Test tied to school funding

SCHOOLS will be assessed yearly against nine areas critical for lifting student performance under a plan to be considered tomorrow.

SCHOOLS will be assessed yearly against nine areas critical for lifting student performance under a plan to be considered by education ministers tomorrow.

The first nationally consistent way of judging school improvement has been developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research.

It identifies nine elements that research shows lead to improvement in teaching and learning, covering the setting of goals, teaching methods, using data and the school environment.

Schools are assessed on their performance in each area and given a score from outstanding to high, medium or low.

School Education Minister Peter Garrett will ask his state and territory counterparts to endorse the tool at a ministerial council meeting in Adelaide tomorrow for use from next year as part of the federal government's school improvement plan it has tied to the Gonski funding reforms.

The government wants the school assessments to be conducted yearly, with the results published on the school's website or the MySchool website.

The National School Improvement Tool forms part of the government's program to reward schools that have shown great improvement, a policy commitment made during the 2010 election campaign.

Originally due to start next year with payments of $75,000 to primary schools and $100,000 to high schools, the school reward program was postponed in this year's budget until 2015 and the payments cut to $50,000 and $75,000 respectively.

Mr Garrett said yesterday the government wanted every school to publish a school improvement plan each year, developed in consultation with parents, that clearly set out the steps they would take to improve performance and student results.

"Evidence clearly supports the role that school improvement plans can play in helping lift student behaviour, attendance and results," he said.

"The new tool will help schools build on what they are already doing in their schools. It identifies what works, like quality teaching, effective use of data, and involving parents and the wider community in school life."

The nine areas to be assessed are: having an explicit improvement agenda; using data; a culture that promotes learning, including behaviour management and high expectations; targeting school resources to student needs; expert teachers; systematic curriculum planning across the school; differentiating teaching to the needs of individual students; effective teaching methods; and involving parents and the community.

The original framework developed by ACER chief executive officer Geoff Masters envisaged schools being assessed by trained auditors, like the old-style school inspectors, but the proposal going to ministers makes no mention of external auditors.