Melbourne-based think tank the Grattan Institute has just released a great paper on teacher effectiveness, which it argues is critical to boosting our educational outcomes and productivity:
Investing in our teachers, investing in our economy
The paper argues in favour of measures to improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, including recognising and rewarding effective teachers. It notes that government efforts to reduce class sizes have not yielded improved educational outcomes. This makes sense. If you have mediocre teachers, giving them more one-on-one time with individual students isn’t going to benefit those students much.
Related Queensland Economy Watch post:
Queensland Economy Watch 
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“It notes that government efforts to reduce class sizes have not yielded improved educational outcomes.”
Can I please get a reference for this statement? I’ve been working in the education industry here in Qld for a number of years and if you speak to ANY teacher working in the state school system and they will say to you… “what reduction in class sizes?”
Candice – the Grattan Institute report that I’ve linked to in the blog post based its observation on international evidence, not Qld or Australian evidence, which I should have made clear. On reducing average class size, the Grattan Institute report notes (on p. 4):
*The evidence does not support these policies. The vast majority of studies around the world have shown that class size reductions do not significantly improve schooling and student outcomes. For example, recent evidence from Florida that emphasised class size reductions in the early years of education shows that policies reducing average class size by about 2.5-3 students had no impact on improved schooling, but cost over $1 million dollars per school per year. * * *