Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/95079
forefront chosen the wrong school and stuffed it up from the outset. A few years ago, all parents were delivered a further shock. Over the past decade Australian students have fallen from second to seventh ranking in reading, and fifth to 13th in maths, compared with students in other countries. Not good. The OECD Programme for International S Student Assessment results in 2009 showed the Asian region had moved ahead, with Australia ranking behind China, South Korea and Singapore on all fronts. We are still performing above OECD average, but it's clear the standard elsewhere has improved while ours has slipped. However, clarification is needed. It turns out the result is attributable to a widening gap between top performing students and those at the bottom. That means the outcomes among the best students are as good as ever, but increasingly more school leavers can be categorised as below average. The Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling, released in December 2011, reminds us that "High-quality schooling … leads to many benefits for individuals and society, including higher levels of employment and earnings, and better health, chool is almost as arduous a journey for parents as it is for their children. On top of making sure homework is done on time, there's the nagging doubt you may have longevity, tolerance and social cohesion … Every school must be appropriately resourced to support every child and every teacher must expect the most from every child." If Australia doesn't pick up its game, our business and industry sectors will slowly become less competitive. The panel concluded that Australia "must prioritise support for its lowest performing students". Its solution? Throw more money at schooling, in particular government schools. It recommended a "schooling resource standard" providing loadings for schools that need extra funding based on socio- economic background, disability, English language proficiency, needs of Indigenous students, school size and location. A benchmark funding level would apply, derived from current levels at schools that produce the best performing kids. The socio-economic gap between rich and poor in Australia is widening and there is evidence that academic achievement for children is strongly linked to socio-economic levels. "There is a very strong connection between the social, economic and educational background of youngsters and how well they go at school," says Tony Vinson, an honorary professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at The University of Sydney. "The evidence is overwhelming." "The outcomes among the best students are as good as ever, but increasingly more school leavers can be categorised as below average." 47