February 21, 2018
Federal MP Andrew Laming, chairman of the Education Standing Committee, has praised Murgon State High School for performing above expectations.
On Tuesday, Mr Laming said the school had turned out a higher quantity and quality of OP scores last year than models had predicted.
New data has revealed State high schools in Murgon and Charleville have topped the list of schools delivering OP participation numbers and scores above socio-economic expectations.
Mr Laming said the 2017 data helped present an accurate picture of education outcomes that couldn’t be skewed by schools which discouraged lower performers not to pursue an OP for fear of producing poor results.
“Some schools are cutting so many kids out of the OP program they artificially get a very high mean OP, but it means they’re just taking the cream and giving them an OP and then talking about their great results,” he said.
Mr Laming said the data showed State schools had the ability to compete against the most expensive and highly regarded schools.
“It’s a picture that shows some regional schools like Murgon and Charleville are hitting it out of the ballpark.”
