Education Forum Update, 25 November 2003

Education Forum Update, 25 November 2003

Welcome to the Education Forum Update, a regular round-up of all that is new at the Education Forum and its website.

Visit our website ( http://www.educationforum.org.nz) for links to the following recently added items.

Boy Trouble:

Research and rhetoric about boys' education. An address by Jennifer Buckingham in Auckland today (25 November) and Wellington tomorrow (26 November).

"Boys' declining achievement and engagement in school have been acknowledged as real and important problems ... some sort of consensus has been reached among educators and researchers about the causes of boys' educational disadvantage."

Both Sides Now:

The government is currently reviewing the school network, with hundreds of schools involved, because of the prospect of surplus capacity, empty classrooms and falling rolls. Read all about it from both sides: Education Minister the Hon Trevor Mallard and ACT education spokesperson Deborah Coddington, in their own words.

OpEds:

Issue 49, Plenty of evidence to justify competition in education, by Bruce Logan; Issue 48, Can parties reconcile differences for sake of education reform?, by Norman LaRocque; Issue 47, Raising the qualifications bar - is it worth it?, by Jean-Pierre de Raad.

Speech:

Moving School Reform Forward. 'A New Deal' brings together a comprehensive and coherent set of policy proposals for regulating the school sector, Norman LaRocque told a Christchurch gathering last week

Media releases:

In early November we welcomed the appointment of Bill English as National's education spokesperson; in late October we welcomed the launch of Independent Tertiary Institutions as a boost to leadership and quality control in the private education sector; and argued that the primary teachers' union had put the interests of its leaders above the interests of New Zealand children and families.

Don't forget that the November edition of Subtext (our in-depth newsletter for education policy news and critiques) is hot off the press and can also be read online.

And coming soon, in our December Subtext: why a report card of Quebec schools is causing such a fuss; the colourful past of our private tertiary education sector; hard evidence that house prices soar in Christchurch school zones ... plus much more.

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