Just as many girls don’t see themselves as having a maths brain,boys don’t see themselves as writers.
A spot at Parramatta High – a historic,partially selective school with a tiny catchment – is in high demand from families who live close but outside its zone
The state standards authority has refused to release full league tables for the first time in years,but a partial table online reveals the top 50 WA schools.
Perth Modern staff on Monday were told principal Lois Joll and associate principal Val Furphy had been told not to attend school that day.
Almost a third of the students offered a place at the state’s highest-achieving school,James Ruse Agricultural High,turn it down. The principal suspects it is partly due to misconceptions the school is a high-pressure ATAR factory.
Victoria’s select-entry high schools educate almost no Indigenous students and just 4.5 per cent of their students are disadvantaged,raising concerns underprivileged teens are missing out on the elite state schools.
Students at wealthy private schools benefit from strong alumni networks,and now selective schools are trying to enlist the support of their old boys and girls.
The tests,to be sat for the first time on Thursday,will put less emphasis on classroom assessment in a bid to be more inclusive of disadvantaged,disabled and female students.
The falling number of West Australian students choosing ATAR and the ever-expanding pathways to university has education researchers searching for more ways to measure student success.
Anagrams are out,harder comprehension questions are in,and the thinking skills paper will be difficult to finish for students sitting the new selective school test.
Thinking skills will be the focus of the new selective schools test,which experts say will tilt it in favour of critical and creative thinkers.