AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE
DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
PRESS RELEASE 311
10 September 2009
AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM,
ASSESSMENT AND
REPORTING AUTHORITY: POWER
TO PUBLISH PROFILES OF
‘FAILED SCHOOLS’?
New Authority to Assess and Report
on Australian Schools
On September 3 2009 Australian
Education Ministers in a Joint Media
Release with the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment
Training and Youth Affairs announced the membership of the new
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).They claimed
that ACARA will be a key driver of the new era of transparency and quality in
all Australian schools.
The Council of Australian
Governments agreed in October 2008 that the new authority would be responsible for
the management of curriculum, assessment and reporting at the national level.
The Authority will be led by a 13 member Board of Directors made up of experts
nominated by each of the Australian and State and Territory Governments as well
as the Catholic and Independent school sectors. The membership of ACARA has
also been agreed to by all state and territory Education Ministers through the
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs
(MCEETYA).
The Release also announced that the establishment of
ACARA will also enable the realisation of key commitments in the Melbourne
Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. One of these
commitments was improving
educational outcomes for disadvantaged young Australians, especially those from
Indigenous and low socioeconomic backgrounds. DOGS note that, like so many
government reports, this document is full of other motherhood statements but no
mention is made of WHY disadvantaged children are still provided with
sub-standard educational opportunities while schools for the wealthy are
showered with taxpayers’ money.
ACARA will be led by Professor Barry
McGaw and Mr. Tony Mackay, with representatives from all states and territories
and the non-government sector. DOGS have already produced Press releases on the
background of Barry McGaw and Mr. Tony McMackay in Press Releases 239 at www.adogs.info/pr239.htm
They are no friends of public
education. The following are the members of the Board. DOGS note that there are
representatives of both the Roman Catholic and
|
Professor Barry McGaw |
Chair |
|
Mr. Tony Mackay |
Deputy Chair |
|
Mr. Tom Legionaries |
Board Member ( |
|
Mr. John Firth |
Board Member (Victoria) |
|
Ms Lesley Englert |
Board Member ( |
|
Ms Helen Wildash |
Board Member ( |
|
Professor Bill Louden |
Board Member ( |
|
Mr David Hanlon |
Board Member ( |
|
Ms Debbie Efthymiades |
Board Member ( |
|
Ms Dianne Kerr |
Board Member ( |
|
Mr Angus James |
Board Member (Australian Government) |
|
Mr Garry Le Duff |
Board Member (Independent Schools Council of |
|
Dr Brian Croke |
Board Member (National Catholic Education
Commission) |
ACARA will report not report to parents or taxpayers. The Board will
report to all Australian Education Ministers through the Ministerial Council.
a week later, on 9 September, Julia Gillard announced the
appointment of Dr Peter Hill as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
She promoted Dr Hill, currently Senior Advisor to the Hong Kong
Examinations and Assessment Authority, has more than 20 years experience in the
fields of curriculum and assessment. He is expected to begin his new role on 28
September 2009.
Peter Hill will work closely with ACARA’s board, especially the chair,
Professor Barry McGraw and with all education Ministers through the Ministerial
Council, MCEECDYA. Peter Hill is a career educationist who started off as a
geography teacher. Before he went to the
The Role of ACARA in
Identifying ‘Failed’ Schools
Julia Gillard is setting up an instrument similar to OFSTED in the
At the end of the year, ACARA will
publish school profiles online for the very first time. The profile of each
school, government and non-government, will provide accurate data on individual
school performance and important, relevant data about school context.
The school profiles will include
results from the 2008 and 2009 National Assessment Program – Literacy and
Numeracy (NAPLAN).
The National Summary Report for 2009
NAPLAN will be released on Friday 11 September and will outline results for
each State and Territory. Parents of years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will receive
reports outlining their child’s results from Monday 14 September.
She claims that these transparency measures will give parents, teachers
and the public much better information about the performance of our schools and
allow governments to better target additional resources.
Julia Gillard must believe that public school principals, teachers and
parents have no experience of disadvantaged children or sense of history. They
know where the pockets of neglect, disadvantage and inequalities lie. The
disadvantaged children are rarely found in the Roman Catholic and Dependent
school sector. They are in the public school sector and are caused by billions
of dollars of taxpayers’ money being used to prop up sectarian schools for
those in search of the first class ticket to heaven and the good job.
DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION AND
STOP STATE AID TO PRIVATE RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS.
Listen to the DOGS program
3CR, 855 on the A.M. dial
12 Noon Saturdays