Competition Favours the Strong

Posted on Monday August 9, 2010

Competition between schools leads to a few winners and many losers. It exacerbates inequity and disregards the common good. It also fails to increase student achievement. >> Read on...

‘Free Schools’ Will Increase Social Segregation

Posted on Sunday July 25, 2010

The creation of privately-operated, publicly-funded “free schools” in England is likely to increase social segregation without significantly improving student achievement, according to a leading academic. >> Read on...

Impassioned Call to Defend Public Education

Posted on Friday July 9, 2010

An impassioned call to defend public education by Diane Ravitch, author of the best-selling book The Death and Life of the Great American School System. >> Read on...

Another Study Shows that Charter Schools do no Better than Traditional Public Schools

Posted on Friday July 2, 2010

Another report has found that charter schools in the United States do no better in increasing student results than traditional public schools. It adds to the accumulating evidence that charter schools are not the answer to better results.< >> Read on...

Growing Corporate Control of Education Policy

Posted on Tuesday June 8, 2010

Large corporations and wealthy private foundations are gaining increasing control over US education policy to further the agenda of more competition and privatization of education. It is leading to the dismantling of public education. There are calls for corporate Australia to similarly transform Australian education. >> Read on...

Paying Cash for Better Test Scores is no Silver Bullet

Posted on Wednesday June 2, 2010

Paying students to increase their results makes no difference according to a new study published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research. >> Read on...

Swedish-Style School Privatization for England

Posted on Thursday May 27, 2010

Sweden is the latest miracle cure in education for free market ideologues. The new UK Government has announced plans for the widespread privatization schools in England following the model used in Sweden. The strong evidence is that privatization of schools in Sweden has failed to deliver school improvement. >> Read on...

Voucher Experiment Draws a Blank

Posted on Friday May 14, 2010

The much vaunted Milwaukee school voucher program has been shown to be a failure. Last month, a major report on the 20 year-old scheme concluded that students in the voucher program were achieving similar results to those in Milwaukee public schools. >> Read on...

More Evidence of the Failure of Choice and Competition to Improve Student Outcomes

Posted on Friday March 26, 2010

The latest national reading test results in the United States show that school choice, competition and accountability measures have failed to increase average reading scores or reduce achievement gaps. Julia Gillard would do well to take note. >> Read on...

A Devastating Critique of Choice and Competition in Education by a Former Advocate: Part 3

Posted on Wednesday March 24, 2010

The final part of a review of Diane Ravitch’s new book: The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education.< >> Read on...

A Devastating Critique of Choice and Competition in Education by a Former Advocate: Part 2

Posted on Wednesday March 24, 2010

Trevor Cobbold continues a review of Diane Ravitch’s new book: The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education.< >> Read on...

A Devastating Critique of Choice and Competition in Education by a Former Advocate: Part 1

Posted on Wednesday March 24, 2010

Diane Ravitch has been one of the most influential voices in American education for the past 30 years. When such a person changes her views it is big news and it has been in the US for the past few weeks. Her new book is a devastating critique of markets in education. >> Read on...

School Choice Increases the Social Divide in Education

Posted on Wednesday December 9, 2009

A major new study of school choice in England has found that it compounds the social divide in education. Whilst parents do not admit to choosing schools on the basis of their social composition, this happens in practice. < >> Read on...

OECD Study Says that Markets Fail to Increase Innovation in Education

Posted on Thursday October 1, 2009

A new study published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that markets in education do not lead to innovation in teaching and curriculum – rather it is government intervention which is more likely to create improvements. >> Read on...

Unregulated School Choice Exacerbates Segregation and Inequity

Posted on Tuesday July 14, 2009

New research studies continue to demonstrate the harmful consequences of greater choice and competition in schooling. >> Read on...

More Evidence that Gillard’s Faith in Competition is Misplaced

Posted on Friday May 1, 2009

Just as John Howard and David Kemp did, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard have placed their faith in competition to improve school performance. This faith is proving entirely misplaced. >> Read on...

Rudd’s Market Paradoxes

Posted on Friday April 3, 2009

As far as education policy is concerned, the Rudd Government has given John Howard and David Kemp another term in office. It is completing Kemp’s vision to subject education to the rule of market forces. < >> Read on...

The Free Market and the Social Divide in Education

Posted on Thursday April 2, 2009

In this speech to the national Public Education forum on 28 March, SOS National Convenor, Trevor Cobbold,argues that the right to a successful education for all is being undermined by subjecting schooling to the market forces of competition, choice and privatisation. >> Read on...

New Study Shows that Public Schools Do Better Than Private Schools in Maths

Posted on Thursday March 12, 2009

A new US study has found that public school students out-perform private school students in maths. >> Read on...

New study shows that competition and choice do not raise student achievement

Posted on Thursday December 18, 2008

New research rejects the notion that reporting individual school results will better inform parent choice of schools and that competition between schools for enrolments will act as an incentive for schools to improve student achievement.

New research does not support this assumption. >> Read on...

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