Money Will Not Be Enough to Fix the Problems in the Education System

The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ does not work in education as many parents who have invested tens of thousands of dollars in private school fees have found out the hard way when their children have left school with substandard Maths or Literacy skills.

Put another way, ‘it is not how much you spend but what you spend it on that matters.’

The Australian Government has done a lot of research into educational standards over the last decade. Major reports in the areas of Literacy and Maths have revealed major problems in how children are being taught. Unfortunately, recommendations on changes to the way reading should be taught for example have not been followed by teachers on the ground, partly because of lack of training, and partly due to inertia in the complex system administered jointly by State Governments and the Australian Government.

On 15 April 2010, the then Federal Minister for Education, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, in an attempt to address the issue of unsatisfactory standards in Australian schools, initiated a review of funding arrangements for schooling to develop a funding system which is transparent, fair, financially sustainable and effective in promoting excellent educational outcomes for all Australian students.

The Review Committee was headed by David Gonski AC, a highly respected lawyer and high level businessperson. He has been actively involved in promotion of arts organisations and government policy.

The Gonski Report ‘Review of Funding For Schooling’ (December 2011)

As part of their research the committee examined the standards being achieved by our students.

• In brief, Australian educational standards in Reading, Maths and Science HAVE FALLEN SIGNIFICANTLY over the last 10 years – especially the standards achieved by our best students!

Here is the summary provided in the report:

Overall, Australia has a relatively high-performing schooling system when measured against international benchmarks, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment.

However, over the last decade the performance of Australian students has declined at all levels of achievement, notably at the top end. This decline has contributed to the fall in Australia’s international position.

In 2000, only one country outperformed Australia in reading and scientific literacy and only two outperformed Australia in mathematical literacy. By 2009, six countries outperformed Australia in reading and scientific literacy and 12 outperformed Australia in mathematical literacy.

In addition to declining performance across the board, Australia has a significant gap between its highest and lowest performing students. This performance gap is far greater in Australia than in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, particularly those with high-performing schooling systems. A concerning proportion of Australia’s lowest performing students are not meeting minimum standards of achievement. There is also an unacceptable link between low levels of achievement and educational disadvantage, particularly among students from low socioeconomic and Indigenous backgrounds. (The Gonski Report ‘Review of Funding for Schooling’, Executive summary, page xiii)

Financial Resources Are Not Enough to Solve Our Educational Problems

The panel accepts that resources alone will not be sufficient to fully address Australia’s schooling challenges and achieve a high-quality, internationally respected schooling system. The new funding arrangements must be accompanied by continued and renewed efforts to strengthen and reform Australia’s schooling system. (The Gonski Report ‘Review of Funding for Schooling’, page xix)

It Is Quality Not Quantity That Matters In Education

A few days before the Gonski Report was made public in Australia, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) issued their Newsletter PISA In Focus 13: Does Money Buy Strong Performance in PISA? clearly demonstrating that apart from very poor countries, it is NOT MONEY THAT DETERMINES STRONG PERFORMANCE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN.

• Greater national wealth or higher expenditure on education does not guarantee better student performance. Among high-income economies, the amount spent on education is less important than how those resources are used. PISA In Focus 13: Does Money Buy Strong Performance in PISA?, page 1

Results from the 60 countries participating in the 2009 PISA study, showed that:

A school system’s attitudes towards teachers and students have a greater impact on student performance.

The strongest performers among high-income countries and economies tend to invest more in teachers. For example, lower secondary teachers in Korea and the partner economy Hong Kong-China, two high-performing systems in the PISA reading tests, earn more than twice the per capita GDP in their respective countries. In general, the countries that perform well in PISA attract the best students into the teaching profession by offering them higher salaries and greater professional status. This relationship between performance and teachers’ salaries does not hold among less wealthy countries and economies, however.

In all PISA-participating countries and economies, school systems that invest in higher teachers’ salaries tend to have larger classes. At the country level, PISA finds that the size of the class is unrelated to the school system’s overall performance; in other words, high-performing countries tend to prioritise investment in teachers over smaller classes. PISA In Focus 13: Does Money Buy Strong Performance in PISA?, page 3

Quality of Education Matters at High Performance Learning

Here at High Performance Learning we have been developing and running programs to compensate for the weaknesses in the education system for four decades so we are very clear about the improvements that need to be made in the way children are taught in schools. Not only are our staff highly trained and qualified, we pass on our teaching skills to the parents of the students we teach so that parents can be actively involved in their children’s education.

The most urgent changes are needed in the following subject areas because success in most other subject areas are dependent on these skills:

• Speech, listening and auditory processing skills.
• Literacy skills based on high-speed synthetic phonics.
• Physical coordination skills including proper hand writing and spelling skills.
• High level comprehension and communication skills.
• A set of conscious learning strategies – ‘learning how to learn’.
• Basic and Advanced Maths and Algebra skills.
• A ‘Growth Mindset’, stress management and emotional resilience skills.
• Independent study skills.
• Computer literacy including word processing, spreadsheet, database, graphics, video, audio, file management, and ongoing computer maintenance.

These are all areas which we address with our clients, thus enabling them to excel at their education.

To get the desired changes in educational outcomes in Australia, the Australian Government will need to address each of these areas specifically with clear step-by-step curriculums. To be realistic this will mean massive amounts of retraining of our teachers.

A much more extensive system of monitoring teachers will also be required to ensure they are implementing the curriculum properly.

The Gonski Report made similar recommendations:

All great ‘motherhood’ statements – the challenge that governments and schools will face will be in the implementation of these recommendations. It is likely to take a generation to turn the system around at least.

You can’t afford to wait – if you or your child is struggling with education contact us now to find out how we can help you.

Chris Brooks
Principal
High Performance Learning

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