From Essential Learnings to Tasmania's Curriculum [electronic resource] : Will this Change Improve Curriculum Reform? / Michael G. Watt.
The purpose of this paper was to evaluate initiatives the state government announced in 2006 to review the curriculum and assessments, and enhance capacity building and accountability. The methodology for reviewing states' systemic reform policies devised by Achieve, an organisation based in Wa...
Saved in:
| Online Access: |
Full Text (via ERIC) |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[Place of publication not identified] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
2007.
|
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | The purpose of this paper was to evaluate initiatives the state government announced in 2006 to review the curriculum and assessments, and enhance capacity building and accountability. The methodology for reviewing states' systemic reform policies devised by Achieve, an organisation based in Washington, DC, was applied to identify issues and challenges confronting these initiatives, and determine whether they improve capacity building, accountability and public leadership. The results indicated that the initiatives took account of surveys conducted by the Australian Education Union and Tasmanian State School Parents and Friends, and the Reporting to Parents Taskforce. Comparisons with standards-based reforms in California, Indiana, and Massachusetts identified that some factors leading to success in these states were absent in Tasmania. Potential for improving capacity building and accountability has been met by an 18-month plan. David Bartlett, the new Minister for Education, has restored credible leadership following controversy over the Essential Learnings curriculum in 2005, but absense of a cross-sectoral group to provide strong leadership limits the likelihood of successful reform. Comparison with the controversy over the Profile of Learning in Minnesota revealed similarities to challenges faced in Tasmania. A set of recommendations is presented to meet challenges faced by curriculum reform in Tasmania. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Abstractor: Author. Educational level discussed: Elementary Secondary Education. |
| Physical Description: | 57 pages. |
| Type of Computer File or Data Note: | Text (Reports, Evaluative) Text (Speeches/Meeting Papers) |
| Preferred Citation of Described Materials Note: | Online Submission, Paper presented at the conference of the Australian Curriculum Studies Association, National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, July 8-10, 2007). |