Ms Gillard goes to Washington:
"But accents aside, Ms Gillard sees much common ground between Australia and the US, particularly when it comes to the challenges they face in reforming their education systems to bridge the gap between black and white, rich and poor.
'We are so much on the same page as the leading thinkers in America about the nature of our school reform agenda,' she says. This may sound ominous for teachers' unions, which are resisting Ms Gillard's moves to publish school performance data, and who fear the impact of an aggressive American-style approach to teacher accountability.
Ms Gillard cites common ground on the need for transparency to drive school improvement, a focus on literacy and numeracy, and a push to lift teacher quality and school leadership."
"But accents aside, Ms Gillard sees much common ground between Australia and the US, particularly when it comes to the challenges they face in reforming their education systems to bridge the gap between black and white, rich and poor.
'We are so much on the same page as the leading thinkers in America about the nature of our school reform agenda,' she says. This may sound ominous for teachers' unions, which are resisting Ms Gillard's moves to publish school performance data, and who fear the impact of an aggressive American-style approach to teacher accountability.
Ms Gillard cites common ground on the need for transparency to drive school improvement, a focus on literacy and numeracy, and a push to lift teacher quality and school leadership."