New report suggests principals should be paid based on disciplinary record
Principals who improve student performances by enforcing school discipline should be paid more to keep them working in disadvantaged schools, a new report suggests.
Principals who improve student performances by enforcing school discipline should be paid more to keep them working in disadvantaged schools, a new report suggests.
A new analysis of 18 of the country’s best performing disadvantaged primary schools released on Monday found principals with strong disciplinary records were the top drivers of academic performance in NAPLAN tests.
According to the report authored by Centre for Independent Studies researcher Blaise Joseph, school performance was driven by school discipline.
Orderly and safe classrooms meant students had more time to learn because there were fewer distractions.
MORE NEWS
‘Bring down the planes’: Accused terror brothers stand trial
Opal fees cap to save thousands of commuters cash
Killer mum’s kids were low risk at dying from SIDS, witnesses
To keep principals in schools where they were most required he said, those who maintained independently verified good results should be paid more.
“School systems should consider giving extra incentives and support for experienced principals to stay longer at disadvantaged schools, conditional on school improvement,” the report said.
Mr Joseph said top performing principals could be rewarded within the existing system by acceleration into higher salary bands.
“The important point to make is that principals are a vital part of school’s success and if they are achieving success they should be suitably rewarded,” he said.
“It is especially so in a disadvantaged school. It is an extra tough job, you want to help them to stay at those communities to continue to make a difference.”
But Mr Joseph cautioned against using NAPLAN data to pay the teachers more, saying internal tests of students and school inspectors should be used to gauge a school’s performance.
Secondary Principals Council President Chris Presland said he wasn’t opposed to current incentives for staff to work in rural and remote areas, but that linking school performance with pay would not work.
“The research will show in places like America incentive linked to performance never works,” he said.
“There is a fundamental problem that we all have with education. It is how do you measure the performance of school and the reality is it is very difficult to do.”
Mr Presland said some schools would perform well no matter who was the headmaster.
“Kids’ performances improve when they have a good teacher; good teachers working in an environment where there is a focus on professional learning and that professional development is being led by the leaders in the school.”
Education Minister Rob Stokes said the state’s public school principals were among the best paid in the world.
“They are paid on a sliding scale that takes into account the size and complexity of the school in which they operate,” the minister said.
Nationwide overhaul needed to fix Australia’s housing crisis
The Business Council of Australia has come out swinging on the problems it says are driving up the cost of new homes across the country.
Artist used own paintings to push case to block gold mine
Indigenous artist Nyree Reynolds, whose application led to a gold mine in Blayney being put on ice, submitted her own paintings as evidence the mine should be blocked.