A new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report has called for improving school leadership to be a priority for national education policies.
As the Prime Minister outlined at the National Press Club, the Rudd Government wants school leadership in Australia strengthened, particularly in schools where the learning needs of students are most acute.
The OECD publication states that good teachers are the number one factor for excellence in student achievement but next comes high-quality leadership. The OECD says governments must do more to recruit and train the best people to run schools.
The Rudd Government is already establishing a National Partnership on Quality Teaching to inspire and to reward principals and our best teachers.
We know that the quality of our classroom teachers is critical to giving every child the best start in life.
Under the Quality Teaching National Partnership, school authorities will be encouraged to reward our highest performing classroom teachers and provide incentives for them to teach in our most challenging schools.
We will encourage a wider range of skills and experience in schools, using specialist teaching expertise to the full and doing a better job in meeting every student’s needs.
School principals will be given the autonomy to make more staffing and salary decisions to tackle local problems like poor literacy and numeracy.
Our reforms will encourage teachers to spend their time doing what they do best – teaching, and not on paperwork better handled by support staff.
As in Australia, many countries are experiencing school leader workforce challenges, with difficulty in both attraction and retention.
The Government’s reform package will include measures to help recruit the nation’s most talented graduates into teaching. They will be given an accelerated pathway into teaching, placed into the most challenging school environments and paid at a higher rate.
The OECD Improving School Leadership series is available:
In January 2008 the Minister approved provision of the Background Report to the OECD to assist preparation of the International Comparative Report and is available