NAPLAN results: Underachieving Queensland schools exposed

SOME of the perennial stars of the annual NAPLAN tests are actually not generating the gains in student achievement that less affluent schools have created, with some even receiving praise despite seeing a decline in performance.

SOME of the perennial stars of the annual NAPLAN tests are actually not generating the gains in student achievement that less affluent schools have created.

A detailed analysis by The Sunday Mail has examined whether schools have been able to take primary school students in Year 3 in 2016 and high school students in Year 7 in 2016 and improve their performance against the state mean two years later when they are in Year 5 and Year 9.

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The investigation shows a number of the schools which consistently receive praise for obtaining the best scores in NAPLAN testing did not see an overall improvement or in some cases saw a decline in the performance of these cohorts of students.

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Year 5 students at Ashgrove State School, which is among Queensland’s best NAPLAN schools and is nestled in a pricey and highly competitive school catchment zone, scored 25 fewer NAPLAN points on average per subject against the state mean, compared to how that year group performed in 2016.

Similarly, Year 5 students at Wishart State School, which is ranked 12th among Queensland primary schools on NAPLAN performance, saw a drop by an average of 15 points per subject compared to 2016.

At Kelvin Grove State College, which is under significant enrolment pressure due to its strong academic performance, this year’s Year 5 students did not perform as well against the state mean as they did in 2016.

The results also reveal some of Queensland’s most expensive private schools, which also traditionally score very strongly on NAPLAN tests, recorded similar slides in performance.

For many of these private schools, the negative trajectory of improvement can be put down to large intakes of new students in Year 5.

Year 5 students at Brisbane Boys’ College in Toowong, where parents pay $19,986 in fees, did not do as well this year against the state mean as the school’s Year 3 students did in 2016 by an average of 36 points per subject.

St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School, which charges fees of $17,689 for Year 5 and scored the second best overall test marks in the state, also declined relative to its performance in 2016.

Year 5 results at Toowoomba Grammar School, Fairholme College and Moreton Bay Boys’ College also slid relative to their Year 3 results in 2016.

Moreton Bay Boys’ College executive principal James Sloman said the school had an enrolment intake in Year 5.

“The challenge has been endeavouring to prepare newly enrolled students who we have been with us for only 13 weeks to sit the NAPLAN test,” he said.

“You will notice this trend in other schools that have similar enrolment practices, especially schools like ours that do not have any form of selective entry enrolment practices.”