MySchool

[FFC Mariner]

FYI, my mother is an ex principal and inspector and my father is a retired associate professor - I have grown up around the education system all my life and they were both active unionists too.

You are simply spouting the Education Union line that is desperate to keep accountability out of education. Lets face it, as long as you keep your hands off the kids and stick to the syllabus you have a job for life.

No one (who is sane) would argue that the % of piss poor teachers is very high but logic indicates that it must exist.

These rankings will eventually be used to identify and remove poorer performers - just like any other job.

OK so the head of the "average" school in an "average" area is up for promotion and comes up against someone who takes the same type of school to "above average" you think that wont count eventually.

This is what scares the union shitless I reckon - eventually they will end up with KPI's just like everyone else.

 

[curious]

You are simply spouting the Education Union line that is desperate to keep accountability out of education. Lets face it, as long as you keep your hands off the kids and stick to the syllabus you have a job for life.

No one (who is sane) would argue that the % of piss poor teachers is very high but logic indicates that it must exist.

These rankings will eventually be used to identify and remove poorer performers - just like any other job.

OK so the head of the "average" school in an "average" area is up for promotion and comes up against someone who takes the same type of school to "above average" you think that wont count eventually.

This is what scares the union shitless I reckon - eventually they will end up with KPI's just like everyone else.

Hey there fella. Don't ever accuse me of spruking the line of anyone other than myself. I am quite able to to think independently, thanks. I am not claiming there are not poor teachers,  you stubborn twerp, nor am I about protecting poor teachers. To the contrary, I'm all for ridding the system of as many as possible. I'm arguing yours and the governments simplistic notion that it's easy to compare the ability by L&N outcomes only. Such a narrow minded assumption would certainly produce the poor teacher you call to be sacked.

 

[Gibbsy]

Average is ok?

Average gets you fired in the real world

<B>Below average</B> get's you fired in the real world. But let's be realistic, more than half the kids in Years 7-10 at high schools (Public and Private) across the state couldn't give a toss about their so called "important" SNAP, ELLA or NAPLAN test.

All I can say is thank goodness my kids didnt go to Narara Valley High.

(you get what you pay for though)

There, isnt that exactly what they DONT want people to do with the site?

A bit unfair to say "im glad my kids weren't sent to NV High school. OK school, OK results (same , if not better than St Peters/Eddies/Joeys/Lisarow/HK) and without doubt better than Tumbi/Woy Woy or Gorokan. You get what you pay for if you mean you get better facilities (grounds/workshops), you sure as anything dont get better teachers or a different curriculum, maybe increased discipline but not smarter kids.

Kid's went to a private school FFC?

 

[sally]

I am  primary school teacher with quite a bit of experience in local schools in my area.
My fear is that teachers will be judged by both parents and  the government based on scoring children on a test on one day.
Some children just don't perform to their best in examination type situations. Secondly literacy and numeracy are just two parts of the myriad of areas that primary teachers are expected to teach. Are teachers going to push aside Science, Art, Music, Sport, Computers, etc etc etc just to get a better score in literacy and numeracy? Yes of course literacy and numeracy are very important but to  a lot of children success in one of the other areas will be what is enriching to their future lives as adults.
Thirdly it scares me that to bump up those literacy and numeracy results in Years 3 and 5 , resources will be put into Years 2 and 4 and it will be at the expense of other students. At least in my area most schools need higher numbers. There will be pressure to look good on MySchool so parents are more inclined to send their children to that school.
Finally there are only a couple of teachers in my experience who have been anything other than dedicated to the extreme- sacrificing personal lives, blood, sweat, and tears,  and working huge numbers of hours outside a normal working week. The teachers I know live and breathe teaching , always thinking about their students and how they assist them in not only their academic life but in personal/ family/ welfare issues. No matter what I am doing/ watching or reading, in the back of my mind is a constant thought " I wonder how I could use that idea".
Finally I am concerned that it will an excuse for teachers in easier schools to give themselves a pat on the back for better results than teachers who are working far harder in difficult schools with lots of behaviour problems or in schools that are disadvantaged economically or socially. Iit is pretty hard to keep a child's attention when they havent had breakfast that morning and have a lollipop for recess and its even harder to get the best possible results from all the children in a class when half your time is spent dealing with behaviour management for a couple of kids in the class. It is worrying that there is already talk that better teachers should get better pay. Who is the better teacher- the one that starts with a much higher baseline and with no behaviour problems etc bumps kids up  a bit or the teacher who starts from ground level and by working their guts out  gets a much greater improvement but still doesnt reach the results of the teacher in the easier school. MySchool isn't going to show that- and how much harder is that going to make the difficult schools to staff? Why as a teacher would you immediately potentially disadvantage yourself financially?
Having said all this (and sorry for the typos- I'm going as fast as I can with all my kids around me) -yes as a parent I was onto MySchool as soon as I could
And yes last night I stayed up to midnight organising resources and tonight I will be programming until at leat  midnight.

 

[curious]

Well put sally. As you say, your story mimics that of the overwhelming majority of teachers. If my wife (high school) and son (primary) are not at their home desks each night, they are in bed with their laptops till all hours and keeping a husband awake. (my wife, not my son  ;D) I think those that are aware, know what's behind the plan to pay a higher salary to a small percentage judged to be 'the best'.

The reliance on naplan tests as the primary indicator of general school and teacher performance, has, according to studies in the US, led to falling student performance in other subjects because of the pressure applied to publicly show only high L&N results for fear of the consequences of being labeled as a school of poor student and teacher performance. Resources have been concentrated on naplan results at the expense of other areas.

For the information of others that might not be aware, the Naplan (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) testing originated as a secondary resource aid to assist teachers in areas of literacy and numeracy shown by individual students to require further assistance. Not to be hijacked for political purposes with the insinuation of being the be all and end all as the primary indicator of a schools and teachers performance. Tell me if I'm off track, sally.

Btw, what do you think of the governments new TFA (Teach for Australia) policy? The opinions i've heard indicate it will be throwing Christians to the lions. 
Again, for those that haven't heard of it, the government is in the process of asking for applications from university graduates in fields other than Bachelor of Education (those with a specialty BA degree of any description are not eligible) to undergo a six week course after which they will be teaching classes as a full time teacher, with the same responsibilities as all other teachers. They must sign for 2 years minimum teaching.

The intended TFA teachers are said to be taken from students with higher range UAI levels and as such and according to the Dept. of Ed., their purpose following a six week course, is to improve the level of education in struggling schools and inspire other teachers.

A BA btw, is 4 years in all the fields required for teaching, specialising in one or more particular subjects in the case of high school, around 12-16 weeks practice teaching with an overseeing experienced teacher, and prior to graduation, a full time 3 month face to face teaching internship without the assistance of an overseeing teacher. All unpaid of course. Then when teaching full time and throughout the course of the year, do regular upgrade courses in a range of different areas according to the curriculum, social/educational circumstances and needs of your particular school.