A Shorten Labor Government will make sure school funding is conditional on evidence-based learning programs which are proven to increase student results.
Labor will also provide $4.6 million to expand the use of Targeted Teaching – using accurate information about what students actually understand, and what they are ready to learn next.
This will put Australian students on the right track to meet Labor’s target for our schools to be back in the top five internationally for reading, maths and science by 2025.
Targeted teaching is about recognising that a one-size-fits-all approach to the classroom does not achieve the best results, and backing our educators in their hard work to support every student.
It means catching students before they fall too far behind, and making sure students who are ahead are still challenged to reach their full potential.
It also requires educators to assess their own teaching, keep what is working and change what is not.
Labor’s plan recognises that every dollar of taxpayer funds should be going toward programs which actually make a difference in the classroom.
Labor will immediately invest $4.6 million to identify the most effective Targeted Teaching resources, and develop guidance and support so schools and teachers can make the changes we need in the classroom.
Australian trials show targeted teaching has the potential to improve the proportion of students meeting early primary learning benchmarks in disadvantaged schools by up to 20 per cent.
Schools and school systems will be expected to have a proven strategy to lift student results.
Labor’s needs-based Your Child. Our Future plan will mean schools have the resources at the local level to support the implementation of programs like Targeted Teaching – with Labor investing $3.8 billion more in our schools than Mr Turnbull in 2018 and 2019 alone.
Labor has made education a priority because we know it is critical to Australia’s future economy.
You can’t have a plan for economic growth if you don’t have a plan to invest in education.
The choice for families is clear this election. A vote for Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals is a vote for a $50 billion tax cut for big business. A vote for Bill Shorten and Labor is a vote for strong schools.
WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY 2016
