More resourcing, professional development for teachers could help improve NAPLAN results

Australia Broadcast Center

5 days ago

One in three students across the country are not meeting expectations in numeracy and literacy according to NAPLAN results.
While there have been some improvements, after 17 years of testing, Australia is yet to see a big turnaround in NAPLAN results.
"NAPLAN shows us the same story each year; postcode, culture and privilege still shape opportunity," La Trobe University School of Education Dean, Professor Joanna Barbousas, said.
The Grattan Institute's Education Program Director, Jordana Hunter, said Australians should not be comfortable with the results.
"We have to remember there are children behind each of those data points who are missing out on future life opportunities," Dr Hunter said.
So why are so many students still missing the mark?
"It's not about individual shortcomings, it's about a system that hasn't kept pace with what we know works," Professor Barbousas said.
"This includes how we prepare teachers for the classroom."
Exceeding: Exceeds expectations at the time of testing
Strong: Meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing
Developing: Indicates the student is working towards expectations at the time of testing
Needs additional support: Indicates student is not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing and is likely to need help to progress
The Grattan Institute said all states and territories should be aiming to get 90 per cent of students to the proficient level in reading and numeracy.
It thinks it is an achievable goal if more is invested in professional development for teachers, as has happened in Singapore and the UK.
"It's not enough just to get an initial teaching education degree from a university," Dr Hunter said.
"Professionals right across the system — lawyers, doctors, accountants — are expected to continue to invest in their professional development over their careers, and for teachers it's just the same."
Professor Barbousas agreed that better teacher education was needed.
That means ensuring teachers are properly trained in explicit teaching techniques, particularly when it comes to literacy teaching.
The new teaching method is being rolled out across the country and is a condition of the federal government's $16 billion over 10 years' funding agreement with the states.
The federal funding agreement requires schools to do phonics and numeracy checks in Year 1, either this year or next year.
But the Grattan Institute said that early testing had not been rolled out consistently across the country and it needed to go further.
That means offering students who do not meet benchmarks extra, intensive help so they can catch up with their peers.
The Grattan Institute would also like to see the numeracy skills of primary teachers lifted.
"This is a bit of a challenge, particularly in mathematics … because primary school teachers are generalists and they don't always have strong maths background themselves," Dr Hunter said.
School attendance has been sliding in Australia since before the pandemic.
"I do think we need a national conversation about resetting the norms, where it is everyone's business to be making sure that young people go to school," Dr Hunter said.
She said poor attendance meant students not only missed out on learning opportunities, but on social interaction too.
Dr Hunter said school behaviour also needed to be addressed, with Australia having the dubious reputation of having some of the most disrupted classrooms in the OECD.
"If the teacher is having a really hard time engaging young people in the classroom, there's not a lot of learning happening, and it can be quite a challenge for students with additional learning needs," she said.
The Northern Territory consistently records the worst NAPLAN results in the country across year levels.
More than half of students in the territory do not meet numeracy and reading proficiency standards in Year 3.
Tasmania also lags behind the rest of the country with 14.4 per cent of Year 9 students needing additional support with their reading.
Australian Education Union deputy president Meredith Peace said Tasmania and the Northern Territory had higher numbers of students experiencing disadvantage, and more specialist support staff were needed.
"In the public school system we've seen more than a decade of public schools being underfunded and not having the resources," Ms Peace said.
Victoria has recorded improvements, particularly in the primary school years.
"Victoria's NAPLAN results are no accident — they are the product of our record investment in schools and the efforts of our dedicated kids, teachers, principals, parents and carers," Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll said.
NSW NAPLAN results exceeded the national average in writing, reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.
Queensland teachers have announced they will go on strike partly to secure better pay and conditions.
Ms Peace said teachers were under pressure and underpaid.
NSW has come to an agreement on teacher salaries. Other states, including Victoria, are about to start negotiations with teachers.
The union said teacher shortages and concerns about big class sizes needed to be addressed.
"When you've got smaller class sizes, you're able to provide the individual attention," Ms Peace said.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said NAPLAN results showed encouraging signs of improvement in numeracy and literacy.
But he said there was more work to do, and reforms tied to the funding agreement were starting to roll out.
"This is not a blank cheque. This funding is tied to real and practical reforms," he said.
Associate Professor Marian Vidal-Fernandez, from the University of Sydney School of Economics, agreed the funding would help.
"In both primary and secondary settings, targeted literacy and numeracy programs, early diagnostic assessments, and support staff like speech pathologists and instructional coaches, can make a difference, especially when implemented early and consistently."
Associate Professor Vidal-Fernandez said other important areas within education needed to be considered.
"Many areas that significantly impact student wellbeing and long-term success — such as bullying prevention, arts programs, sports, and second language learning — are not captured in NAPLAN data.