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National survey ranks our best classrooms * Justine Ferrari, Education writer * From: The Australian * May 01, 2010 12:00AM http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ ... rg6nf-1225860838693 MONEY still buys the best education in Australia, with elite schools in NSW and Victoria dominating a list of the nation's top 100 schools prepared exclusively by The Weekend Australian. The first national analysis of school performance shows that NSW and Victorian schools outperform their interstate counterparts, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the top schools while comprising only 57 per cent of the nation's schools. The results are not strictly comparable with Queensland and Western Australia. In Queensland, students have on average a year's less schooling than their peers interstate and are about five months younger than the national average at Year 3, the first year of the national testing. In both states, Year 7 is still part of primary school, while in the rest of the country it is the first year of high school, leading to differences in expectations for students. Nonetheless, the analysis of the national literacy and numeracy tests results published on the My School website reveals elite private schools dominate the top 100, although the top high schools are selective public schools. All but a handful of schools in the top 100, public and private, are in areas of above-average affluence. The analysis was conducted on behalf of The Weekend Australian by experts in testing and reporting, Peter Knapp and Robert Schulz, formerly with Educational Assessment Australia at the University of NSW. It is based on reading and numeracy results from the 2009 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy) for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It excludes small schools -- primary schools of fewer than 100 students and high schools with fewer than 200 students -- because of the statistical unreliability of results. The analysis confirms the reputation of the James Ruse Agricultural High School in northwestern Sydney, for long the leading high school in NSW's Higher School Certificate and now shown as the leading school in the nation. James Ruse is one of NSW's 21 fully selective high schools, accepting students based on their academic ability as measured by an entrance exam, that dominate the group of top 20 high schools. Leading the primary schools is Sydney Grammar, which is also academically selective. In reading, its two junior campuses rank either side of Tintern Girls Grammar in eastern Melbourne, which ranks second in reading, while in numeracy they take the top two spots ahead of Macedon Primary School, just outside Melbourne. Independent schools dominate the top 100, accounting for 42 per cent of the leading primary and 64 per cent of the top high schools in reading. In numeracy, 34 per cent of the top primary schools and 58 per cent of the leading high schools are independent. Public schools perform better at the primary level, accounting for one-third of the top 100 schools in reading and more than half the top schools in numeracy. But the public sector's share drops in high school, when enrolments in private schools jump, with government high schools accounting for only one-quarter of the top schools in reading and 35 per cent of the top schools in numeracy. The analysis shows that NSW and Victoria are punching above their weight. NSW has one-third of the nation's schools but 62 per cent of the top 100, while Victoria has 24 per cent of the nation's schools and 28 per cent of the top 100. The biggest disappointment is Queensland, which has 18 per cent of schools but only 2.5 per cent of the top 100, while the Northern Territory does not have any schools in the top 100. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, which runs the My School website, compares schools on the basis of the social and educational backgrounds of their families, measured by the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage. The analysis shows few top schools teach students from disadvantaged backgrounds, with only five schools in the top 100 with a below-average ICSEA score. Dr Knapp, who has 20 years' experience in curriculum and assessment and now acts as an education consultant, said the dominance of NSW schools could be attributed to the state's curriculum, which specifies in detail what teachers should teach. While it is no surprise that selective high schools, which pool the brightest students thereby raising average scores, top the nation, NSW also dominates the top primary schools, where little academic selection occurs. Demographer Bernard Salt attributed the success of NSW and Victorian schools to the pulling power of the Melbourne and Sydney job markets, which attract the best locally and globally. "Melbourne and Sydney are education hothouses, carefully designed to cultivate the best-growing mushrooms, the kids," Mr Salt said. "Education begets education. If both mum and dad work and are educated with a tertiary degree, then you're more likely to have a home environment that cultivates further education and the resources like a separate bedroom, a study and computer." Queensland Education Minister Geoff Wilson said comparing Queensland schools with their interstate counterparts teaching similar students showed that the state's high school generally performed as well or better. "Despite this encouraging picture, and despite our improved performance in 2009 over 2008, we acknowledge that overall, Queensland is not where it wants to be: that is, among the higher performing jurisdictions," he said. He said simplistic league tables ranking schools on single measures, such as NAPLAN test results, were "specious and misleading" and of no benefit to parents wishing to make an informed choice on schools. But Ben Jensen, school education research director at the Grattan Institute in Melbourne, said looking at differences between states and school systems was vital to hold governments and leaders of school systems accountable for the performance of schools. [ 本帖最后由 patrickzhu 于 2010-5-2 20:10 编辑 ] |
