Aussie schools flatline in global education tests

Australian school children are well behind a host of other countries when it comes to reading, mathematics and science, according to a new report.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study has revealed that a quarter of Australia's year 4 students failed to meet the minimum standard in reading for their age.

Australia ranked 27th out of 48 countries in reading, with its mean score similar to that recorded by New Zealand, Poland and Lithuania.

Another analysis, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), revealed results have not improved for Australian students since 1995.

Education Minister Peter Garrett admits the results are a "wake-up call" and are further evidence that national changes to the school system are urgently needed.

"It's one of the reasons why we want the states to join us in a national plan for performance improvement," he told ABC News Breakfast.

"We've known that our performance isn't as good as it could be, but these results tell us very clearly and very loudly that we need to do a lot better, and we need to do it urgently."

Federal Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne says there are structural issues in schools that need to be fixed.

He says spending more money is not the answer.

"And while we continue to fiddle around the edges with the latest education fads, we will continue to let our primary school children down," he said.

"The Government's so-called education revolution has been exposed as an abject failure."

The Gonski plan to overhaul school education funding will be thrashed out at the next Council of Australian Government's (COAG) meeting between federal, state and territory leaders early next year.

The Federal Government has committed to achieving a top world ranking in education by 2025.

A different international test, the Program for International School Assessment (PISA), is taken in 70 countries around the world every three years.

Australian students have been ranked relatively highly in past surveys.

Over three months until September, thousands of 15-year-old students took international exams in reading, mathematics and science.

The results from this year's PISA testing will be released next year.

Benchmark for education

But a global science education expert has warned international tests are counter-productive and will not result in a scientifically literate population.

Oslo University professor Svein Sjoberg says global education comparisons are too difficult to be meaningful.

"Australia has now committed itself more or less to use this international test as a kind of benchmark for the quality of education in Australia, together with national testing," he told PM.

"I think that is a trap. The PISA test does not address the curricular test or the syllabus that is set in each country.

"It is a test that is made by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) experts and is not related to what teachers are supposed to teach and students are supposed to learn in each country."

Professor Sjoberg says he is one of only a few who have independently analysed the PISA results.

He said countries with a high science ranking were also usually lower on the measure of interest in science.

He added it might be because students were being taught for a result rather than developing a passion.

"It seems like they are able to answer these sort of quiz-like questions, but they are not likely to pursue careers and study in these fields because they haven't really learnt to enjoy the subject and to ask critical questions," he said.

The PISA tests first took place about 12 years ago because global leaders wanted to compare national school systems.

The Australian Council for Educational Research's professor Geoff Masters feels the tests are worthwhile.

"International studies are able to give us a better understanding of how our students are performing and also an opportunity to try to understand practices, effective practices, effective policies internationally," he said.

Copy Finland? Why would we, when we can copy Amerika's recipe for retardation,  y'all

Why don't we spend more time teaching kids to read and write at the expense of wasteful programs that take up too much of the limited school day?

Maybe we don't need to teach our kids to read when they live in the lucky country, they can get by on luck, can't they?

The school curriculum needs a complete overhaul, but it won't happen, it cost too much to put this inferior system in place.

The Olympic and AFL bosses want us to put more sport in school. We can be a nation of Milo Kerrigan's.

as usual dope-nail's target is wrong. Finlands public system is great and the reason there are so few private schools there is because lack of need. Private schools in Australia exist because the public system is crap - not the other way around. So how about target the poxy quaility of PUBLIC education instread of your usual envy-based vitriole at the latest target of fancy.

If you hate private schools so much then lobby to have the public syetem adopt the Finish model. Within 10 years there would be little demand for private schools here and you can get your wish. But remember that the Finns already spend LESS per head on theier education system than we do in our publci system so the problem isnt money - its how it is done that is the problem.

You could increase public school funding by 50% and nothing would change because funding isnt the problem. And why does Finland do more with less money? in part because there is very little bureaucracy to fund whereas our Education Departments have more peopl on $300K than almost any other dept while some schools cant afford paper.