Australia:

Separating students into A and B classes doesn’t help students

The Age reports that dividing students into classes based on their ability can send a message that there’s ‘no point trying to improve’. Research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reveals that 98 per cent of Australian secondary schools use some form of streaming including separating students based on ability in subjects such as maths and English, or across a whole year level. However, a literature review published in the Australian Journal of Education has said that this practice does not improve academic outcomes for students.

Teacher accused of secretly filming students getting undressed

The ABC reports that a Western Australian primary school teacher has appeared before the Perth magistrates Court this week accused of installing a camera in a toilet and recording students while they were changing for swimming lessons. The camera was found by another member of staff at the government school. The teacher who is facing 42 charges of indecently recording or attempting to indecently record children has been stood down from his teaching job by the Education Department.

Parents made to pay for children’s poor school attendance

Parents in Western Australia are being made to answer for their children’s poor school attendance and woeful behaviour in classrooms. Perth Now reportsthat 80 parents were forced to sign ‘responsible parenting agreements’ with the Education Department, and those who fail to honour the agreements can be fined up to $1000. Education Department director-general Sharyn O’Neill has said it is time for some parents to take their ‘moral responsibility seriously’.

Court rejects former school principal’s appeal over affair with 17-year-old student

The Age reports that a former Victorian school principal who was found guilty by a County Court jury of three charges of committing an indecent act with a child aged 17 who was under his care, supervision or authority has had his appeal dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal held that the original verdict of guilty was ‘logical and reasonable’ given the fact that the principal continued to communicate with the girl after he was suspended from the school. The now 56-year-old was sentenced to a three-year Community Corrections Order and placed on the sex offenders register for eight years.

International

New primary school tests said to discriminate against dyslexic students

The Guardian reports that the British Government’s ‘pedantic’ new spelling tests for primary school children will stifle creativity  and discriminate against pupils with dyslexia, according to some teachers and campaigners. The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) has said it has been inundated by calls from primary head teachers who are alarmed about the new system that will require 10 and 11-year-olds to spell more than 100 key words before they are judged to have reached the expected education standards. One BDA helpline manager has said that the test is ‘discriminatory because pupils who fail English will be disadvantaged.’

Teacher resigns following allegations of supplying students with alcohol

A teacher from Virginia in the United States has resigned and lost his teaching licence after he was investigated for allegedly supplying high school students with alcohol on a school trip to Germany. NBC Washington reports that the teacher encouraged the students to drink to the point of intoxication, and both encouraged and participated in sex acts with two of the teenagers. Police have been alerted about the accusations but no criminal charges have been filed against the teacher due to the fact that the alleged misconduct occurred overseas.