Qld students fall behind in NAPLAN tests, and girls still beat boys

Almost two in five Queensland students are failing to meet new national standards for reading, writing and maths – the worst outcome of any mainland state.

NAPLAN results released on Wednesday show that on almost every test – reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy – a higher percentage of Queensland students were given the lowest score than in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy was overhauled this year, with previous minimum standards replaced with four proficiency categories and new, higher benchmarks. This means the results cannot be compared with previous years.

In Queensland, 38.1 per cent of students fell into the “needs additional support” or “developing” categories, compared with the national average of 32.8 per cent.

Across year levels, Queensland students scored almost 11 points lower than the national average, at 489.3.

In Year 9 writing, almost half of Queensland students did not meet proficiency standards.

Girls outperformed boys in writing across Australia, achieving average NAPLAN scores above boys in every year group, with higher percentages of girls at “strong” or “exceeding” levels.

In Year 7, for example, 70 per cent of girls scored in the top two bands, compared with 55.4 per cent of boys.

The figures show stark differences between students depending on where they live and their cultural and linguistic background.

Speaking on Tuesday, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said children who were Indigenous, lived in regional Australia, or whose parents came from a poor background were massively over-represented among those who fell below proficiency standards.

“It tells us that our education system needs some serious reform to identify those children – and then do something about it,” Clare said.

In Queensland, about one in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students achieved “strong” or “exceeding” results, compared with almost two-thirds of non-Indigenous children.

Students in major Queensland cities were also advantaged, with 65.7 per cent receiving “strong” or “exceeding” results, compared with just 25.9 per cent in very remote Queensland.

This year’s NAPLAN tests were held in March instead of May, to enable teachers and families to access data earlier. About 280,000 Queensland students completed the online tests.

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace welcomed the earlier publication of results, which meant teachers were already using them to provide extra support.

“The results are mixed: it’s good to see two-thirds of students in the top two bands, but of course we want to see more up there,” she said.

Grace said differences with other states were historical and reflected the different demographics and socio-economic profiles of each state.

“When the socio-economic status as measured by the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) is taken into account, Queensland’s performance is generally as expected,” she said.

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority chief David de Carvalho said with expectations set at a higher level than in previous years, the new reporting showed where the focus was needed to support more students.

In numeracy, the proportion of Australian students who achieved at “exceeding” or “strong” levels increased from Year 3 (64.7 per cent) to Year 5 (67.7 per cent), was slightly lower in Year 7 (67.2 per cent), then dropped in Year 9 (63.9 per cent).

In writing, primary school students were more likely to achieve the two highest levels than secondary students.