julie sonnemann

Learning gaps between Australian students of different backgrounds are alarmingly wide and grow wider as students move through school. Summary The gap between students whose parents have low education and those with highly educated parents grows from 10 months in Year 3 to around two-and-a-half years by Year 9. Even if they were doing as well in Year 3, disadvantaged students make one to two years less progress by Year 9 than students whose parents have more education. Importantly, the learning gaps grow much larger after Year 3. Disadvantaged students are falling further behind each year they are at school. Bright kids in disadvantaged schools show the biggest losses, making two-and-a-half years less progress than students with similar capabilities in more advantaged schools. This report introduces a time-based measure, ‘years of progress’, which makes it easier to compare groups of students. Rather than saying that a group of Year 5 students scored 540 in NAPLAN, we can say they a...

Overview A new deal among governments and school systems can end Australia’s toxic school funding debate and transform teaching and learning in schools, without costing the Commonwealth more money. Historically low inflation rates create an unprecedented opportunity to reduce excessive school indexation payments that are locked into legislation, saving the nation billions of dollars. The Commonwealth and state governments should use part of the savings to create the needs-based funding system all main parties say they want, as well as new roles for expert teachers to lift student performance. As education ministers prepare to meet next month to discuss a new funding model, this report offers the circuit breaker Australia’s 50-year old argument over school funding desperately needs. The Grattan Institute compact on school funding shows how funds can be reallocated to get all schools to their needs-based funding target by 2023, without spending any more money over the next four years ...

The effective use of school resources is a policy priority across OECD countries. The OECD Reviews of School Resources explore how resources can be governed, distributed, utilised and managed to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. The series considers four types of resources: financial resources, such as public funding of individual schools; human resources, such as teachers, school leaders and education administrators; physical resources, such as location, buildings and equipment; and other resources, such as learning time. This series offers timely policy advice to both governments and the education community. It includes both country reports and thematic studies.