Mike the easy answer here is do Teacher respect the wishes of the parents and public in generals request to have good KPI's in which to measure the effectiveness at a per child and school level? If it is a yes then perhaps the teachers should have been on the front foot rather then the back foot. They then might of had a KPI that they could work with, more importantly they would have some public support. The fact is as an outsider looking in you guys have been dragged kicking and screaming into the real world of performace measurement. A place where most of us have lived for a long time.

I think this is a good addition to the debate. While I knew the basics of the article already it was interesting to see the details and examples.
Surely we can agree that $$$ alone does not equal educational success, whether those $$$ be in the home or the school. While statistically it is important, it is not the true determinant. As Mike says, commitment to reading and education generally in the home is key.
However, surely what needs to be measured is how much value a school adds to a child's skills and knowledge. Taking a child from zero knowledge or skills to below-peers is still a good achievement, taking a child who is already advanced to still being advanced is no achievement by the school at all.
The only way this can be measured is pre/post-testing. So I am sure that Mike is a strong supporter of NAPLAN and that funding reflect the school's ability to improve children's skills over the years...

Kenny is right.

Welcome Mike, to the 21st Century, and welcome to Australia.

It has been a long wait.

It appears that NSW teachers banning the NAPLAN test may cost the NSW taxpayers $6.6 million.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/testy-teachers-failing-children/story-e6freuzi-1225851590058

I certainly hope the Teachers Union has the $6.6 million readily available to pay it back to the NSW taxpayers.

You could think of it as being a part of the democratic process.

The two most important issues , the relationship and confidence between Teacher and Student and Further the integrity of the Association and Bond between the three Elements Parent,Teacher and Student , like a Tripod take out one leg the whole deal falls over .

Teaching is a big deal it is the Future for our Children and for us we Retire at 67 many will live to 85 plus , our kids will be paying big time , plus they will be Paying for others that can't decide what sex they are ; Surely a "Confusion Tax" should not be out of the question to cover this deficit why should my Kids have to pay for the Funny Ones .

Teachers are substantially Underpaid in my view , this is not a suggestion that if Teachers were paid more higher Grade applicants would be attracted to Teaching but that a Dentist can earn three X what a teacher can .

Teaching is one hell of a tough job , they have to teach delinquents too as well as Tolerating their obnoxious Low Life Parents , tough job.

The vast majority of Professional People don't have to suffer those indignity's . Part 2 follows>>>>

Part 2
The other trial Teachers have to live with is the Education Bureaucrats most of them openly exhibit an open Contempt for Parents .
This mob demand new Text Books every year and the maths they Teach is
absolute crap , Pedagogical Magic , a mystery to most Parents and I expect Teachers hardly applicable to "Normal" People in their everyday application of Maths , might suit the Boffins and the Sales Persons (Edu Con Artists)
This lot I expect are not Honest how could last years Textbooks be obsolete this year ?
We have five kids , the money we wasted on Text Books could have provided a Trip to Darwin following the 'Ghan' what an Education Bonus that would have been for our Kids . All down to Delusional Educrats too far removed from the reality of the Marketplace .

Then there is sweet Julia the 'Mag Mag Nificent'. "Why ICSEA fails our schools" , I believe it does , but I'm not quite mad enough to engage Julia I might Yawn so much and dislocate my jaw .