NAPLAN minimum national standards under fire as Victorian students score zero for spelling
NAPLAN minimum standards are under fire, after hundreds of Victorian grade three students failed to answer a single spelling question correctly in this year’s tests.
Education
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HUNDREDS of grade three students in Victoria failed to answer a single spelling question correctly in this year’s NAPLAN tests.
More than 1000 grade three students scored zero in spelling, with questions asking them to correctly spell words like “bell”, “grow”, “noise” and “splashed”.
Data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority also shows hundreds of grade five pupils answered less than a quarter of maths questions accurately, while thousands of year nine students stumbled on more than two-thirds of grammar and punctuation questions.
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The NAPLAN results have renewed criticism of the “dumbed down” national minimum standards.
Grade three students achieved the benchmark by correctly answering just one of 25 spelling questions.
Students in years 5, 7 and 9 had to answer just three spelling questions accurately.
Dr Kevin Donnelly, from the Australian Catholic University, said the minimum standards distorted student performance and left Australia lagging on the global stage.
“If you set the bar too low, you have underperforming students believing they are satisfactory,” Dr Donnelly said.
“Overseas, in countries ahead of us, there are strong expectations and a commitment to excellence.
“In Australia, we have a dumb-it-down, don’t-worry, everybody-wins approach.”
ACARA is developing a new “proficiency” benchmark to run alongside the national minimum standards, after repeated calls over the past five years.
But it is yet to be submitted to states and territory leaders for approval.
VICTORIA’S NAPLAN RESULTS FLATLINING BUT AMONG NATION’S BEST
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the proficiency standard made “perfect sense”.
“Australian parents want to know more than if their child is just meeting the bare minimum standards,” he said.
“They want to know if they are confident, competent and skilled in the basics of their literacy and numeracy.”
The Victorian Education Minister, James Merlino, also backed the tougher benchmark and said the minimum standards were “too low”.
“We want to lift the performance of all kids — not just reach minimum standards,” he said.
But Opposition education spokesman Tim Smith said the government had failed to improve results, despite “all the fanfare”.
“The Andrews Government’s ‘education state’ slogan is not worth the paper it is written on,” he said.
Donburn Primary School principal Julie Hoskin said her Doncaster East school, which has improved its results, did not use the minimum standard as a measure.
“You can’t compare issues across the country in areas like Doncaster, where the kids are privileged and they all have books at home,” she said.
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