teaching and learning

This from The AGE today:

New teachers have lower standards of literacy and numeracy thanthose who entered teaching 20 years ago, a new study has found. The Australian National University research combined six surveys measuring the literacy and numeracy of 14-year-old school students.

The surveys then followed the same people into their mid and late 20s as they went on to further study or started careers.

Researchers Andrew Leigh and Chris Ryan found that in 1983, students entering teaching degrees tended to be in the 74th percentile – meaning they had better literacy and numeracy standards than 74 per cent of their age group.

By 2003, the average rank of new student teachers was 61 per cent.

Over the same period, the average rank of new teachers fell from 70 to 62.

Drs Leigh and Ryan blamed declining pay and rising inequality with other professions for much of the drop in standards.