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“Better Schools” in Tasmania

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“Better Schools” in Tasmania “Better Schools” in Tasmania From a TPA perspective it’s essential any reform drives transformation by focusing on 3 areas: 1. Creating empowered and highly effective school leadership - the single biggest driver in achieving Melbourne Declaration Goals 1 and 2 by 2025. 2. Improving and maintaining quality teaching. 3. Achieving real improvement in student outcomes, through consultation with experienced educational experts and research. This paper is a best effort at describing the implications of the proposed reforms in education associated with the funding and program arrangements that are currently being negotiated between Canberra and Tasmania. It is based on information found on the DEEWR, Better Schools web site. Can we afford Gonski type funding? Some Background From Jan 1, 2014 education in Australia will be guided by a new Education Bill. This Bill is currently “in Parliament”. Regardless of the outcome of negotiations between the federal government and Tasmania, from Jan 1, 2014 Australian education will reflect this new legislation. The Bill will be developed through what is known as The Better Schools Legislation. This can be found at http://www.betterschools.gov.au/australian-education-bill . There are 2 distinct elements to the proposed Bill. A set of clearly defined priorities that will shape the future work of schools, teachers and principals. Whilst these priorities have attracted little media attention they have the potential to be the significant legacy of this reform. A resource model for distributing money to states. This is the element that has attracted most media interest as it describes both how and how much money is to flow from government to schools. The current negotiations on both these elements are being conducted directly between the office of the Prime Minister and the Tasmanian Premier (DPAC). The Department of Education is asked for advice. It’s our understanding that Minister McKim is not directly managing these developments. Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations the practice of the Federal government paying Treasury an agreed amount and Treasury then setting the DoE budget will continue. The Tasmanian Government will retain a responsibility to provide the vast majority of school funding. The accountability/transparency element of the Better Schools legislation is 1 designed to track where Federal and State money has been distributed. This transparency does not exist at present. Better Schools Better Schools outlines a new architecture for education. It describes 5 priorities and each is teased out with statements that describe an obvious outcome or intent. Further information is teased out in the Better Schools website. This appears to be updated daily. The priorities are: (these have been copied directly) Priority 1 -Quality teaching The best teachers will be in our classrooms. Higher entry standards for teaching and better training for teaching students Teachers will need to be in the top 30 per cent for literacy and numeracy before they can graduate Annual performance reviews for every teacher All teachers will have access to ongoing training throughout their career. Priority 2 -Quality learning Every student will receive a world class education. All schools will implement the high quality Australian Curriculum, in all subjects, by 2016 for Foundation to Year 10 and by 2018 for Years 11-12 An early years reading blitz will focus on improving literacy skills in Foundation to Year 3 Every student will have access to learning an Asian language by 2025 Science will be added to the NAPLAN tests so we can track progress. Priority 3 -Empowered school leadership Schools will have more say over decision-making. Principals will have more power to make the best decisions for their schools including choosing staff and managing the budget. Principals will receive extra training in leadership skills and ongoing professional development. Priority 4 -Meeting student need All students will get the support they need. A fairer school funding system will be based on the needs of every individual student There will be extra money for schools and students that need more support – low SES students, Indigenous students, students with disability, students with limited English skills, small schools, and rural and remote schools This extra funding will help pay for things like specialised equipment and teachers, and programs like breakfast clubs and literacy programs Every school will have a Safe School Plan to prevent bullying Schools will be encouraged to engage parents and the broader school community to improve student outcomes. 2 Priority 5 -Transparency and accountability Parents and the community will have more information about school performance. Every school will have a school improvement plan that sets out how it will improve results More information will be published on the My School site School authorities will have to report on how they spend extra money under the new funding model A new Australian School Performance Institute will collect better data and conduct research into the best way to improve our schools There will be an annual State of Our Schools report. To get more detailed information go to the agreement NSW has signed. It can be found at http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/other_related_agreements/current /National_Education_Reform_Agreement.pdf Scroll to page 12, statement 32 onwards holds the detail. The Resource Model Back Ground The proposed model for distributing money to schools has certainly gained media attention. Like most things in education the model’s subtlety and sophistication are easily lost when we attempt to explain its key elements. How much detail do you use? For example the loading for students from low socio economic back grounds is based on data from the My School web site. Where does it come from? Is this data accurate? (It’s drawn from the information parents supply when they enroll their child). How often is the information updated? On the surface the change from funding a system to funding a student is straight forward but like any complex set of measures it relies on “good” data. The elements of the proposed resource model reflect the recommendations found in the 2011 “Gonski” review. (Remember the Gonski review covered much more than funding). Achieving a school resource standard or benchmark and a loading and reflects the unique educational needs of a student. Fund a student not a system. Transparency. Different funding for secondary compared to primary. Allocating money to schools: All money will be distributed. Schools will no longer need to rely on grants or short-term programs. The Federal Government will use the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) settings to calculate the amount of Commonwealth funding that flows to State authorities, who will then distribute this money to schools. State governments will introduce their own needs-based school funding systems based on the Commonwealth model. This includes a per student amount and loadings for types of 3 schools and students. This model will be used to distribute all funding—Commonwealth, State and Territory—to the majority of schools. Education authorities will have the flexibility to adjust the funding they allocate to schools according to local need, but these decisions will need to be transparent and accountable. Information on the distribution of funding will be available on My School, so parents and the wider community can see that public funding is being provided to schools based on the needs of the students attending that school. Phasing in the new system SRS funding will be phased in over six years. The Gonski modeling suggests thousands of schools are (2011) currently below a Schooling Resource Standard entitlement. It’s proposed these schools will receive increased funding every year to reach the Schooling Resource Standard, then their funding will keep pace with the Schooling Resource Standard at the indexed rate. Schools already at their School Resourcing Standard will receive their 2013 funding, which will grow each year by 3.6 per cent. Schools above the Schools Resourcing Standard will also receive their 2013 funding, which will grow by 3 per cent. Modeling using a Tasmanian School I have attempted to model the implications of the new funding proposal using the following school profile. (Please Note: Each school is different hence will end up with its unique funding model) Average Per student funding in 2012 $14 666 Net recurrent funding $4 725 480 School type Secondary School ICSEA value 923 Total enrolments 305 Indigenous 10% LBOTE 1% Location Provincial (outer regional) Distribution of students Bottom Quarter Middle Quarters Top Quarter Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 44% 36% 13% 6% Your school’s data can be found on the My School website. Benchmark Each student attracts a per-capita amount called the Benchmark. The Gonski concept of benchmarking an amount per student, based on the efficient costs of delivering education in a set of Australia’s best performing schools, known as ‘reference schools’ has been accepted. 4 The bench mark is currently set at $9 271 per primary school student and $12 193 per high school student for each and every student regardless of sector (Gov, Independent or Catholic). This amount will be indexed 3.6% per annum. Implication for the Tasmanian school 305 secondary students at a bench mark of $12 193 = $3 718 865 The Loadings Low Socio-economic Background (is a Sliding Scale) The Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling proposed extra funding for every student in the lowest 25 per cent of socio-economic backgrounds. Following representation from professional associations the proposed model has been extended to cover the lowest 50 per cent of students. Students in the First Quartile Q1 has been set at 15% of the per student benchmark ($1 391 per primary student and $1 829 per secondary student) for the first student in the lowest SES quartile (Q1), increasing up to 50% for Q1 enrolments over 75% in a single school ($4 635 per primary student and $6 096 per secondary student).
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