Staying in the Dark on School Performance

There is a movement in Australian education for increased assessment and accountability. Assessment and reporting strategies are being developed in most States, and testing has been implemented to develop standards against which we can measure performance in literacy and numeracy.

Governments believe that reporting results of these assessments at the State and national levels fulfils their responsibilities in terms of public accountability.

But this is not good enough. The public is left in the dark when it comes to assessing individual schools. No information is provided that would allow different schools to be compared. So it is not known whether or not schools are reaching high educational standards and maintaining the quality of education expected by those who pay for it.

There is a strong resistance to the release of any data which may indicate how individual schools are performing.

The NSW Teachers Federation has been the biggest player in preventing the release of comparative school data to the public in NSW. As a result of negotiations between the federation and the State Government, data from the NSW Basic Skills Test is protected by a regulation in the Education Act which states: "The results of basic skills testing must not be publicly revealed in a way that ranks or otherwise compares the results of particular schools."

'The public is left in the dark when it comes to assessing individual schools'

In 1997 the NSW Department of Education and Training introduced the School Accountability and Improvement (SAI) Model, part of which required schools to produce an annual report providing information on many aspects of schooling, including academic achievement. At the time it seemed that public accountability at the school level was finally being taken seriously, and that parents and the public would be given reliable information that would enable them to assess the effectiveness of their school in relation to others.

But the success of such a plan was never to be. The Teachers Federation fiercely intervened by placing industrial bans on the SAI Model. These bans were lifted only after a new protocol for school reporting was set in place allowing principals to decide what information went into the reports and how it was to be presented. And so these reports do not provide an opportunity for schools to account to their community nor do they give fair, reliable and objective information as intended by the Department of Education and Training.

Some consider it misleading to compare the performance of different schools. Indeed, it has become fashionable to argue that student achievements are merely a reflection of their social and economic circumstances, and that schools can attribute their poor performance to the background features of their students.

While it cannot be denied that socio-economic factors play a large role in the education of children, this should not be used to justify their poor performance. Or even worse, to expect such students and their schools to perform badly. It is hypocritical to claim that all children have the potential to learn and at the same time to argue that not all schools can reach certain standards of achievement because of their student intake.

'Parents should not have to send their child to a school that has a record of poor performance'

If we are to make any progress in education we need to set high standards and work towards achieving them. A well-balanced reporting system based on a good assessment program could make a substantial difference to our schools by leading to an improved and more open system of education.

An essential part of this is to allow the public and parents of students to become more involved in education processes and debates. To do this they need information. Information about the performance of schools can empower the community to demand immediate action by putting pressure on poorly performing schools to improve or by pressuring the Government to remedy the situation. Without this information poorly performing schools can easily go undetected in a system which calls for little accountability.

Parents should not have to send their child to a school that has a record of poor performance. But given the current state of school reporting, parents do not know which schools are underperforming. If we are unable to measure and report on a school's ability to educate its students, regardless of their background, then many students will be left with an education considered to be unacceptable.

Until comparative school data is made public we will never be sure that all schools are providing a quality education and preparing all students for a successful future in a society that increasingly expects and demands well-educated school-leavers.
 

About the Author:
Alison Rich is a Policy Analyst at The Centre for Independent Studies.