“Sadly, we don’t have the same level of demand from the public to lift school education as we do in virtually any other area of public policy.”<\/p>\n
Mr Fahey is particularly concerned about the large number of students who need additional support, warning that many never catch up.<\/p>\n
“This is a code red for your students’ achievement in school. Children who start behind and underachieve in NAPLAN have little to no chance of achieving at year level expectations by the time they finish school,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Glenn Fahey from the Centre for Independent Studies said children who start behind have little chance of meeting academic expectations by the time they finish school. (ABC News: Chris Taylor)<\/p>\n
“We must demand urgency when it comes to school education, the time for incrementalism has passed, the lives of children are at risk when we get education wrong here in Australia.”<\/p>\n
NAPLAN is an annual test of students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 which aims to give a national snapshot as well as individual markers of progress in basic literacy and numeracy.<\/p>\n
The agency that runs the test \u2014 the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) \u2014 described the results as “broadly stable” but with some signs of improvement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stephen Gniel, from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, said the results showed some signs of improvement. (ABC News: Billy Draper)<\/p>\n
“We want to obviously see students moving through those proficiency levels. We’ve seen some movement in the right direction in some of those areas this year, particularly in years 5, 7 and 9 in numeracy,” ACARA CEO Stephen Gniel said.<\/p>\n
- \n
- In reading, on average 68.2 per cent of students achieved at \u201cstrong” or \u201cexceeding\u201d levels.\u00a0<\/li>\n
- In numeracy, on average 66.8 per cent of students achieved at \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201cexceeding\u201d levels.<\/li>\n
- In writing, on average 66.6 per cent of students achieved at \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201cexceeding\u201d levels.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
However, ACARA highlighted persistent trends that have seen Indigenous, remote and rural students, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds lagging well behind their peers.<\/p>\n
“At a national level, we need to continue to put our collective attention and collective action towards supporting those students in regional and remote schools,” Mr Gniel said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One third of Australian students aren’t meeting expectations for literacy and numeracy. (ABC News: Evan Young)<\/p>\n
“Disproportionately, as well as our kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, our Indigenous kids, there’s still areas for us to focus on, and NAPLAN points that out.”<\/p>\n
New teaching resources launched to tackle ’30-year policy failure’<\/a><\/p>\n
New resources launched by Australia’s Education Research Organisation will arm all teachers with the skills to teach writing.<\/p>\n
Education Minister Jason Clare noted the improvements in some areas but said a new $16 billion public school funding deal was tied to reforms to lift performance.<\/p>\n
“The improvements in literacy and numeracy are good news, but there’s more work to do,” he said.<\/p>\n
“That’s what the new agreements we’ve now signed with every state and territory are all about. They’re the biggest investment by the Australian government in public schools ever, and this is not a blank cheque. This funding is tied to real and practical reforms.”<\/p>\n
NAPLAN backlash<\/p>\n
However, many education academics are concerned that reporting on NAPLAN is “overblown” and contributing to chronic shortages of teachers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr Fiona Longmuir from Monash University said the challenges around NAPLAN were damaging for teacher morale. (ABC News: Billy Draper)<\/p>\n
“Teachers are hearing all of these stories, all of these big challenges, you know ‘NAPLAN is a disaster’ and it’s damaging their motivation and morale,” said Dr Fiona Longmuir from Monash University.<\/p>\n