A new National School Improvement Framework (NSIF) will be developed over the next three years and introduced in 2015 under changes to the Rewards for School Improvement initiative, School Education Minister Peter Garrett said today.

The Gillard Government will work with school authorities to develop the framework next year, with trials to take place in 2013. The first payments to schools will be made in 2015, based on their 2014 performance.

“This will allow us time to develop and trial the NSIF and ensure that it is embedded in schools as part of their regular review practice,” Mr Garrett said.

“For the first time all schools across Australia will be able to evaluate their practices and performance against national and local measures.

“This new framework will help all schools identify their strengths and weaknesses and plan for improvement. It will also allow those schools that show the greatest improvement to be recognised with a reward payment of up to $100,000.

“By 2015, schools will also have an additional two years of national data from which they can assess their performance and help identify areas needing improvement.”

Delaying the first payments under the fully implemented framework until 2015 will result in savings of $153.5 million over the three years to 2014.

The Gillard Government will work with schools and school systems over two years to align their existing performance frameworks with the new national one, consult with stakeholders and conduct trials.

About 500 schools are expected to receive the first payments.

Mr Garrett said the trials to be carried out in 2013 will help identify the best methods of measuring school improvements. This could include factors such as school attendance, literacy and numeracy results, and parental and community engagement.

“We expect that the new framework will involve nationally consistent public reporting via MySchool, feedback from parents and tracking how well a school performs over time,” he said.

“The trials will also look at how the unique challenges facing regional, rural and remote schools can be factored into the measurements of improvement.”