What's newSenate inquiry into the effectiveness of NAPLAN testsThe Senate inquiry into the effectiveness of the annual NAPLAN tests has received a range of submissions. See article in The Canberra Times 17 June 2013 from ACARA CEO, Rob Randall, addressing some issues raised in the submissions. See also article 19 June and article 11 June in The Sydney Morning Herald, article 11 June in The Age, statement 5 June and earlier report from the the Australian Primary Principals' Association, and statement 14 June 2013 from Christian Schools Australia. The Digital Education Revolution Program ReviewThe Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has announced the release of the Digital Education Revolution Program Review Report, an independent review undertaken to assess the impacts of the Digital Education Revolution (DER). The review concluded that 'the DER is broadly regarded as a major success' and 'credited with generating a catalytic positive impact across Australian schools'. Comment on AITSL's first Initial Teacher Education Data ReportAn article in The Australian Teacher Magazine 18 June 2013 comments on the Initial Teacher Education Data Report published in May by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. Further discussion of school fundingFor ongoing commentary on school funding and the National Plan for School improvement, see statements by the Prime Minister, the Australian Minister for School Education, and education ministers in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and ACT. Growth of government and non-government schools sectors in NSWThe relative growth of the government and non-government school sectors in NSW has been discussed in an article 17 June and commentary 19 June 2013 in The Daily Telegraph. WA government supports retraining of teachers for transition of year 7 to secondary school levelThe Western Australian government has allocated $22 million for the retraining of teachers, to support the transition of year 7 to secondary school level. The 'Switch' program will include secondary teachers wanting to retrain to teach extra specialist subjects. See article in The West Australian 7 June 2013. Review of VCE English, history, mathematics and science studiesThe Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has launched a discussion paper titled Proposed directions: Review of VCE English, History, Mathematics and Science studies. See article in The Age 21 June 2013. Victorian teachers accept pay offerVictorian public school teachers, principals and education support staff have voted to accept a pay deal negotiated by the Australian Education Union. The agreement will run to October 2016. See article in The Age 13 June 2013. New report cards in VictoriaVictoria is to introduce revised school report cards as part of the move to adoption of the Australian Curriculum. See article in The Herald Sun 8 June 2013. Schooling system 'can learn from top nations'An article in The West Australian 19 June 2013 discusses the education practices in countries that are top performers in international league tables, and implications for Australian education. Web 'great for lessons but misuse abounds'An article in The West Australian 18 June 2013 reviews some issues raised for schools by social media and web-related technologies. Follow Curriculum Leadership journal on TwitterFor news updates between editions of the journal, follow Curriculum Leadership on Twitter. |