Right: Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Julia Gillard defends the 'education revolution', including My School, in Parliament.
Arguments in favour of the My School Internet site
1. Parents and students are entitled to this information
The federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, has repeatedly noted the importance of parents receiving full and detailed information about the progress of the schools educating their children. On April 17, 2009, the Minister stated in a press conference in relation to My School, 'We've ... taken a big step forward in the agenda of transparency as to what's happening in our schools. We want Australian parents and members of the community, who care desperately about the quality of school education, to have reliable, clear information about what is happening in schools and to be able to compare schools in similar circumstances. We are committed to publishing that information, to having it available...'
On January 27, 2010, the day before the My School site was launched, the Minister issued a media release in which she stated, 'From tomorrow morning, all Australian parents, teachers and school communities will have access to comprehensive information on every school in the country through the new My School website.
My School will give parents and the wider community more information than they have ever had before about their local school and how it is performing in the foundation subjects of literacy and numeracy.
My School will contain a school report card on the almost 10 000 government, independent and Catholic schools across Australia.'
The Minister then issued a later media release stating, 'My School delivers more information about our schools than parents and the nation have ever had before and will help drive further improvements to Australia's education system.
Together with record investment in school infrastructure and a new National Curriculum, this new era of transparency will deliver an Education Revolution to all Australian schools.'
2. The data will be used to assist struggling schools
The federal government has claimed the data from the My School site will be used to assist schools that are struggling, not to promote prejudice against them.
In a media release published on February 7, 2010, it was stated, 'The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today announced that an additional 110 struggling schools will share in $11 million in extra funding designed to ensure students improve their literacy and numeracy.
The Rudd Government has identified the schools that would have missed out on a share of the $2.5 billion Smarter Schools National Partnerships were it not for the additional information on the My Schools web site.
The 110 schools include those that have results that are below or substantially below (light and dark red on the My School website) both the national average and those for statistically similar schools in all areas on the NAPLAN national tests.
The schools are from a variety of areas including county and inner city and a variety of socio-economic areas. They include schools from the Government, Catholic and independent sectors.
Ms Gillard said that this is an example of the Rudd Government using the information now available to every parent on My School to direct funding so that those schools who are struggling can be given a helping hand and so students aren't left behind.'
3. The data will make schools and governments more accountable
The federal government has repeatedly claimed that the publication of school data will make schools and governments more responsible for student performance. According to this line of argument, when under-performance is publicly recognised individual schools and governments are likely to feel a stronger imperative to take action which will remedy the situation.
In a speech delivered in Brisbane on November 12, 2009, the federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, stated, 'ultimately, we are accountable - as politicians, as public servants, as educators - to the public.
It may cause painful moments, if this information brings into the public spotlight school performance that cannot be explained or justified. But surely even that is better than allowing such performance to continue unchallenged or unnoticed because there is not enough accountability.'
In her conclusion to the same speech, the Minister stated, 'So yes, I expect the passionate debate to continue. I welcome it.
Yes I expect controversy and claims of unfairness. Yes I expect that there will be difficult moments - for governments, for schools, for me.
But ultimately I welcome those difficult moments too - because they will mean that those of us with responsibility for the quality of children's education in this country - the adults - will be challenged about whether, collectively, we are doing a good enough job and what more we need to be doing.'
4. The data is not intended for the simplistic ranking of schools
The federal government has stated that the data contained on the My School site is not intended for the construction of league tables. This information has not been supplied for the simplistic ranking of schools and the information has been presented in a way intended to discourage this.
Some critics of the reforms argue that the information should not be published because they could lead to league tables of schools.
In a speech delivered in Brisbane on November 12, 2009, the federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, stated, 'I have always argued that tables ranking schools by their raw academic results are simplistic and unhelpful.
That is why, on the My School website, the information about individual schools is provided in the context of other schools serving students and communities that are genuinely comparable.
That means using the best possible evidence and the best possible data to analyse the background factors which we know do have an influence on student performance, and grouping schools with others that are comparable.
This is what ACARA, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, has done. The Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage, or ICSEA, reflects 16 different dimensions that the evidence tells us are linked to educational achievement such as the income and highest educational attainment of parents. It provides a basis for meaningful comparison between schools serving similar student populations.'
5. There are measures that can be taken to prevent My School data being used for 'league tables'
Peter Hill, chief executive officer of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) which developed the My School website, has acknowledged that private firms were trying to profit from the data.
Dr Hill has stated, 'We believe there's a danger they could be promoting misleading conclusions to the public and ... they're making money out of this information ... [The authority] does not support the use of NAPLAN data for this purpose.''
ACARA is taking legal advice in relation to the Australia School Ranking website, a private website set up using My School data. The My School website says its content and design is copyright to ACARA. It can only be reproduced for personal, non-commercial educational use.
New South Wales has already taken steps to restrict the circulation of school league tables. The state banned the release of data about school performances in 1997 after a newspaper report about Mount Druitt High School carried the headline 'Class We Failed.'
Last year the State Government overturned the ban, allowing it to give data to the Federal Government for the website. But the Greens and opposition joined forces on an amendment to the legislation, which makes it a criminal offence for newspapers in New South Wales to publish simplistic comparisons of school performances.
6. The data will encourage schools to learn from each other
It has been claimed that the My School data will be used to help identify those schools doing the most to improve outcomes for their students. These schools will then be investigated to determine what it is about their practice which could usefully be taken up by other schools performing less well.
The Education Minister, Julia Gillard, has stated, 'High-performing schools identified by the website will be used to influence new education policy and reform, and best practice measures will be shared with schools that need help.'