The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard is pleased to confirm today that the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, Mr Joel Klein, will visit Australia in November to share his experience on transforming the New York City school system.
Ms Gillard met Chancellor Klein during her recent visit to the USA and was impressed by the remarkable progress he has driven in lifting student achievement, especially in disadvantaged areas.
UBS, a leading financial firm, has generously offered to sponsor Mr Klein’s visit and I welcome the active involvement of UBS in promoting the importance of education.
Building strong connections between businesses and schools is essential to building a thriving and productive education community.
Highlights of Mr Klein’s itinerary will include a major public address and a dinner with leaders from the business and school sectors.
Mr Klein is sure to bring energy and a new perspective to the current debate about how to improve schooling in Australia.
The reforms in New York City have focused on transforming education systems to meet 21st century purposes, making schools more accountable for their teaching and learning, attracting and retaining the best teachers and empowering principals and school leaders to drive academic and cultural change in schools.
These reforms have seen remarkable outcomes, including:
- significant increases in school graduation rates in New York City since 2002, after a decade of near-stagnation; and
- continual improvement in student achievement against State maths and reading standards.
The Rudd Government has outlined its goals for quality education in Australia, to ensure every Australian child gets a world class education, building a stronger future for the nation.
To meet these goals we must look at the evidence of what does and does not work, and by learning from successful experiences and programs both nationally and overseas.