Government imposes unsound student reports

By Maree O’Halloran

Federation maintains its opposition to the new student reports being imposed on schools by the Federal and State governments.

Teachers across Australia have also rejected the reports. In a unanimous decision on March 15 the Australian Education Union said in part:

"The AEU Federal Executive condemns the Federal Government's attempts to impose simplistic and regressive report requirements on the states as a condition of federal funding.

"The AEU Federal Executive expresses its concern with the preparedness on the part of state and federal governments to accept, and in some instances promote, these educationally unsound conditions of funding. The imposition of these requirements exposes a lack of understanding and little regard for the social development of the child... The imposition of these requirements also shows contempt for the profession and professional judgements that need to be made."

Federation supports a framework of report options from which a school can make professional decisions about which report format best meets the needs of its students. Federation is seeking to negotiate that:

• implementation is not required until 2007 (like Victoria);
• the use of A to E terminology be at the school's discretion with a range of other options made available. Schools would need to make professional judgments about:

  -syllabus requirements

  -the age of students

  -students with special needs such as students newly arrived in Australia, ESL students and students with intellectual disabilities

  -the privacy of students easily identifiable in small schools

  -the outcomes of the Department of Education and Training's Aboriginal Education Review

• it is not mandatory to include a statement on the report encouraging parents to ask for comparison data.

The use of A to E terminology is not a pre-condition for federal funding. Equivalent terminology is acceptable. Many private, including Catholic schools, will have choices about how they report. Even NSW Premier Morris Iemma did not use "A to E" in his media release of January 31, 2006, instead he chose the words "outstanding to low".

Both Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt and Director-General Andrew Cappie-Wood have responded to Federation's request for negotiations with nothing but a form letter.

In term 2 Federation will distribute mass numbers of leaflets to parents and the community explaining why some aspects of the reports are educationally unsound.

In the meantime, if you have not had a chance, please hold a Federation meeting at your school to discuss this issue. A pro forma resolution can be found at http://www.nswtf.org.au/campaigns/reports/index.html.

Maree O'Halloran is the President.

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April 2006 contents