NAPLAN: doom, gloom, and blame

 

The release of NAPLAN data last week unleashed a flurry of doom, gloom and blame. As if we needed further confirmation, the stubborn and oft-cited statistic of 1 in 3 students failing to reach proficiency has been confirmed by yet another national test.

‘Stagnant’ is not a positive adjective for an education system, but nonetheless it seems to apply here. National results are stagnant, but so too is the achievement of the most disadvantaged children in our care. Socio-economic status, First Nations status and postcode remain stubbornly reliable predictors of achievement throughout schooling.

Some point to this as evidence that education is purely a reflection of a broader issue of social disadvantage. However, the fact that years of compulsory education does so little to change the outcomes of the nation’s children points to a series of missed opportunities.

We know that differences in achievement are present from school entry, and a lot of these are related to demographic background. We know that these differences get bigger over time, which has been confirmed yet again by our most recent NAPLAN data.

More importantly, we know that early identification and targeting of these issues works. When academic difficulties are identified promptly and receive high quality support, both children and society stand to benefit for years to come.

On the other hand, if children are locked into cycles of underachievement and disadvantage, that’s not destiny. That’s a failure in our responsibility to the next generation — a failure we have both the power and duty to correct.

But that’s not to say it’s easy. Processes for identifying and supporting kids at risk of struggling need to be based on solid research and implemented systematically to be successful. That means using tools we know are accurate in predicting which children will struggle, using the tools early, and acting on the predictions in ways we know are effective.

This is largely why efforts to date have not been successful. This is not just a matter of money, but of leadership.

With so much talk about consistent screening and education safety nets in the government’s new Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, now is the time to attack this issue with the focus and resolve it deserves.

We must move beyond the urge to preserve the status quo out of fear of causing offence. What we are doing now is not working — either to improve achievement or to reduce disadvantage — and hasn’t been for 20 years.

This isn’t due to a lack of effort on the part of Australian schools and teachers. But hard work only gets you so far.

It is high quality tools and high-level support for effective teaching practices that translate this effort into real impact.

We know a great deal about how to identify children who will struggle at school. We know we need to do it early. We know that if we provide high-quality support to these students, we can close the gap. Now we just need to have the courage to make that a reality.

If we really want to improve the achievement of our children, we need high-quality screening tools for literacy and numeracy and evidence-based teaching responses.

NAPLAN 2024 only tells us, yet again, what we’ve known for many years. It’s time to start listening.

Kelly Norris is a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Independent Studies.

Photo by Gonzalo Álvarez Balcazar.