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Improving Learning
Equity in Education in Australia
Dr Sue Thomson
Director, Educational Monitoring and Research Division
Australian Council for Educational Research
Presentation to the Annual Conference of the Australian Education Union, Melbourne, February 2013
“By comparison with the world’s highest performing school
systems, Australian students from low
socioeconomic backgrounds are under-represented among high
achievers and overrepresented among
low achievers”
Australian governments, in collaboration with all school sectors,
commit to promoting equity and excellence in Australian schooling.
This means that all Australian governments and all school sectors must provide all students with access to high-quality schooling, and ensure that socioeconomic disadvantage ceases to be a significant determinant of educational outcome (P. 8)
Monitoring progress
ICT
National Assessment Program
are we achieving the goals of the Melbourne Declaration?
The results from the international studies provide evidence about both excellence and equity.
So, where does Australia sit in terms of achievement?
and equity?
according to the OECD ...
achieving minimum benchmarks - PISA reading
TIMSS Year 8 maths
What does it matter? The Productivity Commission recently estimated the average
earnings gain from an extra year of schooling in Australia at
between 10 and 13 per cent.
In 2009, the annual earnings of Australians aged 25-34 who only
completed school were 25 per cent higher than those who did
not. Year 12 completion also opens up the prospect of tertiary
education. Gaining a university degree increases earnings by
about 40 per cent compared with Year 11 or below.
Economic modelling for the Business Council of Australia
estimates that an increase of 0.15 in the average level of
schooling of the workforce would result in a 1.1 per cent increase
in GDP by 2040. This amounts to about $16 billion on today’s
figures.
Individuals who do not complete school engage in more risky health behaviour, have less health knowledge, higher rates of illness and earlier deaths than those who complete school. OECD and other studies show that the health returns from increased school completion are substantial.
About 35 per cent of Australia’s prisoners have not completed Year 10 compared to seven per cent of the general population. Overseas and Australian studies show that increased education significantly reduces the costs of property crime for individuals and the justice system.
People who fail to achieve a Year 12 education are also more likely to be reliant on welfare support. More education can increase their employment and income and thereby reduce government welfare payments (Cobbold, 2013)
Accepting that there is a spread of wealth in a
country, then what does equity look like?
300
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Australia
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More Affluent schools %
More Disadvantaged schools %
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Canada
PIRLS s
core
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More Affluent schools % More Disadvantaged schools %
And in Year 8 maths?
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Australia Quebec
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More Affluent schools %
More Disadvantaged schools %
Barriers to success Students with the highest mathematics achievement typically attend schools that emphasise academic success, as indicated by rigorous curricular goals, effective teachers, students that desire to do well, and parental support.
In contrast, schools with discipline and safety problems are not conducive to high achievement. Students that attended schools with disorderly environments and reported more frequent bullying had much lower achievement than their counterparts in safe and orderly schools. (Mullis, Martin, Foy, Arora, 2013)
Emphasis on academic success
Nationally, 20% of students attended schools in which the principal reported that there was a “very high” emphasis on academic success.
However this varies a great deal depending on what school students attend.
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Medium emphasis High emphasis Very high emphasis
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More Disadvantaged schools %
Students desire to do well
• Two questions examined:
• How far in education do you expect to go?
• It’s important to do well in maths
Aspirations …
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Max Yr 12 TAFE Degree or higher degree
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More Affluent schools % More Disadvantaged schools %
It’s important to well in maths
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Importance of maths
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More Disadvantaged schools %
School safety
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Hardly any Minor Moderate
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More Affluent schools %
More Disadvantaged schools %
Parental support
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Low Medium High
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More Affluent schools %
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Instruction affected by a shortage of resources
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Not affected Somewhat affected
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Summary • A priority is to ensure that SES ceases to become a
significant determinant of educational outcomes.
• Australia’s achievement overall, as measured by TIMSS and PISA, is ok, but there is a lot of room for improvement. The proportion of students not achieving basic levels is not acceptable.
• Our level of equity is about average across OECD countries, however there are substantial problems masked by the ‘average’
• One quarter of low SES 15 year old students failed to reach the minimum benchmark in reading, and
• almost 2/3 of students in disadvantaged schools did not reach the intermediate benchmark in mathematics at Year 8.
Barriers … • Schools with a higher proportion of disadvantaged
students:
• Lower emphasis on academic success
• Lower student aspirations
• Lower levels of school safety
• Lower levels of parental support
• More likely to be affected by lack of resources.
Top 5?
• The Prime Minister has said that “To win the economic race, we must first win the education race”.
• Our aim as a nation should not be to win any race other than the race to provide an equitable system, ensuring that every child has the opportunity for and knows the pathway to success.
• The achievement of this goal would be something in which we could all take pride.
Thank you!
Improving Learning
