Opening Day of Conference

Paula and I thought it was very ironic that the speakers were both from the "states".

Today we had the chance to speak to several Australian teachers. We found out the following:

• There are 3 types of schools- public, Catholic, and private.
• Parents pay a tuition for their children to attend the schools. The tuition can be between $400.00 to $15,000 a year. This does not include uniforms.
• There are no state approved textbooks. Teachers select the literature that fits the needs of their students.
• Australia has now adopted a standardized national test. Many educators feel that this might be a step backwards.
• Australia has dropped from the 7th most literate country to 8th. Teachers feel that this happened because they are not challenging the brighter students enough. Does this sound familiar?
• Australia is in the process of developing a national curriculum.