Teachers brace for another New York initiative

Job tenure tied to student performance may be just around the corner, writes Heath Gilmore.

Photo courtesy of http://www.abc.net.au

Julia Gillard is fuelling speculation the federal government will consider report cards for teachers, based on class performance.

The Minister for Education has refused to back away from supporting new measures being introduced by the New York schools chancellor, Joel Klein, tying tenure of teachers to the performance of their students in standardised testing.

The minister has embraced the New York model of publicly comparing the test results of schools with the launch of the My School website, which has resonated with Australian parents.

This month Mr Klein announced that probationary teachers would need to prove themselves in the classroom before being granted tenure.

Asked about the measures, Ms Gillard said: ”We obviously take an interest in developments overseas and strongly support transparency in schools. But we have already announced [changes] to My School for next year, including school funding and the next round of national testing.”

Rest of the article available at http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/teachers-brace-for-another-new-york-initiative-20100221-onzk.html