The NAPLAN results for almost 10,000 schools across Australia have been revealed, offering parents a snapshot of their performance in reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and numeracy.
But this is a little different from the national NAPLAN results that came out in August.
Here’s what new school information has been released and why parents should take ranking tables with a grain of salt.
What’s been released today?
No new national NAPLAN results have been revealed — these came out earlier this year.
But what might interest parents are the individual 2024 school results.
Parents can now access the latest information on their child’s school through the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (ACARA) My School Portal.
Here’s an example of what the school profile looks like. (ACARA)
ACARA CEO Stephen Gniel says the portal’s aim is to provide “detailed, accessible, timely and meaningful” school education performance.
“We need to know how our schools are doing, but it is also important that this information is presented in a way that considers the individual circumstances of a school,” Mr Gniel said in a statement.
“This is especially true for its level of socio-educational advantage, which our reporting takes into account.”
What can I find in the My School portal?
Here’s what you can find in the school-level data:
- 2024 NAPLAN results
- 2024 school profile
- 2024 school attendance data for Semester 1
- 2023 school financial information
- 2023 vocational education training participation and outcomes
- 2023 year 12 certificates
Around 10,000 schools across Australia have been included.
The NAPLAN results page gives in-depth data on how a specific school performed. (ACARA)
Best school comparisons aren’t that reliable
While it may be tempting to seek out the best performers, ABC’s national education and parenting reporter Conor Duffy says there’s no accurate way to do so.
Here’s why it’s tricky:
“ACARA, which administers the test, has long argued ranking schools in league tables based on their raw marks is unfair and ‘misleading’.
“The agency has for years criticised media outlets for their ranking lists as they do not take into account measures like parental education levels or overall ‘socio-educational’ advantage.
“‘For example, the student populations at both the “top performing” primary and secondary schools in NSW are in the top 1 per cent in terms of socio-educational advantage, which takes into account parental education and employment,’ then-ACARA boss David Carvalho said in 2022.
“‘To heap credit on the schools they attend, just because they are getting high scores, is to mistake the outcome for the educational input provided by the school. Many of these students would do just as well at other schools.'”
In previous years, ACARA has given journalists unlimited embargoed access to My School.
This year, it limited journalists to 50 searches ahead of the wider release to limit what it views as inaccurate reporting.
“Teacher’s unions have also long opposed league tables and many educators believe it makes a case for scrapping NAPLAN altogether.
“Parents are instead encouraged to compare their school to ‘similar schools’ on the My School website which it says have similar levels of socio-educational advantages.
“It believes these measures give parents a fairer measuring stick and make sure schools that are performing well with their resources are recognised for their work.”
So what did the August NAPLAN results reveal?
National NAPLAN scores showed one in three Australian school students was performing below literacy and numeracy benchmarks.
Almost 1.3 million students in year 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the annual test earlier this year.
Experts say the scores demonstrate the urgent need for classroom reforms, otherwise a significant part of a generation looks set to miss out on crucial foundational learning.
The NAPLAN 2024 results also showed long-standing educational disadvantages remained entrenched across Australia.
One-third of Indigenous students were categorised as “need additional support” — three times the national average.
Stark differences also remained between metropolitan and non-metropolitan students.
