web links and documents
The My School Internet site can be found at http://www.myschool.edu.au/On November 12, 2009, Julia Gillard, Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion delivered an address to the Eidos Institute titled,'Accountable Government, Accountable Communities:The role of transparency in education reform'. This speech is a powerful statement of the role the Minister and her government believe full information on student outcomes has to play in radically improving the way in which education is delivered in Australia. The full text of this speech can be read at http://www.appa.asn.au/images/news/speechgillardeidos20091112.pdf
Please note this is a pdf file and can only be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
On January 15, 2010, the Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion piece written by Dr Kevin Donnelly, the author of 'Australia's Education Revolution: How Kevin Rudd Won and Lost the Education Wars' and director of the Education Standards Institute (ESI). Dr Donnelly argued that there are so many potential problems with the test data upon which My School relies that its use is fraught with problems. He also criticises British and United States' use of standardised testing to drive student improvement, arguing that growth has 'flat-lined'. The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/contributors/i-was-wrong-on-league-tables-for-schools-20100115-mbq5.html
On January 27, 2010, The Sydney Morning Herald published a series of letters from principals and teachers giving their view of My School. The full text of these letters can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/remove-yourself-from-my-class-ms-gillard-20100126-mw8k.htm
On January 27, 2010, The Courier Mail published an editorial titled 'Schools should be accountable'. The editorial is followed by a number of reader comments giving opinions on the issue. The full text of the editorial can be found at http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/schools-should-be-accountable/story-e6frerd6-1225824090993
On January 28, 2010, the ABC ran a news report titled, 'My School site "can be used for league tables"'. The report included the views of a number of school principals that the newly set up site could be used to source data for the production of the ill-regarded 'league tables'. The full text of this report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/28/2803406.htm
On January 28, 2010, The Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion piece by Professor Barry McGaw, chairman of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority which oversees the generation of the data used on the My School Internet site. Professor McGaw defends the validity of the data supplied on the Internet site and suggests how it can be used in conjunction with a national curriculum to ensure a wide and effective education for all Australian students.
The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/my-school-site-brings-fair-comparisons-20100127-mz0x.html
The opinion piece is followed by a number of reader comments, some in agreement with Professor McGaw, some opposed.
On January 29, 2010, the day after the launch of the My School Internet site, the education lobby group Save Our Schools issued a media release titled, 'My School Comparisons Expose Hypocrisy of PM and Gillard'. The media release claims that the My School site allows for exactly the sort of simplistic comparison of schools which the federal government has claimed it was seeking to avoid.
The full text of the Save Our Schools media release can be found at http://www.saveourschools.com.au/media-releases/medi-release-29-january-2010-my-school-comparisons-expose-hypocrisy-of-pm-and-gillard
On February 7, 2010, the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, issued a media release indicating that a further eleven million dollars would be directed to 110 schools which My School data indicated were struggling. The Minister has indicated that this is only part of the federal government's guarantee that no Australian school will be left behind and that data will be used to prompt school improvement.
The full text of the media release can be found at http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_100208_084053.aspx
On February 16, 2010, the Australian Union of Students (AEU) issued a media release calling on the federal government to take action to stop private companies selling 'league tables'. The full text of the media release can be found at http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Media/MediaReleases/2010/1602.pdf
Please note, this is a pdf file and can be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader.