Push for new formula to help schools get better results

A new system that gives schools access to evidence-based research has been pushed in a bid to improve student results.

Lourdes Hill College assistant principal Kath Perrier with students Darcy Smith, Konstantina Doyle and Amy Quinn in Brisbane. Picture: Robert Shakespeare

A new system that gives schools access to evidence-based research on what does and doesn’t work in Australian classrooms has been pitched to the Gonski 2.0 review in a bid to improve student results and hold teachers accountable.

The “evidence broker” has been developed by non-profit ­organisation Social Ventures Australia and is based on a British model used in schools for the past six years.

The broker, which SVA estimates would cost the federal government $150 million to run over 10 years, would commission ­research from academic institutions around Australia and ­“export” findings into usable forms for teachers, showing what programs are most effective.

“This is about helping schools reduce the things that are less ­effective and increasing the things that are more effective,” SVA’s Matthew Deeble said.

“Learning from the experiences around Australia or research trials around the world can put us on that path. We don’t need revolutions.”

In a submission to the David Gonski-chaired review, commissioned by Education Minister Simon Birmingham to examine evidence and make recommen­dations on how school’s should be funded to boost performance, SVA says the rate of improvement needed to provide children with world-class education is ­“significant”.

The organisation notes extra spending in education has not achieved desired gains and students’ performance on both ­national and international assessments has stalled or even declined since 2000.

“We need better evidence of what works, for whom and in what circumstances. There is an urgent need to produce evidence that is accurate, appropriate, ­accessible and actionable as ­evidence that sits off the shelf has precisely zero impact. Australia needs a national mechanism with which to mobilise evidence through networks to bring about the change required,” the submission says.

“The best systems internationally empower school leaders and teachers to make professional judgments informed by evidence and ask them to be ­accountable for their decisions — more akin to what is expected from doctors.”

Kath Perrier, an assistant principal at Lourdes Hill College in Brisbane, has been using a toolkit built by SVA’s pilot “evidence broker” summarising 34 different global approaches to lift results.

After implementing several of the strategies in her school, the percentage of Year 12 students achieving the top overall position scores doubled last year compared with 2016.

One of the most effective strategies was providing feedback to a student or teacher about the student’s performance relative to their “learning goal”.

“We were very much driven by the research and the evidence-based approach that was provided by the toolkit. All the hard work was done. We had lots of faith that this would work if we implemented it. I believe that it has,” Ms Perrier said. “You’re not picking needles out of a haystack; it’s very tailored; it’s very catered towards what physically is going to work in the Australian classroom.”

The Gonski review is due to hand down its final report and ­recommendations by March.

Mr Deeble said SVA would consider bidding in any open tender process to create the broker, which he stressed would be independent of government.