tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/student-outcomes-10743/articlesStudent outcomes – The Conversation2021-05-03T20:07:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1601012021-05-03T20:07:58Z2021-05-03T20:07:58ZYes, quality teaching improves student outcomes. But that means all teachers need support – not just those in training<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398279/original/file-20210503-21-182uquo.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://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teacher-helping-two-small-kids-classroom-310986524">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In his speech to <a href="https://theageschools.com.au/">The Age Schools Summit</a> in Melbourne last week, federal Education Minister Alan Tudge talked about his <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/initial-teacher-education-review-launched">recently launched review</a> of initial teacher education. He said quality teaching was the most important in-school factor for determining student outcomes, and the review was a step towards this goal. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/school-quality-australia-exploring-drivers-student-outcomes-and-links-practice-and-schooling-quality">Some research</a> backs the minister’s claim — teaching has a significant impact on student outcomes. But the focus on initial teacher education is insufficient. </p>
<p>First, <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1977">research also shows</a> a school’s level of advantage or disadvantage has a significant role to play in student outcomes, in some cases more so than the “quality” of its teachers.</p>
<p>And second, <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/research/ite-data-report-2019">15,000 teachers</a> are graduating from Australian universities each year. This is a fraction of the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/schools/latest-release#staff">300,000 teachers</a> in the workforce, all having and continuing to have an impact on students.</p>
<p>This means reviewing initial teacher education does little to help the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/schools/latest-release#:%7E:text=there%20were%204%2C006%2C974%20students%20enrolled,13.5%20students%20to%20one%20teacher.">more than 4 million students</a> enrolled in Australian schools.</p>
<p>Helping all teachers improve their teaching is a better and faster way to improve the performance of Australian students. Our research shows how we can do this.</p>
<h2>Quality teaching and equality</h2>
<p>In 2019, Deloitte Access Economics issued a report, commissioned by the federal Education Department, called “<a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/school-quality-australia-exploring-drivers-student-outcomes-and-links-practice-and-schooling-quality">School quality in Australia: Exploring the drivers of student outcomes and the links to practice and schooling quality</a>”. The report found the most important in-school factor driving student outcomes was teaching practice.</p>
<p>According to the report, the effect of teaching practice on student outcomes is twice as great as the next most significant driver — the classroom environment.</p>
<p>However, other studies, both in <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08759-7_7">Australia</a> and <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1977">internationally</a>, point to socio-economic inequalities having concentrated and considerable effects on student engagement and achievement.</p>
<p>For instance, a 2014 <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08759-7_7">Australian study</a> noted leaders have tended to cherry-pick evidence. The study’s author’s wrote:</p>
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<p>[…] State and Commonwealth education ministers have tended to focus quite selectively on research findings that speak to the positive outcomes associated with quality teaching, while neglecting the complexity of this field […] The phenomenon of “residualisation” in particular, whereby disadvantage is concentrated in certain public schools as a result of “school choice”, has quite powerful effects on the engagement and achievement of low SES [socioeconomic] students.</p>
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<p>The education minister’s current approach emphasises in-school factors while minimising the impact of out-of-school factors on student achievement. Both are important if we are to improve our students’ results.</p>
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<h2>How do we improve teaching quality?</h2>
<p>Worldwide, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1842182">four broad strategies</a> are used to improve teaching: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>recruiting and training “better” teachers</p></li>
<li><p>improving initial teacher education</p></li>
<li><p>measuring and evaluating the quality of teaching</p></li>
<li><p>providing professional development to build the capacity of practising teachers. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Recruiting strong candidates into teaching and improving teacher education have merit, but they are long-term strategies. Evaluating the quality of teaching might be helpful in identifying needed reforms but does not, in itself, guarantee improvement.</p>
<p>However, building teaching capacity in all teachers will deliver results. This is especially true when seeking quick outcomes, such as <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/being-our-best-returning-australia-top-group-education-nations">Alan Tudge’s goal</a> for Australian schools to be back “among the world’s top nations” in reading, maths and science by 2030. </p>
<h2>So, how do we build capacity?</h2>
<p>As a profession, we struggle to agree on what makes a quality teacher. We developed an approach focused on what teachers do in the classroom rather than who they are. In other words, quality teaching rather than quality teachers.</p>
<p>At the core of our approach is a framework called the <a href="https://qtacademy.edu.au/what-is-the-quality-teaching-model/">quality teaching model</a>, which focuses on three key concepts:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the need for intellectual quality, rigour or challenge in every learning experience</p></li>
<li><p>the need to create classroom environments that support not only students but also their learning</p></li>
<li><p>the need to increase the significance of student learning so they can see its connection to the world beyond the classroom.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Using this model, we devised a professional development process called “<a href="https://qtacademy.edu.au/what-is-qtr/">quality teaching rounds</a>”. It is applicable to every grade, subject and teacher career stage.</p>
<p>These rounds involve teachers collaborating in professional learning communities of four or more. They observe and analyse each other’s teaching using the quality teaching model. Over a period of weeks, each teacher takes a turn to host a lesson observed by their peers. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-better-use-of-australias-top-teachers-will-improve-student-outcomes-heres-how-to-do-it-131297">Making better use of Australia's top teachers will improve student outcomes: here's how to do it</a>
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<p>All the teachers (including the host) assess the lesson using the elements of quality in our model. Next, they have discussions about each teacher’s justification of their assessment, drawing on evidence gathered during the lesson. </p>
<p>The goal is to reach consensus on what is working. This process generates lively interaction, critical insights and goes well beyond providing feedback to the host teacher. Importantly, the assessments remain confidential to the participants, creating a safe space for their analysis. </p>
<h2>Does it work?</h2>
<p>This approach has been shown to improve the quality of teaching, teacher morale and, most importantly in the current context, student performance.</p>
<p>We conducted a trial involving 192 teachers randomly assigned to two groups: the first group did quality teaching rounds and the comparison group did professional development as usual. The researchers were blinded to group allocation.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/YvxLC0YKMxS4plyMuwVJjH?domain=sciencedirect.com">findings</a> show the quality of teaching (measured by our quality teaching model) improved significantly in the group that participated in rounds.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-claims-teaching-is-a-national-priority-but-cheaper-degrees-wont-improve-the-profession-141524">The government claims teaching is a national priority, but cheaper degrees won't improve the profession</a>
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<p>This year, we <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Ua_WCgZ0y3cNDnBmfoeNN9?domain=sciencedirect.com">published findings</a> of a more recent trial involving 234 year 3 and 4 primary teachers and more than 5,000 students from 133 New South Wales government schools. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a group involved in quality teaching rounds; a less structured form of peer observation; or professional development as usual (control). </p>
<p>Compared to the control group, student outcomes in mathematics improved by 25% in the group where teachers participated in quality teaching rounds. This was equal to two months additional improvement over an eight month period. The results also improved by less than one month in the peer observation group but were not statistically significant.</p>
<h2>Resources matter too</h2>
<p>If we are to meet the education minister’s objectives for Australia to again be among the world’s leading nations in student performance, we must support all teachers with professional development shown to work.</p>
<p>Yet it would be remiss not to acknowledge the enormous contribution of out-of-school factors in determining student outcomes.</p>
<p>Inadequate resources and disadvantage in low socioeconomic schools play a significant role in students’ poorer educational outcomes.</p>
<p>Teachers, teaching and teacher education cannot alone make the improvements sought without considerable commitment to, and investment in, rectifying longstanding inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Gore receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Paul Ramsay Foundation and NSW Department of Education.</span></em></p>Improving initial teacher education is a long-term strategy. It won’t achieve the education minister’s goal of getting Australia to the top-performing nations in maths and literacy by 2030.Jenny Gore, Laureate Professor of Education, Director Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1312972020-02-09T19:07:47Z2020-02-09T19:07:47ZMaking better use of Australia’s top teachers will improve student outcomes: here’s how to do it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314154/original/file-20200207-27557-rcmswk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia must do better in school education. Following our <a href="https://theconversation.com/estonia-didnt-deliver-its-pisa-results-on-the-cheap-and-neither-will-australia-128455">worst ever results in international tests last year</a>, politicians are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/education-minister-pushes-for-back-to-basics-approach-in-schools-20191209-p53i7z.html">keen to act</a>, and quickly. But Australia has had any number of educational reforms over the past few decades, and our grades keep slipping.</p>
<p>We need a much more systematic approach. Many teachers and schools are already doing great things and delivering outstanding results; but this practice is too piecemeal, too isolated. </p>
<p>Among other things, becoming more systematic means making better use of our top teachers – those helping students flourish and who can guide other teachers to a similar path for success. </p>
<p>A Grattan Institute report released today, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/top-teachers/"><em>Top teachers: sharing expertise to improve teaching</em></a>, shows the way. </p>
<h2>What is happening already</h2>
<p>We aren’t the first to have the idea of making better use of top teachers.</p>
<p>Over the past few decades, Australia’s education systems and schools have invested in a smorgasbord of programs focused on instructional leadership. </p>
<p>These include <a href="http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/S7056/pdf/tls73_primary_maths_specialists.pdf">Primary Maths Specialists</a> (a federal professional learning program for teachers), <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy/early-action-for-success">Instructional Leaders</a> in NSW (where instructors work with teachers to build student and teacher capacity in literacy and numeracy) and <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/practice/improve/Pages/ppe-specialist.aspx">Learning Specialists</a> in Victoria (a career pathway for highly skilled teachers to help improve the practice of other teachers).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">Aussie students are a year behind students 10 years ago in science, maths and reading</a>
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<p>These initiatives have all been well-intentioned. But they haven’t all been well-executed. For instance, the national <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254581597_The_rise_and_fall_of_the_Advanced_Skills_Teacher_in_Australia">Advanced Skills Teacher scheme</a> in the 1990s was intended to increase top-end pay for only the highest-performing teachers. But in Victoria, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254581597_The_rise_and_fall_of_the_Advanced_Skills_Teacher_in_Australia">virtually everyone who applied got the pay rise</a>.</p>
<p>Other initiatives have been <em>ad hoc</em>, rather than becoming part of the daily work of teaching. None have had the scale and continuity Australia needs – or that high-performing systems already have, such as the Master Teacher roles that are part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-top-ranking-education-systems-in-the-world-arent-there-by-accident-heres-how-australia-can-climb-up-128225">Singapore’s expert career track</a>. </p>
<h2>A big disconnect between theory and practice</h2>
<p>We surveyed 700 teachers, instructional leaders and principals across Australia to find out the impact of instructional teachers on the ground.</p>
<p>Three-quarters of the teachers said they valued guidance from instructional leaders, but less than a third regularly changed what they did in response. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute</span></span>
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<p>It’s not clear what causes this disconnect. But (self-identified) instructional leaders did tell us they were allocated too little time to do the job properly. Nearly half of them received no initial training when they started the job, and nearly two-thirds had no oversight from external experts.</p>
<p>And most are hired as generalists, which means they don’t get specific on how to teach particular subjects well.</p>
<h2>What our model looks like</h2>
<p>Unless something changes, we should expect this disconnect to continue. This was recognised in two recommendations in the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools">2018 “Gonski 2.0” report</a>: better teacher career paths, and more effective teacher professional learning. Our new report shows how to do both in one go. </p>
<p>Our model would create two new types of teaching job, with an elite cohort of 2,500+ Master Teachers and 20,000+ Instructional Specialists. That’s enough for three Instructional Specialists in a typical primary school, and nine in a typical secondary school. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute</span></span>
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<p>Master Teachers would work across schools as the overall leaders in their subject. They would mentor and support Instructional Specialists, who work in schools to develop and support other teachers. And they would do this at scale: we are proposing one Instructional Specialist for every ten teachers, and one Master Teacher for every eight Instructional Specialists.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-top-ranking-education-systems-in-the-world-arent-there-by-accident-heres-how-australia-can-climb-up-128225">The top ranking education systems in the world aren't there by accident. Here's how Australia can climb up</a>
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<p>The new roles would help spread evidence-informed teaching practices, and generate new research in high-priority areas.</p>
<p>These are big roles and should be paid accordingly: Instructional Specialists up to A$140,000 per year ($40,000 more than the top standard rate for teachers) and Master Teachers $180,000 per year. </p>
<p>And to do the job well, Master Teachers and Instructional Specialists need to have the right skillset:</p>
<ul>
<li>strong teaching capability, proven by certification under the <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards">Australian Professional Standards for Teachers</a> as a <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/understand-certification-and-halt-status">Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher</a></li>
<li>a strong understanding of how to teach their specialist subject, sometimes called pedagogical content knowledge, or PCK </li>
<li>strong capabilities to lead adult learning, including the emotional intelligence to have difficult conversations. </li>
</ul>
<p>These skills take time to develop, so the model should be implemented using a four stage process, reaching 80% of full operating capacity by 2032.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute</span></span>
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<h2>Transforming school education</h2>
<p>This model would transform school education, further professionalise learning and lead to students gaining about 18 months of extra learning by age 15.</p>
<p>It will take time, but imagine a child who just started their first year at school. By 2032, when she starts year 12, Australia could have transformed how teachers learn on the job, with teachers benefiting from more than one hour a week with an Instructional Specialist in their subject area. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/estonia-didnt-deliver-its-pisa-results-on-the-cheap-and-neither-will-australia-128455">Estonia didn't deliver its PISA results on the cheap, and neither will Australia</a>
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<p>Schools would get access to the deep expertise of Master Teachers across a wide range of subjects. And systems would be better placed to learn and improve at scale.</p>
<h2>The path is affordable</h2>
<p>By 2032, the expert teacher career path would cost $560 per student per year. Meanwhile, under the 2019 <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-reform-agreement-0">National School Reform Agreement</a>, the average government school is set to get an extra $1,100 per student per year by 2032. </p>
<p>This means government schools in most (but not all) states can pay for this proposal from within projected funding increases. And it would be a much better use of the extra money than just giving every teacher a 4% pay rise, or reducing class sizes by one student.</p>
<p>If government schools got 100% of what the funding formula says they actually need (the “full Gonski”), they could afford this and more.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute</span></span>
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<p>Non-government schools have received generous funding increases over the past decade, and should fund this model out of their existing resources.</p>
<p>We want our children to have a fantastic education, but we haven’t given our teachers the support they need to deliver it, and it shows. We must get serious about a better system for improving teachers. Our new report shows how it could be done, and proves it is affordable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131297/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>Our model on an expert career path for top teachers would transform school education, further professionalise learning and lead to students gaining about 18 months of extra learning by age 15.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1139142019-04-28T20:16:55Z2019-04-28T20:16:55ZPublic schools actually outperform private schools, and with less money<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271151/original/file-20190426-61877-gms2yf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's not fact that private schools get better results than public schools.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s often claimed private schools outperform public schools. In recent days, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/private-schools-are-far-superior-liberal-candidate-claims-20190423-p51gbm.html">a media report revealed</a> the Liberal Party candidate for the Melbourne seat of Macnamara had previously written in support of public funding of private schools. The report said the candidate, Kate Ashmor, wrote a newspaper letter in 2001 in which she said:</p>
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<p>I was only able to attend a private school via a heavy subsidy due to the income restraints of my parents, and I firmly believe that I would never have achieved the high VCE score I did if it hadn’t been for my private school education.</p>
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<p>But our analysis of MySchool data and Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) results between 2014 and 2018 shows public schools have similar, or even better, VCE results than private schools with similar rankings of socioeconomic status. And these public schools achieve the results with far less funding per student.</p>
<h2>Returns on investment</h2>
<p>Those who argue in favour of public funding for private schools <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/opinion/heres-why-nongovernment-schools-work-better/news-story/2bb048b548d706d1ba6e2fb2291cc714">claim</a> private schools are more efficient and academically outperform public schools.</p>
<p>The conservative side of politics <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3899668.htm">believes</a> there is no equity problem to address in Australian education. The current federal government relies on conservative researchers’ <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-29/donnelly-bill-shorten-has-backed-the-flawed-gonski-model/7123588">evidence</a> denying any causal link between socioeconomic status and student academic outcomes.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-next-government-needs-to-do-to-tackle-unfairness-in-school-funding-110879">What the next government needs to do to tackle unfairness in school funding</a>
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<p>Our analysis compared the results of 229 private and 278 public schools. Schools with fewer than 20 students at Year 12 were excluded, as were select-entry public schools. The analysis compared both <a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/statistics/schoolstats/index.aspx">VCE results</a> and school-based data including funding details available from <a href="https://www.myschool.edu.au/">MySchool</a> and individual school websites. The analysis took into account the socioeconomic status of the schools, using the <a href="http://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/About_icsea_2014.pdf">Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage</a> (ICSEA). </p>
<p>The ICSEA is a scale that <a href="http://www.schoolcatchment.com.au/?p=5703">allows a comparison</a> of the levels of educational advantage or disadvantage students bring to their academic studies. The average ICSEA across all Australian schools is 1,000. </p>
<p>In Victoria the average ICSEA is 1,031, while in Tasmania and the Northern Territory the average is less than 1,000. Schools above that figure are deemed more advantaged than those below. The school with the highest ICSEA in Victoria is Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Burwood (1,210). </p>
<p>There are 38 other private schools at the top of the rankings before the first public non-selective school, Princes Hill Secondary (1,156). In Victoria 318 schools are above 1,000, while those below average include only eight non-government schools, either Islamic or Catholic. The lowest ICSEA among these eight is 926 while the lowest public school ICSEA is 876.</p>
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<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Even excluding select-entry schools, public schools equal or outperform private schools with similar ICSEA rankings. Table 1 (below) shows Victorian schools’ VCE results for similar or “like” private and public schools, their median scores and percentage of <a href="https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/faqs/vcecurrentstudents.aspx">40+ scores</a>, (only 9% of students will get a score on or above 40), total government (federal and state) funding per student as shown on the MySchool website, and Year 12 fees found on individual school websites.</p>
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<p>When it comes to Year 12 funding, private schools on average outspend public schools by almost A$8,000 per student to achieve a similar result. The average Year 12 fee in public schools is A$753 compared to A$12,374 in private schools. </p>
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<p>Almost 50% of funding is from federal and state funds for independent schools and 80% or more for Catholic schools. The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/what-schooling-resource-standard-and-how-does-it-work">School Resource Standard</a> (SRS) is an estimate of how much funding a school needs to meet the educational needs of its students. </p>
<p>In 2018, the SRS was A$13,764 for secondary students across Australia. More than half of Victorian public schools currently receive less than the SRS.</p>
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<h2>Socio-economic status and academic achievment</h2>
<p>Conservative <a href="https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2017/08/betrayal-education-principle/">commentators</a> <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/seseducation-outcome-link-particularly-weak-acus-gary-marks/news-story/22497d1f2c555656a9b6733f9376734d">claim socioeconomic status</a> has little impact on student academic performance. This is contrary to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-018-0022-0">peer-reviewed research</a>. </p>
<p>This analysis of the 2014-2018 VCE results demonstrates school performance is strongly correlated to the socioeconomic index of the school. The higher the ISCEA generally, the better the school performs in VCE. Postcodes “don’t equal destiny”, however, as there are some exceptions in public schools as shown in Table 1. </p>
<p>For example, Narre Warren South P-12 College, with more than 55% of children from non-English-speaking backgrounds and 81% of its enrolment from disadvantaged homes, outperforms most private schools with a median study score of 32 (including 32 for English and 36 for Physics). Almost 11% of its study scores are over 40%.</p>
<h2>What about money?</h2>
<p>Can we imagine how much better our public schools could be with the extra resources that would be available if governments transferred the <a href="https://isca.edu.au/about-independent-schools/school-funding/recurrent-funding/">A$13.7 billion</a> spent on private schools to their public counterparts?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-top-private-schools-reveal-extravagant-new-building-plans-20180223-p4z1ek.html">Spending more money</a>
on students and <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/private-schools-receive-400m-funding-boost-from-coalition-20181010-p508sh.html">school buildings</a>, well-being centres, international campuses, playing fields, equestrian facilities, rowing sheds, music centres and swimming pools seems to <a href="https://johnmenadue.com/chris-bonor-the-elite-schools-arms-race-goes-nuclear/">make no difference</a> at all when students have similar social and economic backgrounds.</p>
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<p>A new <a href="http://saveourschools.com.au/funding/money-matters-for-student-outcomes/">review of research studies</a> shows strong evidence of a positive causal relationship between school funding and student achievement and that certain school resources that cost money have a positive influence on student results. As well, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-30/school-funding-explained-without-mentioning-gonski/8555276">more equitable</a> allocation of funds between schools increases equity in student outcomes. </p>
<p>Spending growth for private schools has outstripped spending growth for public schools over the past decade, according to the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/state-funding-for-private-schools-declines-as-public-schools-reap-gonski-rewards-20180131-p4yz4g.html">Productivity Commission</a>. Annual funding for government schools rose about 23% to A$42 billion, while funding for private schools jumped 42% to A$13 billion. </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>When all other things are held equal, it seems the only factors that could be making the difference to the VCE results are the teachers and students in public schools who are defying expectations and labels. The <a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/school/50293148.pdf">best-performing education systems</a> worldwide are those that combine equity with quality. They give all children opportunities for a quality education. </p>
<p><em>The table in this article previously contained errors. These have now been fixed. The table was also updated to reflect recent changes on the MySchool website.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Zyngier is founder of The Public Education Network of Australia</span></em></p>New analysis shows public schools have similar, or even better, results than private schools with similar rankings of socioeconomic status.David Zyngier, Adjunct associate professor, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/998242018-08-01T20:18:43Z2018-08-01T20:18:43ZIs positive education another fad? Perhaps, but it’s supported by good research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227614/original/file-20180713-27036-ka0opr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Positive education pairs traditional schooling with positive psychology interventions to improve wellbeing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Positive education is a spin-off from <a href="https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/what-is-positive-education/">positive psychology</a>. Prominent psychologists such as <a href="https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/faculty-profile/profile-dr-martin-seligman">Martin Seligman</a> and <a href="https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/">Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi</a> were instrumental in its creation, initially in 2000. </p>
<p>Positive psychology employs a strength-based approach to mental health and wellbeing. It focuses on a number of aspects such as resilience, general wellbeing, and happiness. </p>
<p>So, is positive education another fad in education? The answer is “perhaps”, as nothing is static in education. But positive psychology <a href="http://www.strengthswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Waters-2011-Positive-psychology-review-of-school-based-programs-1.pdf">research</a> indicates long-lasting benefits for young adults. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-positive-psychology-and-how-can-you-use-it-for-yourself-75635">Explainer: what is positive psychology and how can you use it for yourself?</a>
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<h2>What is positive education?</h2>
<p>The concept has support from a range of prominent psychologists and practising teachers. The idea is the wellbeing of students enhances learning and develops them as good citizens. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=fUPBDc4HU0oC&q=caring%2C+responsible+and+ultimately+productive+members+of+society#v=onepage&q&f=false">good school</a> doesn’t just aim for its students to achieve their academic potential. It also aims to develop them as caring, responsible and ultimately productive members of society.</p>
<p>Seligman developed the <a href="https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/perma-model/">PERMA</a> model, which identifies the five things necessary for wellbeing. PERMA stands for positive emotion (P), engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M) and achievement (A). Positive psychology moves away from a deficit approach to mental health (what’s wrong with the individual) to a proactive wellbeing approach. </p>
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<p>As a spin-off from positive psychology, positive education has been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03054980902934563">defined</a> as “education for both traditional skills and for happiness”. So, positive education is based on best teaching practices to help students achieve their best academic outcomes, paired with aspects from positive psychology that promote student safety and wellbeing. </p>
<h2>It does work</h2>
<p>Positive psychology interventions <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/27784563">include</a> decision-making, coping skills, problem-solving skills, relaxation and creative brainstorming. Using these in positive education improves mental health and life satisfaction, reduces depression and anxiety and improves academic success and creative thinking. </p>
<p>International <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/27784563">research</a> indicates positive education does work. This has been conducted by reputable researchers through universities with good reputations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-the-happiness-formula-right-in-the-classroom-370">Getting the happiness formula right in the classroom</a>
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<p>The author’s analysis of the academic literature indicates positive psychology interventions support a strength-based approach for students. For such interventions to be available in schools, school leadership needs to adopt the positive education perspective. </p>
<p>There is nothing in the research to suggest the positive education approach has any negative outcomes. But outcomes may vary between schools. </p>
<p>Differences in the training, support for and by staff, and resources available, together with the demographics of the student population may affect outcomes. The only prediction that can be made is that positive education enhances student academic performance and wellbeing. </p>
<h2>Geelong Grammar School is a good example</h2>
<p>Some public schools in Australia have already adopted the positive education approach. But the schools involved in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.920408;%20doi:10.5502/ijw.v3i2.2">published research</a> in Australia are generally prestigious schools with the resources to train staff appropriately and provide additional resources to support the framework. </p>
<p>The most-cited Australian example is Geelong Grammar School, the first Australian school to adopt positive education. This school has undertaken a whole-school approach across all years of schooling with age-appropriate interventions. </p>
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<p>Geelong Grammar staff have been trained to provide appropriate positive psychology interventions – decision-making, coping and problem-solving skills, relaxation and creative brainstorming. Interventions may also include enhancing gratitude for what one has and taking action to improve the lives of others. </p>
<p>The school has continued contact with Professor Seligman.</p>
<h2>Positive education is growing in Australia</h2>
<p>The growth of positive education in Australia is evidenced by the establishment of the <a href="https://www.pesa.edu.au">Positive Education Schools Association</a> (PESA). PESA started in 2011 with nine member schools and now has over 100 school members across Australia. </p>
<p>Internationally, groups such as the <a href="https://www.ippanetwork.org/divisions/education/">International Positive Psychology Association</a> and the <a href="http://ipen-network.com/">International Positive Education Network</a> exist to promote positive education. </p>
<h2>Can we implement it system-wide?</h2>
<p>Generally, the published <a href="http://www.strengthswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Waters-2011-Positive-psychology-review-of-school-based-programs-1.pdf">research</a> has been conducted in schools that would be described as prestigious and/or in a middle-to-upper-class locations. Students are generally from middle-to-upper-class families with access to good resources, and life isn’t usually a daily battle for survival. </p>
<p>It’s likely schools with many students from low socio-economic families or with traumatic backgrounds would benefit from positive education. The effects might be even stronger in those schools, assuming the schools provided appropriate support and training for staff and leadership.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-the-quality-of-your-school-not-its-location-23602">It’s the quality of your school, not its location</a>
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<p>It takes time to develop the school culture necessary to implement positive education effectively. Teachers have to be trained to work with positive psychology interventions. A stable school leadership with belief in positive education is needed to ensure its effective adoption. </p>
<p>The time and money required to introduce positive education may hinder its full introduction to every school. These challenges are likely to inhibit the development of positive education across the government school sector. That is, unless state education departments take the concept on board and support it with appropriate training and resources.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cath Ferguson 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>Positive education pairs the traditional focus of schools on academic achievement with positive psychology interventions to support student wellbeing.Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/862302017-10-25T03:45:37Z2017-10-25T03:45:37ZPerformance funding is not the way to improve university teaching<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191775/original/file-20171025-5825-14vzwh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One reason universities might not achieve good student outcomes is that they do not spend enough money on teaching.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A week after the Nick Xenophon Team <a href="http://www.rebekhasharkie.com.au/urgent_need_for_gonski_style_higher_education_review">called for a new review</a> of higher education, the <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/productivity-review/report/productivity-review-supporting7.pdf">Productivity Commission has provided one</a>, of sorts. The report, titled “Shifting the Dial”, covers higher education as well as health care, schools, cities, government and energy. It is part of much broader <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/productivity-review/report">five-year productivity review</a> and covers topics from recent policy debate on higher education.</p>
<h2>Research vs teaching</h2>
<p>A core issue in the commission’s analysis is that universities put too much emphasis on research rather than teaching. </p>
<p>This issue has deep roots in university history. University students were (and are) expected to be much more <a href="http://www1.rmit.edu.au/dsc/learningteaching/guidingprinciples/gp6">self-directed</a> than school students. Partly as a result, the academic workforce did not make university teaching into a profession. They did not require training before starting university teaching careers, and did not set clear standards that all teaching academics had to meet. Until the 1990s, there were few government or market pressures to improve. </p>
<p>By contrast, university research did turn into a profession. A research qualification, usually a PhD, <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/42381">became the norm</a> for career academics, attracting people with a strong interest in research. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholarly_peer_review">Peer review</a> of academic work was used to uphold quality standards. The government reinforced internal university culture by awarding research funding based on <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/discovery-projects">quality</a> and <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/research-block-grants">performance</a>.</p>
<p>The imbalance between teaching and research has been <a href="http://www.hes.edu.au/assets/HECQN-2015/Probert-Quality-Aust-HE-2015.pdf">recognised as a problem for decades</a>. Numerous national policy initiatives have aimed to improve teaching, with many more university-level changes. </p>
<p>These changes contributed to slow but steady <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/875-Mapping-Australian-Higher-Education-2016.pdf">improvement in student satisfaction with teaching</a>. There is certainly still room to do better. However, I doubt that the commission’s proposals would add constructively to the policies already in place. </p>
<h2>Universities already have performance incentives</h2>
<p>Like <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/ed17-0138_-_he_-_glossy_budget_report_acc.pdf">the government</a> and the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/HigherEducation2017/Report">opposition</a>, the commission sees merit in government performance funding that rewards or penalises universities according to student outcomes. They believe it would help shift attention from research to student interests in teaching and graduate employment. </p>
<p>The commission overlooks how much university incentives have already changed. The <a href="http://www.hepi.ac.uk/2014/08/07/unleashing-student-demand-ending-number-controls-australia-incomplete-experiment/">old system of near-guaranteed student funding</a>, regardless of performance, is long gone. If students are dissatisfied with their university, they can leave. In a highly competitive market, some universities cannot easily replace them. Last year, <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/">more than 60,000 people applied</a> for university based on a previous incomplete higher education course. </p>
<p>Universities know that graduate employment is an issue. Enrolment growth has been <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/">greatest in health-related courses</a>, which have the<a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/graduate-employment"> best employment outcomes</a>. <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/universities-and-the-evolving-graduate-labour-market/">Employability programs</a>, especially <a href="http://cdn1.acen.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/National-WIL-Strategy-in-university-education-032015.pdf">work-integrated learning</a>, are expanding. </p>
<p>Universities with weak reputations attract fewer new students. Although overall <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/">domestic student numbers are growing slowly</a>, that conceals how some universities are increasing their student intakes, while others are in decline. For universities, there are already penalties and rewards for failure and success. Bureaucratic performance schemes would struggle to enhance these existing incentives.</p>
<h2>Performance is hard to calculate</h2>
<p>As the commission acknowledges, reliable measures of university performance are hard to calculate. However, there is a deeper problem than how to conduct the statistical analysis: when students have many different goals and needs, and universities have many different missions and objectives, what counts as good performance is not always clear. </p>
<p>Attrition, one area of university performance discussed in the report, is a good example. Some students leave university because they are not satisfied with the institution, or because they should never have been admitted. These are negative reasons. Students also leave because they change their mind about their course or career, because work or family need to take priority, or because they have already learned what they need to know. These are neutral or positive reasons.</p>
<p>In enrolling some students, universities will know about their above-average risk of not completing. Students should be informed of these risks, and the Commission has an interesting section about consumer law protections for students who may have been misled. </p>
<p>But where the university’s mission includes widening access to higher education, we should not penalise them for creating opportunities. Nor should we give universities an additional incentive to pressure students to stay, when it is in their best interests to go. </p>
<h2>Separating teaching and research funding could be bad for students</h2>
<p>One reason universities might not achieve good student outcomes is that they do not spend enough money on teaching. The commission is concerned about teaching revenues being spent on research, especially as the “teaching-research nexus”, a claimed mutually beneficial relationship between the two main university activities, has been <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/191a_background_teaching-research_nexus_in_higher_education.pdf">hard to prove. </a></p>
<p>A <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/43506">university cost study</a> commissioned by the government, and used to justify its now-blocked “efficiency dividend” funding cuts, estimated universities spent 85% of their student and Commonwealth contribution revenue on teaching in 2015. Presumably, much of the remaining 15% was spent on research. </p>
<p>The commission would prefer funding rates based on teaching costs only, which would also adapt the funding system to their proposal for teaching-only universities. They support offsetting funding policies for research. However, completely separating teaching and research funding could work against, rather than for, students. </p>
<p>A teaching “profit” that can be spent on research is an incentive for universities to be responsive to student interests. Students are now more likely to get into their <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/875-Mapping-Australian-Higher-Education-2016.pdf">first-preference field of education and university</a>. This is because most previous controls on student numbers by field and university were lifted, leaving universities free to respond to student demand, and with a market pressure to do so. </p>
<p>On a break-even teaching funding regime with entirely separate research funding, the incentives would have been different. The <a href="https://go8.edu.au/">major research universities</a> would have chased the new research money rather than, <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/">as most of them did</a>, new students. Fewer students would have attended their first-preference university.</p>
<p>The commission’s broad belief that universities can improve the student experience is right. But they miss how much has already happened, along with the current system’s strengths. More than ever, universities have an incentive to respond to student interests, and the flexibility to do so. We should not distract them with policy changes that could easily make things worse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Norton 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>Universities now have the incentive and flexibility to respond to student interests, and we shouldn’t distract them with policy changes that could make things worse.Andrew Norton, Program Director, Higher Education, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/568982016-04-05T09:49:53Z2016-04-05T09:49:53ZFewer poor students are being enrolled in state universities. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117355/original/image-20160404-27145-3ema9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How are funding policies deciding who gets to go to college?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/youngmoneymag/2076078599/in/photolist-4asrQB-4asEa6-4asvyP-fwJPqy-fz2Pbj-gmKTRz-4asts2-4asAG2-bmS9Hg-gmSvHy-8H6ruA-9jqybv-aDrVye-m1NdDu-4asC4z-4awATq-4aww6j-mDXh72-bH5YtK-4asu2g-4aszJB-4awAjb-fxhPAn-9DSJcu-4asD8Z-4awBnu-4awrgY-e1f5CT-nGeSfm-aDrRJp-4awwCs-5PNZ4V-8LTdUP-q6Xsjt-ebKbgW-7J19C4-o6zhX1-4asn1t-bubaRd-nJhkJ2-nJfkBm-4asBdc-98a2SQ-4asCDH-4asAbg-4awp3Y-4asr44-4asGjr-4assRR-75o2xU">Young Money</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>States have traditionally provided funding for public colleges and universities based on a combination of the number of students enrolled and how much money they were allocated previously. </p>
<p>But, in the face of <a href="http://www.sheeo.org/sites/default/files/project-files/SHEF%20FY%202014-20150410.pdf">increasingly tight budgets</a> and pressures to <a href="https://www.alec.org/publication/10-questions-legislators-should-ask-about-higher-education/">demonstrate their effectiveness</a> to legislators, more and more states are tying at least some higher education funding to student outcomes.</p>
<p>As of 2015, <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/performance-funding.aspx">32 states</a> have implemented a funding system that is based in part on students’ performance in at least some of their colleges. In such states, <a href="http://hcmstrategists.com/drivingoutcomes/wp-content/themes/hcm/pdf/2016-Report.pdf">a portion of state funding</a> is based on metrics such as the number of completed courses or the number of graduates.</p>
<p>Research shows that performance-based funding (PBF) has not moved the needle on degree completions in any substantial way. Our research focuses on the unintended consequences of such funding policies – whether colleges have responded to funding incentives in ways that could hurt disadvantaged students.</p>
<p>We find evidence that these systems may be reducing access for low-income students at public colleges. </p>
<h2>Just a popular political strategy?</h2>
<p>What is performance-based funding (PBF)? And does it improve college completion rates?</p>
<p>Performance funding, the idea of <a href="http://www.aaup.org/article/resurgent-interest-performance-based-funding-higher-education">tying funding to outcomes</a> instead of enrollment, was first adopted in Tennessee in 1979. It spread across the country in waves in the 1990s and 2000s, with some states dropping and adding programs as state budget conditions and political winds changed. In this decade, several states have implemented systems tying most or all of state funding to outcomes.</p>
<p>By basing funding on outcomes such as course completions and the number of degrees awarded, PBF has become a politically popular strategy to improve student outcomes. It has received strong support from the <a href="http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2015/02/OutcomesBased-Funding--Getting-Back-to-Basics">Bill and Melinda Gates</a> and <a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/news-and-events/s7-outcomes-based-funding-paper-series">Lumina</a> Foundations – two big players in the higher education landscape.</p>
<p>However, the best available evidence suggests that PBF systems generally do not move the needle on degree completions in any substantial way.</p>
<p>For example, a <a href="http://doi.org/10.3102/0162373714560224">study</a> of Washington state’s PBF program by <a href="https://elpa.education.wisc.edu/elpa/people/faculty-and-staff-directory/nicholas-hillman">Nick Hillman of Wisconsin</a>, <a href="http://education.fsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/dr-david-tandberg">David Tandberg of Florida State</a> and <a href="http://psc.ou.edu/alisa-hicklin-fryar">Alisa Hicklin Fryar</a> of University of Oklahoma showed no effects on associate degree completion at two-year colleges. The study found positive effects on certificates in technical fields that took less time to complete, but those were the ones that were not as valuable in the labor market. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117353/original/image-20160404-27157-gjivp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117353/original/image-20160404-27157-gjivp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117353/original/image-20160404-27157-gjivp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117353/original/image-20160404-27157-gjivp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117353/original/image-20160404-27157-gjivp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117353/original/image-20160404-27157-gjivp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117353/original/image-20160404-27157-gjivp8.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">Performance-based funding do not have much of an impact on college completion rates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/16206295859/in/photolist-qG6v98-8fjrnc-9jS19Z-9nWGZj-576zTv-4tRfQk-4RUSEW-5rJ81p-4E4b8R-5ZBDfv-82MUon-5rdftt-4sqcKm-5sZznA-9fH5nX-htK9Br-dG1KaE-5xT9Cj-3Lu9rs-49Qom8-6fez68-8TKHzu-6PnnQJ-cRXbMd-8LK7cK-9FM3tk-9M3u7Z-h34tm1-HXm1U-ckocQA-336KZX-5qkzEU-dhvT1d-335BJz-335UiF-gnFt1x-336Nfv-33asrJ-335Es2-33aSqJ-dhxHd6-4GWubz-5sVP2R-9h43PF-5t1dwC-95wAt9-dhxAha-95tz94-9qXzfN-cXR9Fu">Gage Skidmore</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Tandberg and Hillman conducted <a href="https://www.wiscape.wisc.edu/docs/WebDispenser/wiscapedocuments/pb018.pdf?sfvrsn=4">a nationwide study</a>, they found no effect overall of PBF programs on degree completions at two-year and four-year colleges.</p>
<p>However, the small number of PBF programs that had been in effect for at least seven years (giving colleges plenty of time to change their practices in response) did appear to increase the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded by a few percentage points.</p>
<h2>More selective and lower standards</h2>
<p>While there is no significant evidence of impact, there have been many unintended consequences of this policy.</p>
<p>There is a growing body of evidence, for example, that shows that colleges may be trying to change both their student body and their academic standards in order to meet the state’s performance goals as well as their own priorities.</p>
<p>A research team at Teachers College who <a href="http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/unintended-impacts-performance-funding.html">interviewed administrators</a> in three states with “high-stakes” PBF systems (Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee) found that colleges facing PBF were both becoming more selective in accepting students and lowering academic standards among current students in an effort to have more students graduate. </p>
<p>A new study by <a href="http://sites.psu.edu/cshe/people/students-2/">Mark Umbricht</a> and <a href="http://sites.psu.edu/cshe/people/students-2/">Frank Fernandez</a> at Penn State and <a href="https://education.ufl.edu/faculty/ortagus-justin-c/">Justin Ortagus</a> at University of Florida used data on incoming students to show that Indiana colleges <a href="http://epx.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/11/30/0895904815614398.abstract">increased selectivity</a> in response to PBF. </p>
<p>They estimated that Indiana colleges lowered admissions rates by nearly 10 percent and increased ACT scores by nearly a full point compared to similar colleges in other states. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117352/original/image-20160404-27108-133cnvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117352/original/image-20160404-27108-133cnvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117352/original/image-20160404-27108-133cnvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117352/original/image-20160404-27108-133cnvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117352/original/image-20160404-27108-133cnvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117352/original/image-20160404-27108-133cnvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117352/original/image-20160404-27108-133cnvq.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">What’s the influence of money on who gets admitted?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/89228431@N06/11323330056/in/photolist-ifB2wy-itDJe-6VSHJ-o8G2tZ-2hhsT6-n7qrqG-rowi9J-9c9oUQ-nRcvrw-6zytXQ-d1vLy7-bHwmA8-nRcQQj-hHT7g-buXte5-7nmZpH-okmar8-rcjht-hvLPL-ykT8sE-nRcFCH-63mt4A-a2Y6Xx-9c9o5A-8LNFmU-iJhLS-3EidWz-8egH7R-4eTjDY-5sSW7z-fpJBPM-6zut4n-pUQCE-6zyveE-qdicLj-c4iA9q-eBpGbQ-6Fe7j-daRWhB-4Nci9-9fYEQi-81AYD8-8odUDq-8kU5MY-agJCz3-dD1Hq2-9AsG68-fpJBVH-CqJ1EH-6tN9en">reynermedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our research, published recently in the <em>Journal of Education Finance,</em> we examined whether public two-year and four-year colleges nationwide changed <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_education_finance/v041/41.3.kelchen.html">how they either received or spent money</a> in response to performance funding systems. </p>
<p>We found that colleges generally did not change spending on instruction or research, but they did see significantly less revenue from federal Pell Grants that are primarily given to students with family incomes below US$60,000 per year, suggesting fewer low-income students enrolled. We estimated a statistically significant decline in Pell revenue of about 2 percent at both two-year and four-year colleges. </p>
<p>We also found that four-year colleges offered more institutional grant aid, potentially in the form of merit-based scholarships to attract higher-income students with a greater likelihood of success. </p>
<h2>Implications for policy</h2>
<p>Although research suggests that performance funding systems have not been particularly effective in increasing the number of degrees that public colleges grant, the fact is that <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/performance-funding.aspx">PBF is being adopted in more states</a>. For example, five more states have adopted PBF since 2014, with additional states debating whether to adopt plans of their own. </p>
<p>We believe, this is unlikely to go away anytime soon. </p>
<p>And many states’ existing funding systems <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/09/28/essay-need-consider-which-institutions-should-bear-brunt-state-cuts-public-higher">are highly inequitable</a>. They favor research universities over less-selective colleges, even though less-selective colleges enroll the lion’s share of low-income students.</p>
<p>States should consider placing provisions in both their enrollment-based and performance-based funding systems to encourage colleges to continuing to enroll an economically diverse student body. </p>
<p>Several states, such as Arkansas, Ohio and Florida, <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/performance-funding.aspx">provide additional incentives</a> for graduating Pell Grant recipients. But states need to ensure that these additional funds are sufficient to encourage colleges to enroll academically qualified students from low-income families as well.</p>
<p>To do this, states would need to take three concrete steps. First, states should provide incentives for colleges to not raise admissions standards beyond what is needed to succeed in coursework. Second, they could also provide additional funds for graduating students who require a modest amount of remedial coursework (courses to build skills of less-prepared students), before taking college-level classes. </p>
<p>And finally, it is important that state policymakers and college leaders have honest conversations about the goals of PBF systems and what colleges need to improve their performance. This could help reduce the unintended outcomes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Kelchen has received funding from the Gates and Lumina Foundations for prior research projects, but received no funding for the research mentioned in this post.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke Stedrak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More states are funding colleges based on their performance. What are the implications?Robert Kelchen, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Seton Hall UniversityLuke Stedrak, Assistant Professor of Education Leadership, Management and Policy, Seton Hall UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/265072014-06-12T20:33:33Z2014-06-12T20:33:33ZWhy A to E grades don’t tell the whole story<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49960/original/p8vvkx5h-1401684297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grading students together based on age doesn't really give enough information about students' progress.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=163383446&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQwMTcxMzA3MCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTYzMzgz">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Commonly used A to E grades in schools may not be serving all students well, or telling the whole story of progress. It’s time to review how we measure students’ learning - that doesn’t mean abandoning grading altogether, but rather recognising that age-based grading systems don’t give us all the answers.</p>
<h2>What’s wrong with letter grades?</h2>
<p>Surely a teacher’s job is to teach the curriculum appropriate to the year level, the task for students is to learn that curriculum, and the role of assessment is to judge how well students have learnt what they have been taught – and to grade them accordingly. What could be simpler? We grade the outputs of other production processes for their quality, why should learning be any different?</p>
<p>The reason is that the annual competition for A to E grades does not begin with a level playing field. At the beginning of each school year, students are already spread over a wide range of achievement levels. In subjects such as reading and mathematics, the <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/aer/12/">least advanced 10%</a> of students start each school year about five to six years behind the most advanced 10% of students.</p>
<p>What this means in practice is that many students begin the school year already on track to receive a low grade. The relative positions of students within an age cohort are relatively stable over time. The best predictor of success in later years of schooling is success in the earlier years.</p>
<p>It was possible to turn a blind eye to this situation when we believed that there were good learners and poor learners, and we used tests to distinguish “bright” children from those “destined” for low-skilled jobs. Today, of course, Australia’s labour market requires highly skilled workers. And research into learning shows that most, if not all, children are capable of learning successfully. We no longer put limits on what individuals can learn, given sufficient time, motivation and appropriate opportunities.</p>
<p>Although some children may be tracking five to six years behind others, they are still capable of making good personal progress. In fact, <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/aer/12/">research evidence</a> show less advanced students often make greater year-on-year progress than students who begin the school year well ahead.</p>
<p>Rather than recognising the progress that individuals make, A to E grades judge all students against the same age-based expectations. A student who receives a D year after year is usually unable to see the progress they are making and, worse, may conclude that their ability to learn doesn’t change – they are just a “D-student”. Little wonder that many become disengaged and eventually drop out.</p>
<p>The problem applies equally to our most advanced students. Although some students work hard for high grades, many are not challenged and extended by age-based expectations. Some A-students develop a belief that they can succeed with minimal effort.</p>
<p>But an A-student in Australia is not necessarily an A-student elsewhere. <a href="http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">Almost 50%</a> of Shanghai 15-year-olds perform at the same level in mathematics as the top 10% of Australian 15-year-olds. And the <a href="http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">performances of Australian A-students</a> have been on a steady decline.</p>
<h2>What should we have instead?</h2>
<p>First, while it is important to have information about how students perform in relation to year-level expectations, if we make this the only basis for defining and judging learning success, we risk labelling less advanced students as inherently poor learners and failing to challenge and extend some of our most advanced students. </p>
<p>This is not an argument for abandoning rigorous assessments, lowering standards or artificially boosting self-esteem. Rather, it is a call for better information about the progress that individuals make. High-performing countries understand this and expect every student to make excellent learning progress.</p>
<p>Second, we need better ways of establishing, understanding and reporting the points that individuals have reached in their learning so that appropriate goals can be set for each student’s further learning. Such information would provide a better basis for targeting teaching and parental support, as well as for monitoring the progress that students make, regardless of their starting points.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Masters 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>Commonly used A to E grades in schools may not be serving all students well, or telling the whole story of progress. It’s time to review how we measure students’ learning - that doesn’t mean abandoning…Geoff Masters, CEO , Australian Council for Educational ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.