1

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Measurement as a Driver of Change and Improvement in Public Sector Delivery

Ben RimmerDeputy Secretary, Strategic Policy and Implementation

20 November 2008

2

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

School effectiveness appears to vary widely across sectors and socio-economic status

School effectiveness measure based on VCE scores, by mean school SES and sector – Victoria (2000)

Source: S. Lamb, D. Jesson, R. Rumberger and R. Teese, School Performance and Value-adding: Results From Analysis of School Effectiveness (2004)

Analysis shows:

• Wide variance in school performance, not related to incoming aptitude or SES

• Many government schools perform very well, in fact 39% of government schools perform above the median for independent schools

• A number of independent and government schools perform poorly

• Catholic schools are more closely grouped around expected outcomes

3

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Evidence-based targets and public accountability have contributed to falling NHS waiting lists

Thousands of people waiting specified number of months from GP referral, United Kingdom

Source: UK Department of Health (2006) Hospital and NHS Performance

4

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Educational equity varies widely between countries

Source: OECD (2001) Knowledge and skills for life, Appendix B1, Table 8.1, p.308

High

Low

PISA Index of social background

Rea

ding

lite

racy

Steeper slope = less equitable results

Social Advantage

Finland

Canada

Australia

Germany

This gap is in the order of 3 years of

schooling

Social background & reading literacy (PISA 2000)