Student Academic Achievements

The Hon. CHARLIE LYNN: My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Education and Training. Why does the Government refuse to give parents of schoolchildren information about student academic achievements, to allow them to compare results over time and with other schools, when principals, teachers, parents and regional parents and citizens bodies are provided with that information?

The Hon. CARMEL TEBBUTT: The question provides me with an opportunity to provide the House with some important information regarding school annual reports.

The Hon. Michael Costa: Give him the answer.

The Hon. CARMEL TEBBUTT: I am very happy to answer the question. I have indicated on many occasions, when similar questions were asked, that the Government acknowledges that school annual reports, published by each New South Wales public school, need to improve. Parents want more meaningful information. The Government has made it very clear that we do not support the publication of league tables.

The Hon. Catherine Cusack: What about student results, not school results?

The Hon. CARMEL TEBBUTT: The Hon. Charlie Lynn asked about student results that parents can access. Does the Hon. Charlie Lynn want to know about annual school reports or individual school reports?

The Hon. Charlie Lynn: Individual.

The Hon. CARMEL TEBBUTT: I am happy to address individual school reports, because the Government acknowledges that there needs to be changes there.

[Interruption]

That information is already provided to parents. For the clarification of honourable members I advise that the department has been involved in two processes. Firstly, it has been involved in the process of revising annual school reports so that they provide more meaningful information to parents, including information about how schools perform in basic skills tests and value adding. Some schools already provide that information. The department is working on a process under which it will be made much clearer to all schools that there is to be a consistent format for reporting information to school communities.

The department has been involved also in a project, working with Parents and Citizens Associations New South Wales and other interested stakeholders, for revising individual reports provided to parents, particularly for primary school students. That work has been done in conjunction with a project undertaken by the Board of Studies about the overcrowded curriculum and whether there needs to be mandatory outcomes for the primary school curriculum. Individual school reports will provide more detailed information to parents. I have seen a number of individual school reports that are sent to parents and on the whole they are pretty good. They are clear and easily understood. However, parents are seeking consistency across schools so that if a student changes schools the parents are more easily able to understand individual reports and are able to compare the new report to an earlier report.

The Government will provide that information to parents through individual school reports. We are working closely in conjunction with Parents and Citizens Associations New South Wales and there will be ample consultation and ample opportunity for parental feedback about whether the proposed format for individual reports meets their needs. The Government rejects the fairly simplistic approach taken by the Federal Government regarding reporting individual school achievements. For example, the Federal Government claimed that it is useful to rank kindergarten students; that is not something that the majority of parents want. I do not believe that parents see a need to rank kindergarten students. That is something that the Federal Government is trying to impose.

I believe that parents have moved beyond simply seeking an A, B, C, D, E report. Parents want more information, and the Federal Government has underestimated the knowledge of and interest that parents take in their child's progress. Nonetheless, we accept that parents are looking for clear reports in easy to understand language and for a level of consistency in school reports across the system, and the Government will provide that.