Articles of interest

5 January 2011:
One Sydney school produced three students who achieved the perfect score in the International Baccalaureate, and one Melbourne school produced four students who achieved the perfect score. The entire US produced only one top-scoring student.

Ref: Sydney Morning Herald The Age (Melbourne)

We might ask why PM Gillard is still blindly following US policy. We out-perform the US in the International Baccalaureate, but we out-perform them in the PISA results too!

Parents boycott NAPLAN	http://albert-and-logan.whereilive.com.au/news/story/parents-boycott-naplan/ 114 Year 9 students at Carbrook's Kimberley College will not sit the NAPLAN tests, with parents opting to join a mass boycott of the exam. Principal Paul Thomson said, "Everybody has a right to withdraw their child but very few parents realise this."
Flawed NAPLAN results	Literacy tests 'full of flaws' Parents should not trust the results of the 2010 NAPLAN language test, because students were asked misleading, ambiguous and ungrammatical questions, a new study says. Will it be any different in 2011? Natalie Craig, "The Age," 5-9-2010. Also, see Links 1-5 below.
Neither of the two major parties understands education.	Last week, with the release of NY test results for 2010, the claims of Joel Klein (New York City) came crashing down. Klein was invited to Australia and his claims fooled Julia Gillard. (Read article here in the Washington Post.) However, both Labor and Liberal parties have education policies aligned to the New York City model. It's a disaster! They don't understand that teaching improves learning, not testing. They don't understand that you invest in teachers, you don't bash them. Abbott and Pyne will extend this inappropriate testing to all year levels, extending the current madness. (And the testing IS inappropriate. See Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4, Link 5.) Finland, the top country in international comparisons, does not use standardised testing. It trusts (and expects) teachers to do diagnostic testing which informs teaching and improves learning. Why look to NY for the way to go? The USA isn't even in the top 20 countries (see OECD Program for International Student Assessment). Australia is always in the top group! (See evidence here.)

44	Lorraine Wilson and David Hornsby Mar 2011	Teaching to the Test 'Teaching to the test' is active in Australian schools as a result of high-stakes standardised testing (NAPLAN).
43	The Age Dec 2010	Report marks down Australian school policy It's the teaching, stupid. That is the message for Australia from the report of the OECD's 2009 Program for International Student Assessment. We're still in the top 10 countries, but falling. The key factors (for improvement) are human: the quality of teaching recruits, their training, preparation and classroom practice, and the leadership and support they receive. When will our political leaders accept that in teaching, as with just about everything, you get what you pay for?
42	SMH Dec 2010	Long work hours leave little time for child's play Australia's culture of working long work hours is putting at risk children's early learning opportunities, as parents struggle to find the time to read, sing and talk to their preschoolers.
41	News-Leader.com Nov 2010	Reading TO kids pays off, research shows Literacy advocates say magic hapens when a young child is read to regularly. Research shows that the love of reading at an early age is key to success in school and later life.
40	Sydney Morning Herald Oct 2010	The six radical secrets of a more productive classroom Prof Dylan Wiliam's research shows that the time-honoured "hands up" practice is counterproductive. He outlines simple procedures that can be much more effective. ... Well worth reading!
39	Education Week, Vol 30, Issue 5, Sept 2010	When pedagogic fads trump priorities Too often, fads with little or no support from research, take over from established pedagogic knowledge. The author outlines "three old friends" that should be our priorities if we want to make schools better.
38	Anna Patty Sydney Morning Herald Sept 2010	Focus on basic skills blamed for decline in reading standards The reading abilities of Australian 15-year-olds have declined significantly in international comparisons. Barry McGaw, head of ACARA, says, ''The reasons for this are not immediately evident from the data, but it [is] at least clear that it is due to schools focusing more on basic achievement levels and not so much on the development of sophisticated reading of complex text.''
37	The Age Sept 2010	Principals fail national curriculum The national curriculum is "not up to scratch" and will not be ready to be introduced in Victorian schools in 2012, according to Victorian principals.
36	Natalie Craig Sept 2010 The Age	Elite private schools rake in profits Victoria's richest private schools made profits of up to $14 million last year, with financial reports showing taxpayers contributed more than half of some schools' gains. ... Scotch College which boasts facilities including a diving pool, 18 tennis courst and an observatory, had a profit of $14 million last year, but it still received $4.7 million in yearly government grants.
35	Ainslie MacGibbon The Age August 2010	New thinking backs daydream believers There is mounting evidence amongst brain researchers and psychologists that daydreaming is good for us. It helps students to plan and to develop self-regulation. Daydreaming has been an important factor for creative, successful scientists who have really advanced things. Schools need to recognise the power of daydreaming. Schools could benefit by allowing brief periods where children can relax into their own thoughts or draw, or write things down in a free and imaginative way.
34	Judy Willis MD, MEd	Want Children to "Pay Attention"? Make their brains curious! A few thousand years ago, in 360 BC., Plato advised against force-feeding of facts to students. "Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind." Neurosurgeon and educator Judy Willis explores this profound thought from a brain-based perspective.
33	Michael Sadowski, Harvard Edn Letter	Putting the "Boy Crisis" in Context Finding solutions to boys' reading problems may require looking beyond gender. (Harvard Education Letter, Vol 26, No 4, July/August 2010)
32	D Harrison SMH June 2010	Nice shelves, pity no books Schools will be unable to get full value from billions of dollars worth of new libraries because of long-running declines in staffing and book budgets, teachers and librarians warn.
31	Denise Ryan The Age May 2010	Innovators see the big picture The BIG PICTURE Education Model is working for schools! Read this article about the success of a project-based model for teaching and learning.
30	Professor Stephen Krashen May 2010	Children need food, health care, and books. Not new standards and tests. The single strategy to improve education is to eliminate or drastically reduce poverty. This is a timely article by Professen Stephen Krashen at the University of Southern California.
29	Denise Ryan The Age 9 Feb 2010	Other people's children also deserve an education An article about the need for more alternative school programs for 15 to 20 year olds who are not studying or working. Roughly 200,000 people fit this category. Some wonderful programs have been developed as a result of the dedication of a few individual teachers. "You can't protect your own children when there are other children on the street desperate for help."
28	James Starkey 3 Feb 2010	Attention, Gates: Here's What Makes a Great Teacher James Starkey questions Bill Gates' quest to find out the best teaching practices by spending $45 million on a 2-year study of teaching. Starkey lists his 10 qualities of an effective educator. Worth reading.
27	Justice Michael Kirby SMH 2 Dec 09	Stop bagging public education I am fed up with media, and some politicians, criticising public education in Australia. I am fed up with suggestions that public schools neglect education in values. I am fed up when I go to wealthy private schools and I see the neglect of the facilities of famous public high schools. (Justice Kirby gives many reasons for being proud of our public school history.)
26	Salon.com 9 Oct 09	Toys R Us schooled by sixth-graders Some sixth-graders in Sweden were studying gender roles. When they saw a Toys R Us catalogue with small girls sitting passively in princess gear, and boys in hero outfits playing in action-filled environments, they complained. The Swedish Regulatory agency, a member of the European Advertising Standards Alliance, argued that the catalogue modelled restrictive sex stereotypes. Toys R Us has been publicly scolded, but the real victory happened inside the grade six classroom.
25	Scientific American	The serious need for PLAY * Childhood play is crucial for social, emotional and cognitive development. * Imaginative and rambunctious "free play," as opposed to games or structured activities, is the most essential type. * Kids and animals that do not play when they are young may grow into anxious, socially maladjusted adults.
24	Science Daily	All work and no play makes for troubling trend in early education Anne Haas Dyson, professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois, says playtime for children is a fundamental avenue for learning. Attempts by parents and educators to create gifted children by bombarding them with information is well-intentioned but ultimately counterproductive.
23	Pirjo Sinko Finland July 09	To quality through equity in a Finnish way Pirjo Sinko, from Finland, recently gave a keynote address at the national AATE/ALEA conference in Hobart. She explained that Finland has little difference between schools and that a comprehensive, inclusive education system is the right of every child. (Not so in Australia, sadly.)
22	Harvard Graduate School of Education	New study highlights importance of arts educators The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education. Available as a free download from Project Zero at: www.pz.harvard.edu
21	Sydney Morning Herald	First three years key to school success: study How children are faring before they turn four is a strong guide to early school success. It is more important than what happens to them in the year immediately before they start school.
20	Teacher Magazine	Help Wanted: Leader to promote a culture of learning Kirsten Olson, 1 July 2009 How do we begin to move education from the old-fashioned industrial model with assembly-line learning to a dynamic ecosphere model?
19	Sydney Morning Herald	Difference between school-performance reporting and league tables Jennifer Buckingham, Sydney Morning Herald. 29 June 2009 School-performance reporting and league tables are NOT the same thing. The former, done properly, can provide useful information about a range of school characteristics. League tables, on the other hand, are lists of schools based on a single indicator, without reference to context or location. They are misleading.
18	The Australian	Education not only expands the mind but shrinks the waistline Siobhain Ryan, 23 June 09 A person's chance of becoming obese decreases as their years of education increase. Better educated people seem to find it easier to access and understand health-related information, assess lifestyle risks, and have the self-control to act on those assessments.
17	BBC News	Schools to rethink 'i before e' Advice sent to teachers in Britain says there are too few words which follow the rule. The chairman of the Spelling Society agrees and says that words such as vein and neighbour make the rule meaningless.
16	The Australian	Power of narrative David Malouf recalls the power of a poem read to his class when he was in Year 4. Today's school children equally deserve to touch base with the most enduring aspects of Western cultural heritage in literature, music and art.
15	Sydney Morning Herald	The sound and the fury about making sense of written words Prof Brian Cambourne explains why he disagrees with those who say that phonics is the only necessary first step in learning to read.
14	ASCD SmartBrief	Poverty changes children's brains The difference between the brains of 9 and 10 year olds living in poverty and those of their wealthy peers is almost equivalent to comparing brains that have suffered strokes with brains that are healthy. (University of California-Berkeley)
13	Science Daily	Sleep may help clear brain for new learning Sleep, already recognised as a promoter of long-term memories, also helps clear room in the brain for new learning.
12	Sydney Morning Herald	10 Books to Read before Turning 10 Books for children are the same as those for adults in that they can entertain, educate and inspire emotions and imagination.
11	NPR	Old-Fasioned Play Builds Serious Skills Until recently, children played outdoors, unsuperivsed, and engaged in imaginative play. Today, their play is scripted by their toys, more directed by the media, and more protected by anxious parents. These changes have resulted in poorer cognitive and emotional development.
10	NCTE	Toward a definition of 21st-Century Literacies A short, useful statement about what twenty-first century readers and writers need to do. Click here
9	Educational Leadership, Summer 07, Vol 64	Whole Teaching, Whole Schools, Whole Teachers John P Miller Educators must reclaim and reshape the vision of human wholeness held by our ancestors and endorsed by many spiritual traditions. How can schools return to more holistic teaching and learning? Click here to read whole article.
8	A film about Australia	We Will Be Remembered For This In 2006, a group of young people of different nationalities, backgrounds, attitudes and political views took a trip to the Baxter Detention Centre. The stories of the people they met behind the razor wire surprised, moved and challenged them. Click here (or go to www.safecom.org.au) for information. The film includes interviews with former PM Malcolm Fraser, Julian Burnside QC, a clinical psychiatrist, a former detention officer, and many others. A DVD is available for purchase from the website. (You can view excerpts before ordering.)
7	Educational Leadership Summer 07, Vol 64	The Neuroscience of Joyful Education Judy Willis Brain research tells us that when the fun stops, learning often stops too. 'Classrooms can be the safe haven where academic practices and classroom strategies provide students with emotional comfort and pleasure as well as knowledge. When teachers use strategies to reduce stress and build a positive emotional environment, students gain emotional resilience and learn more efficiently and at higher levels of cognition. Brain-imaging studies support this relationship.
6	New York Times 16 Jun 07	In the Classroom, a New Focus on Quieting the Mind Patricia Leigh Brown Mindfulness training, in which stress-reducing techniques are drawn from Buddhist meditation, is helping students in many ways. Click here to read the report.
5	Education Review May 2007	Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America's Schools Nichols, Sharon & Berliner, David (2007) Click here to read the review by Susan Ohanian. 'High-stakes testing is wrong - intellectually, morally, and practically. Not only will it 'not work' to improve education, it is already doing demonstrable harm.'
4	Educational Leadership May 2007, Vol 64, No 8.	The Whole Child: An International Perspective Are some countries doing a better job investing in their children than others? This report gives an overview of child and adolescent well-being in rich countries. Click here for the short report. To download the full report, go to http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_eng.pdf See related articles.
3	New York Times	Some schools phasing out student laptop programs After a 7-year study in Liverpool, NY., there was "literally no evidence that (laptops) had any impact on student achievement."
2	Kathy Moran The Quarterly Vol 26, No 3, 2004	Caring Comes First Caring Comes First: a personal narrative "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." Kathy Moran writes about the daily intimacy-charged contact teachers have with others. She argues that, in this time of pressure to accept standardization and hold students to strict measures, it is just as important to establish personal connections.
1	Todd Goodson The Quarterly Vol 26, No 3, 2004	The uncertainty that is the beauty and the challenge of teaching Teaching in the Time of Dogs An account, like a parable, of a classroom incident that makes it clear that it's the students who bring "the uncertainty that is the beauty and the challenge of teaching."