NAPLAN 2019: Non-English background students dominate
Victorian children from non-English speaking backgrounds are dominating every area of NAPLAN except for reading as the latest results from the national report are released.
Education
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Victorian children from non-English speaking backgrounds are dominating every area of NAPLAN except for reading.
Students who speak different languages at home outperformed other pupils in writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy for every tested year level.
The national NAPLAN report released today also shows students from Language Backgrounds Other Than English (LBOTE) are only just falling behind their counterparts in reading, with stronger results from when NAPLAN began in 2008.
The cohort’s mean achievement results for reading were above and statistically significantly different to the decade before for Grade 3, 5 and Year 7, the report found.
Moreland Primary School assistant principal Donna Schilov said there were “many languages spoken in the playground” with about a third of the school’s students from migrant families.
The pupil’s parents often took up places in local universities, with education in the family being “highly valued”.
“The children come in with a very strong base,” she said of the students, who had lifted their reading performance in the latest NAPLAN.
But University of Queensland lecturer Dr Sue Creagh said she looked at the data with “a certain distrust”.
“The higher performing students are creating a statistical situation where they are hiding the lower performing kids,” she said.
“It’s kind of skewing the data.”
After writing a thesis on the issue, Dr Creagh called for the category to be changed to assess those who speak English as an additional language, so the test looks at a child’s literacy, rather than language skill.
The full NAPLAN report reinforced summary statistics released last year, showing Victoria’s Grade 3 and 5 children were ranked the best nationwide in seven of 10 tested areas.
Though, results of the state’s Year 7s came in towards second and third position, with the Year 9 cohort falling to third and fourth place across Australia.
MORE NAPLAN NEWS:
NAPLAN OVERHAUL PLAN FOR YEAR 9
The high school results spurred Education Minister James Merlino to order an overhaul last year, as one in 10 year 9 students weren’t taking part in testing.
Announcements on ideas to better engage the older group in NAPLAN, including plans to introduce a jobs certificate, are expected to be made within weeks.
The latest NAPLAN report also looked at parental education, indigenous status, location and gender.
Boys continued to dominate in numeracy across all year levels, while girls were stronger performers in all literacy components.
Long-term results show Victoria’s primary school students were showing statistically significant improvements in reading, with Year 5s also achieving significantly improved results in numeracy.
High school students showed no difference in reading or numeracy over more than a decade.
New spelling bee competition for Australian students in Years 3-8.
Teachers can sign up students from Wednesday, February 26 at 11am at kidsnews.com.au/spelling-bee