Australia Schools Rank Low

[Guest The Pom Queen]

AUSTRALIAN teenagers' reading and maths skills have fallen so far in a decade that nearly half lack basic maths skills and a third are practically illiterate.

 

 

The dumbing down of a generation of Australian teenagers is exposed in the latest global report card on 15-year-olds' academic performance.

 

 

Migrant children trumped Australian-born kids while girls dragged down the national performance in maths, the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, released in Paris last night, reveals.

 

 

Australia's maths performance dropped the equivalent of half a year of schooling between 2003 and 2012.

 

 

And rowdy classrooms and bullying are more common in Australia than overseas, the report says.

 

China tops the latest league table of 65 countries in maths, science and literacy.

 

 

The average 15-year-old student from Shanghai is nearly two years ahead in science, and a year and a half ahead in maths, than a typical Australian teen.

 

 

Four out of 10 Australian students flunked the national baseline level for mathematical literacy - compared to just over one in 10 in Shanghai and two in 10 in Singapore.

 

 

At least one in three Aussie students fell below the national baseline level for reading and science.

 

 

As the debate over school funding continues, the results also reflect how increased spending on education has failed to arrest the slide of other countries, including the United Kingdom, which despite an increase of billions of dollars in funding is producing high school graduates who trail almost every other developed country.

 

 

Australia still performs above average for developed countries within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - but its ranking has dived over the decade.

 

 

Poland has now leapfrogged Australia in maths, helping push Australia from 11th place 2003 to 19th in 2012.

 

 

Australian teens came fourth in PISA's world literacy rankings in 2003, trailing only Finland, Korea and Canada.

 

 

But they now rank an equal 13th with New Zealand.

 

 

The ranking for science fell from 6th place in 2006, to 16th place in 2012.

 

 

Australian girls' performance in maths has fallen to the OECD average - dragging down Australia's result.

 

 

But boys are a year behind girls in literacy levels at the age of 15.

 

 

PISA exposes an educational underclass in Australia - with a two and a half year gap between the performance of students from poor or indigenous families and those from well-off households.

 

 

Dr Thomson said taxpayer funds should be targeted to disadvantaged students.

 

 

"Just putting more money in won't work, but targeting money will work,'' she said.

 

 

Dr Thompson said Asian education systems, such as Singapore, gave more remedial attention to children lagging at primary school so they did not fall behind.

 

 

The PISA report shows that migrant students performed best in the Australian test.

 

 

Even in English literacy, 14 per cent of foreign-born students were top performers, compared to 10 per cent of Australian-born students.

 

 

Indigenous students or those living in remote areas were twice as likely to do worst in the PISA tests.

 

 

Students from wealthy families were five times more likely than the poorest students to excel.

 

 

But results also varied widely within schools, between classes.

 

 

"A larger-than-average within-school variance means that, for Australian students, it matters more which class they are allocated to than which school they attend,'' the report says.

 

 

"(However) the choice of school still has a significant impact on outcomes.''

 

 

Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne - who this week pledged to give the States and Territories an extra $2.8bn in funding for schools over the next four years - said Australia's results had declined despite a 44 per cent increase in education spending over the past decade.

 

 

"These results are the worst for Australia since testing began and shows that we are falling behind our regional neighbours,'' he said.

 

 

"For all the billions (Labor) spent on laptops and school halls there is still no evidence of a lift in outcomes for students.''

 

 

Australian students also reported a higher frequency of noise and disorder, and teachers having to wait for students to quieten down, than the OECD average.

 

 

More than 40 per cent of Australian students reported that "family demands'' interfered with their school work.

 

 

One in five students felt they did not belong, were not happy or were not satisfied at school.

 

 

Australian Greens spokeswoman for schools, Senator Penny Wright attacked the Abbott government for handing the States "no strings attached'' schools funding.

 

 

"It is deplorable that in the 21st century, Indigenous students are two and a half years behind non-indigenous students, and that kids in remote areas are as much as 18 months behind children in the city,'' she said.

 

 

The Australian Education Union blasted the results as a "wake-up call'' for the Abbott government to increase funding to schools in poor areas, and set higher entry standards for teachers.

 

 

Nearly 15,000 Australian students aged 15, from 775 schools, were selected at random to take the PISA test last year.

 

 

 

http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/national/pisa-report-finds-australian-teenagers-education-worse-than-10-years-ago/story-fnjbnxui-1226774541525

[Ellie 2]

More funding does not ensure better outcomes. I think the methods being used need to be evaluated. All Unions ever think of is money!

[dmjg]

It's attitudes more often than anything else.

 

If the attitude of parents at home is poor, as too will be the attitude of students at school.

 

The school I teach at is low on all the socio economic tables with lots of one parent and 'blended' families. Over 1/3 qualified for EMA and we are looking at a second generation who are on benefits; however most of the kids have better phones than me, take longer holidays- further away than me and constantly talk about all the new technology they are playing with at home.

 

If they had a lot less and knew there would be real ramifications to not achieving in school, then maybe they would try and achieve a lot higher, maybe in line with poorer funded countries such as China, Poland etc....

[starlight7]

I think they need to raise the entry level for trainee teachers for a start. At the moment the course is one of the lower entry score courses, only just above TAFE level. Dumb teachers produce dumb students?

[dmjg]

Dumb teachers produce dumb students?

 

It's a hard one to quantify.

 

The best teachers are not always the smartest.

 

I consider myself a good teacher but there is no way I'm the best mathematician in the department.

 

Then again, I teach maths and science. We all have an undergraduate degree in our discipline. Stupid people cannot get through a maths or science degree.

 

I have proofread lots of reports over the last two weeks, some of the things said by other teachers do make me question their commitment, effort and grasp of the English language sometimes though.

 

A brainy person doesn't make a good teacher. Most people could not handle the pressures of standing in front of 25 teenagers and ensuring they all achieve something each lesson.

 

I have students that refuse to do anything. Getting them to turn up with a pen is an achievement sometimes.

 

If I had chosen to take my chemistry degree and work for Dunlop or Dulux I would now be in middle management and earning a hell of a lot more than I do as a teacher. But I wouldn't want to, I enjoy teaching.

 

It's not about the money, although if you do want to attract good staff you have to offer them a good wage. If you offer peanuts, you generally get monkeys........

[Ellie 2]

If you don't inspire children to enjoy learning before they reach high school then you have little chance of doing it there. Primary school is where they get the foundations of reading comprehension, written and oral English, maths and science. High schools build on these foundations and if they are not there life is a struggle for the teacher as well as the student. This is why the methods used, as well as the teachers, in primary schools are so important. High salaries are not necessarily the answer. What is needed are people who WANT to teach. Might be cheesy, but I see Teaching as a vocation not a job.

[Petals]

My son is the same as DMG he could earn a lot more out of teaching but he loves teaching. He also teaches maths and science and says that often they have to do remedial maths for children when they get to high school. He also says that he believes that parents are not encouraging their children in maths and science these days as they themselves struggled with it and also they have no interest in it.

 

So parents its up to you to encourage your children to get educated.

 

Teachers teach but the biggest responsibility for learning is from the parents, they are the people who set the pattern of learning in the home. Teachers are not baby sitters, child minders, they are educators and they churn out education and those children who have been taught to absorb will.

[Johndoe]

If you offer peanuts, you generally get monkeys........

 

I heard that teachers get paid peanuts :tongue:

[wolvesaussie]

Maybe if they had specialist maths teachers and specialist science teachers it would help. Getting one teacher to cover two of the most important subjects seems mad to me.

[docboat]

It depends on two factors, I think. Firstly, the attitude of the home and parents, and secondly societal attitudes to schools. Taking society first, we see children being dumped at school, teachers not allowed to teach - damage self-esteem, child not permitted to lose or fail a test, national testing standards being dumbed down, abrogation of parental responsibility and support for teachers. Lack of respect for teachers and schools.

 

Parental attitudes are the main issue though. Our children attend Kumon and a tutorial school. 7yo is 5 years ahead of peers, 9yo is 3 years ahead. The older one is doing high school maths in year 4. Same for English - creative writing stellar. 7yo last week was upset he could not recognise that "venison" comes from deer. General knowledge is being greatly expanded. They are aiming now for their high schools, and they do homework without tears, look at science on ABC, and read books aimed at teenagers. The point being, at the tutorial school I am almost the only western face present. Kumon has a few more - very much the minority of parents are Caucasian/Australian. Which is not surprising for a Saturday morning, I suppose, but does reflect on where the home-based priorities are.

 

Which brings me to my focus: it is not a question of how much money is pumped into education, it is the question of how much society supports education and makes education a priority.

 

I suppose we could always argue that asking a politician to lead professional teachers to improve education is like asking a politician to speak honestly. Doomed to failure. But that is another topic.

[dmjg]

I heard that teachers get paid peanuts :tongue:

 

And there are some monkeys out there!

 

Very few would be maths or science though :wink:

[Guest Guest66881]

Teachers who qualify as say an English teacher shouldn't be then required to teach French/Maths and PE should they?

[dmjg]

Teachers who qualify as say an English teacher shouldn't be then required to teach French/Maths and PE should they?

 

 

 

Funnily enough, you don't have to be trained in a subject to teach it, you can be directed by the principal to teach whatever they require you to teach. If you don't like this, you are free to leave and try your luck elsewhere.

 

Generally our English teachers will mainly do English but may pick up some junior SOSE in their allotment.

 

Many PE teachers also teach health or junior SOSE, Science teach junior Maths, Maths teach junior IT etc.

 

it's what fits into your allotment and what is left in the bottom of the barrel sometimes.....