Australian teachers are underprepared for the classroom compared to those in other countries, according to a recent global survey. The result indicates initial teacher education in Australia often isn’t up to scratch. The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) asked teachers around the world how prepared they were after completing their teacher education degrees. And on almost every measure — including…
The mental gymnastics displayed by some people in order to blame school choice for Australia’s education woes never cease to amaze. A recent OECD report on school choice and equity indicated Australia has one of the most ‘segregated’ school systems in the OECD. This just means schools tend to have less diversity of student socioeconomic background — not that they are practising…
International comparisons of mathematics achievement were begun in 1964 by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Over a period of almost four decades, the highest achieving systems have been Japan, and, as they successively joined the study, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In 1964, Japan was virtually tied with Israel for first place and retained…
U.S. Math and Science Achievement In 2012, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tested skills in 22 developed-world nations including the United States. In "numeracy" (solving problems with mathematical content), U.S. 16-34 year olds and 16-24 year olds ranked dead last (OECD 2013a,b). Figure 1 displays an Educational Testing Service (ETS) rendering of these data from the OECD's…
On 24 April 2019, British Peer, Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown tore into the British Government for ignoring Christian tradition and the wishes of British parents in continuing to pursue its Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019 legislation. Discussing the legislation, Lord McCrea asked "after the responses were given, suggesting a high level…
Prof. Harry Redner was Reader at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, as well as visiting professor at Yale University, University of California-Berkeley and Harvard University. He postulates that the world is now transitioning to “beyond civilization” – a new and unprecedented condition in Human History known as globalization. This in turn has major implications for societies across the world, and…
Family Stability Network and Centre for Social Justice polling of young people and their attitudes towards Relationships and Sex Education The Centre for Social Justice and Family Stability Network commissioned an opinion poll of young people aged 14-17 in England to understand their views on changes to the provision of Relationships and Sex Education. This survey was conducted by Survation…
