Education policy in Australia:Governance, standards and innovation for the 21st century

PRESENTATION FOR THE FORUM OF FEDERATIONS

Bronwyn Hinz

The Australian federation and schooling

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Population: 23 million, 6 states & 2 territories.

States vary widely in size, wealth and demographics -> equalisation grants & tied grants from federal gov

Education is constitutional and historical power of states.

Growing federal government role since 1960s, through tied grants

Australian schooling: overview

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• Almost 3.8 million students in 9404 schools.

• Divided into primary school (Grades 0-6) and secondary (Years 7-12) schools. Comprehensive schools, strongly oriented towards university.

• Large and growing private school sector – 35% of enrolments overall.

• Public schools (“government schools” or “state schools”) receive almost all their funding from governments, must accept all in their “zone”, and enrol overwhelming and increasing majority of students from disadvantaged groups.

• Private schools (“nongovernment schools” including Catholic and independent schools). Private school sector receives 45% of its recurrent revenue from govs and the rest from fees and other private sources. They can also choose their students based on academic performance, other talents, or religion.

Schooling competencies and finances

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Key actors: State governments, state education

ministers & state departments of educ’n. Most funding, policies, regulation, and delivery Centrally managed and funded State high school diplomas and curriculums

Federal government, federal education minister and department of education Supplementary funding and special programs

Education Council (since 1936) intergovernmental coordination on national priorities

Council of Australian Governments

ACARA (since 2008): intergov. authority National testing National curriculum National comparisons of assessment information

Private school system authorities In every state, and national lobby

Think tanks, lobby groups, media and citizens (elections, opinion polls)

Commonwealth funding for schools 1972-2011

5Chart from L. Connors and J. McMorrow (2015) ‘Imperatives in School Funding: Equity, sustainability and achievement’, Australian Education Review, No.60, Australian Council for Educational Research, p 30. Reproduced by permission of ACER

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Performance indicators against these goals Academic performance: national testing (Years 3, 5, 7, 9); PISA/TIMSS, Yr12 exams. School attendance, retention, completion (Year 12 or≈), engagement, post-school

outcomes Enrolments (student changing schools if dissatisfied) Nationally comparable data used for interstate comparisons and policy learning States each have own additional performance and accountability measures

E.g. Victoria has 140 indicators, from student wellbeing measures to number of OHS claims. Monitors performance at classroom level, school level and regional level, and for different equity groups (low SES and Indigenous students). Victorian schools that fall below certain threshold are externally assessed then receive tailored support and mentoring to improve.

Policy goalsThe Melbourne Declaration (intergovernmental agreement) 1. A schooling system that promotes equity and excellence, in which 2. All young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens

Academic performance indicators

PISA Significantly above OECD average on all measures Falling performance on all measures in relative and absolute terms

since 2001, fewer high performers, more low performers

National testing program no improvement in secondary education outcomes since 2008 only slight improvements in literacy and numeracy for primary school

students.WIDENING gap between students from high and low SES households, and between rural and metro children. Gap widens during schooling.

Indigenous kids have much lower school attendance, results & completion rates.

Engaged, confident, creative learners? Active and informed citizens?

Other indicators: Who finishes secondary school?

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Chart from S. Lamb, J. Jackson, A. Walstab, and S. Huo, (2015) Educational Opportunity in Australia 2015: Who succeeds and who misses out, Mitchell Report 09/2015, Centre for International Research on Education Systems, Victoria University, for the

Mitchell Institute. Mitchell Institute, Melbourne

School retention (to Yr 10) and school completion (Yr 12 or ≈) steadily improving for all groups in, andin all states, but inequalities remain

Reforms to schooling federalism: Taskforce

1. Full subsidiarity: States fully responsible for all schooling matters, inc $$2. Split funding responsibilities.

States fund public schools, Commonwealth funds privates, states continue to deliver schooling, regulations and policy frameworks3. Reduced Commonwealth involvement but broadly same arrangements

and funding shares 4. Commonwealth funds all schools, States responsible for everything else

(delivery, regulation etc.)

Under all these options, the new national education institutions remain, but Commonwealth becomes a “facilitator” rather than a “unilateral driver”.

Assessment of options against key criteria

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Last week, Australia’s Prime Minister proposed Option 2 to the States. This is possible, but unlikely. (A political tactic?)

Concluding remarks

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Future depends on outcomes of White Paper on the Reform of the Federation & federal election, both due this year.

National early childhood reforms and partnerships showing promising results and hoped to reduce inequities in schooling outcomes.

Poorly-aligned responsibilities contributing to declining equity and excellence.

Ongoing debate over necessary reforms. • More or better targeted funding? • More school choice & autonomy? • Focus on teacher quality? How? • National testing a help or a hindrance? • Curriculum reform?