http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/league-tables/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/myschool-wowsers-trying-to-lock-out-parents/ School league tables splashed across newspapers earlier this year, heralding an unprecedented era of education openness in this country, are on death watch. A coalition of teachers unions, academics and public education advocates are well advanced with their mission to strangle through technological modifications any further league tables in 2011. The tables ranking of individual schools for literacy and numeracy were the most sensational outcome the MySchool website, arguably Prime Minister’s greatest reform triumph as Education Minister. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/myschool-wowsers-trying-to-lock-out-parents/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/myschool-wowsers-trying-to-lock-out-parents/#item3694 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 A funny thing happened on the way from the last week’s Principals Forum with Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.  Listening to subsequent media reports describing the National Conversation as a ‘firestorm’ and a ‘showdown’, I began to wonder whether I’d been at a different forum. My role was as moderator. I did consider wearing a flak jacket. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/teachers-are-in-the-mood-for-seeing-league-tables/ A funny thing happened on the way from the last week’s Principals Forum with Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.  Listening to subsequent media reports describing the National Conversation as a ‘firestorm’ and a ‘showdown’, I began to wonder whether I’d been at a different forum. My role was as moderator. I did consider wearing a flak jacket. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/teachers-are-in-the-mood-for-seeing-league-tables/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/teachers-are-in-the-mood-for-seeing-league-tables/#item1749 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 A funny thing happened on the way from the last week’s Principals Forum with Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.  Listening to subsequent media reports describing the National Conversation as a ‘firestorm’ and a ‘showdown’, I began to wonder whether I’d been at a different forum. My role was as moderator. I did consider wearing a flak jacket. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/defenders-of-public-schools-are-their-worst-enemies/ THE proposal by education guru Ken Boston to shut down failing schools, sack their principals and replace their teachers is the scholastic equivalent of what’s known as “Ben Tre” logic, from the Vietnamese town of the same name where an American major famously reasoned that “we had to destroy the village in order to save it.” The people who will be the most outraged by Ken Boston’s radical but welcome suggestion, made at an Australian Primary Principals Association forum on Monday, are the self-styled defenders of public education in the Teachers Unions. It’s time that someone rang the school bell on the intellectual contribution these unions make to the quality of the public education. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/defenders-of-public-schools-are-their-worst-enemies/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/defenders-of-public-schools-are-their-worst-enemies/#item889 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 A funny thing happened on the way from the last week’s Principals Forum with Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.  Listening to subsequent media reports describing the National Conversation as a ‘firestorm’ and a ‘showdown’, I began to wonder whether I’d been at a different forum. My role was as moderator. I did consider wearing a flak jacket. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/parents-deserve-more-information-about-schools/ Much has been written about the Rudd Government’s commitment to introduce a new era of transparency into our schools. As important as bricks and mortar or computers are, the Education Revolution is about more than infrastructure. If some are to be believed the educational sky will fall in should the Government, and more importantly parents, be given simple information about the performance of schools in their neighbourhood and around the nation. Some on the other hand, particularly in the NSW Parliament, is nothing more than base political manoeuvring. It has certainly seen some bizarre political marriages of convenience. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/parents-deserve-more-information-about-schools/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/parents-deserve-more-information-about-schools/#item737 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 A funny thing happened on the way from the last week’s Principals Forum with Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.  Listening to subsequent media reports describing the National Conversation as a ‘firestorm’ and a ‘showdown’, I began to wonder whether I’d been at a different forum. My role was as moderator. I did consider wearing a flak jacket. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-the-conservatives-didnt-support-school-league-tables/ Thank goodness Julia Gillard and Verity Firth don’t coach the Wallabies. If they did they would be looking to the minnows of world rugby – Canada or Samoa – for ideas on how to improve Australia’s rugby performance rather than a powerhouse like New Zealand. This is exactly the approach they have taken to our education system. Their big new idea has been the introduction of League Tables, basically the crude ranking of individual schools on basic testing. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-the-conservatives-didnt-support-school-league-tables/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-the-conservatives-didnt-support-school-league-tables/#item514 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 A funny thing happened on the way from the last week’s Principals Forum with Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.  Listening to subsequent media reports describing the National Conversation as a ‘firestorm’ and a ‘showdown’, I began to wonder whether I’d been at a different forum. My role was as moderator. I did consider wearing a flak jacket.