Yes Kevin.

One remembers the time when a single teacher in a largely indigenous hugely disadvantaged outback school, beat the next best averages, some years ago.

And as memory serves, she commented, it was very hard work but worth it; given it surely proved Indigenous kids, given the right dedicated teacher and motivation, were as good as any of their white counterparts; or God forbid, Better!
Rhrosty.

There is no doubt that socio-economic disadvantage affects educational achievement. It is not the only thing, but that does not mean we should just ignore it.

The Gonski plan, while wrong to endorse the Howard government’s bizarre SES funding model, was right to split funding per student into a basic amount and an amount for disadvantage. We have never really made a concerted long-term attempt to overcome disadvantage in schools. We have had good programs that get cancelled after a few years and we have had periods of cost-cutting Coalition governments with not the slightest understanding of education. Students spend 13 years at school. I’d like to see a government program last 13 years so we can see real results, as the article Kevin Donnelly does not allude to (“Extra funding the best investment in poor students”, The Australian, 28/1/2015) shows success with disadvantaged students in the USA because extra money was spent on them

Chris I get so sick of this disadvantage garbage. Your idea of disadvantage is I'm sure entirely different to mine, so I know you would spend any extra money in the wrong area.

In the country town where I did my last few years of high school, disadvantage was governed by your ability to play Rugby League. Those who could, got on at school, & in the town after school. The whimps who couldn't, got nowhere in town, & usually went off to teachers college.

A dark complexion was no problem, if you could tackle.

Hasbeen,

You know nothing of the sort.

I was the English Coordinator of Waterdale High School, from 1976 to 1980. As such I devised the English submissions for extra funding under the Disadvantaged Schools Program. Test results as part of the evaluation of the DSP showed improvement in students’ scores above and beyond the expected state improvement. Those evaluation reports are public documents and should be available in government archives for anyone who wants to read them. It seems the money was spent in the right area.

> "Chris ... Your idea of disadvantage is I'm sure entirely different to mine, so I know you would spend any extra money in the wrong area." <

Posted by Hasbeen, Thursday, 29 January 2015 4:50:39 PM

What an abysmal 'argument'. As is this -

> "In the country town where I did my last few years of high school, disadvantage was governed by your ability to play Rugby League. Those who could, got on at school, & in the town after school. The whimps who couldn't, got nowhere in town, & usually went off to teachers college." <

Implying members of a whole occupation are wimps is about as nasty as one can get.