What's newFurther comment on NAPLANEarlier this month over one million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 took part in NAPLAN tests covering language conventions, reading, writing and numeracy. See statement 14 May from Australian School Education Minister, Peter Garrett. See also comment by ACARA chair, Barry McGaw, 18 May in The Conversation, article 15 May in The Age, and article 15 May, comment 15 May, comment 18 May, and comment 19 May in The Canberra Times. Highest-performing graduates shy away from the teaching professionThe teaching profession is failing to attract Australia's highest-performing graduates, according to a commentary in the The Sydney Morning Herald 21 May 2012. Extra support for students with disabilitiesEducation Minister, Martin Dixon, has announced all Victorian Government schools will receive a share in $37.2 million of additional funding under the More Support for Students with Disabilities program. Empowering Local Schools initiative in NSWThe Australian School Education Minister, Peter Garrett, and NSW Education Minister, Adrian Piccoli, have announced that the Empowering Local Schools initiative will operate in 229 government schools in NSW over the next two years. See joint statement from Peter Garrett and Adrian Piccoli 16 May, audio update 17 May from Adrian Piccoli, comment 19 May in The Sydney Morning Herald and comment on News.com.au 20 May. Changes to student reporting being considered in QueenslandThe Department of Education Queensland is considering the introduction of written reports for prep students, A–E gradings in grade 3 and graphs comparing students' performances, according to an article in the Queensland Teachers Journal (April 2012 p14, published online by the Queensland Teachers Union). The article states that the proposals are being considered by the OneSchool working party. See also article in the Courier-Mail 21 May 2012. New free online K–12 PD courses from Peer to Peer UniversityThe Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is a grassroots open education project that organises learning outside of institutional walls and gives learners recognition for their achievements. All courses in this school are free, open-licensed and online. Another new round of courses will be starting in June 2012. See P2PU website for further details. Share resources, schools urgedThe Victorian Minister for Education, Martin Dixon, has urged schools across each education sector to share resources at the local level, to address the literacy needs of disadvantaged students. See article in The Age 21 May 2012. Follow CL journal on TwitterFor news updates between editions of the journal follow Curriculum Leadership on Twitter. |