Full list: Which South Australian public schools are NAPLAN high achievers?

Today we launch a new data-driven series that gives parents unprecedented insight into our public schools. Here we reveal which schools have the most impressive NAPLAN results. SEARCHABLE DATABASE: COMPARE THE RESULTS

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Today The Advertiser launches a new data-driven series that gives parents unprecedented insight into our public schools — from academic results to attendance rates and funding sources. First up, we reveal which schools have the most impressive NAPLAN results.

Teachers, experts and even the Education Department that administers the tests urge parents to exercise extreme caution when comparing NAPLAN results between schools.

However, this data provides a user-friendly snapshot showing which schools have the highest proportion of high achievers — students scoring in the highest two bands — for NAPLAN’s reading and literacy tests across Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

To explore this data, either search by school name or click on the arrows for each category to filter the data in either ascending or descending order. For best usability on mobile devices, switch your phone to landscape orientation or tap here if using our app.

East Marden Primary School principal Julie James said schools had far more information than the raw NAPLAN numbers.

She said this was used not to compare schools, but how to improve within the school.

“Parents don’t get the really fine-grained data as the school does. We can pick the trends and find a gap in what we are doing, like one small aspect of numeracy,’’ she said.

“Students may be getting the measurement questions wrong and that is useful within the school.

“Another example is our Year 3 results are very strong, which shows the lower primary teachers are building a really strong base.

“There are also plenty of good reasons to be at a school, like the multicultural aspect of out school. NAPLAN just tells you one measure; how the school is performing in a testing situation on three days of the year.

“People will go a long way to come to the schools they think are best, but I would not be coming to one of then necessarily at the expense of a local school and local community.”

Glenburnie Primary School near Mt Gambier, headed by principal Sam Griffith, is celebrating a standout NAPLAN performance.

The school’s Year 3 reading results were the best in the state between 2015-17, with 76 per cent of these students reaching a high achievement.

Glenburnie Primary School principal Sam Griffith with Year 3 students Remi and Riley. Picture: Frank Monger Photography

But Education Department executive director of schools Anne Millard said raw test scores provided little information for parents.

“We would sound a strong note of caution against using raw NAPLAN and SACE scores to judge whether a school is right for your family,’’ she said.

“Dozens of complex, non-school factors influence raw results and the data tells you very little about culture and environment.

“For us the measure of success is the ability to deliver sustained growth based on each student’s starting point and progress over time.’’

President of the South Australian Association of School Parent Communities Jenice Zerna said NAPLAN results could be manipulated by schools practising and poorer students not attending on the three test days each year.

“We advise parents to have a discussion with the principal, talk to other parents, and students,’’ she said.

“Before picking a school ask questions about responding to parent inquiries, reporting to parents, student wellbeing, behaviour policies of the school, other policies, and to see how well the school engages parents in their children’s learning.’’

AEU vice president Lara Golding said 9 out of 10 teachers rejected the usefulness of the system. “The AEU is calling for comprehensive review of NAPLAN including the voice of the profession,’’ she said.

Flinders University expert Dr Jessie Jovanovic said NAPLAN was also only a snapshot on days of testing and was conducted in very different school communities.

“Population-level data like the Australian early development census offers some sense of the needs of specific communities and how they are changing over time,’’ she said.

“Schools that are actively engaged with their community’s data usually have a site improvement plan that provides direction for supporting more children and families to be “on-track”.’

Flinders University education leadership expert Dr Andrew Bills said NAPLAN had a place but was not “the end all” for parents.

“Is schooling better after 30 years of increased regulatory control with standards, NAPLAN, MySchool, schools selling their wares in the education marketplace? New Zealand is higher on the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment than Australia and yet we have much more regulatory control.’’

Glenburnie Primary School junior students Alfie and Lucy. Picture: Frank Monger Photography

TOP OF THE CLASS

Figure indicates the percentage of students who scored in the highest two bands in NAPLAN testing

ALL YEARS READING 2015-2017

Norwood Primary School 65%

Stirling East Primary School 62%

Linden Park Primary School 61%

Rose Park Primary School 60%

Highgate School 57%

Paracombe Primary School 57%

Hawthorndene Primary School 56%

East Adelaide School 55%

East Marden Primary School 55%

Laura Primary School 55%

Parkside Primary School 55%

ALL YEARS NUMERACY 2015-2017

Glenunga International High School 56%

Linden Park Primary School 56%

Rose Park Primary School 55%

Laura Primary School 52%

Highgate School 50%

Parkside Primary School 50%

Norwood Primary School 49%

Stirling East Primary School 48%

North Adelaide Primary School 47%

Burnside Primary School 46%

Paracombe Primary School 46%