US, UK, & now Australia's "free market" education agenda, w/ high-stakes testing

[Hannah Bell]

NAPLAN testing and My School: Rudd’s free market education agenda

In January this year, Labor launched its My School web site. The web site ranks schools nationally, based on their performance in standardised literacy and numeracy tests (known as NAPLAN). The purpose of My School is not to provide “transparency and information for mums and dads”, as the Labor government claims. Its real aim is to unleash a divisive struggle between schools.

Rudd has declared that Labor’s “education revolution” will create an “education market place”. Like any market place, there will be winners and losers. Schools that “underperform” in NAPLAN will face sanctions and closure, while teachers who fail to “value add” by lifting their students’ test scores will face intense pressure, and, ultimately, disciplinary action.

NAPLAN testing is high-stakes testing because the results determine the school’s entire future. In Britain and the United States similar reforms have produced a disaster. They have been used to victimise and sack teachers, subordinate curricula to the productivity requirements of business and close hundreds of public schools....

On May 6, the Australian Education Union (AEU) called off a national boycott of NAPLAN tests. Under a deal reached with Education Minister Julia Gillard, AEU and New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF) officials will join a government “working party” that will ram through Labor’s pro-market reforms, including NAPLAN testing...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/napl-m25.shtml

[DJ13]

1. “education market place”

I had hoped the economic failure of free market thinking weve witnessed the last two years might have so disgraced those promoting it as some sort of religion that no one would dare to propose it ever again, but sadly I was wrong.

[Hannah Bell]

2. It's the agenda of capital, world-wide. They're shameless; they lie until they get what they want -

as we already know.

[alp227]

3. So it's not just Arne Duncan.

Beware. The corporatization of public education is worldwide. WORLDWIDE.

[Hannah Bell]

4. yes, like "austerity" programs, free market ed is part of the plan for all the peons of the world.

so that our "betters" can raise their profit margins & not have to sell one of the manses, you know.