What's newNew teaching qualification offered at New Zealand universityA new Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) qualification is to be offered at Manukau Institute of Technology, in partnership with the Research centre to open in New ZealandThe Jessie Hetherington Centre for Educational Research is a new, collaborative research centre at Victoria University of Wellington. Projects underway in the Centre include research on the impact of NCEA on student motivation and the quality of teaching research and development in practice. See media release, 10 November 2006 (scoop.co.nz). Values Education Report releasedThe Australian Government Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, has released the report from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 1. The report outlines the involvement and the findings of 26 clusters of schools from across Boys have more dispersed results than girls in Queensland Year 12 testBoys have outperformed girls in the Year 12 Queensland Core Skills Test for the last four years in a row, according to the article 'Boys hold their own', Courier Mail, 14 November 2006. The article cites the 2006 Annual Report of the Queensland Studies Authority, which shows that in 2005, 15.1 per cent of boys received an A compared to 13.6 per cent of girls, and that slightly more boys than girls received B grades. Two per cent of boys received the lowest grade, E, compared to 1 per cent of girls. The figures are available in the report’s Program Review section, p 7. More student work samples online in New South WalesThe New South Wales Board of Studies has doubled the number of graded student work samples on its website since July. Over 1,000 experienced teachers, working in teams, have helped the Board develop agreed grades for nearly 800 new work samples. More than 11,000 teachers a week have been using the Assessment Resource Centre pages on the Board of Studies website to view students' work samples graded on the five-point scale from A, or Outstanding, through to E, or Limited, in preparation for this year's new student reports. See Departmental media release, 15 November 2006. See also related What's New item, ‘Continuing opposition to A–E reports in NSW, SA’ in this edition. School to Work Program boosted in New South WalesThe New South Wales Minister for Education and Training, Carmel Tebbutt, has announced a $12.5 million investment to continue the School to Work Program over the next four years. The program helps students in Years 9–12 to make decisions about their future by supporting schools to run a range of programs including work experience and careers counselling. Students also have access to an Employment Related Skills Logbook that enables them to document their skills, collate careers information and develop their resumes for job and course applications. Over the past four years, students have used 400,000 copies of the resource. See Departmental media statement, 13 November 2006. New school zone warning systems planned for New South WalesWarning systems for motorists will be installed at 100 New approach to technology in South Australian schoolsSouth Australian school students will soon be taking part in new online classroom activities as part of the State’s District eTeacher Program. A series of local online activities are being developed through the three-year program, with the first now available for use. Eighteen eTeachers have been appointed across the State to lead the program and maximise the use of technology in South Australian classrooms. The new approach will build on programs previously offered at the Commonwealth Bank Foundation announces results of 2006 Australian Financial Literacy AssessmentThe Commonwealth Bank Foundation today announced the results of its nationwide 2006 Australian Financial Literacy Assessment (AFLA) of 50,000 secondary students, and the assembly of an advisory council comprising leading young Australians to help address youth financial literacy issues. Fifty-thousand Year 9 and 10 students from more than 500 schools across Remote Indigenous community gets broadband in Northern TerritoryThe remote community of Yuendumu, 300 km north of Continuing opposition to A–E reports in NSW, SAParent and union groups continue to oppose the introduction of A–E report cards in |