There has been an ongoing debate about how the performance of schools should be reported to parents.

In particular, there has been heated disagreement about whether making such data available will lead to the development of ‘school league tables’.

According to the following paper, prepared by prominent Australian researchers for the Australian education ministers, nationally comparable data about school performances should be reported to the public, but should not be used to create league tables.

The report provides advice based on a review of recent Australian and international research and experience in reporting on the performances of schools.

The question remains, of course, even if the information should not be used to create league tables, will that stop people wanting to create league tables anyway.

Follow this link to look at what the experts told the ministers: http://research.acer.edu.au/ar_misc/8/