SMARTER SCHOOLS national partnerships
SmarterSchools > Supplementary Information > Smarter Schools National Partnerships - Frequently Asked Questions
The Smarter Schools National Partnerships are part of a new funding approach that engages all school systems, including the non-government sector, in partnerships to improve educational outcomes for all students, particularly students who need it most.
The Australian Government entered into National Partnerships with the states and territories in the three key areas of: addressing disadvantage, improving teacher quality, and raising literacy and numeracy outcomes.
More information about the National Partnership funding approach under the Intergovernmental Agreement is available from the COAG.gov.au website.
The National Partnership for Low Socio-economic Status School Communities runs over seven years, from 2008-09 to 2014-15.
The National Partnership for Literacy and Numeracy runs over four years, from 2008-09 through to 2011-12.
The National Partnership for Improving Teacher Quality runs over five years, from 2008-09 through to 2012-3.
The Australian Government is investing approximately $2.5 billion through the Smarter Schools National Partnerships:
The Australian Government is providing funding to each state and territory under the Smarter Schools National Partnerships. States and territories are also contributing funding to the National Partnerships, which includes matching co-investment in the case of the Smarter Schools National Partnership for Low Socio-economic Status School Communities.
The Australian Government worked with state and territory education authorities, including the non-government school authorities, to develop detailed implementation plans.
States and Territories have the flexibility to decide how they implement specific reforms. That is, they can make the changes and run the programs that are most relevant and appropriate to their state.
States and territories will submit annual and progress reports to the Australian Government. Reports will be published on the Smarter Schools website.
Under the Improving Teacher Quality National Partnership the Australian Government plays a lead role in introducing consistent national approaches in areas such as professional standards for teachers, teacher registration for graduate teachers and the certification/accreditation of Accomplished and Leading teachers. States and territories will be responsible for the introduction of these nationally agreed reforms in their specific state or territory.
Over 2,500 primary and secondary schools across Australia are participating in the Smarter Schools National Partnerships for Low Socio-economic Status School Communities and/or for Literacy and Numeracy.
Lists of participating schools can be found on the State and Territory Overview pages.
Selected schools can participate in the Smarter Schools National Partnership for Low Socio-economic Status School Communities for up to four years. The level of funding each school receives will depend on the school size, location and the reforms being implemented.
The schools selected for assistance, and their share of National Partnership funds, is determined by each state and territory. You can find details about how much support each school has received in their school plan, accessed on their school website.
Funding allocations to states and territories under the Smarter Schools National Partnership for Literacy and Numeracy are based on need, indicated by the states and territories’ share of the total number of students at or below the minimum standards in reading and numeracy for Years 3, 5 and 7 (NAPLAN 2008).
Further information about Smarter Schools National Partnership activities in your state or territory can be found at:
ACT OverviewNSW OverviewVIC OverviewTAS OverviewSA OverviewWA OverviewNT OverviewQLD Overview
You can also find more information about schools participating in the Smarter Schools National Partnerships by using the Discover Participating Schools tool.
There could be a number of reasons why your school is not participating. In selecting participating schools, education authorities took into account a range of factors, including the readiness of the school to participate in, and benefit from, the National Partnerships, as well as the funding the school receives from other sources.
For more information about why your school is not participating in the Smarter Schools National Partnerships, please contact your relevant education authority.
School level reforms are already being implemented in National Partnership schools. Participating schools will identify reform activities and the progress of those activities in their school level plans. These plans are available on participating schools' websites, and state and territory education authority's websites.
Yes. Reform activities under each of the Smarter Schools National Partnerships have a strong focus on closing the gap between the educational outcomes of Indigenous students and non-Indigenous students.
Further information about reform activities in each State and Territory can be found on the State and Territory implementation page.
Targets for improvement under the Smarter Schools National Partnership for Literacy and Numeracy were negotiated with states and territories. The Council of Australian Governments will measure performance against these targets using NAPLAN data as well as local measures of literacy and numeracy.
States and territories will submit annual reports and progress reports which outline how they have implemented reforms as part of all three Smarter Schools National Partnerships, and their progress in achieving milestones agreed in the Bilateral Agreement and Final Implementation Plan. These reports can all be found on the State and Territory implementation page and are updated progressively.
States and territories will receive reward funding for demonstrated improvements in literacy and numeracy under the Smarter Schools National Partnership for Literacy and Numeracy.
All states and territories are eligible to access reward funding. The achievement of negotiated literacy and numeracy targets will trigger the payment of reward funds.
Under the Improving Teacher Quality National Partnership, reward payments will be made to states and territories which implement reward reforms and demonstrate achievements in the implementation of these reforms. Reward reforms aim to reward achievement of ambitious jurisdiction-based reform built on the facilitation base.
States and territories were able to select which TQNP reward reforms to undertake in their jurisdiction from a menu of six reward reforms:
The Council of Australian Governments Reform Council (CRC) will be responsible for assessing implementation and achievement of reward reforms.
Facilitation funding is provided to states and territories so that they can implement reform activities under the Smarter Schools National Partnerships. All states and territories receive facilitation funding.
As part of the Smarter Schools National Partnerships, six areas were identified as being of national importance in progressing the reform agenda. All states and territories are working together to reform these areas. The National Key Reform Projects are:
Further information is available on the National Key Reform Projects page.