Page 2920 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 6 August 2008
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used by Hanushek was obtained by a show-of-hands survey in the high schools. Despite these limitations, this data received over three times as much weight as the median study in Hanushek’s summary.
If Mr Barr is aligning himself with a study that uses a show of hands to gather its data, this indicates the level of analysis that we are seeing from the other side. Hanushek’s writing has been thoroughly debunked. Labor has never paid any attention previously to this dissenting academic. Now he is all they have to back up their argument against smaller classes.
Smaller classes have very strong support from the Australian Education Union, from teachers and from parents. In recent meetings with the Australian Primary Principals Association it was made clear to us that students in the ACT up to year 4 tend to trend upwards in terms of academic performance in the areas of numeracy and literacy. However, from year 4 onwards, where class sizes jump, achievement plateaus.
This assessment was reinforced in the groundbreaking publication released in 2007 In the balance—the future of Australia’s primary schools. The most effective way to address this plateau is to reduce the class sizes of all years through to year 6. Canberra Liberals will fund a maximum of 21 students per class from years 4 to 6. The gains from smaller classes are long lasting and sustained.
Research studies show that teachers do not necessarily change their teaching practices when they move to smaller classes. This is why they must work in conjunction with teachers not only to reduce class sizes but also to provide teachers with training in how to make the most of smaller classes. Canberra Liberals’ policy will fund additional teacher training to equip teachers with skills and techniques to make the best use out of smaller classes.
International and interstate research has proven that the biggest beneficiaries of smaller classes are children from low socioeconomic groups. These are the kids who frequently fall behind in large classes. The improvement found by the STAR project and many other studies is greatest for minority and economically disadvantaged students than it is for other students.
There is a major issue that the Stanhope government is not interested in. There is a compelling need for a major reinvestment by the ACT government in helping kids who are struggling at the bottom of the performance results. The ACT school system has one of the largest gaps in student achievement between students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Research commissioned from the Australian Council for Education Research shows that the achievement gaps in the ACT are the highest in Australia after the Northern Territory. Our large achievement applies across reading, maths and science. Labor has not only been blase about this performance gap; worse still, the education minister, Andrew Barr, has even argued with community groups about whether the gap even exists. Labor is only interested in investing in bricks and mortar. It is not seriously interested in investing in and supporting teachers to improve student performance.
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