tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/gonski-4904/articlesGonski – The Conversation2021-02-17T19:11:47Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1554552021-02-17T19:11:47Z2021-02-17T19:11:47ZAustralian schools are becoming more segregated. This threatens student outcomes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384674/original/file-20210217-21-18mpsn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MGS_Senior_Campus.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian school system is concentrating more disadvantaged students in disadvantaged schools, with serious implications for student achievement. A <a href="https://www.gie.unsw.edu.au/structural-failure-why-australia-keeps-falling-short-its-educational-goals">report released today by the Gonski Institute</a> says schools in Australia are more regressive, divided and socially segregated than in most other rich countries.</p>
<p>Our report examines how well Australian education meets our agreed national educational goals. These were most recently articulated in the Alice Springs <a href="http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/Reports%20and%20publications/Alice%20Springs%20(Mparntwe)%20Education%20Declaration.pdf">(Mparntwe) declaration</a> as “improving educational outcomes for all young Australians” through “excellence and equity”.</p>
<p>When governments provide funding to schools, obligations and expectations rightly flow from this. If one of those is promoting “excellence and equity”, it’s time for a serious revision.</p>
<h2>We’re becoming more segregated</h2>
<p>The Australian school system is increasingly concentrating disadvantaged and advantaged students in separate schools.</p>
<p>For example, all Australian schools <a href="https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/About_icsea_2014.pdf">have an ICSEA score</a>, which stands for the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage. ICSEA provides an indication of the socio-educational backgrounds of students. The higher the ICSEA, the higher the level of the school’s educational advantage.</p>
<p>Our analysis shows that in the government sector higher ICSEA schools are 26% bigger than they were in 2011, while lower ICSEA schools are marginally smaller than they were in 2011. Lower ICSEA Catholic schools are around 10% smaller than they were in 2011. </p>
<p>Our data show higher ICSEA schools in all sectors are not only growing in size, but have an increasing concentration of highly economically advantaged students. The reverse is happening in lower ICSEA schools.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-inequality-in-australian-schools-make-them-less-socially-segregated-95034">To reduce inequality in Australian schools, make them less socially segregated</a>
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<p>While some might think this is just the natural order of things, rising inequity creates major and ongoing structural problems that hold back our national education system. Both the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/equity-in-education_9789264073234-en">OECD</a> and <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/995-an-unfair-start-education-inequality-children.html">UNICEF</a> have warned Australia of the risks of our growing educational inequity. </p>
<p>The rise in inequity is not just a problem for the most disadvantaged. It creates a burden with impacts across schooling. The distortions in school growth, according to level of advantage and location, mean management of the school system is unstable — and policies that give all students “a fair go” are actually difficult to implement. </p>
<p>This leads to “needs-based” approaches. But these are inevitably complex and often fail in implementation. The <a href="https://saveourschools.com.au/funding/the-facts-about-school-funding-in-australia">Gonski funding model</a> is one example.</p>
<h2>We’ve gone backwards since Gonski</h2>
<p>The first Gonski review argued additional funding for schools should be allocated on the basis of need. If implemented, this would have boosted equity funding to all sectors. But while funding since the Gonski review pays homage to the language of equity, the data about the overall distribution of funding don’t tell the same story.</p>
<p>Since 2011, the percentage increase in government per-student recurrent funding of Australia’s low ICSEA (under 1,000) schools has been more than the increase to high ICSEA (over 1,000) schools. However, funding aggregated from all sources shows less advantaged schools are no further ahead. And some schools and school sectors have received greater growth in funding – even when needs are matched and accounted for. </p>
<p>My School data also show Australia’s very remote schools, on average, received the same percentage funding increases as major city schools – despite metropolitan areas having clear social and educational advantage. </p>
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<span class="caption">Remote schools, on average, have received the same amount of funding as metropolitan schools — even under a needs-based funding model.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-bus-stop-warning-road-sign-398839681">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>There is no simple answer to why this happens, but it is an inevitable consequence of a competitive system of schools. While the Gonski review recommended independent oversight of the funding arrangements, this was never implemented.</p>
<h2>So, what do we do?</h2>
<p>We acknowledge responses to the report will include the perennial “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/catholic-leader-dismisses-school-funding-reform-as-flight-of-fantasy-20210217-p573a2.html">it’s too hard</a>”. </p>
<p>And while we acknowledge choice of schooling has a strong hold on the Australian psyche, we are calling for a new conversation about what obligations might contribute to more equitable outcomes in all schools. Our report offers ten policy recommendations.</p>
<p>These include fully funding non-government schools with comparable governance and accountability arrangements as government schools, and banning them from charging fees. This means reframing all schools, and consequent funding, as a “<a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/School-choice-and-school-vouchers-an-OECD-perspective.pdf">public good</a>” across all sectors. </p>
<p>The fully funded non-government private schools would still be run by the same organisations as before, and abide by the same educational philosophy. But no student would be turned away. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/03/16/myth-busted--private-schools-don-t-save-taxpayers--dollars.html#:%7E:text=Their%20report%2C%20'The%20School%20Money,culture%20publication%20Inside%20Story%20today.&text=The%20researchers%20said%20this%20is,level%20as%20similar%20public%20schools.">Our previous study</a> revealed combined state and federal recurrent funding of non-government schools is close to, and in many cases exceeds, combined government funding of government schools. </p>
<p>In effect, this means the taxpayer saves little by funding competing systems. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-primary-private-schools-should-be-fully-funded-by-governments-but-banned-from-charging-fees-131753">Australian primary private schools should be fully funded by governments — but banned from charging fees</a>
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<p>One of the biggest barriers to achieving educational equity is the lack of routine reporting of school education outcomes relating to <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2017-section-11-equity-groups">equity groups</a>, as is <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2017-section-11-equity-groups">required in higher education</a>. For example, the ICSEA does not make a single appearance in any annual <a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-2018">national reports on schooling</a>. </p>
<p>To improve equity in schooling, we need clear analysis, monitoring and targeting of inequity. To gain due policy attention the <a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-2018">National Report on Schooling in Australia</a> needs to report on school data and student attainment across all equity groups, across time. We simply cannot allow this growing problem to go unrecognised in our annual national school report card. </p>
<p>Our report team includes two former school principals (one government, one non-government) and a former education minister. We are sensitive to the positioning of diverse interested voices, but we can’t help concluding that something’s got to give. </p>
<p>Rising school inequity means inclusive schooling, providing “a fair go” for all Australian children, is increasingly a pipedream. Growing segregation and residualisation among Australian schools also mean students are less likely to engage with peers from a wide range of backgrounds. In the long term both these issues will lead to shifts in Australian society and character.</p>
<p>We cannot continue to put the important work of structural school reform in the too-hard basket. If we do, countless students, teachers, communities and our nation will continue to suffer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One recommendation to fix inequity in Australia is for the government to fund non-government schools to the same degree as government schools, while banning them from charging fees.Rachel Wilson, Associate Professor in Education, University of SydneyPaul Kidson, Lecturer in Educational Leadership, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1327692020-03-05T19:08:28Z2020-03-05T19:08:28ZMore money for private schools won’t make Australia’s education fairer, no matter how you split it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318755/original/file-20200304-66052-1amj4ys.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/businessman-hand-holding-money-australian-dollar-306818918">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent days the federal government <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/tehan/more-accurate-method-calculate-funding-schools">announced a new funding formula</a> for non-government schools. Called the Direct Measure of Income, the formula will base the level of government funding on school parents’ incomes rather than the socioeconomic profile of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-30/school-funding-explained-without-mentioning-gonski/8555276">where they live</a>. </p>
<p>Education minister Dan Tehan said the changes will make the distribution of funding <em>within</em> the non-government sector <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/tehan/more-accurate-method-calculate-funding-schools">“more accurate” and “equitable”</a> and that funding will go to schools that need it most. Attached to this new measure is a significant boost in funds to non-government schools. </p>
<p>But while the funding formula may direct money to relatively more needy private schools, these extra federal resources aren’t addressing the inequalities of the education system as a whole.</p>
<h2>How will the formula work?</h2>
<p>At the moment federal government funding of non-government schools is calculated in relation to the socioeconomic profile of the suburbs where parents live. It uses census data to calculate what is known as <a href="https://ssphelp.education.gov.au/sites/ssphelp/files/files/ses_score_review_fact_sheet_0.pdf">the “SES score”</a> of school families. </p>
<p>This means if a non-government school has a high proportion of families living in well-off areas, it is entitled to less government funding than a school with parents living in less advantaged areas. </p>
<p>The announced changes are based on recommendations of a review of the current funding model, conducted by the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-resourcing-board">National School Resourcing Board</a>. It <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/national_school_resourcing_board_ses_review_final_report.pdf">recommended the government use</a> a newly available measure of parents’ capacity to contribute financially to the school, which comes from combining census and income tax data. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/public-schools-actually-outperform-private-schools-and-with-less-money-113914">Public schools actually outperform private schools, and with less money</a>
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<p>The Direct Measure of Income formula will offer a more accurate picture of parents’ capacity to contribute. This is because it relies on parents’ actual income rather than the socioeconomic profile of the neighbourhood they live in. </p>
<p>The new formula requires an amendment to the Australian Education Act, <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/r6499_ems_bb099c22-0e04-4d0b-afdd-bf7d7f3a76ca/upload_pdf/730946.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">a bill for which</a> was introduced to parliament on February 26 and referred to a Senate committee with a report due in May.</p>
<h2>What you need to know about this funding model</h2>
<p>The new model is accompanied by a significant increase in government funds into the non-government sector. <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansardr/ea0fdf9a-0cf9-41ec-b0e8-ebdc44f169e9/0020/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">The education minister estimated</a> there will be an additional A$1.3 billion in the current budget, and a $3.4 billion increase in funding over ten years. </p>
<p>The government is also directing $200 million to help schools transition to the new formula, and a further $1.2 billion through the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/choice_and_affordability_fund_guidelines_0.pdf">Choice and Affordability Fund</a>. The latter is to support “underperforming” and “educationally disadvantaged” non-government schools (among other target areas).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-why-catholic-primary-school-parents-can-afford-to-pay-more-102643">Three charts on: why Catholic primary school parents can afford to pay more</a>
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<p>Calculating parents’ incomes requires a new combination of data. To calculate parental capacity to contribute the government <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/r6499_ems_bb099c22-0e04-4d0b-afdd-bf7d7f3a76ca/upload_pdf/730946.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">will combine</a> de-identified data from the Australian Tax Office and the census. This will be done through the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Statistical+Data+Integration+-+MADIP">MADIP</a>).</p>
<p>This kind of mapping has only recently become possible due to developments in data technology and cooperation between agencies. It marks a new kind of government policy making, driven by fine-grained personal data. </p>
<p>The new formula, based on how much parents can contribute to the school, reinforces the idea that schools are mainly about individual gain and contribution. It also suggests funding problems can be solved by more drilled-down data about children and their families. </p>
<h2>What’s the problem with school funding in Australia?</h2>
<p>The question of government funding for non-government schools is one of the most acrimonious public debates in Australia, and has been going for <a href="http://dehanz.net.au/entries/state-aid-non-government-schools-2/">more than 100 years</a>.</p>
<p>The 2010-2011 <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonski review of school funding</a> was an attempt to end the school funding wars. But the report’s recommendations were <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">never fully implemented</a>.</p>
<p>The report described school funding in Australia as <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">complex, confusing, opaque and inconsistent</a>. Arguably, this is still the case, with successive federal governments generating their own methods to solve it. </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>Australia has one of the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/pisainfocus/48482894.pdf">highest rates of private schooling</a> in the world. We also have <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-17104-9_4">high rates of public funding</a> of the private schooling sector – the majority of non-government schools would probably not survive long without it.</p>
<p>Our high levels of funding for private schools is now taken for granted. It is seen as an expression of parents’ rights over their children’s education.</p>
<p>The new funding model further entrenches the belief private schools are a national priority, to be funded by the federal government. The reforms don’t address the relative equity <em>between</em> government and non-government schools. This remains a burning question for Australian education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gerrard receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Proctor receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Private schools are set to get a boost of billions under a new formula that links government funding to parents’ incomes rather than the socioeconomic profile of where they live.Jessica Gerrard, Senior lecturer, The University of MelbourneHelen Proctor, Associate professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1240002019-09-30T19:45:11Z2019-09-30T19:45:11ZGonski’s vision of ‘personalised learning’ will stifle creativity and lead to a generation of automatons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294714/original/file-20190930-185369-qdyvw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The general idea of personalised learning is where teachers help students understand key concepts through individualised learning and group work.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The education debate in Australia becomes tangled when the same key concepts are used by various groups and individuals to mean very different things. </p>
<p>Take the concept of “personalised learning”. It can describe a flexible approach to learning which starts with each student’s individual strengths and capabilities, and encourages a wide range of learning activities. Or it can be used to justify a program of rigid and scripted individual learning progressions. </p>
<p>In the past few years the idea of “<a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/national-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-progressions/">learning progressions</a>” has garnered a lot of attention in curriculum debates and reviews. Invariably it is argued <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy/professional-learning/introduction-to-the-literacy-and-numeracy-progressions-online">learning progressions promote</a> “personalised learning”. </p>
<p>It is important therefore to subject this claim to some scrutiny and try to understand the version of “personalised learning” being promoted in policy circles.</p>
<h2>From year levels to learning progressions</h2>
<p>In 2017 the then Turnbull government appointed David Gonski to lead a review into how to improve <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-announces-schools-funding-and-a-new-gonski-review-77011">Australian schools</a>. The idea was that if the amount of Commonwealth money going to schools was to be increased – as recommended by the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">earlier Gonski review</a> in 2011 – then we needed guidance as to what the money should be spent on.</p>
<p>A central proposal in the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools">subsequent 2018 report</a>, dubbed as Gonski 2.0, relates to “personalised learning”. Using the well-rehearsed argument that all students should be able to demonstrate a year’s learning growth every year, the report’s first recommendation is that schools move
from a year-based curriculum to a curriculum expressed as learning progressions independent of year or age. </p>
<p>It claims this move will enable schools to better meet the individual learning needs of students than does the organisation of schools by year levels. The latter, the report says, is a remnant of the industrial era and must change if schools are to come into the 21st century.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-review-reveals-another-grand-plan-to-overhaul-education-but-do-we-really-need-it-93119">Gonski review reveals another grand plan to overhaul education: but do we really need it?</a>
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<p>Certainly, the idea of scrapping year levels potentially creates greater flexibility for students and teachers. Rather than aiming curriculum at the average of a cohort of students at a particular age, teachers can “personalise” the curriculum by making an individual student’s readiness for learning the key criterion for curriculum planning. </p>
<p>Of course, a number of schools already do this, and in many other schools where year levels are still used, teachers use adaptive or differentiated teaching to cater for individual interests. </p>
<p>There is always a danger removing year levels will result in a return to streaming if teachers group students according to perceived ability levels rather than age, but this is not an automatic outcome and can be guarded against. </p>
<p>However, the question of removing year-level structures can’t be separated from the issue of what is taught and how. And it is here that it seems the report has taken a progressive idea like personalisation and colonised it with an instrumental purpose.</p>
<h2>Gonski’s version of personalised learning</h2>
<p>There are different approaches to personalising learning. Some enable teachers and students to negotiate learning programs based on students’ interests and learning needs. </p>
<p>For instance, in the <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/01/kappan_washor.html">Big Picture schools</a> in Australia and the US, students investigate topics or issues individually or in groups and report on their findings.The key to this kind of learning is skilled teachers helping students make connections across the curriculum, because key concepts are understood through negotiation and collaboration. </p>
<p>This approach prizes student agency and group as well as individual activities. It recognises learning is not a linear and scripted activity.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294731/original/file-20190930-185390-1d0iwz0.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>
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<span class="caption">There are many approaches to personalised learning, some of which include indivudal and group activities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>But that is not the version of personalised learning proposed in the 2018 Gonski report. This report recommends an approach where content and skills across every area of the curriculum are atomised into bite-sized chunks of knowledge, and then sequenced into progression levels. </p>
<p>Students work on their own and, at regular points, use online assessment tools to test their readiness for the next chunk of knowledge. Once one level is mastered, they move onto the next.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/662684_tgta_accessible_final_0.pdf">report recommends</a> that, over the next five years, the recently developed and implemented Australian Curriculum should be rewritten so every learning area and general capability is written up as a number of progression levels. </p>
<p>It offers an example of “spelling” being broken into a 16-level progression, with students mastering each step before moving lock-step onto the next level.</p>
<p>The Gonski version of personalised learning bears an uncanny resemblance to the model of <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?tag=direct-instruction">direct instruction</a> developed in the US in the 1960s. This is a tightly scripted, step-by-step approach that follows a predetermined sequence through packaged resource materials. </p>
<p>Assessment follows each instruction phase with tests aligned to the behavioural goals of the program. The results are fed back to the teacher and student, and the stage is then set for the next phase. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-explicit-instruction-and-how-does-it-help-children-learn-115144">Explainer: what is explicit instruction and how does it help children learn?</a>
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<p>Similarly, Gonski suggests students advance incrementally through progression levels. At regular intervals they should be assessed by an online assessment tool against the learning progressions that measure student attainment and growth in attainment levels over time. </p>
<p>The tool could also suggest, for consideration by the teacher, potential interventions to build further progress. </p>
<p>Although there is an apparent nod in the direction of teacher decision making, it is inevitable the tightly scripted nature of the process will result in a reliance on the use of online resources.</p>
<h2>Online assessment tools make students automatons</h2>
<p>The National Education Policy Centre in the United States recently reviewed a number of personalised learning programs in the country that have adopted similar characteristics to those Gonski prescribes. The <a href="https://nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/publications/RB%20Personalized%20Learning%20revised_0.pdf">report concludes</a> that they reflect</p>
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<p>[…] a hyper-rational approach to curriculum and pedagogy that limits students’ agency, narrows what they can learn in school, and limits schools’ ability to respond effectively to a diverse student body.</p>
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<p>The manifestation of this model in the US has been a financial bonanza for private <a href="https://nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/publications/RB%20Personalized%20Learning%20revised_0.pdf">technology companies such as Summit</a>, owned by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. These companies have developed online tests and learning resources capable of tracking the progress of, and devising programs for, individual students.</p>
<p>With such programs, students become individual automatons moving through standardised progression levels. Creativity and critical thinking are stifled as students are steered down an already determined path. And teachers are increasingly excluded from the process, as planning and decision-making is done by algorithms. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-back-to-school-for-facebook-and-its-personal-49804">It's back to school for Facebook, and it's personal</a>
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<p>The result is a narrow and highly individualised learning experience that is unlikely to prepare students adequately for the challenges of the 21st century. </p>
<p>The point is that “personalised learning” can take many forms. Some approaches will liberate learners, some will tightly constrain them. The model proposed by Gonski is more likely to do the latter. Far from moving schools away from an industrial model, Gonski’s model would entrench it.</p>
<p>Rather than immediately adopting a model such as “progression levels”, surely it would be better to clarify our understanding about personalised learning, including the theories and assumptions on which various versions are based. </p>
<p>Then, if personalised learning is the goal, why not evaluate a number of different models of personalised learning? </p>
<p>The version of personalised learning Australia promotes should be one that nurtures a love and a passion for learning, not one that reduces it to a checklist. </p>
<p><em>This is an edited extract from Alan Reid’s book, <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/academic-professional/education/Changing-Australian-Education-Alan-Reid-9781760875206">Changing Australian Education: How policy is taking us backwards and what can be done about it</a>, (Allen and Unwin: Sydney), available from October 1, 2019.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Reid has received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Many rely on David Gonski’s ideas to shape the future of education policy. But his recommendation of personalised learning is a scripted, rigid version of education that will take us backwards.Alan Reid, Professor Emeritus of Education, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1170972019-05-14T20:16:16Z2019-05-14T20:16:16ZBeyond the dollars: what are the major parties really promising on education?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274302/original/file-20190514-60554-kfqfg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do the major parties’ education commitments stack up?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As voters head to the polls, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-29/poll-reveals-76-per-cent-of-voters-picked-a-side-before-campaign/11056140">around one-quarter will decide who to vote for on the day</a>. Analysis shows <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-17/vote-compass-election-most-important-issues/11003192">climate change and the economy</a> are foremost in voters’ minds.</p>
<p>But education remains a key issue, as evidenced by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-07/federal-election-labor-coalition-education-policy-explained/10880502">a flurry of education-related announcements</a> in the final stretch of the campaign.</p>
<p>Here’s what you need to know about the major parties’ education commitments, and what the millions and billions here and there really mean.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-has-education-policy-changed-under-the-coalition-government-113921">How has education policy changed under the Coalition government?</a>
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<h2>Early childhood education and care</h2>
<p>Two years of high-quality, play-based learning at preschool can have a <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Two-Years-are-Better-than-One.pdf">significant impact</a> on children’s development. It can put them <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Two-Years-are-Better-than-One.pdf">close to eight months ahead</a> in literacy by the time they start school. The benefits are <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/321201fc-ca0c-4c20-9582-7c3dc5c9d1b9/19438.pdf.aspx?inline=true">greatest for children from disadvantaged backgrounds</a>, which makes preschool a valuable tool for reducing inequality.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/both-major-parties-are-finally-talking-about-the-importance-of-preschool-heres-why-it-matters-114974">Both major parties are finally talking about the importance of preschool – here's why it matters</a>
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<p>Labor has promised to make childcare free for most low-income households and to provide up to an 85% subsidy for households under $175,000. It has committed to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/04/bill-shorten-reveals-17bn-plan-to-fund-access-to-preschool-or-kindergarten">funding an extra year of preschool</a> for three-year-olds. This is <a href="https://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1159357/Lifting-Our-Game-Final-Report.pdf">evidence-based</a> and builds on commitments by several states to support two years of preschool.</p>
<p>Labor has also pledged to <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/media/1878/2019_labor_fiscal_plan.pdf">increase wages for some early childhood educators</a>, to be rolled out over a decade, and to reinstate funding for the National Quality Agenda, which lapsed in 2018. This reflects the <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/papers/quality-key-early-childhood-education-australia/">importance of quality</a> in early childhood services, to improve outcomes for children.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274303/original/file-20190514-60567-16s1axn.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>
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<span class="caption">Both the Coalition and Labor are taking early childhood education and care seriously this election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>The Coalition is taking a more cautious approach to spending on the early childhood sector. <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/review-of-preschool-funding-a-concern/news-story/9a750093c75df2cf750d6ead8e57cfc1">It has pledged funding for four-year-old preschool</a>, but only for another year, and it has not renewed funding for the National Quality Agenda.</p>
<p>The Coalition will likely retain the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-01/child-care-subsidy-changes-what-you-need-to-know/9924950">means-tested subsidy</a> introduced as part of its major childcare reforms in 2018. While these reforms benefited an estimated one million lower-income families, the means test also left around 280,000 families worse off, <a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-childcare-plan-parents-children-and-educators-stand-to-benefit-but-questions-remain-116143">including families</a> with neither parent in work.</p>
<p>Advocates argue <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/funding-for-preschool-places-will-shape-australia-s-future-20181011-p50905.html">preschool should be seen as an integral component of the education system</a> and a fundamental right for all children, and all parties should take a cross-partisan approach and <a href="https://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1159357/Lifting-Our-Game-Final-Report.pdf">commit to long-term funding</a>. The major parties are certainly not at that point yet, but there are indications they’re heading in the right direction.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-childcare-plan-parents-children-and-educators-stand-to-benefit-but-questions-remain-116143">Labor's childcare plan: parents, children, and educators stand to benefit, but questions remain</a>
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<h2>Schools</h2>
<p>Given states and territories are largely responsible for schools, federal investment should be targeted where it can make the most difference. Two key areas are <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2019/04/13/the-funding-gap-education/15550776007987">needs-based funding</a>, to ensure additional support is available to students who need it the most, and central investment in research and evidence-based practice. </p>
<p>Both major parties have promised a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/evidence-institute-measure-effectiveness-australian-education/9933872">national evidence institute</a>. <a href="http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/world_class_schools_national_press_club_address_wednesday_20_february_2019">Labor</a> has allocated funds for it, with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-be-fooled-billions-for-schools-in-budget-2019-arent-new-and-what-happened-to-the-national-evidence-institute-114193">Coalition</a> yet to do so. This initiative reflects the urgent need to ensure evidence helps to shape the education system. The <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/education-evidence/report/education-evidence-overview.pdf">Productivity Commission</a> has recommended such an institute, to connect educators and policymakers with the latest research on teaching and learning.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-things-australias-next-education-minister-must-prioritise-to-improve-schools-115223">Three things Australia's next education minister must prioritise to improve schools</a>
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<p>On funding, the Coalition wants us to judge it on its reforms to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-announces-schools-funding-and-a-new-gonski-review-77011">schools funding package</a>, which is now mostly modelled on the needs-based funding approach outlined in the Gonski Review. But funding has still not reached the recommended levels. The Coalition has supported the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-resourcing-board">National School Resourcing Board</a> to review these funding arrangements and develop a fairer model for all schools.</p>
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<p>Labor has promised to increase funding for schools. <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/fair-funding-for-australian-schools/">Labor’s offer</a> would bring schools closer to meeting the levels of funding recommended by Gonski. </p>
<p>Funding isn’t a magic bullet, but it <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w25368.pdf">plays an important role in improving outcomes for all students.</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
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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<h2>Tertiary education</h2>
<p>Vocational Education and Training (VET) has experienced a series of unsuccessful reforms over the past decade. <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/about-vu/news-events/news/dual-sector-vcs-call-for-more-connection-between-two-systems">VET plays an important role in the tertiary sector</a>, so it’s good to see both major parties addressing this in their platforms. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.education.gov.au/skills-and-training-budget-overview-2019-20">The Coalition’s plan</a> comes out of <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/news-centre/domestic-policy/vet-review-completed-and-final-report-delivered-government">a major recent review of the VET sector</a> and includes more money for apprentices and rural programs; the establishment of a National Skills Commission and a National Careers Institute; and simplifying systems for employers.</p>
<p>Labor has pledged to fund up to <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/fee-free-tafe/">100,000 TAFE places</a>. It has also promised a major <a href="https://www.afr.com/news/politics/labor-proposes-once-in-a-generation-university-and-tafe-inquiry-20180222-h0whln">inquiry into tertiary education</a>, looking at VET and universities side by side. This could potentially move us towards a fairer system that puts <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/presentations/reconceptualising-tertiary-education/">VET and universities on an even footing</a> and better caters to the varied needs of students and employers.</p>
<p>Both <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/media/1710/190404_skills_and_training_fact_sheet.pdf">Labor</a> and the <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan-delivering-high-quality-skills-and-vocational-education">Coalition</a> have committed to increased support for apprenticeships, through financial incentives for employers. </p>
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<p>For universities, Labor says it will bring back <a href="http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/speech_address_to_the_universities_australia_conference_canberra_thursday_28_february_2019">demand-driven funding</a>, which existed between 2012 and 2017, where universities are paid for every student studying and there is no limit on the number of students that can be admitted to courses. <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-wants-to-restore-demand-driven-funding-to-universities-what-does-this-mean-116060">Evidence suggests</a> this has been effective in boosting studies in areas where there are skills shortages, such as health, and also appears to have improved access to education for disadvantaged groups. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/demand-driven-funding-for-universities-is-frozen-what-does-this-mean-and-should-the-policy-be-restored-116060">Demand-driven funding for universities is frozen. What does this mean and should the policy be restored?</a>
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<p>Due to costs, the Coalition has moved to a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/bold-and-successful-experiment-comes-to-premature-end-with-22-billion-university-funding-cut-20171220-h07tfa.html">funding model based on population</a> and <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/52006">university performance</a>. It has also promised <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan-quality-education">extra support</a> for regional students and universities. This could help address the <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1228&context=research_conference">large gaps</a> in university participation between young people from major cities, and rural and regional Australia.</p>
<h2>Making an informed choice</h2>
<p>When casting our votes, we would do well to look past the dollar signs, and think about how each party is shaping an education system that will deliver quality learning for all Australians, from all kinds of backgrounds, from childhood through to adulthood.</p>
<p>The Coalition has delivered needs-based funding for schools and promises a greater focus on regional and rural students in all sectors. But there are some apparent gaps in early learning and tertiary policy and funding.</p>
<p>Labor has pledged more funding in all sectors. It has made a prominent commitment to early childhood education and care. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/compare-the-pair-key-policy-offerings-from-labor-and-the-coalition-in-the-2019-federal-election-116898">Labor’s policies are expensive</a> and would need to be implemented effectively to make sure they achieve the intended outcomes for students and deliver the <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/costs-of-lost-opportunity/">financial benefit to the economy</a> in the long-term.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/compare-the-pair-key-policy-offerings-from-labor-and-the-coalition-in-the-2019-federal-election-116898">Compare the pair: key policy offerings from Labor and the Coalition in the 2019 federal election</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Noble 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>If you’re confused about all the millions and billions thrown around for education by the two major parties, here’s the low-down on what the policies actually mean.Kate Noble, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1108792019-03-06T00:10:32Z2019-03-06T00:10:32ZWhat the next government needs to do to tackle unfairness in school funding<p>School funding debates in Australia are complex and messy. Stakeholders routinely complain about being hard done by. But the real unfairness is that state schools get less government funding than governments themselves say the schools need, and will continue to do so. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-australias-school-funding-debate-whats-at-stake-100023">Explaining Australia's school funding debate: what's at stake</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, many private schools are already funded at 100% of their target level, and the rest are on the way. </p>
<p>This fails the playground test: the lament of a five-year-old when an adult says one thing and does another. Australian school funding is unfair because it doesn’t live up to its own rules and standards.</p>
<h2>School resources</h2>
<p>Needs-based funding has broad public and political support. <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiz197Vm7rgAhVLbysKHROkAuwQFjAAegQIDhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.education.gov.au%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdoc%2Fother%2Freview-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0Uc5xE4HaPofEjAgt8OOAJ">David Gonski’s 2011 report</a> stated differences in educational outcomes should not be the result of differences in wealth, income, power or possessions. It’s written in <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/australian-education-act-2013">legislation</a>, which defines each school’s target level of government funding, or Schooling Resource Standard. </p>
<p>Under the SRS, every student receives a base amount of funding. When parents choose a non-government school, base funding is reduced according to their capacity to contribute. Students with higher needs attract more funding, regardless of their parents’ capacity to contribute.</p>
<p>No model is perfect, but the structure of the SRS is sound. Schools get more money if their students need it. </p>
<p>Parents can (generally) afford to exercise their right to choose, because non-government schools that serve disadvantaged communities are nearly fully funded by government. Meanwhile, taxpayers save money – at least in theory – when parents opt out of the state school system. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-2-0-is-this-the-school-funding-plan-we-have-been-looking-for-finally-yes-77081">Gonski 2.0: Is this the school funding plan we have been looking for? Finally, yes</a>
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<p>Of course the formula could be improved. The SRS is long overdue for a refresh. </p>
<p>A proposed <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjS8MHZnLrgAhVEWH0KHfoPDPoQFjAAegQIChAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.education.gov.au%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdoc%2Fother%2Fnational_school_resourcing_board_ses_review_final_report.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1D10TAMXaq8pWmVjW67LJ6">new model for calculating parent’s capacity to contribute</a>, based on their family income, still needs to be finalised and legislated. But it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-australias-school-funding-debate-whats-at-stake-100023">clearly fairer</a> than the previous model based on where families lived.</p>
<p>Looking beyond the formula, the federal Coalition’s A$1.2 billion <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/what-choice-and-affordability-fund">Choice and Affordability Fund</a> <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-government-giving-catholic-schools-10-times-what-they-need-analysis-20180923-p505gz.html">should go</a>. It subsidises low-fee private schools even when <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-why-catholic-primary-school-parents-can-afford-to-pay-more-102643">parents can afford to pay their way</a>. And education systems (such as Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican, plus state education departments) need to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/09/catholic-schools-say-we-should-trust-them-on-funding-this-is-not-good-enough">better account for how they distribute the funding they receive as a lump sum</a>.</p>
<h2>Theory doesn’t necessarily translate to practice</h2>
<p>But these issues pale in comparison with the gap between funding theory and funding practice.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/new-model-for-school-funding-that-wont-break-the-budget-69406">Very few schools actually get their target level of government funding.</a> Most schools get less, some much less. A few schools get more. And a handful of high-fee private schools – the schools least in need of extra cash – get <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/881-Circuit-Breaker-New-Compact.pdf">nearly three times what the formula says they need</a>.</p>
<p>The discrepancies are not random. Government schools educate the bulk of disadvantaged students, but in 2017 were funded at 90% of SRS on average. The non-government school average was about 95%. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-22/counting-the-cost-of-the-education-revolution/10495756">analysis</a> by the ABC shows the funding gap grew over the past decade. Because parents pay fees, non-government schools should never get more public dollars per student than comparable government schools. A decade ago, one in 20 private schools did. By 2016, it was more than one in three.</p>
<h2>What about the coming decade?</h2>
<p>Under <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-passage-of-gonski-2-0-is-a-victory-for-children-over-politics-79828">the Coalition’s 2017 legislation</a>, federal funding will transition to 80% of SRS for private schools and 20% for government schools. It will be consistent across states – a big improvement. And overfunded schools finally lose funding, something Labor never managed to achieve.</p>
<p>The 2017 legislation also requires minimum contributions from state governments. But based on the recently signed <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-reform-agreement-0">National School Reform Agreement</a>, it looks like most government schools will be stuck at 95% of their target level (20% federal funding, 75% state), while private schools will hit 100% (80% federal, 20% state). </p>
<p>And there’s one last sting in the tail. The National School Reform Agreement allows state governments – for the first time – <a href="http://saveourschools.com.au/funding/public-schools-are-defrauded-by-billions-under-new-funding-agreements/">to claim depreciation, transport and part of their expenditure on regulatory authorities</a> as up to 4% of their contribution to school funding. But only for government schools. This reduces effective funding for government schools by about A$2 billion per year by 2027. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-funding-work-in-the-catholic-school-system-78469">Explainer: how does funding work in the Catholic school system?</a>
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<p>Under Coalition policy, the effective funding for each state school will plateau at 91% of SRS, while non-government schools get full whack. Private schools serving disadvantaged students will continue to get more taxpayer dollars than similar government schools. As a five-year-old might say, it’s not fair.</p>
<p>Labor is on course to deliver fairer funding, having committed to building on the 2017 legislation. Labor should lock in the new model for calculating parents’ capacity to contribute, instigate a broader review of the SRS formula and abolish the Choice and Affordability Fund. </p>
<p>Labor has also promised <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-pledges-a-14-billion-public-school-boost-20181009-p508ok.html">A$14 billion extra for government schools over a decade.</a> This would <a href="https://www.theeducatoronline.com/au/news/opinion-school-funding-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/256207">lift the federal contribution to 22.2% of SRS by 2022</a>. Yet government schools would still be underfunded relative to SRS, especially if states could continue to count depreciation, transport and regulatory expenditures as if they represented real money for schools.</p>
<p>If Labor wins the 2019 federal election, it should leverage its budget war chest to renegotiate the national agreements so states can no longer claim depreciation, transport and regulatory expenditures as part of their schools funding. That would put government schools on track to reach 97.2% of SRS. Not quite full funding, but within touching distance.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-victoria-have-australias-lowest-rate-of-public-school-funding-106772">FactCheck: does Victoria have Australia's lowest rate of public school funding?</a>
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<p>For an average government school, the difference between 91% and 100% of SRS is about A$1,500 per student per year. With just half of that money, a typical state primary school could employ two dedicated instructional leaders to improve teaching practice and pay for relief time for other teachers to work with them. Fair funding just might transform the education of the children at that school and the thousands of schools like it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p>Schools funding doesn’t pass the playground test of fairness: state schools get less government funding than governments themselves say the schools need.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1080792018-12-20T18:50:11Z2018-12-20T18:50:11ZSchools policy in 2018: reflecting on the big events and the new developments<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251124/original/file-20181217-27776-1n3tvfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Regardless of who wins next year's federal election, it's time for us to all get on the same page.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is a longer read at just over 1,500 words. Enjoy!</em></p>
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<p>The year 2018 was a mixed bag for schooling policy in Australia. </p>
<p>We had new ministers, a new organisation and some auspicious anniversaries. As Christmas approaches, it’s worth reflecting on the year that’s been. </p>
<h2>Let’s begin in the states and territories</h2>
<p><strong>New South Wales</strong></p>
<p>One of the biggest ticket items this year is the <a href="https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/about/initiatives/curriculum-review">overhaul of the NSW school curriculum</a> for the first time in decades. The curriculum is currently under review – and when it’s reformed, the effect will likely be felt far beyond NSW’s borders. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/decluttering-the-nsw-curriculum-why-reducing-the-number-of-subjects-isnt-the-answer-96853">Decluttering the NSW curriculum: why reducing the number of subjects isn't the answer</a>
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<p>There have been <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/our-priorities/innovate-for-the-future/education-for-a-changing-world">multiple indications</a> the reformed curriculum may have a greater focus on capabilities. These are also known as “soft skills” or “21st century skills”, and include creative and critical thinking. (The new <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/educationstate/viccurriculumf10edstatefactsheet.pdf">Victorian Curriculum</a>, and to a lesser extent the national <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/">Australian Curriculum</a>, have also focused more closely on general capabilities.) </p>
<p>This shift is a response to <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/SEL-Revised.pdf">growing evidence</a> of the vital importance of capabilities to school performance, life outcomes and the economy. There is also <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/the-capable-country/">evidence</a> they can and should be developed in education settings from toddler-hood through to the tertiary years and beyond. Debate now turns to the best way to do so.</p>
<p><strong>South Australia</strong></p>
<p>NSW is not the only state marching forward with its own bold program. The new South Australian government is embarking on an ambitious <a href="https://www.education.sa.gov.au/teaching/school-improvement">school improvement agenda</a> to “speed up” the learning growth of every student in every classroom. This system-wide reform combines tailored approaches with a heavier emphasis on planning, data, literacy and numeracy, building on their successful trial of the <a href="https://www.education.sa.gov.au/teaching/curriculum-and-teaching/numeracy-and-literacy/phonics-screening-check">phonics check</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-australias-trial-of-englands-year-one-phonics-check-shows-why-we-need-it-94411">South Australia's trial of England's year one phonics check shows why we need it</a>
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<p><strong>Queensland</strong></p>
<p>Queensland is steadily <a href="https://www.queenslandplan.qld.gov.au/delivering-the-plan/plans-and-reports/annual-progress-report.aspx">closing gaps</a> in educational outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. </p>
<p>It has also launched a new <a href="https://qed.qld.gov.au/det-publications/strategiesandplans/Documents/strategic-plan-2018-2022-a4-booklet.pdf">strategic plan</a>. Notably, this includes early childhood education and post-school education, and additional measures for students in regional and rural areas, and students with disabilities. This is part of a cohesive approach to lifting and sustaining learning outcomes for all students. </p>
<p><strong>Victoria</strong></p>
<p>The re-election of the Andrews government in November sees the continuation of its <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/educationstate/Pages/vision.aspx">Education State reform agenda</a>. This includes funding more specialists in schools (teachers, doctors, speech pathologists, psychologists and social workers), building and renovating more schools, and providing more preschool. </p>
<p>Yes, in a landmark policy announcement, Victoria’s youngest residents will receive <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/labor-s-5-billion-kinder-promise-for-victorian-families-20181004-p507ob.html">two years of funded preschool</a>. Given the <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/two-years-preschool/">benefits of quality preschool</a> to all students, especially reducing developmental vulnerability on school entry, it’s a solid investment. It is one of the only strategies proven by research to lift outcomes for <em>all</em> children.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-shows-there-are-benefits-from-getting-more-three-year-olds-into-preschool-104416">Research shows there are benefits from getting more three-year-olds into preschool</a>
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<p><strong>Western Australia</strong></p>
<p>Western Australia is turning its attention to better recruitment, development and support for school leaders, as part of its broader <a href="https://www.education.wa.edu.au/documents/43634987/0/WA+Department+of+Education+Proposed+Public+School+Leadership+Strategy.PDF/f03c80ac-47e2-329d-4df7-03b2196a23ef">system improvement strategy</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Tasmania</strong></p>
<p>In Tasmania, the ongoing implementation of the <a href="https://www.education.tas.gov.au/about-us/legislation/education-act/">2017 Education Act</a> kept schools and department officials busy – in large part due to giant shift to 13 years of compulsory schooling (prep to year 12) by 2020. </p>
<p>Until recently, many schools finished at year ten and students wanting to continue their education move to a new school, often in a new town. This is a major factor in Tassie’s low <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-data-portal/year-12-certification-rates">year 12 completion rate</a> of only 72% - a full 10% lower than the national average. </p>
<p><strong>The Northern Territory</strong></p>
<p>And the NT launched it’s latest <a href="https://education.nt.gov.au/education/statistics-research-and-strategies/strategic-plan">strategic plan</a> with a focus on school leadership, quality, equity, differentiated learning, community engagement and better data. </p>
<p>They also put out a new <a href="https://education.nt.gov.au/education/statistics-research-and-strategies/school-resourcing-model-action-plan-for-the-future">school funding model</a>, with a greater emphasis on action and targeting to student needs and interventions. </p>
<p><strong>ACT</strong></p>
<p>The ACT became the first jurisdiction in Australia to provide every secondary student in a government school with a laptop. The ACT 2018-19 budget also provided <a href="https://apps.treasury.act.gov.au/budget/budget-2018-2019/budget-in-brief/educatio">A$9.2 million for research and trials</a> of new teaching techniques in response to damning research that found once socio-economic backgrounds are taken into account, ACT students are <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/canberra-s-public-high-school-students-up-to-a-year-behind-20180824-p4zzik.html">up to a year behind</a> their counterparts in other states and territories. </p>
<h2>Turning to the federal level</h2>
<p><strong>Gonski 2.0</strong></p>
<p>The March release of the Gonski 2.0 <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools">report</a> was an early highlight. This review was tasked with identifying the school and classroom factors that can make the biggest, sustained difference to educational achievement. This includes what funding should be spent on, rather than structural issues like funding allocations.</p>
<p>Gonski 2.0 advocated for a student-centred schooling system based on learning growth over time. Key recommendations focused on enhancing student voice, and better valuing of and support for teachers and school leaders, including providing them with the time and tools (including finer grain data, and data beyond NAPLAN) to focus on teaching and educational leadership, so they’re not swamped by administrative compliance. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-review-reveals-another-grand-plan-to-overhaul-education-but-do-we-really-need-it-93119">Gonski review reveals another grand plan to overhaul education: but do we really need it?</a>
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<p>(Astute readers will have noticed the key elements of Gonski 2.0 are already key elements of existing state and territory policy platforms and strategies.)</p>
<p><strong>Happy anniversary?</strong></p>
<p>2018 was the tenth anniversary of three major pillars of Australian schooling policy: <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au/">NAPLAN</a>, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (<a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/">ACARA</a>) and the <a href="http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf">Melbourne Declaration</a> of Educational Goals for Young Australians. Each celebrated this milestone amidst growing <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/desperately-disappointing-10-years-since-the-melbourne-declaration-20181201-p50jk5.html">debate</a> on whether they had served their intended purpose.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-melbourne-declaration-on-educational-goals-for-young-australians-what-it-is-and-why-it-needs-updating-107895">The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians: what it is and why it needs updating</a>
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<p>In the case of NAPLAN, this was accompanied by a growing call for its abolition or overhaul. NAPLAN was intended as a nationally-comparable, point-in-time dataset on a few vital areas to support schools and system leaders to make program and resourcing decisions. It was also meant to inform parental choice of schools.</p>
<p>But misunderstanding and misuse of NAPLAN has led to perverse effects. These include an overemphasis on preparation by some schools and families, resulting in anxiety and curriculum narrowing. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-we-wouldnt-know-without-naplan-94286">Five things we wouldn't know without NAPLAN</a>
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<p><strong>In with the new</strong></p>
<p>2018 also saw the launch of a new national institution - the <a href="https://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/about-us/gonski-institute-for-education/">Gonski Institute</a> focused on addressing education inequality across Australia. Despite - or perhaps because of - near continuous reforms at state and federal levels this past decade, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-5871.12317">inequality continues to grow</a>. </p>
<p>We also got a new federal education minister – Dan Tehan. He received the poisoned chalice of continuing the long and testy negotiations with the states on a five-year school funding agreement derived from the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017A00078">2017 Education Act</a> (the previous round of funding refoms) and the Gonski 2.0 findings. </p>
<p>These <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-reform-agreement-0">funding agreements</a> are also a key element of the Coalition’s <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-schools-package">Quality Schools policy package</a>, which has remained fairly constant the last few years.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until this week all jurisdictions were finally signed-up. But the last signatory - Victoria - only made a one-month deal. The Victorian government has expressed their concerns about a “<a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/holding-kids-to-ransom-one-year-school-funding-deal-knocked-back-20181213-p50m3m.html">dud deal</a>” that provides more funding for students at non-government schools than those at government schools. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-victorian-governments-decision-not-to-sign-on-to-the-gonski-reforms-means-for-schools-in-the-new-year-108674">What the Victorian government's decision not to sign on to the Gonski reforms means for schools in the new year</a>
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<p>This short-term deal raises a bunch of questions as we head into the near year and the 2019 federal election - will there be by more short-term deals? Will other states seek to renegotiate better terms? Is Victoria banking on a change of government - and negotiating partner?</p>
<h2>What do we know about federal Labor’s plans for education?</h2>
<p>The key elements of Labor’s schooling policy pillars are restoring funding to schools cut by the Coalition. This includes, contentiously, restoring funding to some of the most over-funded non-government schools. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-education-research-institute-wont-take-politics-out-of-the-classroom-92037">An education research institute won't take politics out of the classroom</a>
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<p>They have also pledged an additional year of preschool for all kids across Australia, and have announced they will establish a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/16/labor-pledges-280m-research-institute-to-take-politics-out-of-the-classroom">national evidence institute</a> for education policy. </p>
<p><strong>A new year and new goals</strong></p>
<p>The updating of the national goals for Australian schooling by Australia’s state, territory and Commonwealth education ministers next year provides an opportunity to reflect on the purposes of schooling in the 21st century. </p>
<p>It’s hard to find fault with Minister Tehan’s <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/tehan/updating-melbourne-declaration">statement</a> that “Australia needs a shared agenda across the country to ensure alignment between policy, practice and delivery” and that young people need “a quality school education, tailored to individual needs”. </p>
<p>But it’s also true the 2008 goals were <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/let-s-end-our-neo-liberal-school-testing-fixation-20181213-p50m3q.html">never achieved</a> because it was never properly implemented.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-australias-school-funding-debate-whats-at-stake-100023">Explaining Australia's school funding debate: what's at stake</a>
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<p>Grand goals are well and good, but we need to also provision for implementation and work hard to make it happen. This means time, resources, clarity on each stakeholder’s role in creating an excellent and equitable schooling system (which enables all young Australians to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals), and active and informed citizens. </p>
<p>It’s time to commit to action and cooperation, regardless of who wins the 2019 elections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108079/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Hinz is Director of Research and Development for Pivot Professional Learning where she works with key schooling stakeholders across Australia, from students to senior government officials. Pivot has partnerships and pilot projects with the Victorian Department of Education and Training, the Bastow Institute for Educational Leadership, the NSW Department of Education, the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation, Sydney Catholic Schools, Teach for Australia and more. Bronwyn does not directly receive funding from these bodies, nor does Pivot or its partners or clients benefit directly from this article. </span></em></p>2018 was a mixed bag for schooling policy in Australia, with new ministers, a new organisation and auspicious anniversaries. It’s worth reflecting on the year that’s been.Bronwyn Hinz, Director of Research and Development, Pivot Professional Learning; and Honorary Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/974412018-06-07T20:27:16Z2018-06-07T20:27:16ZExplainer: what’s the difference between formative and summative assessment in schools?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222093/original/file-20180607-137309-1bx3631.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Both formative and summative assessments are important parts of a well-rounded assessment program.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent Gonski <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/662684_tgta_accessible_final_0.pdf">report</a> argues Australia needs assessment and reporting models that capture both achievement progress and long-term learning progress. This, according to the review panel, involves low-stakes, low-key, and regular formative assessments to support learning progressions. The report used international <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/827-Targeted-Teaching.pdf">evidence</a> on individualised teaching to demonstrate ongoing formative assessment and feedback is fundamental to supporting students to do better in school. </p>
<p>The NSW Education Minister, Rob Stokes, has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/naplan-is-being-used-abused-and-must-be-urgently-dumped-stokes-20180503-p4zd3z.html">called for</a> NAPLAN to be replaced in “haste” with less high stakes tests. Mark Scott, the secretary of the NSW Department of Education, echoed Stokes’ remarks. He <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-29/naplan-will-look-a-little-dated-when-new-testing-catches-on/9796860">stated</a>: </p>
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<p>I think [NAPLAN] will become obsolete because the kinds of information that the new assessment schemes will give us will be richer and deeper and more meaningful for teachers, for parents and for education systems.</p>
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<p>So, what’s the difference between formative and summative assessment? And when should each be used? Formative and summative assessment have different purposes and <a href="http://gottesman.pressible.org/cjr2142/balanced-assessment-from-formative-to-summative">both have an important role to play</a> in a balanced assessment program.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222094/original/file-20180607-137309-8bwo1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222094/original/file-20180607-137309-8bwo1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222094/original/file-20180607-137309-8bwo1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222094/original/file-20180607-137309-8bwo1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222094/original/file-20180607-137309-8bwo1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222094/original/file-20180607-137309-8bwo1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222094/original/file-20180607-137309-8bwo1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Formative assessments provide students with feedback and show where gaps in learning are.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Formative assessment</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/beyond_blackbox.pdf">Formative assessment</a> includes a range of strategies such as classroom discussions and quizzes designed to generate feedback on student performance. This is done so teachers can <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969595980050104">make changes</a> in teaching and learning based on what students need. </p>
<p>It involves finding out what students know and do not know, and continually monitoring student progress during learning. Both teachers and students <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969594970040304">are involved</a> in decisions about the next steps in learning. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marking-answers-with-a-tick-or-cross-wont-enhance-learning-48732">Marking answers with a tick or cross won't enhance learning</a>
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<hr>
<p>Teachers use the feedback from formative tasks to identify what students are struggling with and adjust instruction appropriately. This could involve re-teaching key concepts, changing how they teach or modifying teaching resources to provide students with additional support. Students also use feedback from formative tasks to reflect on and improve their own work. </p>
<p><strong>Regular classroom tasks, whether formal (for example, traditional pen and paper tests) or informal (such as classroom discussions), can be adapted into effective formative tasks by:</strong> </p>
<ul>
<li><p>making students aware of the learning goals/success criteria using rubrics and carefully tracking student progress against them </p></li>
<li><p>including clear instructions to guide students through a series of activities to demonstrate the success criteria. A teacher might, for example, design a series of activities to guide students through an inquiry or research process in science</p></li>
<li><p>providing regular opportunities for feedback from the teacher, other students or parents (this feedback may be face-to face, written, or online)</p></li>
<li><p>making sure students have opportunities to reflect on and make use of feedback to improve their work. This may involve asking students to write a short reflection about the feedback on their draft essay and using this to improve their final version.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>There are many advantages of formative assessment:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><p>feedback from formative assessment helps students become aware of any
gaps between their goal and their current knowledge, understanding, or skill</p></li>
<li><p>tasks <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969595980050104">guide students</a> through the actions necessary to hit learning goals </p></li>
<li><p>tasks encourage students to focus their attention on the task (such as undertaking an inquiry or research process) rather than on simply getting the right answer </p></li>
<li><p>students and teachers receive ongoing feedback about student progress towards learning goals, which enables teachers to adjust their instructional approach in response to what students need</p></li>
<li><p>students build their <a href="https://blogs.deakin.edu.au/innovation-in-psychology/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2013/11/Nichol_2006.pdf">self-regulation skills</a> by setting learning goals and monitoring their progress towards them </p></li>
<li><p>results of formative assessments can also be used for grading and reporting.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222095/original/file-20180607-137298-3lx69f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222095/original/file-20180607-137298-3lx69f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222095/original/file-20180607-137298-3lx69f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222095/original/file-20180607-137298-3lx69f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222095/original/file-20180607-137298-3lx69f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222095/original/file-20180607-137298-3lx69f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222095/original/file-20180607-137298-3lx69f.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">Summative assessments are generally standardised and rarely provide feedback.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Summative assessment</h2>
<p>This includes end of unit examinations and the NSW <a href="http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/hsc/about-HSC">Higher School Certificate</a> (HSC) examination.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969594970040304">Summative assessment</a> provides students, teachers and parents with an understanding of the pupil’s overall learning. Most commonly thought of as formal, time-specific exams, these assessments may include major essays, projects, presentations, art works, creative portfolios, reports or research experiments. These assessments are designed to measure the student’s achievement relative to the subject’s overall learning goals as set out in the relevant curriculum standards. </p>
<p>The design and goals of summative assessments are generally standardised so they can be applied to large numbers of students, multiple cohorts and time periods. <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=aer">Data collected</a> on individual student, cohort, school or system performance provides schools and principals with a tool to evaluate student knowledge relative to the learning objectives. They can also compare them with previous cohorts and other schools. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/evidence-based-education-needs-standardised-assessment-87937">Evidence-based education needs standardised assessment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The measurement and evaluation of student achievement this way <a href="https://au.sagepub.com/en-gb/oce/assessment-of-learning/book230814">gives us necessary information</a> about how we can continuously improve learning and teaching. </p>
<p>There are a number of <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=wPSIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PP4&lpg=PP4&dq=Assessment+and+Examination+in+the+Secondary+School:+A+Practical+Guide+for+Teachers+and+Trainers:+Taylor+%26+Francis&source=bl&ots=_yQGqNq5D-&sig=O5QOjNDVJHnbvVnFseS3eEBuZ28&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj72ZvBr7nbAhXSq5QKHYB7BdYQ6AEIPjAF#v=onepage&q=limitations&f=false">limitations</a> of summative assessment. While formative assessments usually provide feedback for the student to review and develop their learning, summative assessments are rarely returned to students. When assessments provide only a numerical grade and little or no feedback, as the NSW HSC does, it’s hard for students and teachers to pinpoint learning needs and determine the way forward. </p>
<p>Additionally, being a form of “high stakes” assessment, results may be perceived as a way of ranking students. For high achieving students there is recognition and reward, while for the lower performing students there is potential embarrassment and shame. Neither of these things should be associated with an equal opportunity education system. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author would like to acknowledge the work of David McDonald, a PhD student at Macquarie University in assessment, in writing this article.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Lane 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>There are benefits and drawbacks to both formative and summative assessment. Both are important parts of a rigorous assessment program.Rod Lane, Senior Lecturer in Educational Assessment, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/957812018-05-03T20:20:39Z2018-05-03T20:20:39ZWhat democratic schools can teach us about how to implement Gonski 2.0<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217183/original/file-20180502-153914-qlhydd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Democratic schools are student centred, with individualised learning.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gonski 2.0 makes 23 <a href="https://www.appa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/20180430-Through-Growth-to-Achievement_Text.pdf">recommendations</a> to change Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-review-attacks-australian-schooling-quality-and-urges-individualised-teaching-approach-95764">education landscape </a>. The federal government has <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/the-gonski-20-vision-to-shakeup-schools/news-story/526cb97bb5992cb509bbf50e379c486e">accepted</a> all of those recommendations. </p>
<p>David Gonski will present his report at the special <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/the-gonski-20-vision-to-shakeup-schools/news-story/526cb97bb5992cb509bbf50e379c486e">COAG meeting</a> on May 4. The federal education minister will need to secure the support of all states and territories. </p>
<p>While these recommendations suggest major change to current education practice, democratic schools have been implementing many of these ideas for <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/where-all-are-equal-20100729-10x6z.html">40 years</a>. They provide a model for how states and territories could proceed.</p>
<h2>Democratic schools and their philosophy</h2>
<p>Democratic schools are <a href="https://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877042815005881/1-s2.0-S1877042815005881-main.pdf?_tid=9ed12756-da95-4bfa-a195-9659039016a5&acdnat=1525131292_a98a5b1f0c539d8a616a23e91e6dbf32">student-centred</a>, with individualised learning and progression plans. They <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/380572">avoid age grouping or “year levels”</a>. These schools put <a href="http://www.appstate.edu/%7Enelsenpj/rcoe/2400Fall11/Welcome_files/Apple&Beane95.pdf">individual student’s needs</a> at the heart of the school and the <a href="https://www.eudec.org/Democratic+Education">learning</a>. They report <a href="http://www.kinma.nsw.edu.au/178-primary">student’s learning</a> and progression in relation to students as individuals. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-review-reveals-another-grand-plan-to-overhaul-education-but-do-we-really-need-it-93119">Gonski review reveals another grand plan to overhaul education: but do we really need it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Democratic schools operate in <a href="https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/List_of_democratic_schools.html">many countries</a> across the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1v3zlskHzh-9cpgbw-_CibDnXzK8&ll=-3.81666561775622e-14%2C-61.25920635&z=1">world</a>. They are based on a belief we need to work against a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Democratic-Schools-Second-Powerful-Education/dp/0325010757">cookie-cutter</a> approach to education. These schools <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220671.2013.823365?src=recsys&journalCode=vjer20">individualise instruction</a> and base learning on the <a href="http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/features/what-is-democratic-education/">individual needs of the learner</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217184/original/file-20180502-153884-1an1nv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217184/original/file-20180502-153884-1an1nv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217184/original/file-20180502-153884-1an1nv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217184/original/file-20180502-153884-1an1nv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217184/original/file-20180502-153884-1an1nv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217184/original/file-20180502-153884-1an1nv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217184/original/file-20180502-153884-1an1nv7.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">Democratic schools report learning and progression.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tech giant Apple is an <a href="http://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-8/michael-apple-on-ideology-in-curriculum">advocate</a> for democratic schools. They argue that by implementing the democratic schools’ model, we can achieve greater social cohesion, improve social mobility and ensure a fair and equitable education for all. </p>
<p><a href="http://education.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-80">Others</a> have found, for more than <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/443842">40 years</a>, these schools successfully foster in students a sense of success and an ability to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/200808/children-educate-themselves-iv-lessons-sudbury-valley">manage their learning</a>. These <a href="https://wicklowsudburyschooldotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/sudbury-vs-old-school2.png?w=640">skills</a> are predictors of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1999.tb00174.x">later life success</a>.</p>
<h2>Gonski’s recommendations</h2>
<p>In his recent review, Gonski made several recommendations that are aligned with democratic education. The <a href="https://www.appa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/20180430-Through-Growth-to-Achievement_Text.pdf">three priorities</a> are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>measure growth and learning based on where students start, not based on their age</p></li>
<li><p>ensure children are engaged and connected learners prepared for a changing world</p></li>
<li><p>make the system adaptive, innovative and improve it to meet students’ needs.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>All of these recommendations are already implemented in democratic schools. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217186/original/file-20180502-153884-1gqw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217186/original/file-20180502-153884-1gqw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217186/original/file-20180502-153884-1gqw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217186/original/file-20180502-153884-1gqw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217186/original/file-20180502-153884-1gqw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217186/original/file-20180502-153884-1gqw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217186/original/file-20180502-153884-1gqw93.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">While we still know little about how the recommendations will be implemented in practice, we can learn a thing or two from democratic schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These schools are adaptive to <a href="https://sudburyschool.com/content/sudbury-model-education">student’s needs</a>, in innovative <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/01/kids-arent-widgets-the-radical-thinking-that-offers-a-way-forward-after-gonski">curriculum, assessment, reporting</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317544606_Education_for_Social_Justice_in_a_Free_and_Democratic_School">behaviour management</a>. </p>
<p>The report also calls on early learning to provide a seamless transition into school, as is the case where preschools and primary schools are connected. Kinma School, for example, provides a model of how <a href="http://www.kinma.nsw.edu.au/kinma-preschool/transition-to-school">transition</a> can be effectively managed from pre- to primary school. They have the children visit throughout the year to familiarise themselves with teachers, other kids and the environment, and allow parents to stay in the classroom with their child until the student feels comfortable on their own.</p>
<p>The Gonksi report states education should equip “every student to grow and succeed in a changing world”. As noted by many democratic schools, there’s no way of knowing what students need to know. So, they allow students to determine their <a href="http://www.pinecommunityschool.org/day-to-day/curriculum">overarching topics of study</a>, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/01/kids-arent-widgets-the-radical-thinking-that-offers-a-way-forward-after-gonski">pace and manage their learning</a> based on their <a href="https://theconversation.com/principal-school-doesnt-work-for-most-kids-32733">strengths, interests and needs</a>. They also focus on the development of <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0973184913411145">problem solving</a> and students’ abilities to be change makers in the community.</p>
<p>There is also an emphasis on timely, ongoing feedback in the report. Democratic schools argue <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220671.2013.823365?src=recsys&journalCode=vjer20">feedback to learners</a> is more important than one-off assessments. Feedback, as opposed to assessment, allows students to manage their learning in <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0ahUKEwjs4sfQpOPaAhUBG5QKHd2nBbQQFghuMAc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lifescienceglobal.com%2Fpms%2Findex.php%2Fijcs%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F3890%2F2244&usg=AOvVaw30BpSIQ0eg0EM_xHfNiYrE">partnership</a> with teachers and facilitators.</p>
<p>Further, technology is vital to Gonski’s recommendations. The report notes it can be used to enhance and measure students’ learning. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217188/original/file-20180502-153878-1wbzx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217188/original/file-20180502-153878-1wbzx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217188/original/file-20180502-153878-1wbzx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217188/original/file-20180502-153878-1wbzx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217188/original/file-20180502-153878-1wbzx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217188/original/file-20180502-153878-1wbzx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217188/original/file-20180502-153878-1wbzx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is already evidence of democratic schooling working in practice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In democratic schools, <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ754046.pdf">technology is central</a> to the development of the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF03024954">individual as a learner</a>, to <a href="http://eugenesudburyschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/EugeneSudburySchoolHandbook.pdf">accessing ideas</a> and information that was previously unavailable. It also democratises the role of the <a href="http://www.pinecommunityschool.org/philosophy/democratic-education">teacher as facilitator</a> and not an overarching expert in all things.</p>
<p>Some democratic schools in the US use <a href="https://sudburybeach.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/is-altschool-the-future-of-education/">technology to manage teacher development</a> by videoing teachers in class and helping them use that data to improve their performance.</p>
<h2>It can be done, and done well</h2>
<p>Some may argue many of these reforms are <a href="http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/gonski-20-wont-help-schools-20180430-h0zg0e">impossible to implement</a>. But there is evidence of elements working in practice, <a href="https://theconversation.com/principal-school-doesnt-work-for-most-kids-32733">in Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.tallgrasssudbury.org/blog/2017/8/14/but-does-it-work">overseas</a>. </p>
<p>Democratic schools are already working within the Gonski recommendations, including the multi-age philosophy at <a href="http://www.kinma.nsw.edu.au/kinma-primary">Kinma</a>, <a href="http://currambena.nsw.edu.au/">Currambena</a> and <a href="http://www.pinecommunityschool.org/">Pine Community School</a>. There is also a noticeable approach to flexibility, at <a href="https://tc.vic.edu.au/our-philosophy-in-depth/">Templestowe College</a> in secondary and senior secondary school. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/democratic-schooling-teachers-leave-them-kids-alone-24669">Democratic schooling: teachers leave them kids alone</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The importance of the learner is central to Gonski’s report and to wider discussions about how we engage students in education that benefits them and the community in the 21st century. While we still know little about how the recommendations will be implemented in practice, we can learn a thing or two from democratic schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca English 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>Democratic schools already employ some of the recommendations from the Gonski report, chief among them individualisation of teaching.Rebecca English, Lecturer in Education, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/950342018-04-19T20:06:18Z2018-04-19T20:06:18ZTo reduce inequality in Australian schools, make them less socially segregated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215550/original/file-20180419-163966-1hgnql9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Needs-based funding is necessary, but it can only do so much.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">marco antonio torres/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>According to the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/universal-basic-skills-9789264234833-en.htm">OECD</a>, 17% of Australian young people leave secondary school without achieving basic educational skill levels. They conclude that eliminating school underperformance would reap enough fiscal benefits to pay for the country’s entire school system. </p>
<p>Educational inequality takes many forms, and is a problem because it stunts the potential of young people. This underachievement has negative impacts for young people themselves, which in turn has negative impacts for the larger society. Low educational outcomes are related to <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/C822971247C9CAD1CA2578BD0013DAEC?opendocument">diminished health</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775702000389">unemployment</a>, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features40Mar+2010">low wages</a>, <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/other-publications">social exclusion</a>, <a href="http://youthlaw.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Rethinking-Justice-VulnerabilityReport2016-Red-Cross.pdf">crime and incarceration</a>, and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2010.00685.x">teenage pregnancy</a>. </p>
<p>Inequalities between students from different social backgrounds already exist when they start primary school. Worryingly, these inequalities increase as students progress through the education system. </p>
<p>This week, the <a href="https://www.ceda.com.au/">Committee for Economic Development of Australia</a> (CEDA) published a <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/85/CEDA_How_unequal_Insights_on_inequality_April_2018_web.pdf?1524116407">report</a> about inequality and its negative effects for people and the larger society. The report includes chapters on inequality in education, workplaces, geographic inequality and inter-generational inequality. </p>
<h2>Inequality in Australian schools</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.sstuwa.org.au/news-home/2017/d/naplan-data-shows-continuing-large-achievement-gaps-between-advantaged-and-disadvantaged-students">report</a> shows NAPLAN achievement gaps between year five students from high and low educated parents are the equivalent of more than two and a half years of learning in reading and about two years in writing and numeracy. For year nine students, the gaps are even larger: about four years in reading and numeracy, and four and a half years in writing. </p>
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<p><a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/21/">Data from PISA</a> shows similar inequalities. Australian students from the highest socio-economic status (SES) quartile substantially outperform those from the lowest SES quartile in reading, maths and science. The equity gap represents almost three years of schooling in all three domains.</p>
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<p>These inequalities of educational outcomes are partly driven by poverty and disadvantage outside the school. But these socioeconomic inequalities are then amplified by schooling. This is because socially advantaged students in Australia often receive more educational advantages than their less privileged peers, not less. </p>
<p>Inequalities of educational opportunities and experiences are a result of socially segregated schools. Australia has <a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/equity-in-education/resource-gaps-between-advantaged-disadvantaged-schools-among-the-largest-in-the-world">one of the largest resource gaps</a> between advantaged and disadvantaged schools in the OECD. Australia has large the largest gap in the shortage of teachers between disadvantaged and advantaged schools among all OECD countries. </p>
<p>Disadvantaged schools in Australia also have far fewer educational materials (books, facilities, laboratories) than high SES schools. This gap is the third largest in the OECD, with only Chile and Turkey showing larger inequalities between schools. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-in-indigenous-literacy-and-numeracy-not-remotely-or-in-cities-88704">Closing the gap in Indigenous literacy and numeracy? Not remotely – or in cities</a>
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</em>
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<h2>To tackle underachievement, we need to do two things</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>Give early, targeted and intensive support to students as soon as they start to fall behind. This is what Finland does, with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680939.2010.493230">almost 30% of its students</a> receiving such an intervention at one time or another. It’s one of the best ways to ensure students don’t fall between the cracks. But it requires resources, so we need to give more money to the schools and students who need it. This is where needs-based funding plays a role.</p></li>
<li><p>Make our schools more socially integrated. It’s the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1080/01411920903144251">most effective</a> way to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9GwxXpOP738C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Kahlenberg,+R.+(2001)+All+together+now:+Creating+middle-class+schools+through+public+school+choices.+Washington+DC:+Brookings+Institution%3B&ots=AVaQhMzYEM&sig=lqtDrxpf4gQg3qSrtUEZF2ebOL0#v=onepage&q&f=false">raise achievement</a>. A socially mixed or average student composition creates conditions that facilitate teaching and learning. Middle-class and/or socially mixed schools are also much less expensive to operate because they have fewer students with high needs. Less expensive running costs frees up funds which can be used for targeted and intensive support for students who need it. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>How do we reduce school social segregation?</h2>
<p>If we look to Commonwealth countries that have less segregated schooling than Australia, such as New Zealand, Canada and the UK, we can see two inter-related things. They have a much smaller proportion of schools that charge fees, and smaller qualitative differences between schools in terms of their facilities and resources. </p>
<p>These countries show both of these things can be done while maintaining diverse schooling options. We can still have schools with different faiths, philosophies and orientations, in addition to a strong and robust public school system.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/educational-disadvantage-is-a-huge-problem-in-australia-we-cant-just-carry-on-the-same-74530">Educational disadvantage is a huge problem in Australia – we can't just carry on the same</a>
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<p>While the latest federal school funding approach is moving in the right direction, it’s still based on an inherent contradiction that reduces its effectiveness. On the one hand, we have a funding policy that promotes unequal resourcing between schools via a large fee-paying school sector. This inevitably leads to a socially stratified school system, which increases educational inequalities and underachievement. </p>
<p>We then try to mitigate those negative consequences of our funding policy with a different funding policy (redistribution via needs-based funding). The two prongs are working against each other, which is not only educationally ineffective but also fiscally inefficient.</p>
<p>Needs-based funding is necessary, but it can only do so much. It’s much more effective if we don’t have schools with high concentrations of poverty and disadvantage. Needs-based funding will not be much more than a band-aid if it’s not accompanied by greater structural reform in the way we fund and organise schools. </p>
<p>Needs-based funding redistributes some funding from schools with lower needs to those with greater needs, but it will do little to reduce school segregation. And so the result of our efforts to reduce underachievement will be modest at best.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95034/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Perry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Needs-based funding is necessary, but it can only do so much. It’s much more effective if we don’t have schools with high concentrations of poverty and disadvantage.Laura Perry, Associate Professor, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/937222018-03-22T04:16:52Z2018-03-22T04:16:52ZCatholic schools aren’t all the same, and Gonski 2.0 reflects this<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211483/original/file-20180322-165583-13xaejj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the debate about Catholic school funding, it needs to be recognised that not all Catholic schools are the same.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=QED6NQLrTlDywMMEYjb53g-1-13">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bill Shorten <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/20/public-school-lobby-criticises-labors-arbitrary-250m-for-catholic-schools">is being accused</a> of buying support from the Catholic sector to win the seat of Batman, by appearing to promise Catholic schools A$250 million in the first two years of a Labor government. The Catholic sector says this money goes a way to restoring the funding lost in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-passage-of-gonski-2-0-is-a-victory-for-children-over-politics-79828">Gonski 2.0 reforms</a>. Public and independent schools are outraged at the perceived favouritism.</p>
<p>Part of the key to making sense of this seemingly endless debate is to recognise that Catholic schools are not all the same. Even more important is that government funding, under the Gonski 2.0 model, will reflect the actual socioeconomic mix of each school.</p>
<p>Batman, for instance, is a diverse electorate, which provides an interesting case study. The Catholic schools serving the highest proportion of educationally disadvantaged students will either be unaffected by Gonski 2.0, or will attract more government funding. Those with more students in higher socioeconomic groups will be affected – but this is fair policy.</p>
<h2>How schools funding works</h2>
<p>Under the new schools funding model, often called Gonski 2.0, a <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/what-schooling-resource-standard-and-how-does-it-work">school resourcing standard</a> (SRS) is calculated for each school. This target level of funding incorporates three elements.</p>
<p>The first is a level of base funding per student for all schools. In 2018, this is A$13,764 per secondary school student and A$10,953 per primary student. </p>
<p>The second is additional needs-based funding based mainly on the characteristics of each school’s students. This is measured in terms of low socio-economic status (SES), disability, and language background other than English.</p>
<p>The third element is an estimate of the capacity of parents who send their children to non-government schools to contribute towards the cost of schooling. This ranges from 10% of the base funding for low-SES schools to 80% for high-SES schools. This means Catholic and independent schools with poorer parents get more government funding than those with more affluent parents, even before individual student need is taken into account.</p>
<p>The estimated parental capacity to contribute is based on <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/2017_and_2018_ses_scores_for_publication_11oct17_-_updated_20.11.17.pdf">each non-government school’s SES score</a>. This is calculated by looking at the <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aea2013210/s54.html">average socioeconomic makeup</a> of the areas where a school’s parents live.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211487/original/file-20180322-165550-4elkfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211487/original/file-20180322-165550-4elkfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211487/original/file-20180322-165550-4elkfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211487/original/file-20180322-165550-4elkfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211487/original/file-20180322-165550-4elkfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211487/original/file-20180322-165550-4elkfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211487/original/file-20180322-165550-4elkfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catholic schools with an SES score of less than 100 will either be unaffected, or have their funding increased, under Gonski 2.0.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/thoughtful-elementary-students-sitting-classroom-143627596">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>A non-government school with students from a mix of average neighbourhoods would have an SES score of 100. In 2018, under Gonski 2.0, parents of a primary student in such a school would be expected to contribute about A$1,750 (16% of the base funding). This would be roughly twice as much for secondary school (A$3,484 or 25%).</p>
<p>A non-government school with students from very affluent neighbourhoods might have an SES score of 120-130. The expected parental contribution would range from A$6,700-A$8,760 for primary schools, and A$9,500-A$11,000 for secondary schools.</p>
<p>A non-government school whose families come from battling neighbourhoods might have an SES score of about 80. For such a school, parents would be expected to contribute the minimum 10% of base funding, or A$1,095 for primary students and A$1,376 for secondary students.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/confused-about-changes-to-school-funding-heres-what-you-need-to-know-78455">Confused about changes to school funding? Here's what you need to know</a>
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</em>
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<p>These are huge differences. Changing the SES score of a non-government secondary school by just one point means about A$300 more or less government funding per student. For non-government primary schools, this is worth between A$200 and A$400 per student. </p>
<p>This naturally influences school fees. When government funding is low, fees will typically be high. When government funding is high, schools can afford to set low fees.</p>
<h2>From Gonski 1.0 to Gonski 2.0</h2>
<p>The original Gonski model (in 2013) treated Catholic schools as a homogeneous group. They were allocated a “system-weighted average” score based on the state the school was in, such as <a href="http://www.csnsw.catholic.edu.au/school-funding-explained-in-five-easy-steps-no-really/">a score of 101 in NSW</a>. </p>
<p>Primary schools that came under this score had an expected parental contribution of 13.5%. Regardless of how advantaged a Catholic primary school might be, the formula never expected parents to contribute more than A$1,400. </p>
<p>This enabled all Catholic primary schools to keep their fees low – often in the range of A$2,000-A$3,500 even for the most highly advantaged schools and regardless of parents’ actual ability to pay. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, a highly advantaged independent primary school would need to have fees of at least A$8,000 per year to have adequate resources to educate its students.</p>
<p>Gonski 2.0 removed the system-weighted average. Funding for Catholic schools will still be handed over to each state as a lump sum, and each Catholic diocese will retain the right to allocate funding across its schools. But the calculation of the school resourcing standard for each school will take into account the huge differences in parents’ financial means.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-funding-work-in-the-catholic-school-system-78469">Explainer: how does funding work in the Catholic school system?</a>
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<h2>The Batman case study</h2>
<p>So back to Batman - where this latest funding fight has erupted. The northern part of the electorate is mainly covered by the generally working-class suburb of Reservoir. The middle is split between Preston and Thornbury, both of which have gentrified over recent years.</p>
<p>The southern end includes Northcote, Alphington, Fairfield and Clifton Hill, once home to Italian nonnas but now dominated by professionals keen to live close Melbourne’s centre. There are 13 Catholic primary schools in Batman. The SES scores range from 92 in Reservoir to 117 in Alphington. </p>
<p>Six socially diverse schools in the northern end of Batman have an SES score of less than 100. So their funding is unaffected, or even increased, under Gonski 2.0. Two other schools in the north have an SES score of just over 100. Most of their students (78%) come from families that are more advantaged than average, <a href="http://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/About_icsea_2014.pdf">based on their parents’ education and occupation</a>, and only 4% come from the most disadvantaged quarter of families. Their expected capacity to contribute will increase by less than A$1,000.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-passage-of-gonski-2-0-is-a-victory-for-children-over-politics-79828">The passage of Gonski 2.0 is a victory for children over politics</a>
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<p>Three schools in the middle of the electorate have an SES score of 108 or 109. These will be affected more: their expected capacity to contribute will increase by about A$2,000. </p>
<p>Two small schools at the southern end have an SES score of 115 or above. Their expected capacity to contribute will increase by about A$4,000 per student. But this would have a very different impact across the two schools, because one appears to serve advantaged families (70% of students from the most educationally-advantaged quartile and only 1% from the least), while the other is much more socially diverse (10% from the least advantaged quartile and another 20% from the second-lowest). </p>
<p>This highlights some of the limitations of the current SES score, which is one reason why it is so important to improve it in the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/review-socio-economic-status-ses-score-methodology">current review</a> by the recently appointed <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-resourcing-board">National School Resourcing Board</a>.</p>
<h2>A national picture</h2>
<p>The nationwide picture is similar to that of Batman. For Catholic schools with the lowest SES scores, nearly three-quarters of their students come from families that are less advantaged than average. For Catholic schools with the highest SES scores, this proportion is well under 10%.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211498/original/file-20180322-165574-tqdmgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educationally disadvantaged students are the bottom two quartiles of the socio-educational advantage (SEA) metric, a student-level measure of parental education and occupation that is reported on MySchool.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>Looking at the most educationally disadvantaged quartile of students, Catholic schools look even more similar to independent schools with the same SES score.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211499/original/file-20180322-165564-m0w5tt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educationally very disadvantaged students are the bottom quartile of the socio-educational advantage (SEA) metric, a student-level measure of parental education and occupation that is reported on MySchool.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>In fact, for the 21 Catholic primary schools with an SES score of 125 (where the capacity to contribute curve tops out), only about 20 students out of 5,500 come from the bottom quartile. It is hard to argue these schools are socially diverse, or serving the poorer students, arguments sometimes made to justify the need to keep their fees low. </p>
<p>So, not all Catholic schools are the same, and we should stop talking about them as if they were.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93722/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>Catholic schools say they’re losing money under Gonski 2.0, but this is only true for schools serving students in affluent areas – those in poorer areas will either be unaffected, or get more.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/880172017-12-03T19:17:53Z2017-12-03T19:17:53ZSTEM education in primary schools will fall flat unless serious issues are addressed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196638/original/file-20171128-2025-v4edym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not all schools have access to enough equipment for their students, which means they waste time building, un-building and re-building their projects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been two years since Prime Minister Turnbull <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/pyne/media-releases/national-innovation-and-science-agenda">announced his innovation agenda for schools</a> and the allocation of funds to boost science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education. But there’s a growing gap between what was promised and the reality of what all schools can access. </p>
<p>STEM education in Australia won’t realise its full potential unless we address issues of resources, equity, teacher professional learning, the needs of students who speak English as an additional language and may have low literacy and numeracy skills, and ageing school facilities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-solve-our-stem-skills-problem-bring-in-the-professionals-87513">Want to solve our STEM skills problem? Bring in the professionals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Building teacher confidence and capacity</h2>
<p>Two recent Australian <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4891119/Exploring_technology_integration_in_teachers_classrooms_in_NSW_public_schools">studies</a> involving nearly 1,000 primary school students sought to determine whether a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34736745/Switching_Middle_School_Teachers_onto_STEM_Using_a_Pedagogical_Framework_for_Technology_Integration_The_Case_for_High_Possibility_Classrooms_in_Australia">new teaching model</a> would build teacher confidence and capacity in STEM. Data was collected from surveys, teaching plans, observations in classrooms, interviews with teachers and principals and focus groups with students. </p>
<p>The studies found the ten week units of inquiry-based learning using the new model are effective. Teachers, regardless of how much science or maths they’ve studied, are prepared to step up and tackle teaching more difficult concepts like computational thinking, laws of motion and light conduction. For example, one early career teacher said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I feel like I am in my element. Teaching simple coding has been really great. Primary school teachers have the ability to teach really relevant concepts for the future and be excited by it. Students pick up on your excitement. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Having children do experiments, finding problems, using authentic equipment, like a digital heat thermometer or circuit boards, and hands-on learning were priorities in most classrooms. This includes co-teaching large groups of students with a team of colleagues. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S6jOloXrG2E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A Year 3 student from one of the two studies explaining hydraulics.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One mid-stage career teacher said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Having students work in a small teams with their peers is powerful, they are in the tasks and want to find detailed solutions to scientific problems. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Project-based learning and experiences where students designed and tested prototypes (like the hydraulic pump) were common and teachers <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=professional_dev">reported</a> significant growth in their confidence and capacity across both studies. Only time will tell whether momentum is sustained after the studies conclude.</p>
<h2>Five emerging concerns in STEM education</h2>
<p>The studies succeeded in building teacher capacity and confidence, but also brought to light five concerns about STEM that current education policies and programs do not adequately address. </p>
<p><strong>Resources</strong> </p>
<p>Hands on materials for STEM often cost money. For example, the simple circuits, boards and connecting wires needed in the electricity topic. Most classes in the research shared materials, and this could mean building a circuit then pulling it apart for the next class to reuse the same equipment. This might be a good scientific exercise, but it wastes time and causes frustration. One student said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We do a lot of building, unbuilding and rebuilding because we don’t have enough wires to go around. It’s annoying to have to start all over again each lesson. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-in-the-classroom-can-improve-primary-mathematics-83431">Technology in the classroom can improve primary mathematics</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Equity</strong></p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Southgate_Fair-connection-to-professional-careers.pdf">a rising STEM equity gap</a>. Most of the schools had very old hardware – so the “T” in STEM was left hanging. Technology was not well connected and software needed urgent upgrading. I have conducted research across school sectors in different states, both rural and urban, and the gaps between who has and who has not in STEM are stark. This brings into focus the necessity to fast forward the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-02/malcolm-turnbull-announces-schools-funding-boost/8489806">Gonski 2.0 recommendations</a> for needs-based funding. </p>
<p><strong>Teacher professional development</strong></p>
<p>Teacher learning in STEM education must continue to be supported with targeted funds for teachers to plan units of work together for their continuous professional development is necessary. The default of hiring outside organisations to teach coding and conduct experiments often means teachers stand back while others work with their students. This does little to build personal professional capacity and confidence. </p>
<p><strong>Literacy and numeracy levels</strong></p>
<p>Students need proficiency in <a href="http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/National%20STEM%20School%20Education%20Strategy.pdf">literacy and numeracy</a> for effective STEM learning in primary school education. Low literacy and numeracy levels of students who spoke English as an additional language in Year 6 at some schools made STEM hard. An experienced teacher said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We only have 10 students who can read the content of lessons without help. So 45 students can’t successfully make meaning from instructions or video footage they are given. How do these students access the language they need for STEM?</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Ageing classrooms</strong></p>
<p>Ageing physical spaces with small classrooms were common in most primary schools. These schools had meagre classrooms with lots of students, cramped spaces and no storage space for large STEM constructions. </p>
<h2>Current hive of STEM activity</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/2016/01/spi-2016-stem-programme-index-2016-2/">good news</a> is there’s plenty of excellent STEM activity in Australian schools right now. Some examples are <a href="http://www.youngscientists.com.au/">early childhood discovery programs</a>, coding clubs, <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Education/Community-engagement/National-Science-Week-2017/Celebrating-STEM-in-Schools-2017">CSIRO resources</a>, <a href="https://csermoocs.adelaide.edu.au/">online courses</a> to support application of the digital technologies curriculum, <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-for-the-future/future-focused-learning-and-teaching">classroom re-design</a> and <a href="https://maas.museum/event/future-park/">museums</a> that offer interactive STEM experiences for teachers and students.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/support-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics">Early Learning STEM Australia pilot</a> is one measure planned for pre-schools in disadvantaged communities in 2018. Increased attention to the five big issues with STEM will support the pilot’s impact for teachers and students in more vulnerable primary schools. Access and equity must be made priorities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Louise Hunter receives funding from the NSW Department of Education. </span></em></p>We need to address issues like access to resources, teacher professional development and ageing classrooms to get the full benefit of STEM education in primary schools.Jane Louise Hunter, Senior Lecturer, School of Education; Associate Member, STEM Education Futures, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/786692017-06-02T02:01:43Z2017-06-02T02:01:43ZEven for those who believe in ‘the full Gonski’, Labor’s $22 billion figure makes no sense<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171936/original/file-20170602-25700-mizves.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Labor must explain how its additional funding will benefit students.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>School education funding is once again <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/school-funding-557">front and centre</a> of Australian politics. Despite historic bipartisan agreement on the concept of needs-based funding, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/gonski-2.0-a-$22-billion-cut-to-labors-plan-plibersek/8491960">Labor is throwing</a> Gonski 2.0 back in the Coalition’s face.</p>
<p>Labor, backed up by the Australian Education Union, insists that nothing less than “the full Gonski” is worth contemplating. Further, they claim that this requires an extra A$22 billion over the next decade. </p>
<p>Surely more money is a good thing? </p>
<p>Not so fast. Money can’t be spent twice, so funds must be directed where they will have the most impact. Thus, we must analyse why Labor’s plan is so much more expensive than the Coalition’s. Each component can then be considered on its merits.</p>
<p>To save you the trouble, I crunched the numbers. My estimates are necessarily rough, given that the different components cannot always be cleanly separated. But the overall picture is clear. Most of Labor’s extra $22 billion is not directed according to student need, and would have little impact on outcomes.</p>
<h2>Over-funded schools – $2 billion wasted</h2>
<p>Every school has a target level of government funding, called its Schooling Resource Standard (SRS). Under Labor’s plan, the combined Commonwealth and state funding for nearly all schools would reach at least 95% of target by 2019. (A side deal means that Victorian government schools would get there in 2021). </p>
<p>But about 1% of schools already receive well more than their target, costing about $200 million each year. Under Labor’s model, these schools would get funding increases of 3%, per student, per year. </p>
<p>Separately, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Catholic schools are over-funded to the tune of about $45 million a year, courtesy of a special deal that treats them as comparable to Catholic schools across the nation, despite the fact that they are considerably more advantaged. </p>
<p>Added together, over-funding schools wastes roughly $2-2.5 billion over a decade.</p>
<h2>Indexation is too high – another $2 billion</h2>
<p>Every year, per-student costs go up, largely driven by teacher wages. To account for this, both Labor’s plan and Gonski 2.0 include annual indexation of the SRS target. </p>
<p>The problem with Labor’s plan is that the indexation rate was fixed at 3.6% in the 2013 Education Act. As Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/circuit-breaker/">Circuit Breaker</a> report shows, this rate is now too high given historically low wages growth. </p>
<p>Gonski 2.0 removes the fixed indexation rate in 2021, replacing it with a floating indexation rate that is more in line with school costs.</p>
<p>Compared to this, Labor’s plan costs $2-2.5 billion more over a decade. This is enough to hurt government budgets, but the extra money is spread so thinly that it would have minimal impact on student outcomes. </p>
<p>Better than both parties’ approaches is to apply the floating indexation rate from 2018 or 2019. This would save billions, which could be used to fully fund schools more quickly.</p>
<h2>Sweetheart deals waste at least $2 billion</h2>
<p>Parents who send their kids to non-government schools are expected to pay school fees. Parental capacity to contribute is estimated based on where they live. </p>
<p>Under the current legislation, however, all schools within an education system (for example, Catholic, Anglican or Lutheran schools) are rated as having the same capacity to contribute. This means - for the purposes of calculation - that the parents are treated equally, whether they live in Toorak or Toowoomba.</p>
<p>This “system-weighted average” costs the Commonwealth about $300 million per year. A related quirk in the calculation of capacity to contribute for primary schools adds another $200 million per year. </p>
<p>The main beneficiaries are Catholic primary schools in affluent neighbourhoods, which use the funds to keep their fees artificially low. </p>
<p>Gonski 2.0 removes these sweetheart deals; Labor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">which put them in there in the first place</a>, would keep them. </p>
<p>Catholic school leaders say these features are needed to compensate for flaws in the SES score, and the formula does need to be reviewed. But even if they are half right, Labor is wasting about $2 billion over a decade. </p>
<h2>Labor’s cash splash puts about $2 billion at risk</h2>
<p>Labor back-ended its Gonski funding so heavily that some disadvantaged schools would get huge funding increases in 2018 and 2019. </p>
<p>But much of this money will be wasted if schools chase the same limited pool of resources - speech therapists, instructional leaders etc - without the market having time to adjust. </p>
<p>Delaying by just two years, to 2021, would save about $2 billion, and give schools time to plan how to get the most out of the extra cash. </p>
<p>By contrast, however, the Coalition’s 2027 target is too far away. If Labor wants to invest the extra $7 billion needed to deliver Gonski 2.0 in four years rather than ten, that would be a solid policy argument. Even then, nearly half of this amount could be funded by moving to a floating indexation rate two years sooner. </p>
<h2>Commonwealth generosity is a two-edged sword</h2>
<p>The last component of Labor’s high-cost model is more subtle. Back in 2013, federal Labor offered to pick up the lion’s share of whatever money was needed to get schools to their target. </p>
<p>This generous approach has perverse impacts. Western Australia, which funds its government schools well, gets nothing extra from the Commonwealth. Victoria, which does not, gets rewarded. </p>
<p>By 2027, these differences are stark. Victoria would get a two-thirds boost in its Commonwealth funding (on top of enrolments and indexation), such that its students get 28% of their SRS target from Canberra. WA students are left languishing at a paltry 13%. These huge differences are not driven by student need, but by discrepancies in state funding.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171930/original/file-20170602-25673-4ks5to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171930/original/file-20170602-25673-4ks5to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171930/original/file-20170602-25673-4ks5to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171930/original/file-20170602-25673-4ks5to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171930/original/file-20170602-25673-4ks5to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171930/original/file-20170602-25673-4ks5to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171930/original/file-20170602-25673-4ks5to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Commonwealth government funding as a proportion of SRS, by state, government schools, if Commonwealth picks up 65% of the needs-based funding gap in each state.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: Grattan school funding model, based on analysis of data from the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Removing this inequity is a central element of Gonski 2.0: once fully implemented, all government schools will get 20% of their target from the Commonwealth, and all non-government schools 80%.</p>
<p>Labor’s model adds about $8 billion to the Commonwealth’s tab over a decade, money that should be stumped up by states.</p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>If Labor believes Australian schools need $22 billion more than the Coalition is offering, ambit claims won’t cut it. It must explain how its additional funding will benefit students. And soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78669/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>Here’s why Labor’s figure for school funding is too high.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/784692017-06-01T20:08:11Z2017-06-01T20:08:11ZExplainer: how does funding work in the Catholic school system?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171371/original/file-20170529-25201-12jbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catholic schools haven't always received government funding.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gonski 2.0 has provoked substantial debate about how much money schools get, who gets too much, and how the money will be distributed. </p>
<p>Catholic schools in particular have <a href="http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/federal/2017/05/20/catholic-schools-to-challenge-gonski-2-0.html">expressed concern</a> about the impact of Gonski 2.0, with many Catholic schools <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/03/gonski-20-catholic-schools-not-singled-out-for-funding-cuts-minister-says">facing potential funding cuts</a>. </p>
<p>In response, the Catholic Education Commission Victoria (CECV) <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/catholics-declare-war-on-liberals-over-school-funding/news-story/71cd8ec9c08646d856e09172c3097580">claims</a> some schools may have to increase their fees by as much as A$5,000 per year. </p>
<p>The federal Education Minister <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-03/minister-hits-back-at-catholic-sector-school-funding-outcry/8492890">Simon Birmingham has hit back</a>, accusing the Catholic sector of “exaggerating” claims of potential cuts and their impact. He has defended Gonski 2.0 stating that it will treat all schools - government and non-government - consistently. </p>
<p>Amid all of these debates is a lot of confusion about how and why the federal government funds Catholic schools. Catholic schools, like all non-government schools, receive their primary government funding from the federal government. However, there is not necessarily a direct funding flow from the government to schools. </p>
<p>Most Catholic schools are systemic schools, situated within the Catholic system across the states and territories, and these systems make their own decisions about school funding. </p>
<p>So how does government funding of Catholic schools actually work? </p>
<h2>Government hasn’t always funded Catholic schools</h2>
<p>In the current context, it’s perhaps easy to take for granted that Catholic and other non-government schools receive government funds. However, this was not always the case. The market-based system we have today has been encouraged by a number of key policy decisions. </p>
<p>This all began in the late 1960s and 1970s when, in response to a struggling Catholic sector, the federal government decided to provide school funding. </p>
<p>Up until then, the federal government had little involvement in the funding of Australian schooling (with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory). </p>
<p><a href="https://www.education.gov.au/funding-schools">Constitutionally</a>, it is the states and territories – not the Australian government – that have legislative authority to regulate, register, and deliver schooling. Therefore, it was really the states that funded schools. Indeed, it is still the state and territory governments that primarily fund government schools. </p>
<p>It started in earnest with capital funding for schools <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/bn/sp/schoolsfunding.pdf">introduced in the 1960s</a>. The <em>States Grants (Science Laboratories and Technical Training) Act 1964</em> funded science laboratories in both government and non-government schools. </p>
<p>Federal funding for non-government schools was then cemented in 1970 with the <em>States Grants (Independent Schools) Act 1969</em>. This provided non-government schools with a flat rate of federal government money per student. </p>
<p>Yet, it wasn’t until 1973 that an ongoing and systematic approach to federal funding of schools was enshrined. Then, the Whitlam-appointed <a href="http://dehanz.net.au/entries/karmel-report-schools-australia/">Karmel Report</a> introduced a “needs-based” school funding approach from the federal government. </p>
<p>The significance of the Karmel Report cannot be understated. Based on a “needs-based” formula, it provided <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/education-religion-and-the-state-in-australia/5546816">much needed funding for the struggling Catholic system</a>, and in many ways cemented reliance on - and expectation of - federal funding across the non-government sector. </p>
<p>Since the Karmel Report, successive governments have retained federal funding, albeit with a range of policy changes to the funding formula over the years. </p>
<p>School funding has also become a lever for the federal government to intervene into schooling policy (while constitutional authority is retained with the states and territories). This includes, for instance, the buttressing of a market-based system premised on the existence of the three sectors – government, Catholic and independent. </p>
<p>For instance, non-government schools <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/children-of-the-whitlam-education-revolution/news-story/0e11f930d82c700dcd706c847d0d6e51">fared particularly well under</a> the Howard government’s SES model. At this time, federal education policy became pinned to the notions of marketisation and the rhetoric of “<a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/academic-professional/education/School-Choice-Craig-Campbell-Helen-Proctor-Geoffrey-Sherington-9781741756562">school choice</a>”. </p>
<p>Importantly, over the years the trend has been for a <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=aer">higher increase</a> in federal funds for the non-government sector than the government sector. </p>
<p>Now, after over 40 years, it is taken for granted that in addition to state and territory funding (which is primarily targeted at government schools), the federal government funds schools and that it does so inequitably, funding non-government schools at a higher rate than government schools. This is despite the fact that it is government schools, far more than non-government schools, that cater for disadvantaged students (as noted in <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonski 1.0</a>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catholic schools receive most of their government funding from the federal government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How does government funding for Catholic schools work now?</h2>
<p>Catholic and other non-government schools receive the bulk of their government funding from the federal government. </p>
<p>Yet, they also receive funding from the state governments. This is because of the legislative authority that states and territories have in relation to schooling. Thus, each state and territory has its own arrangements for funding non-government (and government) schools. </p>
<p>In Victoria, for example, the state government in 2016 provided over <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/12cc6732-290d-47cd-8d79-d3c1d6eabf3f/CECV-Annual-Report-2015.aspx">A$440 million funding</a> to Catholic schools. </p>
<p>This recurrent funding was calculated as a part of the <a href="http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/f932b66241ecf1b7ca256e92000e23be/938886C085A1A9A5CA257E0400099911/$FILE/15-001aa%20authorised.pdf">Education and Training Reform Amendment (Funding of Non-Government Schools) Act 2015</a>, which sets out the arrangements for the Victorian state government to fund non-government schools at 25% the rate of government school funding per student. </p>
<p>State funding of non-government schools can also include targeted special grants, such as the Victorian government’s <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/funding-boost-for-victorian-independent-schools/">$32.8 million facilities funding announced in December 2016</a>.</p>
<p>Gonski 2.0 represents another iteration of federal funding policies in schooling. In this model, the <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2013-14/content/glossy/gonski_policy/html/gonski_overview_06.htm">Schooling Resource Standard</a>, as set out in Gonski 1.0, is retained. This formula produces a base rate for the cost of schooling. </p>
<p><a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/new_fairer_school_funding_from_2018.pdf">Gonski 2.0</a> sets out that by 2027 the federal government will fund non-government schools 80% of the SRS, with government schools receiving 20%. </p>
<p>The bulk of funding for the Catholic system comes from the government. For example, the CECV <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/12cc6732-290d-47cd-8d79-d3c1d6eabf3f/CECV-Annual-Report-2015.aspx">reported</a> that in 2015 it received: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>$440 million recurrent and $9.2 million targeted state government funding</p></li>
<li><p>$1.6 billion recurrent and $7.5 million targeted federal government funding</p></li>
<li><p>$96 million in school levies and almost $11 million from bank deposit interest and other income streams. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>How does the Catholic system fund its schools?</h2>
<p>When funding flows from the federal and state governments to the Catholic and independent sector it does not necessarily flow straight to the school. </p>
<p>For schools that exist within a system (such as most Catholic schools) government funding is managed and allocated by the system. This is different to the many schools within the independent sector that are not organised within a system. </p>
<p>Importantly, a <a href="http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20160309-Grants-to-NG-schools/20160309-Grants-to-NG-schools.pdf">recent report</a> from the Victorian Auditor-General suggested there was a lack of transparency and accountability within the Catholic (and other non-goverment) system’s allocation of government funds. </p>
<p>To continue with the Victorian example, Catholic schools in Victoria are managed through the CECV. Similar systems exist for Lutheran, Ecumenical and Seventh-Day Adventist schools. Independent non-government schools that do not belong to a system receive government funds directly. </p>
<p>The CECV manages all but two of the 493 Catholic schools in Victoria and the <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/71d7f374-228e-44ab-839c-d0f69cd8e4ca/Allocating-govt-grants.aspx?ext=.pdf">combined $2.1 billion in funds from both the federal and state government</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/71d7f374-228e-44ab-839c-d0f69cd8e4ca/Allocating-govt-grants.aspx?ext=.pdf">According to the CECV,</a> funding allocation is decided through a number of committees. </p>
<p>For primary schools, the CECV decides on the share of funding that each of the four Victorian diocese will receive (the Archdiocese of Melbourne, the Diocese of Ballarat, the Diocese of Sandhurst and the Diocese of Sale). </p>
<p>The CECV uses its own <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/71d7f374-228e-44ab-839c-d0f69cd8e4ca/Allocating-govt-grants.aspx?ext=.pdf">funding model,</a> which - among other things - takes into account each schools “capacity to contribute” based on the school’s SES scores. </p>
<p>According to the CECV, once the funding flows to the diocese each diocese has their own funding model they use to decide funding allocation. For secondary and combined schools, funding decisions of the CECV flow straight to the school. </p>
<p>The question, therefore, of how particular Catholic schools will fare under Gonski 2.0 is a complex one. There are layers of decision making, within multiple funding models, which occur before funding reaches each school. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, as with the first Gonski report, Gonski 2.0 is supportive of our current market-based model. </p>
<p>Despite particular “winners” and “losers”, <a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/education/funding-surge-for-high-fee-schools-ng-b88491810z">government funding of highly resourced and elite schools</a> remains intact. Arguably, then, it will also do little to address the rising inequalities that are entrenched within our market-based education system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gerrard 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>Federal and state government funding to the Catholic sector does not necessarily then flow straight to the school.Jessica Gerrard, Senior Lecturer in Education, Equity and Politics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/784552017-05-29T23:43:42Z2017-05-29T23:43:42ZConfused about changes to school funding? Here’s what you need to know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171287/original/file-20170529-25198-2woku2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How will policy changes affect schools?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Coalition government <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-02/malcolm-turnbull-announces-schools-funding-boost/8489806">announced their new school funding proposal</a> with a flourish, and a Gonski. </p>
<p>David Gonski was the architect of <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">the 2011 needs-based funding model</a> that <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tasmania-signs-up-to-schools-funding-deal-20130709-2pnrb.html">the Labor party hobbled</a>, and which the Liberal party then <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-26/pyne-adamant-gonski-school-funding-needs-overhaul2c-despite-st/5116978">sent right down the gurgler</a>. </p>
<p>So, for many in the education sector, Gonski’s reappearance was both surprising and comforting. Did this mean we were back to a funding model that was apolitical, sector blind and all about a distribution of money based on need?</p>
<p>Well, there is good news and bad news, and then some more bad news.</p>
<h2>More money</h2>
<p><strong>The good news</strong> </p>
<p>It is substantially more money than what the Coalition government currently has allocated for education - 75% more by <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2017-05-02/press-conference-minister-education-and-training-senator-hon-simon-birmingham-and">the Prime Minister’s own reckoning</a>, from A$17.5 billion this year to $30.6 billion by 2027. </p>
<p><strong>The bad news</strong></p>
<p>It’s less money than what some states and systems were promised under the deals done with the Labor government - <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/05/02/gonski-20-school-funding-plan-amounts-22b-cut-plibersek">about $22 billion less</a>. They say they need that promised money to deliver on education programs they have already put in place, and which they argue are already <a href="https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/how-gonski-funding-is-making-a-difference-to-rocky/3151447/">making a real difference to students</a>. </p>
<h2>Fairer and sector blind</h2>
<p><strong>The good news</strong></p>
<p>This funding deal returns to the original Gonski principle of one funding formula for everyone. Each student will attract the same base amount - called the Schooling Resource Standard - of $9,271 per primary school student and $12,193 per high school student.</p>
<p>This is in contrast to the multiple deals done with systems and states back in 2013 as the Labor government tried to get a Gonski take-up around the nation. They gave out lots of money, and promised that everyone would be a winner. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">deal-making did not solve the problem</a> of funding inequity between the schooling sectors. Poor schools got more money, but so did rich schools. </p>
<p><strong>The bad news</strong></p>
<p>The federal government inexplicably remains the benevolent benefactor of the private sector. It will fund 80% of the Schooling Resource Standard for private schools students, and only 20% for government school students. It will rely on the goodwill of the states to fund the remaining amounts. So it is only the private schools that are getting an iron-clad guarantee for most of their funding into the future.</p>
<p>Not fair and certainly not sector blind.</p>
<h2>Needs-based</h2>
<p><strong>The good news</strong></p>
<p>The government claims their new funding proposal returns us to the absolute crux of the original Gonski review - it will be truly needs-based. </p>
<p>This means there will be extra loadings for students who need more support to achieve. There will be loadings for low socio-economic status, Indigenous students, students with a disability, students with limited English language proficiency, school size, and regional or remote locations.</p>
<p><strong>The bad news - and this is <em>really</em> bad news</strong></p>
<p>The government has no proposal for the allocation of those loadings. They don’t even know how many students are eligible for those loadings. </p>
<p>As a consequence they have no idea how much money it will cost to fund them. This is why the pundits keep saying “more analysis is needed” before anyone knows how much their school is really going to get, or lose.</p>
<p>Who will be eligible for the disability loadings? </p>
<p>Each state and sector defines disability differently. The government says it will come up with a national definition. But it does not have one yet.</p>
<p>Who will be eligible for the English language loadings? </p>
<p>How “limited” does your English language need to be? How would this be measured? Nobody knows, including the government. </p>
<p>And there is nothing in the budget papers or the Education Acts to indicate that the money will actually be delivered to the students who attract the loadings. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-04/taxpayer-funds-directed-away-from-poor-catholic-schools:-report/8497810">Recent history</a> suggests the money won’t necessarily go to them. <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/what-gonski-really-meant-and-how-thats-been-forgotten-almost-everywhere">States, instead, could just spend the money on the general business of running an education system</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">original Gonski report</a> said that it was imperative an independent body, a National Schools Resourcing Body, be set up to answer these questions, and to monitor how those loadings are distributed. </p>
<p>However there is no indication that body will ever be instituted, and without it this funding proposal cannot claim to be needs-based and it will not successfully address educational disadvantage. </p>
<p>Very bad news indeed.</p>
<h2>A new review - Gonski 2.0</h2>
<p><strong>The good news</strong></p>
<p>David Gonski will now conduct a new review - the <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-2-0-is-this-the-school-funding-plan-we-have-been-looking-for-finally-yes-77081">Gonski 2.0 review</a>. </p>
<p>This new review is to decide what good teaching and learning looks like. That’s a little odd as the government already has a body that does that - <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au">the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership</a>.</p>
<p>But fingers crossed he’ll be able to sneak that National Schools Resourcing body back into his recommendations.</p>
<p><strong>The bad news</strong></p>
<p>The expert panel has only until December to come up with an answer that will inevitably start with “It depends…”</p>
<p>They haven’t even decided on the terms of reference yet.</p>
<h2>A suggestion for the panel</h2>
<p>If I could give one suggestion to Gonski’s review panel as they tackle this complicated question, it would be this: ask teachers what is needed to close that achievement gap.</p>
<p>Ken Boston, a member of the Gonski review panel, <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/what-gonski-really-meant-and-how-thats-been-forgotten-almost-everywhere">observed</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We concluded that the issue in low-performing schools is not the quality of teachers in these schools but the magnitude of the task they are facing. These teachers work in the emergency wards of Australian education, yet they lack the battery of specialist support typical of an emergency ward in a hospital. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The fact that we never ask teachers at the coal face for their expert input on what works, and what doesn’t, is perhaps the strangest twist of all in this good news, bad news story.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Misty Adoniou works for the University of Canberra. She has received government funding to research spelling, curriculum, and refugee education and orientation. She is on the Board of Directors of TESOL International, a global affiliation of teacher associations. </span></em></p>Here’s what the latest funding proposals mean for schools.Misty Adoniou, Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/775932017-05-23T13:15:01Z2017-05-23T13:15:01Z‘Giving a Gonski’ will be torrid test for the Greens<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170582/original/file-20170523-5752-7x892g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Richard Di Natale is publicly perched on the barbed-wire fence over the government's Gonski legislation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Labor has formally decided to try to thwart the government’s Gonski schools legislation, while the Greens are looking over their shoulder at what their base would think if they opt to back it.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Catholics continue to baulk because they would not get the special treatment they’ve enjoyed under previous deals.</p>
<p>Political expediency and self-interest are well to the fore as parliament starts to debate the plan, which is closer to the original Gonski model than present arrangements and would inject an extra A$18.6 billion in federal funding across the government, Catholic and independent school sectors over a decade.</p>
<p>Former Labor minister Craig Emerson, writing in Tuesday’s Australian Financial Review, <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/politics/craig-emerson-criticises-bill-shorten-over-populist-budget-response-20170521-gw9y1w">condemned the ALP’s stance</a>.</p>
<p>“While the Turnbull government’s needs-based funding allocation is manifestly inadequate, Labor has a wonderful opportunity to lock the formula into place and promise to increase it if elected,” he wrote.</p>
<p>“Now is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lock in a school-funding system that can give every disadvantaged child a chance of a good education, and Labor has pledged to block it. It’s heartbreaking.”</p>
<p>It’s hard to fault the logic of Emerson, a policy wonk who has the background to judge. Surely it is sensible for an opposition to seize the chance when it comes for a structural improvement, and then undertake to build on it?</p>
<p>Well, except for the politics. Together with health, education is Labor ground. It wants to stop the government gaining any foothold there. It is hand-in-glove with the Australian Education Union, which opposes the government’s plan, running advertisements saying that it would cut money. The union is using as its baseline what Labor would have done if it had won the election.</p>
<p>Importantly, Labor sees the Catholic revolt as manna to exploit. Some states are also unhappy – they wanted funding continued along the lines of the generous deals they won as the ALP government threw everything at getting schools funding arrangements into place.</p>
<p>While Labor’s position is set, the Greens have a lot of agonising ahead.</p>
<p>When Malcolm Turnbull announced the policy, the Greens indicated they were attracted to it. Their education spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, liked the boost it would give government schools and its hit list cutting back money for wealthy schools. The ALP would support the latter, suggesting it be excised and voted on separately – but there’s no chance of that.</p>
<p>But the Greens have not yet made a decision. They are waiting for the short Senate inquiry into the legislation.</p>
<p>In the House of Representatives vote on the legislation this week, Greens member Adam Bandt will likely vote against, as on other controversial measures when the party is in a holding position.</p>
<p>This is a big test for the Greens. They can deliver an improved position for government schools and a fairer model, but it could be at some political cost to themselves.</p>
<p>The Greens know that among their base many detest the idea of dealing with the Liberals on anything. Former leader Christine Milne hated giving then-prime minister Tony Abbott a win. Current leader Richard Di Natale is more pragmatic but still has to take account of the followers. At the moment he is publicly perched on the barbed-wire fence.</p>
<p>He told the media on Tuesday the Greens supported the “original Gonski”. “We want a genuine needs-based funding model. We want more money going to the schools that need it and we want to ensure that there’s a transparent process for doing that,” he said.</p>
<p>Labor had debased the original Gonski plan, so that “the wealthiest private schools continued to see huge cash pouring in and our neediest public schools weren’t getting the funding that they needed”.</p>
<p>“The government’s proposal seeks to address some of those issues but it creates a whole new set of problems and so we’re being forced to choose between two models, neither of which were proposed by David Gonski originally and that is the great tragedy here,” he said. </p>
<p>Labor is applying maximum pressure to the Greens. Opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek told caucus on Tuesday: “This is an attack on public education, make no mistake. If the Greens support this it just shows how moronic they are.”</p>
<p>If the government can get the Greens on side it only needs one more Senate vote. If it can’t, it must win ten of the 12 non-Green crossbenchers.</p>
<p>Either way, there is going to have to be haggling.</p>
<p>There are arguments about what the government calculator says particular schools would get under the proposed system, and questions about what schools would receive if the new legislation went down and the status quo remained.</p>
<p>There will be demands for changes in the funding quantum and the timetable and assistance for transition to the new model. Another potential demand would be to establish the National Schools Resourcing Body that Gonski recommended, to oversee the funding model and remove the politics – although that would need a tick off by the states.</p>
<p>The issue may become to the extent to which the government is willing to make compromises. It insists it would not agree to special deals to assist one sector, which would distort the model and generate new difficulties. But it will be very anxious to secure the legislation, to put the Coalition on the playing field in the education battle at the election.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/jj7pe-6b2773?from=yiiadmin" data-link="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/jj7pe-6b2773?from=yiiadmin" height="100" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player"></iframe><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77593/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Labor has formally decided to try to thwart the government’s Gonski schools legislation, while the Greens are looking over their shoulder at what their base would think if they opt to back it. Meanwhile…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/772432017-05-08T19:45:29Z2017-05-08T19:45:29ZChanges to school funding – your questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168287/original/file-20170508-14364-bbl32r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most schools wills receive more money under the new reforms. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Can’t get your head around the <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-2-0-is-this-the-school-funding-plan-we-have-been-looking-for-finally-yes-77081">latest announcements in school funding</a>? You’re not alone. Members of the public have been sending in the questions they want answered about the recent changes.</em> </p>
<p><em>Education expert, Glenn Savage, from the University of Melbourne, has done his best to answer them.</em></p>
<hr>
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-schools">new reform</a> represents an overall funding increase for Australian schools.</p>
<p>It also maintains core principles of the <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2013-14/content/glossy/gonski_policy/html/gonski_overview_06.htm">Schooling Resource Standard (SRS)</a> generated by the original <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-gonski-anyway-13599">Gonski review</a>.</p>
<p>The SRS is a funding formula that comprises a “base-rate” amount per student (with different amounts for primary and secondary students), plus extra loadings based on various equity categories. </p>
<p>The SRS treats government and non-government (which include Catholic and independent) schools differently, with the former supposed to receive the full base-rate while the latter should receive a proportion based on the ability of a school to raise private income (in other words, through school fees).</p>
<p>So, it is incorrect to frame the reform as “Con-ski”, as in many ways it is closely aligned with Gonski’s original funding formula.</p>
<p>The new reform is good policy for two main reasons. </p>
<p>First, it seeks, in principle at least, to correct some of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">compromises and corruptions</a> that marred the original Gonski reforms, leading to many different deals being done across the nation and to a highly inconsistent application of the SRS.</p>
<p>Second, states will only get funding if they agree to use the money for reforms proven <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/funding_will_be_tied_to_reforms.pdf">“to support better outcomes for students”</a>. </p>
<p>This will broaden the focus from simply debating <a href="https://theconversation.com/give-a-gonski-funding-myths-and-politicking-derail-schools-debate-44308"><em>how much</em></a> schools get, to the equally important question of <em>what schools do</em> with the cash.</p>
<p>Labor’s claim about <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/gonski-2.0-a-$22-billion-cut-to-labors-plan-plibersek/8491960">“a $22 billion cut”</a> is misleading, because Labor was not re-elected and was never in a position to deliver on its promises. </p>
<p>So Labor is basically saying “our promise is bigger than yours”, rather than making a reasonable argument about actual money being cut. </p>
<p>Nor is Labor doing a good job of justifying how the promised extra $22 billion would have been more wisely invested.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168283/original/file-20170508-14369-1jxrfxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168283/original/file-20170508-14369-1jxrfxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=108&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168283/original/file-20170508-14369-1jxrfxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=108&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168283/original/file-20170508-14369-1jxrfxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=108&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168283/original/file-20170508-14369-1jxrfxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168283/original/file-20170508-14369-1jxrfxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168283/original/file-20170508-14369-1jxrfxm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>In the Australian federation, the federal government is the primary funder of non-government (Catholic and independent) schools, whereas state governments are the primary funders of government schools.</p>
<p>The Gonski reforms relate to <em>federal</em> funding of schools, not state funding, so this is why non-government schools get a greater share.</p>
<p>Prior to the 1970s, the federal government did not provide ongoing funding to any schools. </p>
<p>This changed following the <a href="http://apo.org.au/node/29669">1973 Karmel Report</a>, which led to the federal government introducing ongoing yearly funding for both government and non-government schools. </p>
<p>In the decades since, there have been
<a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=aer">significant increases in the amount of federal funding</a> for government and non-government schools, but funding to non-government schools has increased at a higher rate. </p>
<p>At present, the federal government funds, on average, 17% of the SRS for government schools, and 76.8% for non-government schools. </p>
<p>Under <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/new_fairer_school_funding_from_2018.pdf">the new reform plan</a>, the federal government is suggesting it will increase these percentages to 20% and 80% respectively by 2027. </p>
<p>The government says it <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/funding_will_be_tied_to_reforms.pdf">“will be up to states”</a> as to whether they wish to fund the remaining amounts so that all schools reach the full SRS.</p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168270/original/file-20170508-7685-l9v6a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168270/original/file-20170508-7685-l9v6a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=58&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168270/original/file-20170508-7685-l9v6a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=58&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168270/original/file-20170508-7685-l9v6a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=58&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168270/original/file-20170508-7685-l9v6a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=73&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168270/original/file-20170508-7685-l9v6a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=73&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168270/original/file-20170508-7685-l9v6a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=73&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>The majority of Australian schools will receive more money under the new reforms. </p>
<p>The schools that stand to lose money are those currently over-funded. </p>
<p>No funding freezes will occur. Both government and non-government (Catholic and independent) schools will continue to receive federal funding.</p>
<hr>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"859631713051344896"}"></div></p>
<p>It is a deft political move by the Coalition to appropriate David Gonski as the public face of <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-schools">the new reform</a>. It clearly blunts attacks from Labor, the Australian Education Union and other groups who have effectively made the word “Gonski” a weapon in school funding wars.</p>
<p>So, bringing Gonski back into the fray is clearly a re-branding strategy by the Coalition to transform the symbolism of the word Gonski and claim it as their own. </p>
<p>The Coalition obviously sees merit in the original Gonski reforms, but would have a difficult time selling a reform package that was simply a repeat of the original Gonski plan generated under Labor. </p>
<p>It is for this reason that it has commissioned a new Gonski Review (Gonski 2.0), to be titled “<a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/43576">Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools</a>”.</p>
<p>The review is not designed to simply “re-write” the original Gonski report, but instead has an explicit focus on reviewing evidence about the kinds of initiatives that impact most positively on student outcomes. This is so money can be better targeted. </p>
<p>An optimist, therefore, would hope that Gonski 1.0 and 2.0 will together provide a powerful roadmap for positive change in how schools are funded and what they do with the money. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168273/original/file-20170508-14367-d0nod8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168273/original/file-20170508-14367-d0nod8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=55&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168273/original/file-20170508-14367-d0nod8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=55&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168273/original/file-20170508-14367-d0nod8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=55&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168273/original/file-20170508-14367-d0nod8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168273/original/file-20170508-14367-d0nod8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168273/original/file-20170508-14367-d0nod8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=69&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Many argue that <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=aer">the federal government is too generous</a> in funding non-government schools to the extent that it does. </p>
<p>Australia is one of very few OECD nations that funds private schools, making our school funding settlement an outlier internationally.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">original Gonski review</a> was designed to introduce a fairer, more transparent and needs-based federal funding model. If such a model had actually been produced, over-funded non-government schools would have lost some money.</p>
<p>But this never happened. Instead, early in the review process, the Labor government promised that <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">“no school would lose a dollar”</a> as a result of the reforms.</p>
<p>Instead of a “needs-based” model, Labor delivered a model that injected significantly more money into schooling, but also protected the vested interests of Catholic and independent schools.</p>
<p>There is simply no denying this fact. As original Gonski review panellist member Ken Boston recently put it, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-13/our-school-funding-system-is-unfair-and-holding-australia-back/8435300">“the Gonski Report was filleted and the flesh thrown away”</a>, leaving a deeply unfair set of arrangements.</p>
<p>The new reforms will do nothing to change the ongoing federal funding of non-government schools, some of which are elite high-fee schools. </p>
<p>On the positive side, it does promise (on paper at least) to make funding more equitable by transitioning to a model that is better aligned with the original intentions of the Gonski report and ensures over-funded non-government schools do not continue to be over-funded. </p>
<p>It will be very interesting to see if the Coalition can deliver on this promise or whether it will also cave to vested interests (especially from the Catholic sector, which has already <a href="https://theconversation.com/catholics-vow-to-go-hard-in-schools-fight-with-government-77299">signalled its intention</a> to fight). </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168268/original/file-20170508-7701-sren9o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168268/original/file-20170508-7701-sren9o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=64&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168268/original/file-20170508-7701-sren9o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=64&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168268/original/file-20170508-7701-sren9o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=64&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168268/original/file-20170508-7701-sren9o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=80&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168268/original/file-20170508-7701-sren9o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=80&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168268/original/file-20170508-7701-sren9o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=80&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Unless your children are in schools that are currently over-funded in accordance with the SRS, it is likely the schools will receive either similar or more funding amounts next year. </p>
<p>The important thing to remember is that in Australia’s federal system, state governments remain the primary funders of government schools (see response to question two above). </p>
<p>States do not directly “pass on” federal funding, but instead pool it together with state money and redistribute it according to state funding formulas. </p>
<p>This means there can be two schools that have exactly the same characteristics and funding entitlements under the SRS, but end up receiving different amounts of funding because they are located in different states. </p>
<p>So, the final amount a government school gets is ultimately up to the states.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77243/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn C. Savage receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Schooling expert Dr Glenn Savage answers your questions on recent changes to school funding.Glenn C Savage, Senior Lecturer in Education Policy and ARC DECRA Fellow (2016-19), Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/770812017-05-03T01:55:44Z2017-05-03T01:55:44ZGonski 2.0: Is this the school funding plan we have been looking for? Finally, yes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167624/original/file-20170503-4096-nbi5nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catholic schools and over-funded schools will lose out the most.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>They used to say that a week is a long time in politics. How last century! Now a day is a long time in politics, or at least the politics of school funding.</p>
<p>Just yesterday morning, I was arguing that school funding was at an impasse. By early afternoon that had all changed, along with the federal government’s rhetoric on school funding. Instead, we were introduced to Gonski 2.0. </p>
<p>For the first time, Education Minister Simon Birmingham has <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-announces-schools-funding-and-a-new-gonski-review-77011">proposed a credible plan</a> to deliver needs-based funding. </p>
<p>But is this the plan we have been looking for?</p>
<h2>Where we were at before the announcement</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonksi report in 2011</a> was an inspired attempt to move past decades of funding wars. </p>
<p>Negotiated or bastardised (depending on your point of view) in its implementation <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">by the last Labor government</a>, it was at first derided, then supported, then buried by the Coalition under Tony Abbott.</p>
<p>The re-boot of leadership under Malcolm Turnbull left school funding in limbo. The resulting policy vacuum led to a messy and unfocused debate. </p>
<p>Labor continued to claim that the only true path was to add billions of dollars to school funding. But Labor’s figures are greatly inflated because of its unwillingness to make tough decisions – or recognise the benefits of historically low wages growth.</p>
<p>At one point, Turnbull suggested to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) that funding should be split, with the Commonwealth paying for non-government schools and states paying for government schools. But this is a terrible idea with <a href="https://theconversation.com/split-funding-idea-for-schools-has-big-risks-and-few-clear-benefits-57102">big risks and few benefits</a>.</p>
<p>Birmingham then publicly supported needs-based funding, but could not explain how we would get there. </p>
<p>Grattan Institute <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-model-for-school-funding-that-wont-break-the-budget-69406">published our own plan last November</a>, arguing that the Coalition could deliver Gonski-style needs-based funding without more money, if it made some tough decisions about indexation and over-funded schools. </p>
<h2>What has now changed?</h2>
<p>Flanked by the big-Gonski himself, Turnbull and Birmingham finally announced the Coalition’s plan.</p>
<p>1) They recommitted to the principles of Gonski, which they referred to as genuine needs-based funding and branded as <em>Gonski 2.0</em>. </p>
<p>2) They promised not to tinker with the overall design of the funding formula for each school, called the “Schooling Resource Standard” or SRS. (The details of the SRS formula should be reviewed, since there are flaws and the original analysis was done with too little evidence. But the formula follows the core design suggested by Gonski, and makes sense.)</p>
<p>3) They disentangled Commonwealth and state funding, arguing that Commonwealth funding should depend on need, not on where students live. </p>
<p>So now, for the first time, the Commonwealth will have a simple and transparent way to explain how it funds schools:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Every school has a target level of funding, the SRS</p></li>
<li><p>Government schools receive Commonwealth funding equal to 20% of SRS (up from 17% on average today)</p></li>
<li><p>Non-government schools receive Commonwealth funding equal to 80% of SRS (up from 77%).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This is a big change from the current model, under which comparable students in similar schools could receive thousands of dollars more or less from the Commonwealth depending on which state or territory they live in.</p>
<p>States and territories will be expected to maintain their real level of funding, but will not otherwise be tied to the SRS formula. </p>
<p>This gives states some flexibility in how much they invest in schools, a good idea in a federal system. </p>
<p>So far so good. But for the numbers to add up, five more changes were needed.</p>
<p>4) Turnbull and Birmingham reduced the long-term indexation rate so that school funding will grow in line with a blend of wages and CPI after 2021. </p>
<p>This change will save billions of dollars over the long term compared to the current legislation. </p>
<p>5) They extended the timeline out to 10 years, giving the power of compound interest more time to do its magic. </p>
<p>6) They tweaked some of the special deals Julia Gillard struck with the Catholic school system. These tweaks will have the effect of expecting parents to contribute more, especially in Catholic primary schools.</p>
<p>7) They finally overturned the mantra of “no school will lose a dollar”, thereby saving maybe $1.5 billion over the next decade.</p>
<p>8) They added new money to the pot compared to the 2016 budget – $2.2 billion over the next four years, substantially more over the long term.</p>
<h2>Who are the big winners and losers?</h2>
<p>Compared to the Labor proposal, most schools, sectors and states will feel like losers. But taxpayers are big winners. </p>
<p><a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/circuit-breaker/">Grattan’s analysis shows</a> that Labor’s plan is far more expensive than required, a huge problem given the state of the federal budget.</p>
<p>Compared to the 2016 budget, the big winners are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Government schools in states that are currently underfunded, especially New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland</p></li>
<li><p>Western Australia, which receives much less from the Commonwealth for its government schools</p></li>
<li><p>Underfunded independent schools (especially the lower-fee schools, some of which are the most underfunded schools in the entire country). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Compared to the 2016 budget, the big losers are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Catholic schools, which will lose a number of special deals (especially for the Australian Capital Territory which had a special deal all of its own); more analysis is needed to understand whether they will be worse off overall</p></li>
<li><p>24 highly over-funded schools that will have their per-student funding cut</p></li>
<li><p>About 300 slightly over-funded schools that will have their funding slowed or frozen. It is not entirely clear who these schools are at this stage. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Where does this all leave us?</h2>
<p>We can now move on from the phoney war to a genuine debate about a concrete and credible proposal. Three things should happen now.</p>
<p>First, there will need to be much broader consultation than has occurred so far. The multitude of states, sectors and other stakeholders in schooling will need to mollified, even if some will never be fully satisfied.</p>
<p>Second, the federal government needs to pass legislation to give effect to the new funding arrangements. This is a big task: timing is tight, given the current deal runs out before the start of the 2018 school year. The senate will be a challenge. </p>
<p>Third, Gonski himself will lead an expert review, to report by the end of this year. His task is to synthesise the evidence on what works and provide advice on how the extra funding should be spent.</p>
<p>Many shots are still to be fired. But this clear, positive approach could be just what we need to get us past the squabbling on funding – a key hurdle so that we can move on to the issues that will really drive improvements in school education.</p>
<p>If that happens, everyone will be a winner, especially Australia’s students. </p>
<p>Well, maybe not everyone. If Gonski 2.0 sticks, the Labor party will need to find a new signature issue to take to the next election.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>• This piece was amended on 3 May to correct a point that was made. The piece suggested that the 300+ schools that will have their funding cut will “probably include government schools in the ACT that are currently funded well above target”. However it is not yet clear who these schools are. The sentence has been amended to reflect this.</strong> </p>
<hr>
<p>•<em>Do you have a question about school policy and recent education announcements? Leave your questions in the comments and we’ll pass them on to an expert.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p>For the first time, Education Minister Simon Birmingham has proposed a credible plan to deliver needs-based funding.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/720922017-02-01T19:06:42Z2017-02-01T19:06:42ZEducating Australia – why our schools aren’t improving<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154687/original/image-20170130-27056-1jv94zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New evidence-based methods of teaching and learning are being taken up very slowly.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In this series we’ll explore how to improve schools in Australia. Some of the most prominent experts in the sector tackle key questions, including why we are not seeing much progress; whether we are assessing children in the most effective way; why parents need to listen to what the evidence tells us, and much more.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Australian schooling has undergone major changes over the last decade, mainly through national policy reforms agreed by federal and state governments. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>an <a href="http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au">Australian Curriculum</a></p></li>
<li><p>standardised national assessments in literacy and numeracy (<a href="https://www.nap.edu.au">NAPLAN</a>)</p></li>
<li><p>national reporting on schools through the <a href="https://www.myschool.edu.au/">My School website</a></p></li>
<li><p>professional standards for <a href="http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list">teachers</a> and <a href="http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standard-for-principals">principals</a></p></li>
<li><p>a <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/universal-access-early-childhood-education">universally accessible</a> year of preschool</p></li>
<li><p>partial implementation of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">“Gonski”</a> needs-based funding reforms.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>During the same decade, rapid economic, social, technological and cultural changes have generated new pressures and possibilities for education systems – and the people who work in them.</p>
<p>For example, Australia continues to become more ethnically and culturally diverse, and more closely connected to the Asia-Pacific region. The nation is more active in its use of mobile and digital technology, more urbanised and more unequal in wealth and income.</p>
<p>These broader shifts, and the political responses to them, increasingly place education in a vice. It faces mounting pressure to achieve better outcomes for more people, while expected simultaneously to innovate and solve wider problems of society. And this is all to be done in a context of growing fiscal austerity.</p>
<h2>Lots of change, but very little impact</h2>
<p>Despite significant reforms over the past decade, there is unfortunately very little sign of positive impacts or outcomes. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The percentage of Australian students successfully completing Year 12 is <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/fact-sheets/senior-school-years-school-completion-uneven-across-australia/">not improving</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>State and federal school funding policies are still <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/aer/14/">reproducing a status quo</a> that entrenches sectoral division and elitism.</p></li>
<li><p>New evidence-informed methods, such as <a href="http://education.unimelb.edu.au/about_us/clinical-teaching">clinical</a> and <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/targeted-teaching-how-better-use-of-data-can-improve-student-learning/">targeted</a> teaching models (which focus on careful monitoring and evaluation of individual student progress and teaching impact), are being taken up very slowly in teacher education degrees and schools.</p></li>
<li><p>The <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/publications/all-publications/entry-to-vocations-strengthening-vet-in-schools#">status and efficacy of vocational learning</a> have shown little meaningful improvement.</p></li>
<li><p>NAPLAN and My School have not led to improvements in literacy and numeracy, with <a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2016-naplan-national-report.pdf?sfvrsn=2">2016 data</a> showing either stagnation or decline.</p></li>
<li><p>The performance of Australian students in international assessments of maths, science and literacy skills has <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-pisa-slump-is-big-news-but-whats-the-real-story-20964">steadily declined</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Replicating a failing system</h2>
<p>The national reforms since the mid-2000s were designed to address many of these persistent issues. </p>
<p>Yet somehow, despite hard-fought political battles and reforms, and the daily efforts of system leaders, teachers, parents and students across the nation, we continue to replicate a system in which key indicators of impact and equity are stagnating or going backwards.</p>
<p>The school funding impasse exemplifies this problem. </p>
<p>The policy area is continuously bedevilled by the difficulties of achieving effective collaboration between governments and school sectors in our federal system.</p>
<p>It also remains hamstrung by highly inequitable funding settlements, established over many decades. These continue to entrench privilege in elite schools, while consistently failing to provide “needs-based” funding to schools and young people who need the most support.</p>
<p>As a result, educational opportunities and outcomes become further polarised. Young people from privileged backgrounds are accruing further advantage. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds are increasingly <a href="https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/Unpacking_Youth_Unemployment__Final_report.pdf">locked out of competitive education and job markets</a>. </p>
<p>The global growth of identity politics, fostering conflict over class, race, gender and migration, puts these trends in stark context.</p>
<h2>So what are we doing wrong?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/items/165663">Educating Australia: Challenges for the Decade Ahead</a>, we tackle this question and seek to create a more innovative and productive interaction between ideas, evidence, policy and practice in education.</p>
<p>The scholars, practitioners and policy thinkers involved in the book examine key issues in education and canvas opportunities for improving outcomes on a wide scale. This includes areas like teaching, assessment, curriculum, funding and system-wide collaboration.</p>
<p>Across all these areas, it is clear that huge value would be created in Australia if the ways of framing and delivering teaching, learning and community engagement were adjusted to reflect new methods and perspectives arising from innovative practice and research.</p>
<p>Yet this is easier said than done. And despite many commentators claiming so, there are no silver-bullet solutions.</p>
<p>Over the past decade, the policy landscape has become riddled with reform “solutions”. Theset subject students, teachers, administrators and policymakers to mounting levels of pressure and stress. The short-term cyclical churn of today’s politics and media clearly exacerbates these problems.</p>
<p>There have, however, been some important and substantive reforms that prove not all political change is superficial. And not all aspects of national reform have failed to generate positive impacts.</p>
<p>For example, the Gonski reforms have channelled powerful resources to some schools. And My School has allowed us to see clearly where inequalities lie and interventions must be targeted.</p>
<p>Policy interventions, however, rarely achieve their objectives in isolation, or in predictable or linear ways, when they encounter complex systems and realities.</p>
<p>That is why we need to rethink the purposes of education as we go. We need to align these with the workings of curriculum, assessment, regulation and funding, along with the daily efforts of teachers, students and other community members.</p>
<p>Discussions about purposes will not thrive if separated or abstracted from the practices and politics of education: the places and spaces where policies are implemented, where students experience schooling, where professional identities are formed and challenged.</p>
<p>As such, far greater attention and skill are needed to craft and build the institutional capabilities that render goals achievable, ensure fairness and foster innovation and systemic learning in the public interest.</p>
<p>Practical lessons arising from recent innovations in teacher education, professional learning, curriculum alignment and inter-school collaboration can help here.</p>
<p>We also need to move beyond a fascination with divisions between governments in Australia’s federal system. We must focus instead on harnessing the potential of networks and collaborations across systems. </p>
<p>That is why a coherent reform “narrative” that genuinely reflects evidence about the nature of effective learning and teaching matters so much.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the future success of Australian school education hinges on whether powerful ideas can be realised in practice, across tens of thousands of classrooms and communities.</p>
<p>If we want reforms to be effective, their design must be grounded in wide-ranging dialogue about the nature of the problems and evidence about what will help to solve them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn C. Savage receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Bentley 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>Despite significant reform agendas over the past decade, no real progress in outcomes has been achieved.Tom Bentley, Principal Adviser to the Vice Chancellor, RMIT UniversityGlenn C Savage, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Sociology of Education, and ARC DECRA Fellow (2016-19), The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/694062016-11-27T19:14:13Z2016-11-27T19:14:13ZNew model for school funding that won’t break the budget<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147515/original/image-20161125-15351-1v414nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new model proposes to fix school funding arrangements.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Funding schools according to the needs of their students is something of a Holy Grail in Australia: something that we want very much but that has been very hard to achieve.</p>
<p>Every school has a “target” rate of funding for each of its students that takes into account the fact that disadvantage, disability, language difficulties and other factors make it more challenging and more expensive to educate some students than others.</p>
<p>But schools are not funded according to their needs-based target. Schools are funded based on a complex mix of <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">historical arrangements and special deals</a>. </p>
<p>Some schools are <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-some-australian-private-schools-are-overfunded-heres-why-66212">over-funded</a> when compared to their target. But most schools are under-funded across independent, Catholic and government school sectors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147540/original/image-20161125-32049-7tq4pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ACT Independent schools receive combined government funding at over 150% of SRS.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan school funding model, based on analysis of data from Commonwealth Department of Education and Training</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lifting all schools to their target funding levels is extremely costly under the current model - we estimate that it would cost more than A$3.5 billion each and every year to fund all schools even at 95% of their target. </p>
<p>But times have changed and unprecedented low wages growth means that needs-based funding has never been easier to achieve than right now. </p>
<p><a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/circuit-breaker/">We propose a new deal</a> that aligns funding to need for the same amount of money. We create big savings by reducing the automatic annual growth on school funding (indexation), affecting all schools. We then reallocate these funds to the most under-funded, getting all schools to their target by 2023. </p>
<h2>How will this work?</h2>
<p>The first step is to fix funding arrangements to set all schools on a course to their target within six years. In parallel, we recommend reviewing the formula for determining needs-based targets to ensure we are aiming for the right target, and adjusting targets if required.</p>
<p>The second step is to introduce transparency in funding arrangements through an independent body, to ensure funding goes where it is needed most. </p>
<p>The third step is to ensure that funding improves teaching and learning. We propose investing in new roles for expert teachers to drive improvement in our classrooms. </p>
<h2>What does the new model mean for schools?</h2>
<p>There will be winners and losers. But there already are. And the current arrangements ensure that the winners stay winners and losers stay losers because school funding grows according to what you got last year, not what you need this year. </p>
<p>Within six years we could level the playing field with very few schools experiencing any loss in real terms.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147542/original/image-20161125-32035-s1ya3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan school funding model, based on analysis of data from Commonwealth Department of Education and Training</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fixing funding arrangements</h2>
<p>To fix funding arrangements, we propose reducing the automatic annual growth (indexation) of both target and actual funding per student to recognise the low inflation environment we now live in. Historically education wages have grown each year by about 3% to 4%, but since 2015 this has been dropping and education wages are now growing at about 2.5% each year.</p>
<p>School costs are mostly wages, so school funding indexation should be linked to wage growth in order to maintain its real value over time. But the current (fixed) indexation rates were designed when wages growth was higher and are now over-generous.</p>
<p>Changing indexation arrangements will affect all schools – it slows the growth of every school’s funding target, as well as the actual funding they receive, in line with real cost growth. </p>
<p>The budgetary savings these changes generate are significant and should be redistributed to closing the needs-based funding gap.</p>
<p>We propose additional changes to funding arrangements to ensure all schools reach target funding levels within six years. </p>
<h2>Plan for overfunded schools</h2>
<p>For overfunded schools, we recommend freezing the growth of per student funding until they return to their target funding level. </p>
<p>For example, a school that is over-funded by 10% would receive no funding growth per student for four years, at which time it has returned to target and would then recieve normal funding growth. </p>
<p>This requires over-turning the Gillard government’s promise that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3572064.htm">“no school will lose a dollar”</a>. If no school loses a dollar, some overfunded schools will take more than a century (if ever) to return to target funding levels. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that this is politically challenging. </p>
<p>The independent schools lobby warned the Turnbull government not to treat it as an <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/dont-treat-us-as-an-easy-target-private-schools-issue-warning-over-funding-20160927-grphju.html">“easy target”</a> after education minister Simon Birmingham flagged the idea on <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/qa-simon-birmingham-says-some-private-schools-overfunded-20160926-grp1ji.html">ABC’s Q&A show in September</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, even with a freeze on indexation, many schools will take decades to return to target levels, because some schools are funded nearly three times as much as the formula says. A list was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/full-list-1-billion-flowing-to-wealthy-private-schools-officially-classed-as-overfunded-20160930-grs6nz.html">published recently</a> in the Sydney Morning Herald. </p>
<p>For these highly overfunded schools we recommend year-on-year funding cuts over six years from 2018 to 2023 to spread the impact and ensure all schools reach 95-100% of their target funding levels by 2023. </p>
<p>While tough, these schools have been receiving far more than they need and the change will be easier for them to manage in a low inflation environment. And the most over-funded schools typically have high fees and get the bulk of their revenue from parents, not from the government. They are not the struggling schools in the system.</p>
<h2>Plan for underfunded schools</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, schools that are under-funded will receive boosted indexation to help them catch up over time. Schools that are very under-funded (below 90% of their target) will require top-up payments spread over six years to reach their target funding by 2023. </p>
<p>This will benefit schools in all sectors - in fact, some of the most under-funded schools in Australia are actually independent schools.</p>
<h2>What does this mean for budgets?</h2>
<p>The model will cost the Commonwealth exactly the same as the 2016 Budget over the next four years – and offers significant savings when compared to the funding arrangements under legislation. </p>
<p>The implications however are very different for individual states and for each school sector in each state. </p>
<p>Whether an individual state’s budget will be better or worse off under the model depends on the rate at which per student funding is growing at present (information not publicly available) and how well schools are currently funded compared to the target.</p>
<p>A state like Victoria with under-funded schools will need to step up under the model and spend more on their schools than they have in the past. But it will also receive more Commonwealth funding.</p>
<p>ACT government schools are currently over-funded schools, and the ACT could potentially bank savings under the compact. But it will also receive less Commonwealth funding.</p>
<h2>Funding must improve teaching and learning</h2>
<p>Fixing school funding arrangements – so that actual school funding matches target school funding – will help to maintain a fair and inclusive education system. </p>
<p>But fixing school funding arrangements is only part of the battle. Just as importantly, schools must spend their funding well.</p>
<p>We need structures and approaches that will improve teaching quality to ensure school funding is well spent. </p>
<p>To maximise student learning progress, teachers need to use evidence-based teaching practices in the classroom, including <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/targeted-teaching-how-better-use-of-data-can-improve-student-learning/">targeted teaching</a> and the types of practices described by John Hattie in <a href="http://visiblelearningplus.com">Visible Learning</a>. </p>
<p>We propose investing in teaching quality, through two new roles that recognise expertise in teaching.</p>
<p>Master Teachers and Instructional Leaders will work in and across schools to drive improvements in teaching effectiveness in their subject areas. These roles provide a mechanism for spreading the use of evidence-based teaching practices to all Australian classrooms.</p>
<p>The new model we propose is a circuit breaker. It aligns school funding to need, invests in teaching quality, and maintains most schools’ purchasing power, without breaking the budget.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Griffiths does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new proposed deal on school funding delivers the Gonski funding within budget.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteKate Griffiths, Associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/665562016-10-04T23:33:43Z2016-10-04T23:33:43ZPolitics podcast: Simon Birmingham on the new VET student loan scheme<p>A new vocational education and training student loan scheme will aim at putting a stop to rorting by dodgy private colleges. Education Minister Simon Birmingham tells Michelle Grattan the new scheme is being built from the ground up. </p>
<p>“First and foremost, [there will be] strong barriers to entry for the types of vocational education providers who can offer loans as part of it,” he says. </p>
<p>The reforms will see the number of courses available drop from more than 800 to “somewhere around the 300 or 400 mark”, Birmingham says. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are a range of different areas that have been subsidised over recent years - but certainly very odd areas - such as Chinese veterinary medicine, will no longer make the cut. A number of I guess lifestyle-type courses is the best way to define some of them. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Birmingham also talks on his negotiations for a new school funding agreement and will soon announce a new higher education policy. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Music credit: “Natural”, by Dlay on the Free Music Archive</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new VET student loan scheme will aim at putting a stop to rorting by dodgy private colleges. Education Minister Simon Birmingham says the new scheme is being built from the ground up.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/662122016-10-03T04:12:47Z2016-10-03T04:12:47ZYes, some Australian private schools are overfunded – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140023/original/image-20161003-24082-1v1hlfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is little regulation about how private schools spend public funding.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Education minister Simon Birmingham recently made the claim that some private schools are <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-27/education-minister-acknowledges-some-private-schools-over-funded/7880058">“overfunded”</a>. </p>
<p>The comment received considerable interest because it opens the possibility that public funding of such schools may decrease. </p>
<p>This is a remarkable turnaround from the Gillard Labor government’s <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/prime-minister-julia-gillard-says-private-schools-will-get-more/story-fn59nlz9-1226453690310">pledge</a> that no school would see a reduction in the amount received from the public purse.</p>
<p>While Birmingham was reluctant to define what he meant by “overfunded”, the student resource standard established by the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonski school funding review</a> is a good place to start. </p>
<p>Since his comment, an analysis published in the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/full-list-1-billion-flowing-to-wealthy-private-schools-officially-classed-as-overfunded-20160930-grs6nz.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a> found that more than 150 private schools in Australia are overfunded based on the Gonski resource standard. This overfunding amounts to more than A$215 million per year.</p>
<h2>Complex funding model</h2>
<p>As Birmingham noted, the current funding system is extremely complex and opaque. It is a collection of <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">historical deals and arrangements</a> rather than a coherent strategy.</p>
<p>In tracing a brief policy history, federal government grants were first provided for private schools in 1964. These were intended as one-off capital grants for struggling Catholic schools to purchase science blocks.</p>
<p>Recurrent per-student grants for private schools were introduced in 1970. While funding for private schools was initiated by the conservative Gorton government, Labor and Coalition governments since then have supported federal funding of private schools because it gained them popularity with voters. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.whitlam.org/gough_whitlam/achievements/education">Whitlam</a> government in 1973 attributed large funds to private schools, but this was counteracted by his equally large funding for public schools. </p>
<p>Federal funding to private schools increased substantially during the <a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/national-issues/the-great-school-fraud">Howard government</a>. Between 1999 and 2005, federal funding for public schools increased by $261 per student compared to an increase of $1584 for each private school student. </p>
<h2>How private schools are funded</h2>
<p>All private schools receive public funds, mostly from the federal government but also from state governments. </p>
<p>They receive recurrent funding, to pay for ongoing costs like teacher salaries. They also receive capital funding, to pay for their buildings and facilities.</p>
<p>There is very little regulation about how private schools can spend their share of public funds. <a href="http://apo.org.au/resource/drift-private-schools-australia-understanding-its-features">Research</a> from over a decade ago showed that many private schools use public funds to improve their facilities rather than reduce fees.</p>
<p>Overall, total public funding (federal and state) has increased at a greater rate for private than public schools. <a href="http://www.saveourschools.com.au/funding/productivity-commission-fails-to-lift-the-bonnet-on-its-own-funding-figures">Analyses of data</a> from the Productivity Commission showed that total public funding has increased by 9.8% for private schools but only 3.3% for public schools over the last ten years.</p>
<p>Lower-fee private schools receive a larger amount of recurrent public funding than their higher-fee counterparts. This is because the socio-economic status (SES) dimension of the model, in which funding is based in part on the SES of students at the school. But high-fee schools receive a substantial amount as well. </p>
<p>A brief illustration from the federal government’s <a href="http://www.myschool.edu.au/">MySchool website</a> is telling.</p>
<p>We examined MySchool data from the six most expensive elite private schools in Perth that charge more than $20,000 in fees per student. </p>
<p>On average, these six schools received $2,200 per student from the state government and $3,000 per student from the federal government in recurrent funding. </p>
<p>They also received on average $3.7 million in capital funding from the federal government over the last five years. Taken all together, these figures amount to an estimated public spend of $270 million over the last five years, for six schools that are already extremely well resourced.</p>
<h2>Funding model is inefficient</h2>
<p>The other problem with our current funding model is that it is inefficient. For example, a key prong of the federal government’s innovation strategy is to increase the number of young people who study science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. Yet <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02680939.2013.846414">research</a> found that many low SES high schools don’t offer these subjects due to funding constraints.</p>
<p>Our funding system is based on an illogical basis of entitlement, not need. In our current system, all schools are entitled to public funds, regardless of whether they actually need them or not. All parents are entitled to a “return” on their tax dollar, regardless of where they send their child to school.</p>
<p>Rather than basing our funding model on the entitlements of schools, it should be based on the needs of students and communities. </p>
<p>All students, regardless of where they live or how much money their parents earn, are entitled to an education that will develop their interests and capacities to the fullest. This would benefit individual students and their families and communities, but it would also benefit the nation as a whole.</p>
<p>Very few countries, if any to our knowledge, provide similarly high levels of recurrent and capital funding to private schools, while also allowing them to charge fees.</p>
<p>Not all private schools are overfunded. But it is probably safe to say that most high-fee private schools are overfunded, and conversely, that many low-fee private schools are underfunded. And this will only change if we abandon the old deals and start afresh with a simpler and more coherent funding model.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia’s school funding model provides high levels of public funding to private schools, while also allowing them to charge fees.Laura Perry, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Research, Murdoch UniversityEmma Rowe, Lecturer in the School of Education, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/658942016-09-23T07:18:51Z2016-09-23T07:18:51ZLet’s meet in the middle on schools funding, not continue the trench warfare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138942/original/image-20160923-25499-1kk6kx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should special deals with states and non-government sectors be removed?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Mariuz/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham dropped a bombshell on state governments on Thursday, just 24 hours before the Education Council meeting in Adelaide. </p>
<p>Declaring that he wants to end the <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">“corruption”</a> at the heart of the Gonski model, he announced a new agenda to align state-by-state differences in funding. </p>
<p>It is an ambitious, albeit worthy, battle to pick at the eleventh hour. But it only tackles part of the problem. </p>
<p>The larger issue is how to deliver full needs-based funding to underfunded schools in a way that ensures the extra money will be well spent.</p>
<p>Yesterday, I offered <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/news/a-simple-and-immediate-fix-for-schools-funding/">a proposal</a> for how to achieve this larger goal within the same four-year funding envelope set out by the <a href="http://budget.gov.au/2016-17/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-10.htm">2016 Federal Budget</a>. </p>
<p>The proposal would free up funds to help education ministers resolve their differences in state funding while delivering needs-based funding in full. It would also use some funds to invest in sorely needed specialist teaching roles and master teachers. </p>
<p>The idea is compatible with minister Birmingham’s plan. To see how the two ideas might fit together, we must understand each part of the debate.</p>
<h2>What are we fighting for?</h2>
<p>The 2011 <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonski report</a> was a radical attempt to end decades of fights over school funding, and to fund schools based on need. </p>
<p>The report’s principles were, and remain, sound. But from the start they were corrupted by politics, <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/what-gonski-really-meant-and-how-thats-been-forgotten-almost-everywhere">as one of its authors has said</a>. </p>
<p>Yet while some are writing the Gonski model off as a result of this corruption, very little of the extra needs-based funding has actually been delivered. And, as <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/federal-election-2016/federal-election-2016-nsw-coalition-told-to-pay-up-on-school-funds/news-story/356d31c85bbf7c9b69506f7f96c5faba">NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli argues</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>it’s unreasonable to expect to see systemic changes after two and a bit years of a needs-based funding formula.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even so, there are <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/targeted-teaching-how-better-use-of-data-can-improve-student-learning/">encouraging early signs</a> that needs-based funding can lift outcomes if accompanied by a mechanism that improves teaching practice. Such funding remains vital, but we still don’t have it. </p>
<h2>Fixing difference among states</h2>
<p>While Birmingham’s proposal has little detail, three things seem clear. </p>
<p>First, special deals with states and non-government sectors should be removed. Schools of similar profile should get the same Commonwealth funding regardless of what state they are in. </p>
<p>Second, from 2018 to 2020, overall funding growth from the Commonwealth will drop below what is <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014C00806">currently legislated</a>, to a newly defined education-specific index rate of 3.56%. This means that every year, Commonwealth funding would grow by 3.56% – although it is completely unclear whether this applies to funding as a whole or funding for each individual school. </p>
<p>After 2020, funding growth will drop to the rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).</p>
<p>Third, there will be <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2016-education-experts-react-58592">strings attached</a>, designed to ensure the money is spent in ways that will genuinely improve outcomes.</p>
<p>While states will see this as a tough offer, there is much to like. The fixed funding growth rates in the legislation are too high given low inflation. And the government is right to want mechanisms to ensure money is well spent.</p>
<p>It is also positive that Birmingham has framed his arguments in terms of needs-based funding and some notion of “fairness”. </p>
<p>But the devil is always in the detail, which is not yet available. The politics in this space are incredibly hard. Legislative change would be needed. And even if funds are freed up, it is doubtful that Birmingham has enough money to deliver needs-based funding in full.</p>
<h2>Delivering both needs-based funding and workforce reform</h2>
<p>By comparison, <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/news/a-simple-and-immediate-fix-for-schools-funding/">our proposal</a> focuses on delivering needs-based funding to every school, combined with workforce reform to improve how every dollar is spent.</p>
<h3>Creating a $7 billion war-chest to fund vital reforms</h3>
<p>At a time when low inflation and wage growth are likely to persist for years, Commonwealth funding growth rates of 3% to 4.7% a year are far too high. </p>
<p>Reducing funding growth to match wage growth would free up a A$7 billion war chest over four years. </p>
<p>We propose to return about A$1 billion to the budget bottom line, matching the 2016 budget envelope from 2017-18 to 2020-21. The remainder would fund two vital reforms: delivering needs-based funding and workforce reform. </p>
<h3>Delivering needs-based funding</h3>
<p>The big winners in our model would be schools that are currently underfunded. They would receive their full needs-based funding by 2022, provided it is invested effectively to meet educational need. This is later than Labor promised, but late is better than never. </p>
<p>Funding for schools that are at their target funding levels would grow in line with wages.</p>
<p>Schools that are funded above their resource standard would receive no funding increases until they return to their resource standard; in other words, they would lose money in real terms. </p>
<h3>Workforce reform</h3>
<p>All schools would benefit from new investment in our best teachers. </p>
<p>We propose two new roles that give the best teachers more recognition and responsibility to build the capabilities of the workforce, and increase the use of evidence-based practices.</p>
<p>The first role would be the creation of subject specialists who spend half their time teaching, and the other half mentoring and supporting other teachers in their school. </p>
<p>The second role establishes master teachers who would work across schools to improve teaching in their subject area. They would be the very best subject specialists and would be responsible for identifying key issues in pedagogy across the system. They have no teaching loads and help to lead school networks and collaboration.</p>
<p>This model provides an inbuilt system of career development and salary progression. It would allow the most expert teachers to continue teaching, rather than moving into administrative roles.</p>
<p>A rigorous certification process would ensure that only the best teachers are selected. Importantly the positions would be much better paid, providing a signal that high-level teaching expertise is finally valued. </p>
<p>The proposed new positions are similar to top roles in high-performing systems such as <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/catching-up-learning-from-the-best-school-systems-in-east-asia/">Shanghai and Singapore</a>, where there are inbuilt systems of professional development in career structures. </p>
<p>Similar but small-scale initiatives have been trialled in Australia. For example, the <a href="https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/publications/other-publications/smarter-schools-national-partnerships-reports/improving-teacher-quality/report-improving-teacher-quality-national-partnership-itqnp-abridged-final-evaluation">NSW Highly Accomplished Teacher initiative</a> used a similar approach and showed positive effects. </p>
<h2>Putting the ideas together</h2>
<p>Combining elements of the two proposals could move Australia much closer to the principles of needs-based, stable, simple, fair and transparent funding. </p>
<p>Then we would finally have a funding system that offers an equal opportunity for a high-quality education for all students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65894/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>A new school funding model being proposed aims to free up funds to help education ministers resolve their differences in state funding, and deliver needs-based funding in full.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/659542016-09-23T02:38:10Z2016-09-23T02:38:10ZVIDEO: Michelle Grattan on the government’s approach to welfare<figure>
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<p>University of Canberra professorial fellow Michelle Grattan and senior lecturer in political science Michael de Percy discuss the week in politics, including Nationals MP George Christensen going solo, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement of a rise in Australia’s humanitarian refugee intake, Education Minister Simon Birmingham foreshadowing changes to the Gonski schools funding model, and how the government is approaching welfare spending.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65954/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>University of Canberra professorial fellow Michelle Grattan and senior lecturer in political science Michael de Percy discuss the week in politics.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraMichael de Percy, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/658752016-09-22T20:30:14Z2016-09-22T20:30:14ZGonski model was corrupted, but Labor and Coalition are both to blame<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138744/original/image-20160922-11668-uig7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Education Minister Simon Birmingham is calling for a new education funding model to replace Gonski.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The school funding wars are set to erupt again when federal, state and territory education ministers meet in Adelaide on Friday.</p>
<p>Federal education minister Simon Birmingham will use the <a href="http://www.scseec.edu.au/Council/EC-Meetings.aspx">Education Council</a> meeting to argue for a new post-2017 federal funding model to replace the current <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-gonski-anyway-13599">“Gonski model”</a> established under Labor.</p>
<p>Birmingham came out <a href="https://theconversation.com/birmingham-prepares-for-fundamental-changes-to-labors-gonski-funding-model-65828">with guns blazing on Thursday</a>, arguing current arrangements are inequitable, overly complex and represent a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/fix-needed-on-gonski-corruption-says-simon-birmingham/news-story/9fb7057cf4a6fc55cf669aa7271bbbe1?login=1">“corruption”</a> of the ideals set out in the <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiOh8KLqqLPAhXEdD4KHdldCQEQFggdMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.education.gov.au%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdoc%2Fother%2Freview-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFL_985IKRpf0e21txDImY9O3TRTQ&sig2=JSkFUiJpwEoa7LgaCUpp3A">2011 Gonski Report</a>.</p>
<p>The Coalition wants its new model to be needs-based and nationally consistent, but is also offering much less cash than the Gonski model, and wants to attach <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/quality_schools_acc.pdf">a range of new conditions</a> to how the money can be spent.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-coalitions-real-agenda-for-australian-schools-53308">“less cash, more caveats”</a> model is a hard sell, and states and territories are ready for a fight – especially powerful states such as New South Wales that <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/nsw-education-minister-adrian-piccoli-slams-productivity-commissions-national-education-report-20160906-gr9rul.html">remain ardent supporters</a> of the Gonski model. </p>
<h2>The current funding mess</h2>
<p>The Coalition is absolutely right in suggesting the ideals guiding the Gonski school funding reforms have been corrupted.</p>
<p>The Gonski report was designed to clean up Australia’s opaque and complex system of school funding and address significant inequalities by establishing a new needs-based funding model. </p>
<p>The report made a compelling argument to introduce a “base rate” level of funding per student, known as the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), with extra loadings on top based on a number of <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2013A00067">equity categories</a>.</p>
<p>The model Labor introduced did reflect this core structure, but then messy politics got in the way at the point of implementation. </p>
<p>In order to convince states and territories to sign on to the reform, different deals were done with different jurisdictions, and Labor promised that <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/prime-minister-julia-gillard-says-private-schools-will-get-more/story-fn59nlz9-1226453690310">no school would lose a dollar</a> under the plan.</p>
<p>Instead of a needs-based model, therefore, the result was a perversion of the Gonski ideal – an inconsistent patchwork of approaches across the nation that protected the vested interests of non-government schools.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/fix-needed-on-gonski-corruption-says-simon-birmingham/news-story/9fb7057cf4a6fc55cf669aa7271bbbe1?login=1">Federal government modelling</a> has been used to argue that under the current system, schools with exactly the same demographics and equity needs receive different funding in different states and territories.</p>
<p>This is smart politics by the Coalition: turning Labor’s argument for equitable funding on its head by arguing Gonski is far from equitable. </p>
<p>Of course, as the opposition education spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/fix-needed-on-gonski-corruption-says-simon-birmingham/news-story/9fb7057cf4a6fc55cf669aa7271bbbe1?login=1">pointed out</a>, it was under the Coalition (not Labor) that the final three states (Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory) signed onto the Gonski reform, which further contributed to national inconsistency.</p>
<p>So the Coalition’s attempts to heap all the blame on Labor for the current state of funding incoherence reflects a strong case of selective memory.</p>
<h2>Can the federal government produce ‘real’ needs-based funding?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Latest-News/ID/3215/Press-Conference-Adelaide">Birmingham suggests</a> the Coalition’s new model will “target need” and “treat states equitably”. </p>
<p>However, any truly needs-based model will invariably require a reduction in the already high levels of government funding provided to many elite non-government (Catholic and independent) schools. </p>
<p>This has been a thorn in the side of past Coalition and Labor governments, which have consistently caved to pressure from vested interests.</p>
<p>For example, well before Labor promised no school would lose a dollar, the Coalition did exactly the same thing in 2001 when it introduced its <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/bn/sp/schoolsfunding.pdf">socioeconomic status (SES) model</a> under Prime Minister John Howard. </p>
<p>Both sides of politics, therefore, are guilty of such fiscal populism, whereby no one “loses”, even though funding is supposed to be assigned according to need. </p>
<p>This is a classic tale of politics driving policy. </p>
<p>Such a position is also untenable in a time of contracting budgets, and growing social, economic and educational inequalities.</p>
<p>There is also the difficulty of trying to get national consistency within a federal system in which states and territories ultimately control schooling. <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Latest-News/ID/3215/Press-Conference-Adelaide">As Birmingham himself noted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>States and territories will always be free under our Constitution to fund schools in their state or territory as they see fit.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, while the federal government provides Gonski funding, states and territories each have different needs-based funding models, and remain the dominant funders of public schools.</p>
<p>So unless all states and territories adopt the same funding formulas, there will always be difference, no matter what the federal government does.</p>
<h2>The policy and political challenges ahead</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/fix-needed-on-gonski-corruption-says-simon-birmingham/news-story/9fb7057cf4a6fc55cf669aa7271bbbe1">warning</a> by NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli – that any reduction in the federal funding NSW receives would mean “war” – speaks precisely to the policy and political challenges ahead.</p>
<p>Not only is developing a new funding policy a great challenge in itself, but seeking to enact that policy in a volatile political climate is a fraught undertaking. </p>
<p>The Education Council meeting will no doubt ignite the most recent battle in a long and protracted war over school funding – one that is seemingly without end. </p>
<p>Birmingham’s challenge is undoubtedly colossal. He is trying to achieve what no federal education minister has done before him – establish a truly national needs-based funding model – but with less money and more caveats.</p>
<p>The armies have gathered in Adelaide. The battle lines are drawn. We await for the dust to settle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65875/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn C. Savage receives funding from the Australian Research Council under the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme for his project titled 'National schooling reform and the reshaping of Australian federalism' (2016-2019). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Lewis 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>Instead of a needs-based model, we ended up with an inconsistent patchwork of approaches across Australian states and territories that protected the vested interests of non-government schools.Glenn C Savage, Senior Lecturer in Education Policy and ARC DECRA Fellow (2016-19), Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneSteven Lewis, Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/645362016-08-29T20:06:29Z2016-08-29T20:06:29ZWant to improve NAPLAN scores? Teach children philosophy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135711/original/image-20160829-17887-an2orp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children taking part in a philosophical discussion at Buranda State School in Brisbane.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Gray/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-03/naplan-results-show-literacy-numeracy-skills-have-stalled/7683244">Latest figures show</a> that student scores in reading, writing, language and numeracy have failed to improve despite schools receiving <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-more-money-for-schools-improve-educational-outcomes-57656">record funding</a> over the past few years. </p>
<p>The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (<a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/naplan">NAPLAN</a>) is an annual assessment designed to check whether students are developing the basic skills necessary to progress in school and life. </p>
<p>The most <a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/_resources/2015_NAPLAN_national_report.pdf">recent report</a> reveals that nationally, these skills have largely stagnated since 2008.</p>
<p>The government response was swift, with the opposition claiming this stagnation provided evidence <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-03/should-we-be-worried-about-the-naplan-results/7684656">that more funding is needed</a>, specifically by committing to the full measures proposed by the Gonski report. </p>
<p>The current Australian government instead took this as an indication that rather than providing more money, the focus should be on <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/08/02/naplan-results-show-no-significant-improvement-despite-funding-increases">finding better “evidence-based measures”</a>. </p>
<p>While some have argued these results are not concerning because <a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-data-is-not-comparable-across-school-years-63703">NAPLAN scores are not comparable across years</a>, our education outcomes have been <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=ar_misc">stagnant or dropping for quite some time</a> across a range of different measures.</p>
<h2>So what can be done?</h2>
<p>As it turns out, teaching children philosophy can dramatically increase student learning outcomes in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/teaching-primary-school-children-philosophy-improves-english-and-maths-skills-says-study-10378958.html">literacy and numeracy</a>.</p>
<p>Philosophy for Children (P4C) – a program that sees student-led discussions being facilitated by a trained teacher – started in America in the 1970s and has been implemented in countries <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/children/">including the UK, Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Singapore and Taiwan</a>. </p>
<p>Open, philosophical questions stimulate the students’ imaginations as they engage critically with ideas such as whether a healthy heart should be donated to someone who hasn’t looked after their body; if it is ever acceptable to deprive someone of their freedom; and whether it’s fair that male tennis players receive more sponsorship than female players.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-children-should-study-philosophy-23404">benefit of philosophical dialogue</a> is that students explore different answers, examining the strengths and weaknesses for each, and critically reflect on assumptions along the way. </p>
<p>This improves their problem-solving abilities, as well as encourages compassionate respect for the perspectives of others.</p>
<p><a href="https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Projects/EEF_Project_Report_PhilosophyForChildren.pdf">A randomised controlled trial</a> in 2013 found P4C delivers positive results for very little cost. </p>
<p>The study involved 1500 children across 48 schools in the UK and <a href="https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/pdf/generate/?u=https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/pdf/project/?id=162&t=EEF%20Projects&e=162&s=">found</a> that, on average, children who took part in P4C saw two months of progress in their reading and maths outcomes.</p>
<p>Even more impressive was that disadvantaged students’ writing ability improved by two months, their math skills by three months, and their reading abilities by four months. </p>
<p>These gains were achieved with the program being delivered for one hour per week at a total annual cost of £16 (A$27) per pupil. </p>
<p>Such results add to the growing <a href="http://www.sapere.org.uk/Portals/0/SAPERE%20P4C%20Research%20map%20-%20first%20draft%20June%202011.pdf">number of studies</a> showing that philosophy programs can <a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/pdc/bvdb.nsf/purchase?openform&fp=thinking&id=thinking_1997_0013_0002_0011_0016">improve scientific reasoning</a> and <a href="https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Portals/0/PDF%20reviews%20and%20summaries/t_s_rv2.pdf?ver=2006-03-02-125128-393">overall learning and cognitive measures</a>, which are sustained <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263219634_Benefits_of_Collaborative_Philosophical_Inquiry_in_Schools">years after the original program ends</a>.</p>
<h2>Why philosophy?</h2>
<p>Philosophy may seem a surprising solution to the NAPLAN problem. </p>
<p>It is often seen as too difficult for children, far too theoretical and abstract, with little relevance to the real world.</p>
<p>Yet the results from P4C programs make sense once people realise what philosophy actually teaches: critical thinking. </p>
<p>Philosophical thinking skills are transferable skills that assist a child to do well on tests as well as in the real world. </p>
<p>Rather than simply delivering information, philosophy helps children to think for themselves.</p>
<p>Critical thinking is a tool we use every day. Students use their critical discernment when deciding which job or career they want. </p>
<p>Distinguishing between important information and political rhetoric in the media requires critical thinking. Understanding complex ideas such as how policies might affect the economy, how certain drugs will affect certain patients, or how to design software all require critical thinking. </p>
<p>This is especially important given the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/inspiring-all-australians-digital-literacy-and-stem">increasing proportion of jobs available in STEM fields in the future</a>.</p>
<p>Students who study philosophy also achieve better results overall. </p>
<p>In the US, philosophy majors score the highest out of all disciplines in the <a href="https://www.buffalo.edu/content/dam/cas/philosophy/phi15-16/phi-LSAT.pdf">LSAT</a> and <a href="http://philosophy.cornell.edu/upload/Best-Majors-for-GRE-Scores-in-2013-2.pdf">GRE</a>, tests used for admissions into law school and graduate programs respectively. </p>
<p>The benefits of philosophical training extend beyond doing well on tests, as philosophy majors then go on to have the highest non-STEM earnings of any major, and even earn <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-sort.html">more than accountants</a>. Not bad for a degree which may be dismissed <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/education-teaching-recession-graduate_opportunity-graduate_scheme-graduate-postgrad-bven153_low.jpg">as not</a> having an obvious vocational application.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>Philosophy should be included in the national school curriculum. <a href="http://fapsa.org.au/curriculum/national-curriculum/">The Federation of the Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations</a> (FAPSA) submitted such a recommendation to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in 2009, but this has not been acted on. </p>
<p>In the meantime, philosophy in Australian primary and high schools continues to grow, with FAPSA and state-based associations offering professional development and training workshops to teachers.</p>
<p>Some schools have adopted a whole school approach to teaching philosophy using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) in all subject areas. </p>
<p>Buranda State School in Queensland is one such success story, with student test scores improving from well below average to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=kmeUS0jG_g0C&lpg=PA266&ots=W50AqxstND&dq=Hinton%20%26%20Davey%20Chesters%202013&lr&pg=PA271#v=onepage&q&f=false">“above the state mean in everything tested” in only five years</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131857.2013.771444">Many states</a> have philosophy available as an elective in the final years of schooling. </p>
<p>Philosophy events called <a href="http://fapsa.org.au/philosothon/">Philosothons</a> have also become popular. But most programs have been adopted on an individual basis, rather than the product of a sustained systemic change.</p>
<p>In the meantime, individual schools and teachers can incorporate P4C pedagogy into existing classes. To improve students’ reading, writing and arithmetic, we should teach them the fourth R: reasoning. </p>
<p>Any measure which delivers an extra two months of progress in only an hour per week sounds like a good idea to us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64536/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura D'Olimpio is Chairperson of the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations (FAPSA) and the Association for Philosophy in Schools, Inc. W.A. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Piovarchy 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>Teaching philosophy for just one hour a week can improve children’s progress in writing, maths and reading.Adam Piovarchy, PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy, University of SydneyLaura D'Olimpio, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Notre Dame AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.