Performance information on schools should be available to parents and the wider community, the Federal Government says.
But Education Minister Julia Gillard has ruled out using the information to prepare league tables or rankings of schools across the country, something also opposed by teachers and principals.
ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr said parents should see more relevant information about the progress of their child.
''As a result of the work the ACT Government has done at the national level, parents and carers will now have more information about their child's progress than ever before, and we encourage parents and carers to use this information to speak with their child's teacher,'' he said.
''However, the ACT Government would be extremely cautious about any system that would rank schools based on a narrow interpretation of data. The quality of a school is determined by more than literacy and numeracy outcomes or the socio-economic status of its students.''
Ms Gillard said comprehensive information about how schools performed should be in the public domain along with information on the socio-economic status of students.
If one school was performing better than another, the information might reveal why, allowing for best practice to be spread from one to another, she said.
''We would like to see performance information available to the public and parents,'' she said.
''We want to understand how schools are attaining so we can compare schools in like positions and if one is doing better than the other, find out why.
''It's in everyone's best interests.''
But asked on radio if she would support the information being used in a league table, she said ''absolutely not''.
School principals welcomed the debate on performance information, with Australian Primary Principals Association president Leonie Trimper saying it had been an issue for schools, teachers and parents for some time.
''It's good to get this out in the open, it's been bubbling away for a long time,'' she said.
But Ms Trimper said principals remained opposed to the publishing of league tables or ratings on schools and wanted to hear what protocols the Government had in mind to prevent such misuse of the information.
The association said the move to more transparency should also include the funding given to schools.
''We know from our research that there are wild variations among schools and in some instances our poorer schools get less than our wealthier schools from government and it's just plain unfair,'' Ms Trimper said.
Opposition treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said any information about schools allowed parents to make a more informed choice about their childrens' education.
''People are entitled to know what's going on with the schools and how they compare,'' Mr Turnbull said.
But Australia's teachers said improving student performance and achievement required investment and publishing performance information could become a ''divisive sideshow''.
Australian Education Union national president Angelo Gavrielatos said, ''Raising literacy and numeracy benchmarks for primary-age school children and achieving a retention rate of 90 per cent to Year 12 or equivalent are critically important national priorities.
''Raising overall student performance and addressing under-achievement requires significant investment.
''Teachers know it and parents know it.'' AAP