ABSTRACT
There are several seemingly intractable problems in education in Australia, and efforts to address them are gathering momentum even though educational reform and strategies for school improvement have been underway for nearly four decades. These problems include the disparity in achievement between high- and low-performing students (Program for International Student Assessment, 2006), including distressingly low levels of success for the nation’s indigenous students (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training, and Youth Affairs, 2008, 2009) a fragmented approach to school governance across the six states and two territories, where constitutional powers to make laws in relation to education lie; continuing and often debilitating debates about school choice, especially in relation to public (government, state) schools and private (nongovernment, independent) schools; and the content of curriculum and approaches to learning and teaching. Despite these problems, Australia’s students generally perform well in international tests of student achievement, such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Gonzales, 2008; Program for International Student Assesssment, 2006; Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, 2007). There is, however, a general view that the country could do much better, not only in addressing the aforementioned problems, but in ensuring that the system of education at all levels helps ensure that Australia will thrive in an era of globalization. The economic crises that occurred as the first decade of the 21st century drew to a close impacted Australia to a lesser degree than comparable countries. However, the need to set priorities in how to address the problems is critical.
