Reward for school improvement program to drive better schools
Julia Gillard,Simon Crean
posted Monday, 9 August 2010
Every Australian school will be eligible to receive up to $100,000 if they achieve real improvements in school attendance, literacy and numeracy results from year to year.
Through the Reward for School Improvement program, Australian primary schools will get $75,000 if they show the most improvement in the areas including:
• School attendance.
• Literacy results.
• Numeracy results.
Australian High Schools will get $100,000 if they show the most improvement in areas including:
• School attendance and retention.
• Year 12 results.
• Post school destinations like the number of students going onto further education, training or work.
On top of the Gillard Labor Government’s record investments in education, the Reward for School Improvement program will provide more incentives for schools to improve factors that matter the most to parents and their kids.
Every school should strive to do better and every school is in the running for these rewards.
Once fully operational up to 1,000 Australian schools a year will receive reward payments under the program.
Principals and parents will decide how the reward funding is spent at their school.
For example, principals and parents could spend the money on new materials and resources for literacy, to support extracurricular activities like sport or drama, or to purchase new technology.
The Gillard Labor Government believes education is the engine of opportunity for our kids and that’s why we have almost doubled investment in education.
The Reward for School Improvement program is another plank in our education reforms to drive excellence in every school and for every child.
Through the MySchool website the Gillard Labor Government has provided more information than ever before about how students across the country are going.
Through the Gillard Labor Government’s Empowering Local Schools reform, principals will have more authority to make the changes they deem necessary to improve student performance.
In contrast to Federal Labor’s plan to invest in the future of our children through better education, Mr Abbott has no plan other than to dramatically cut education services. This just shows Mr Abbott doesn’t have the judgment to be Prime Minister.
Federal Labor understands that increasing investment in education and reforming the way we do things is the key to our economic future.
To implement these reforms, a comprehensive National School Improvement Framework will be developed to inform the assessment and a new Office of National School Evaluation (ONSE) will be established as an independent unit within the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
The assessment process will be independent, transparent and equitable, acknowledging the broad range of Australian schools including schools with diverse student populations, small schools, rural and remote schools and schools that cater for students with special needs.
The assessment will consider nationally available data and a detailed self-evaluation report from schools to determine which schools receive reward payments.
The self-evaluation report will provide important local information including case studies, teacher assessments, parental feedback and other evidence of achievement
The Reward for School Improvement program will provide reward payments for up to 500 schools in 2013, based on transition indicators of improvement in 2012. The National School Improvement Framework will be fully implemented in 2014, allocating rewards to 1,000 schools.
In total $388 million will be provided over five years in reward payments to schools from 2012-13.
Over the current forward estimates, the cost of this initiative is $164.7 million.
Funding for this commitment will be fully offset over the forward estimates, consistent with the Gillard Labor Government’s commitment to return the budget to surplus in three years.
Further information regarding the Reward for School Improvement program can be viewed at http://alp.org.au/agenda/school-reform/reward-for-school-improvement/
Tags: Education, Gillard, Labor, literacy, numeracy, reform, Schools, Students