold-reforms-are-required-to-tackle-inequality">Trickle-down economics</a> is one example, with another being the argument that having a university degree <a href="http://theconversation.com/university-a-worthwhile-investment-for-individuals-and-society-oecd-31516">benefits</a> the degree-holder more than society.</p>
<p>When it comes to schooling, the argument is made that parents should have the <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-choice-no-great-love-for-the-private-path-but-parents-follow-the-money-40376">choice</a> to send their children to the best school in order to get the best education they can. This has played out in the US with the rise of charter schools, and in the UK with its focus on free schools and academies. Yet, as I have previously <a href="https://theconversation.com/education-is-a-public-good-not-a-private-commodity-31408">described</a>, such moves increase inequity.</p>
<p>The adverse effects of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/10/sweden-schools-crisis-political-failure-education">Swedish free schools</a> system, where the creation of for-profit schools being funded by public money has seen both decreasing educational outcomes and increasing inequality, should provide a cautionary tale for Australia.</p>
<p>Since the New South Wales <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/psao1866n33208.pdf">Public Schools Act 1866</a>, legislation has enshrined compulsory, secular and universal access to public schooling. This is not something that should be taken lightly, nor should it be cast aside with a spurious argument that it is not the responsibility of the federal government.</p>
<p>Providing universal access to high-quality education that is publicly provided is something we are all collectively responsible for.</p>
<p>Public schooling should not be seen as a safety net, providing limited education for those who cannot afford to go to a private school. Instead, it needs to be celebrated as being one of the most important foundations for a healthy democracy.</p>
<p>Access to education provides enormous <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002296/229603E.pdf">benefits</a> to individuals and societies – increasing health, prosperity, social cohesion and political awareness – while also reducing welfare dependency, crime and incarceration rates.</p>
<p>If we are serious about our attempts to close the gap in Indigenous education, raise literacy and numeracy levels, reduce social disadvantage and provide a meaningful education for all students in Australia, regardless of where they live, then we must have a strong public education system. </p>
<p>Any attempt to undermine the fabric of public education is an attempt to undermine the fabric of society. As such, it is something that every single one of us should be very concerned about.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43611/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Riddle 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>Fairfax press has reported the federal government’s green paper on reforming the federation has suggested four possible scenarios for school funding: Give states and territories complete funding responsibility…Stewart Riddle, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425432015-06-01T20:07:59Z2015-06-01T20:07:59ZPrivate, Catholic schools do add value to students’ results<p>Over the last few years <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/thirty-studies-and-15--years-later-review-shows-public-schools-produce-same-results-20150419-1mlrvg.touch.html">several studies have concluded</a> there are no differences in academic outcomes for students from government, independent or Catholic schools once statistical adjustments are made for students’ socioeconomic status and other factors.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">Studies</a> based the on 2009 and 2012 Australian component of the (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">PISA</a>) international student tests found the large differences in student performance between school sectors were reduced when students’ socioeconomic background was taken into account. The differences disappeared when the schools’ average socioeconomic status was taken into account.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092753711500024X">recent study</a> on Year 5 performance in the National Assessments of Performance — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) found the higher scores of students from Catholic and independent schools disappear with a comprehensive set of controls, which includes prior achievement (such as Year 3 NAPLAN performance). Other statistical approaches led to the same conclusion. </p>
<p>The authors attribute much of the differences between school sectors in NAPLAN to “previous cognitive attainments” or natural ability rather than socioeconomic status.</p>
<h2>Previous studies on school sector differences</h2>
<p>Despite these studies, it would be wrong to conclude there are no school sector differences in student performance in Australia. School sector differences are well established for students’ Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATARs). </p>
<p>This conclusion is based on <a href="http://aed.sagepub.com/content/53/1/19.abstract">a number</a> of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13803611003711310?journalCode=nere20">studies</a> of <a href="http://www.lsay.edu.au/publications/2541.html">cohorts</a> participating in the <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=lsay_research">Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth</a> study (between 1998 and 2009) and <a href="https://www.training.nsw.gov.au/forms_documents/vet/bvet/research/vet_planning/career_moves_acer.pdf">a study of 2010 school leavers in New South Wales</a>. </p>
<p>Generally, the unadjusted gap (not taking into account other influences on student performance) in tertiary entrance rank between Catholic and government school students is about five ATAR points and the gap between independent and government school students is around 11 ATAR points. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83469/original/image-20150601-15250-1fb5r4y.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catholic schools have higher ATARs than government schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When controlling for students’ socioeconomic status, the Catholic-government school sector gap declines marginally, whereas the independent-government school sector gap declines by about one-third from about 11 to seven ATAR points. </p>
<p>School sector differences decline much more substantially when taking into account students’ prior achievement. On average, when taking into account socioeconomic status and prior achievement, the Catholic-government school sector gap is three to six ATAR points and the independent-government school sector gap six to eight points.</p>
<h2>New study confirms sector differences</h2>
<p>I recently undertook the <a href="http://aed.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/05/29/0004944115586658.abstract">most comprehensive study of school sector differences</a> to date. This study is more robust than previous studies based on survey data, since the data is both 100% accurate and complete. I analysed NAPLAN and tertiary entrance performance data obtained from administrative sources for all students (over 40,000) attending all Victorian schools who obtained an ATAR in 2011.</p>
<p>For ATAR, Catholic school students scored, on average, nine ATAR points higher than government school students. Independent school students scored 17 ATAR points higher. </p>
<p>The increments associated with the Catholic and independent school sectors were reduced to six and eight ranks, controlling for socioeconomic status, prior achievement (Year 9 NAPLAN performance), gender and language background.</p>
<p>Analysis of students’ Tertiary Entrance Aggregate, from which ATAR is derived, revealed substantial effects of school sector. Students from Catholic and independent schools performed at 0.24 and 0.38 standard deviations higher than their peers in the government sector, again once accounting for the effects of socioeconomic status, prior achievement, gender and language background.</p>
<p>The study included analysis of students who changed school sectors between Years 9 and 12. It concluded that the Catholic and independent school sectors were associated with increases in academic performance of six and eight percentiles, respectively, compared with the government sector. </p>
<p>Therefore the higher tertiary entrance performance of students attending Catholic and independent schools cannot be attributed to the differences in the social and academic profiles of each sector’s students.</p>
<h2>Socioeconomic background not as important as thought</h2>
<p>This study also demonstrates that students’ socioeconomic background is not nearly as important as often claimed. Student socioeconomic status is a weak predictor of students’ ATARs. The very much stronger effects of prior achievement (Year 9 NAPLAN performance) on tertiary entrance performance cannot (at all) be attributed to socioeconomic status. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83471/original/image-20150601-27771-12fwltz.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A students’ socioeconomic background is a poor predictor of results.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The absence of strong effects of socioeconomic background on tertiary entrance performance makes theoretical sense. The knowledge and skills assessed during and before Year 12 are overwhelmingly taught in schools; even the most highly educated, wealthiest, or most cultured parent would have great difficulty with the depth and breadth of a typical Year 12 student’s subjects.</p>
<p>These findings show that Catholic and independent schools “add value” to students’ tertiary entrance performance in Victoria in terms of higher scores. Here “value adding” is defined as increasing student performance beyond that expected by students’ prior achievement. </p>
<p>This conclusion of substantial sector differences in ATAR does not necessarily contradict studies that show small or no sector differences in NAPLAN. It may be the case that school sector differences in student performance are trivial in primary school but increase over the school career and are sizeable in senior secondary school. At least this seems to be the case for Victoria. </p>
<p>Alternatively, Year 12 assessments are “high stakes” tests, whereas NAPLAN and PISA are “low stakes” tests in that there are no consequences for students for excellent or poor performance. Schools are more likely to devote much greater resources to “high stakes” tests. </p>
<p>Since the early 2000s Victoria has been a leader in allowing analysis of administrative data on student performance in Year 12. It is hoped that analysis of similar data of senior secondary students from other states and territories will help us understand the extent and nature of school sector differences in Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gary N. Marks 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>New research has concluded Catholic and Independent schools do add value to students’ tertiary scores.Gary N. Marks, Adjunct Professor, School of Sociology and Political Science, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/304782014-08-14T06:52:58Z2014-08-14T06:52:58ZThe strengths and benefits of Catholic and independent schools<p>Two recent pieces published on The Conversation (by <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-school-kids-do-better-at-uni-29155">Barbara Preston</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-schooling-has-little-long-term-pay-off-30303">Jennifer Chesters</a>) argue that parents might be wasting their money paying for a non-government school education. They contend that government school students do better at university and, especially when compared to students from independent schools, have similar labour market outcomes.</p>
<p>Defining the value of a school education in terms of tertiary performance and employment outcomes ignores the fact that there are many other less utilitarian reasons why parents might choose a Catholic or independent school.</p>
<p>The faith-based nature of many non-government schools; that most have extensive co-curricula activities such as Saturday sport; and that such schools have a school culture that parents support are also important considerations.</p>
<p>There is also a considerable amount of research suggesting that non-government schools, compared to many government schools, achieve stronger educational outcomes in areas like completion rates, academic results, success at the tertiary level and promoting social cohesion. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/miaesr/publications/working-paper-series/wps2013.html">2013 Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series</a> No. 39/13 investigating the impact of Catholic schooling on wages concluded: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… during the prime time of a career, wage rates for Catholic school graduates progress with labour market experience at a greater rate, on average, than wage rates for public school graduates.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The paper, after 15 to 25 years of labour market experience, put the benefit for Catholic school graduates at:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… around 12% higher growth in real hourly wages compared to wage projections for those who attended government schools.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>American education academic Francis Vella reached a similar conclusion in a <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/146308?uid=3737536&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104520542457">1999 paper</a>. He wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We also find that individuals from Catholic schools are more likely to find employment and are paid higher wages in addition to the effects operating through the higher levels of achieved education.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In relation to tertiary studies, the first thing to note is that non-government school students, on average and even after adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES), are more successful at gaining entry as they achieve stronger Year 12 results compared to many government school students.</p>
<p>In a 2010 paper, University of Melbourne researcher Gary Marks <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13803611003711310?journalCode=nere20#.U-xISGSSyCU">concluded</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… attendance at a Catholic or independent school significantly increased the odds of university participation, net of socio-economic background and prior achievement.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Contrary to the argument that independent school students have a higher drop out rate compared to government school students, Marks <a href="http://www.lsay.edu.au/publications/1835.html">also argued</a> in 2007 that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… students who had attended an independent school were no less likely to complete their course than students who had attended a government school.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While, as cited by Barbara Preston, there are a number of English studies concluding that state school students, compared to non-government school students, achieve stronger tertiary results, the research is not all in agreement. In a 2004 <a href="http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/univadmiss.pdf">paper</a>, British education academic Alan Smithers argued:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>However, the difference is small and is not consistent. In addition, there are differences with university, the schools, the subjects studied and gender.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A 2013 <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2013/201315/">research paper</a> by the Higher Education Funding Council for England concluded that students from independent schools outperform students from government schools in terms of:</p>
<ol>
<li>completing a degree;</li>
<li>achieving a first or upper second; and</li>
<li>gaining employment; or</li>
<li>undertaking further study.</li>
</ol>
<p>The research paper stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The sector-adjusted averages, like the raw data, show that a greater percentage of students from independent schools can be expected to achieve each of the four outcomes than those from state schools.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the criticisms often directed at non-government schools is that they undermine a commitment to the common good and lead to social fragmentation. Once again, the evidence is far from consistent. A second Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) <a href="http://www.lsay.edu.au/publications/1858.html">report</a> investigating volunteering as an essential aspect of active citizenship stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Students at government schools did less volunteering (in frequency and hours) than students in either Catholic or independent schools.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The LSAY report also cited US research showing that compared to government school students, Catholic school students are more likely to volunteer to perform community service. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tpcs.org/about-us/Cardus-Cardus_Education_Survey_Phase_I_Report.pdf">Research</a> carried out by the Canadian-based Cardus think-tank also concludes that students from faith-based schools contribute in a positive way to social stability and social cohesion.</p>
<p>Australian research comparing the incidence of racism in Catholic and government schools also concludes that religious schools are beneficial. The <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/app/theme/default/design/assets/publications/Impact_of_Racism_FYA_report.pdf">report</a>, commissioned by the Foundation for Young Australians in 2009, concluded: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Those students who attend a Catholic school are 1.7 times less likely to report experiences of racism than students attending government schools.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Contrary to the impression that parents choosing Catholic and independent schools are wrong to expect strong outcomes for their children, it’s clear that there is a good deal of research supporting the belief that the impact of such schools is beneficial.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Donnelly 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>Two recent pieces published on The Conversation (by Barbara Preston and Jennifer Chesters) argue that parents might be wasting their money paying for a non-government school education. They contend that…Kevin Donnelly, Senior Research Fellow - School of Education, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/303032014-08-12T20:31:52Z2014-08-12T20:31:52ZPrivate schooling has little long-term pay-off<p>In a <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-school-kids-do-better-at-uni-29155">recent article for The Conversation</a>, Barbara Preston examined the link between type of school attended and progress at university. Barbara concluded that after controlling for tertiary entrance score, university students from government schools outperformed students from private schools. </p>
<p>This finding suggests that paying for an expensive private school education might not be the best preparation for university study. If this is the case, perhaps parents paying private school fees are looking for longer term pay-offs for their investment.</p>
<h2>So who has more success <em>after</em> university?</h2>
<p>I analysed data from the 12th wave of the <a href="http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/data/">Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA)</a> project to examine the longer-term outcomes of attending private schools. For the analysis, I selected one respondent aged between 25 and 34 years per household. The majority of young people have completed their education by the age of 25 and are settled in their careers by the age of 34.</p>
<p>Preliminary analysis shows that individuals who attended Catholic or independent schools were more likely to have completed Year 12 and to have graduated from university, after controlling for the effects of parents’ education, age and sex. </p>
<p>But are there differences in labour market outcomes? Here the type of private school is important. Although those who attended a Catholic school were, on average, 1.3 times more likely to be employed on a full-time basis compared to those who attended a government school, former independent school students were no more likely to be employed full-time than those who attended a government school after controlling for the effects of level of education, sex and age.</p>
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<p>This result seems to suggest that paying private school fees is no guarantee of securing full-time employment. Given that women in this age cohort are in their prime child-bearing years, I also looked at the effect of interactions between sex and type of school attended; sex and age; and sex and level of education to determine whether there are differences between men and women. As expected, women were less likely than men to be employed full-time.</p>
<p>Next, I examined the earnings of those employed full-time according to type of school attended, controlling for the effects of sex, age and level of education. When it comes to weekly earnings, having attended a private school rather than a government school has no effect. </p>
<p>So there would seem to be no return on the parents’ investment in terms of the earnings of their offspring.</p>
<p>Perhaps parents were seeking to ensure that their offspring secured jobs with high levels of prestige in order to maintain their social status. After taking into account the effects of level of education, sex and age, having attended a Catholic school is associated with higher, on average, levels of occupational prestige than having attended a government school. On average, attendance at an independent school is not associated with higher levels of occupational prestige.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56242/original/728q27h7-1407816813.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<h2>So why choose a private school?</h2>
<p>A closer examination of university graduates may shed some light on this paradox. Of the individuals who had completed a university-level qualification, those who had attended an independent school were more likely to have graduated from a Group of Eight (Go8) university compared to those who attended a government school. However, individuals who had attended a Catholic school were no more likely to have graduated from a Go8 university. Perhaps parents expect that graduation from an elite university would provide a pathway into a higher-paying career.</p>
<p>For university graduates employed on a full-time basis, graduation from a Go8 university had no effect on occupational prestige after taking into consideration the effects of sex, age and type of school attended. There was no pay-off for graduation from a Go8 university in the form of increased earnings, nor did type of school attended have any effect, after controlling for the effects of age, sex and field of study.</p>
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<p>These results must call into question the wisdom of paying private school fees, particularly for independent schools <a href="http://www.exfin.com/private-school-costs">whose fees can be anywhere from</a> $20,000 to $34,000 a year. The massive growth in the number of private schools since the 1990s may be having the effect of diluting the advantages perceived to be attached to private schooling. </p>
<p>If, as these results suggest, there is no long-term advantage to be gained from paying to attend an independent school, why do parents stretch their family budgets to pay private school fees? In a climate where university fees are set to rise, parents across the country may start asking themselves this very question.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30303/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Chesters 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>In a recent article for The Conversation, Barbara Preston examined the link between type of school attended and progress at university. Barbara concluded that after controlling for tertiary entrance score…Jenny Chesters, Research Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/278922014-06-20T05:04:47Z2014-06-20T05:04:47ZMarkets alone don’t raise standards in private schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51678/original/rmmrzbnf-1403189788.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Private school, public results.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-189895463/stock-photo-test-score-sheet-with-answers.html?src=AO_GUrOt1Sz_oVPAAXhq7w-1-97">Pimnana_01</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the coalition government’s free schools continue to stir <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/27/free-schools-numbers-do-not-add-up-estelle-morris">heated debate</a>, the problem of how to maintain and raise <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-23515062">standards and quality</a> is front and centre. </p>
<p>To tackle it, MPs have been looking more and more to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/06/free-schools-what-can-america-teach-us-charter-schools">examples from the US</a> – where two decades of experimentation has thrown up a number of strategies for boosting pupils achievement.</p>
<p>For years now, the two most prominent school reform strategies in the US have been school choice and school accountability. School choice policies break the traditional link between family neighbourhoods and the public school to which children are assigned. Accountability policies, meanwhile, stress public reporting of school performance, usually measured by test scores, graduation or attendance rates. Both approaches have their critics – but school choice remains especially controversial. </p>
<p>One hotly debated policy involves the use of <a href="http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2049761,00.html">school vouchers</a> – taxpayer-funded payments to families who want their children to attend private schools, mostly schools with religious affiliations. </p>
<p>More than a dozen states and several large cities currently operate voucher programs. In many ways, these programs are simply the education-specific version of a broader trend toward <a href="http://jpart.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/03/21/jopart.mut017.short">outsourcing the provision</a> of public services to private vendors. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I recently published the results of our study of voucher use in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. <a href="http://epa.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/06/05/0162373714534521.full">Our paper</a> is the first to examine what happens when school vouchers are combined with school accountability. </p>
<p>We found that once private schools were required to report their results to the public, the test scores of their students improved dramatically. </p>
<h2>Wisconsin leads the way</h2>
<p>Milwaukee operates the oldest <a href="http://sms.dpi.wi.gov/mpcp_apps">voucher program</a> in the US. After beginning in a pilot phase in 1990, the program was subject to an initial evaluation by outside analysts. In later years, it expanded to include new private schools and those with religious affiliations. By 2005, nearly 20,000 students in Milwaukee (nearly a fifth of the surrounding school district) used a public voucher to attend one of more than 100 private schools.</p>
<p>In 2006, our research team began a new state-authorised evaluation of the program. We tracked voucher and comparable public school students up until the 2010-2011 academic year. Although we were required to report differences between public and private school performance overall, we were prohibited from reporting the results for individual private schools. </p>
<p>In 2009, Wisconsin passed a <a href="http://sms.dpi.wi.gov/sms_statsrul">new law</a> requiring all private schools receiving vouchers to report the average test scores of their voucher students. The law took effect in 2010, the last year of our study. This law was similar to the federal <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml">No Child Left Behind</a> law governing public schools across the US since 2002. </p>
<p>Because we had been collecting the test scores of students since 2006, our research team was able to examine these scores both before and after private schools in Milwaukee had to follow the same testing and reporting requirements as their public counterparts. </p>
<h2>Everybody’s watching</h2>
<p>The large increase we observed in voucher test scores could have two explanations, each rooted in the basic fact that under the new law, private school scores were destined to become public for the first time. </p>
<p>The schools could have responded in either of two ways: improving the quality of the education they provided to their publicly funded students, or simply focusing their efforts on test preparation (“teaching to the test”). To the extent that the state exam is a valid and reliable measure of student achievement, improved test scores indicate
improved achievement; the two possible school responses appear one and the same.</p>
<p>The chief argument for contracting out public services in local or regional governments is that private firms can supposedly deliver more efficiently than government agencies, who are saddled with cumbersome regulations and civil service requirements. <a href="http://www.edchoice.org/">Advocates for school choice in the US</a> (especially for vouchers) also argue that private schools are more adept at providing education to parents with a variety of different academic, vocational or religious preferences for their children. </p>
<p>To these advocates, the very idea of public oversight of private providers is redundant: market forces will ensure that schools will deliver high quality service because customers – parents just as much as outsourcing public agencies – will otherwise just take their money, and children, elsewhere. </p>
<p>But the data we gathered in Milwaukee strongly suggests the market alone does not adequately hold private schools accountable. Had competition between private schools been maximising the quality of education each provided to its voucher students, we would not have observed such a large gain in test scores once schools knew their results would be made public. If the market alone were enough, the schools’ performance would have been optimal beforehand.</p>
<p>Education, even more than most public services, is an extremely complex field. If test scores do not fully measure school quality, they at least provide a consistent metric on which parents, other taxpayers, or government officials can compare all schools. </p>
<p>Our study is only the latest to suggest that accountability laws can improve school performance, at least on the measure of those tests. There may be a role for the market, as voucher supporters argue. But when it comes to providing important public services, it seems what is good for government agencies is good for the private sector too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27892/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research described in this brief was funded in part by the Annie E. Casey, Joyce, Kern Family, Lynde
and Harry Bradley, Robertson and Walton Family Foundations. The views in this brief represent those of the author (Joshua M. Cowen) alone. </span></em></p>As the coalition government’s free schools continue to stir heated debate, the problem of how to maintain and raise standards and quality is front and centre. To tackle it, MPs have been looking more and…Joshua Cowen, Associate Professor of Educational Policy, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/264062014-05-20T05:14:43Z2014-05-20T05:14:43ZSweeping reforms set to end for-profit education in Chile<p>Chile’s newly re-elected president Michelle Bachelet <a href="http://michellebachelet.cl/programa/">has announced a radical set of educational reforms</a> that are set to review the country’s market-based approach to primary and secondary education. </p>
<p>Bachelet’s reforms – aimed at dismantling a series of neoliberal policies put in place in the early 1980s – will be paid for by an <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-14/rich-deducting-groceries-in-chile-target-of-bachelet-plan-taxes.html">overhaul of the tax system</a>. They include three key measures: to end public funding to private, for-profit schools, to make all primary and secondary education free of charge, and to prohibit contested selective practices used in school admission processes. Bachelet <a href="http://www.gob.cl/2014/05/19/jefa-de-estado-firma-proyectos-de-ley-que-ponen-fin-al-lucro-la-seleccion-y-el-financiamiento-compartido-en-la-educacion-escolar-y-la-creacion-de-una-nueva-institucionalidad-parvularia/">sent the proposals</a> to the Chilean parliament on May 19, and a long controversial legislative debate is now expected.</p>
<p>The changes imply a significant departure from the previous three decades of educational policies in Chile, which have gone precisely in the opposite direction by promoting a market-oriented educational system. </p>
<p>A key reason behind the policy shift is the strong and persistent student movement, which started in 2006 (at the start of Bachelet’s first presidential term) and has been continuously active in Chile since 2011. The student movement has consistently demanded <a href="http://www.tc.columbia.edu/i/a/document/28175_15_02_Bellei_Cabalin.pdf">the kind of policy reform Bachelet has now announced</a>. </p>
<p>But students <a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/158971/chileans-march-to-pressure-bachelet-on-reforms">took to the streets in May</a> to keep the pressure on. In this context, it is important to ask whether these policy reforms are also based on evidence, as opposed to a mere political response to social protests.</p>
<h2>End to for-profit education</h2>
<p>First, the announced reform prohibits for-profit private providers of education, when their profits are obtained directly or indirectly from public funds. This is aimed at ensuring public expenditure on education will go directly to improve quality.</p>
<p>Since the creation of the Chilean school voucher system in 1980 the fastest growing sector has been that of for-profit institutions. The voucher system – where the state gives parents a voucher to use in either private or public schools – was created as part of a market-oriented reform that also included decentralisation of the public education and privatisation. </p>
<p>As a result, for-profit institutions currently account for a third of the total national primary and secondary enrolment, and receive state subsidies on equal terms with not-for-profit private and public institutions.</p>
<p>At the post-secondary level, universities are meant to be non-profit entitites. But <a href="http://www.uchile.cl/publicaciones/97057/con-fines-de-lucro">there is evidence</a> that some new private universities use subterfuges to permit the return of profits for their owners, such as by contracting services or leasing buildings through related companies. </p>
<p>Some international companies including Laureate International and Apollo have purchased large private universities in Chile. </p>
<p>In 2011, a special commission of the House of Representatives identified systematic and extensive practices through which the owners of some private universities <a href="http://www.camara.cl/pdf.aspx?prmTIPO=MANDATOSGRALDET&prmID=6866&prmTIPODOC=COM&prmPERIODO=2010-2014">avoided the law to make profits</a>. </p>
<p>The courts have also begun to <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20121206064955774">investigate allegations</a> of undercover profit and use of illegal tactics by new private institutions to obtain the quality accreditation required to access public resources. </p>
<p>Profit-making motives have also been related to <a href="http://www.econ.uchile.cl/uploads/publicacion/70f845877d9fb897c334e82a9f627fea782d7a6b.pdf">undesirable practices in education</a>, including discrimination against students from low-income families and students with low academic abilities, low quality education services, and the uncontrolled growth of low-cost undergraduate programs with low employability outcomes. There is <a href="http://issuu.com/cefech/docs/sesion_2-cristian_bellei-el_lucro_e/1">also evidence</a> that for-profit schools are less effective than non-profit schools in terms of educational attainment.</p>
<h2>Free education for all</h2>
<p>In another section of the reforms, Bachelet has embraced free education, proposing the end of the co-payment system at the school level. This is a family fee-charging mechanism called “shared funding” that allows and encourages private voucher schools to charge a tuition fee without losing access to the state subsidy. It is used in around 80% of private voucher schools. </p>
<p>The fact that Chile’s government-funded private schools are allowed to charge tuition fees to families has been a highly controversial issue for two decades, because compulsory education is formally “free” in Chile.</p>
<p>The co-payment system introduces a price discrimination mechanism among schools, which is directly linked to the socio-economic status of the student population. This co-payment system has been linked to the high and increasing level of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02680939.2013.806995#.U3pDO_l5OaI">socioeconomic school segregation in Chile</a>, which is the highest among OECD countries.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there is no evidence that this mechanism has improved <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059310001367">Chilean educational quality</a>. </p>
<p>The fact that Chilean students are so highly segregated may be related to the finding that consistently indicates that – in comparative terms – students’ academic achievement is strongly related to students’ socio-economic status in Chile. By eliminating the co-payment system, Bachelet is attempting to reduce school social segregation and reinforce parents’ school choice.</p>
<h2>End to discrimination</h2>
<p>The reforms are also trying to eliminate discriminatory practices by schools. Chilean schools apply arbitrary mechanisms for selecting students, both in the admission process and throughout students’ academic trajectories. </p>
<p>Primary and secondary schools select students based on past performance, prediction of future performance, student’s behaviour, family income, and other family characteristics. These selective mechanisms are especially prevalent in private institutions, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00735.x/abstract">including schools that receive state funding</a>. </p>
<p>Many of these practices have long been denounced by international organisations and human rights advocates as detrimental to students’ right to education. Nevertheless, Chilean political and judicial institutions have previously defended the notion of “free enterprise” in the education market, giving educational providers freedom to set their own rules to admit and expel students. The school selection processes were partially regulated by Bachelet’s General Education Law in 2009, but these regulations seem to have <a href="http://www.ceppe.cl/images/stories/recursos/VF_Resumen_A_Carrasco_et_al_FONIDE_Seleccion_2014.pdf">had little impact on school admission policies</a>.</p>
<p>These selection methods provide a competitive advantage to private schools compared to public schools. The state actively promotes parents’ school choice by publishing school rankings based on students’ performance and applies several test-based accountability policies, including strong sanctions to underperforming schools. Research has shown that when controlling for selection bias,
the <a href="http://www.periglobal.org/sites/periglobal.org/files/BELLEI%20-PEPG-05-13%20Private%20Public%20in%20Chile.pdf">performance advantage observed</a> in private schools compared to public school disappears.</p>
<h2>Opposition likely</h2>
<p>Overall, Bachelet’s announced reforms are attempting to reverse the extreme marketisation of Chilean education. But the technical complexities and political challenges of these policies make them a highly risky decision, and much debate is likely to ensue. </p>
<p>Representatives of private education (including the <a href="http://www.lanacion.cl/noticias/pais/educacion/bachelet-hay-mucha-mitologia-en-torno-a-la-reforma-educacional/2014-04-22/140534.html">Catholic Church</a> which is a key educational stakeholder in Chile) and opposition political leaders have already criticised different aspects of the reforms, arguing that they jeopardise the diversity of educational providers and the freedom of education. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, if successful, Bachelet will create a more appropriate institutional framework to recover, strengthen and expand Chilean public education. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cristián Bellei has been systematically consulted as an external expert by the Bachelet administration on the ongoing education reforms.</span></em></p>Chile’s newly re-elected president Michelle Bachelet has announced a radical set of educational reforms that are set to review the country’s market-based approach to primary and secondary education. Bachelet’s…Cristián Bellei, Researcher, Center for Advanced Research in Education & Sociology Department, Universidad de ChileLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/261562014-05-01T05:42:04Z2014-05-01T05:42:04ZWealthier parents shouldn’t pay even more for public schooling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47513/original/df9c92fp-1398914802.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Charging parents in affluent areas more for public schooling will only increase the inequity between schools</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pbouchard/5168061145/in/photolist-8SFEwv-3TvR2K-5fxkGV-9zFNu-9zFWy-56fT8g-g1KZ7p-efNsZ6-7MPx7Y-6dCZhb-boqBmr-iofjgM-9dGAtT-4nq9mK-3TB8tA-9cjSUX-bAsR4-6K2bMS-7osoW5-5bb1AJ-56iRCS-MaKuZ-36EX4e-6n14nQ-bzTKMr-bzTLmc-3tY8-5FJErN-bmYYrs-5peuzD-avWqbJ-FTtnp-6bV6Nu-7fo2QU-bzTKGp-53ChTL-9cnPLY-8sQhd9-avTJv2-6k5dre-Gpqk2-7f3qPs-g1KxNh-g1KXpN-5fAjFd-bzTPPn-bzTMaM-bmYYT5-5HiW42-8sQhzC">Flickr/Philip Bouchard</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/rich-families-should-have-to-pay-to-attend-public-schools-report-says-20140429-zr13z.html">recent proposal</a> for wealthier families to pay higher fees for public schooling is unworkable and counter-productive on a number of levels.</p>
<p>It’s not generally known that the fees levied and collected by public schools already vary widely according to socio-economic status. Public schools in more affluent areas set fees and have a range of various “voluntary” contributions and costs associated with elective subjects and activities. This can total $2000 a year or more, despite the fact that public schooling is notionally “free”. Schools in poorer areas typically have much lower fees of $100-200 and a much lower rate of fees collected from parents. </p>
<p>Thus there is already a certain amount of inequity within public education – as well as between public and private education. The latest proposal would exacerbate this.</p>
<p>More generally, this proposal is another step along the road to “user pays” in schooling, with those who can pay more receiving a better-resourced service. Instead of public education being an investment in national personal, social and economic prosperity, it is <a href="http://m.theage.com.au/comment/why-free-market-will-not-fix-problems-with-teachers-and-teaching-20140402-zqpo2.html">increasingly being seen</a> as an industry that requires deregulation and exposure to market forces. This will enable governments to further abrogate their responsibility to adequately resource public schools.</p>
<p>Many parents have been convinced that public education has failed and that the interests of their children might best be served by opting out. Adding a new layer of fees to public schooling will be enough to trigger this decision for some. There is a danger that public schools, especially those in lower socio-economic areas, will be left to implode and crumble while parents with the means to place their children in better-resourced public and private schools will do so.</p>
<p>Finally, there is no mention as to how these higher fees for “wealthier” public school parents will be either set or collected. Will this be a job for the tax office? Will fees be based on taxable income for the previous financial year? Will fees be collected through regular income tax deductions? What of the self-employed or families with more than one income? This could become a costly bureaucratic nightmare to implement.</p>
<p>Since European settlement Australia has been built on the foundation of free, secular, compulsory and universally available public education. An equitably funded public education system is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_Level:_Why_More_Equal_Societies_Almost_Always_Do_Better">better for everyone</a>. Where possible a choice of schools should be available to parents but this choice should not be based on either the relative affluence of a school or on the ability of parents to pay for such schooling.</p>
<p>Australia is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_Level:_Why_More_Equal_Societies_Almost_Always_Do_Better">becoming a less equitable society</a>, and the <a href="http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling</a> was the latest and most comprehensive attempt to grapple with the issue. Previous schemes have been bedevilled by the political imperative that no matter what the model, no school or system would be worse off under the new arrangements. This entrenches rather than remedies inequity.</p>
<p><a href="https://austcolled.com.au/event/2014-jean-blackburn-oration">In a speech this month</a> David Gonski will reflect on the findings of the review and on the prospects for a more equitable and productive means of funding Australian education. Australians need to consider this review and the broader issues it addressed. We need a plan to sustain and nurture public and private education rather than half-baked measures.</p>
<p>Australia might be able to exist without a car industry but it can’t survive and prosper without an adequately resourced and supported public education sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26156/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Dinham receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The recent proposal for wealthier families to pay higher fees for public schooling is unworkable and counter-productive on a number of levels. It’s not generally known that the fees levied and collected…Stephen Dinham, National President of The Australian College of Educators, and Chair of Teacher Education and Director of Learning and Teaching, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.