澳洲全国教学大纲机构的负责人Barry McGaw教授说，澳洲15岁年龄组的学生的阅读能力在国际间的比较中已经明显地下降了，部分原因是因为澳洲学校太过注重于学生基本技能，而对于更聪颖学生的复杂高级学习不够重视。
McGaw教授是澳洲Curriculum and Assessment Authority的主席，他分析了和其他发达国家相比澳洲学生阅读能力的下降的原因。他把此部分归结于因为澳洲学业表现最好的学生组别阅读能力的下降所致。
McGaw曾经是经合组织（Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development）教育部的主管，2000年澳洲在经合组织8个国家里排在第二，而到了2006年澳洲的排名下滑到了第六，也就是平均表现分数澳洲从528分下降到了513分。
McGaw教授说明从统计学上来说这个下滑是很显著的，他说这大部分是由于学业最好组别学生的能力下降所致。
“虽然经合组织的数据并不是即时的证明数据，但是至少这表明了澳洲学校太过注重于基本技能层面而对复杂高级的阅读能力不够重视。”
McGaw教授说，有些国家，例如芬兰和韩国有广泛的基础教育系统，这两个国家的表现要远远高于德国，而德国的基础教育系统缺乏公平性现在已经在国际排名里快速地下滑。
德国和澳洲类似，社会经济背景对于学生教育成就的影响比其他经合组织大部分国家都要大。澳洲和德国的社会经济弱势背景的学生要比其他国家同样low SES的学生表现更糟糕。
McGaw教授说：“在芬兰和德国相似社会经济弱势背景学生之间的教育成绩上，有三年学习年级的差距。而澳洲相似的社会经济弱势背景学生在其中间值，也就是落后芬兰一年半。”
他说，在德国，11岁的学生会被分到两个不同类型的学校就读，一个是vocational school，另一个是academic school，其理由是“基于替学生选择最适合他们的未来教育类型”。
“社会经济弱势背景学生通常就会在低层次的vocational school结束学业，并且有很糟糕的学业成绩。而高社会经济背景的学生被送到高层次的academic school，通常他们会有高质量的学业成绩。”
“这样的基础教育系统更大程度上加强了已经存在的社会阶级差别，凸显了已经存在的社会阶级特权，并拒绝任何可能的改变。”
McGaw教授说，澳洲应该向教育水平高的国家看齐，应该向教育高公平的国家看齐，例如芬兰、韩国、日本和加拿大都是榜样。
澳洲教育工会的主席Angelo Gavrielatos对此评论说，澳洲的教育政策正在步德国的后尘。
他说：“McGaw教授的分析显示澳洲教育政策正在走一条没有提供公平性和优秀性的道路。”
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Focus on basic skills blamed for decline in reading standards
Anna Patty EDUCATION EDITOR
September 21, 2010 - 3:00AM
THE reading abilities of Australian 15-year-olds have declined significantly in international comparisons, partly because schools are focused on basic skills and not on more sophisticated learning for brighter students, says the head of the national curriculum authority, Barry McGaw.
Professor McGaw, the chairman of the Curriculum and Assessment Authority, has analysed Australia's decline in reading performance in comparison with other developed countries. It appeared this was linked to a fall in the standards of top-performing students.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for which Professor McGaw previously worked as director for education, ranked Australia in tied second place with eight other countries in 2000. Australia's position slipped to sixth place in 2006, with its mean performance dropping from 528 to 513 points.
Describing this fall as statistically significant, Professor McGaw said it was mostly a result of a decline in student performance at the highest level.
''The reasons for this are not immediately evident from the data, but it [is] at least clear that it is due to schools focusing more on basic achievement levels and not so much on the development of sophisticated reading of complex text.''
Professor McGaw said countries such as Finland and South Korea, which have comprehensive schooling systems, had far outperformed Germany, which had a less equitable schooling system and had fallen sharply in international rankings.
In Germany, like Australia, social background was more closely linked to educational achievement than in the OECD as a whole. Socially disadvantaged students do much worse in Australia and Germany than in other countries.
''Their results are inequitable in the sense that differences among students in their literacy levels reflect to a marked extent differences in their social background,'' Professor McGaw said.
''The gap in educational achievement between similarly socially disadvantaged students in Germany and Finland represents about three years of schooling. Similarly disadvantaged students in Australia fall about halfway between, about one and a half [years] behind their counterparts in Finland.''
Professor McGaw said that in Germany students from the age of 11 were separated into vocational and academic schools of various types on the basis of the ''educational future judged to be most appropriate for them''.
''Students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds generally end up in low-status vocational school and achieve poor educational results. Students from socially advantaged backgrounds are directed into high-status academic schools where they achieve high-quality results.
''The schooling system largely reproduces the existing social arrangements, conferring privilege where it already exists and denying it where it does not.''
Professor McGaw said Australia should aspire to match top-performing and high-equity countries such as Finland, South Korea, Japan and Canada.
The president of the Australian Education Union, Angelo Gavrielatos, said the country's education policy was heading in the same direction as that of Germany.
''This analysis by Professor McGaw shows that Australian education policy is on a trajectory which will not deliver equity and excellence,'' he said.
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/e ... 20100920-15ju1.html
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这个阅读能力是怎么测试的?
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The studies use test results from the Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA) conducted by the OECD in 2003 and 2006 for 15 year-old students to compare outcomes for students from different socio-economic backgrounds enrolled in schools with different socio-economic compositions. The results are summarised in the attached chart.
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