A stronger case for re-imagining Australia’s schools and school systems: NAPLAN 2023

The results for 2023 of the country-wide NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) were released on August 23. Conducted by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), tests were administered early in the school year for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. I built part of the case for re-imagining schools and school systems (Chapter 1 in Caldwell, 2023) on the declining or flatlining of past NAPLAN results.

A different approach to testing was adopted in 2023 so that comparison with results in previous years is not possible. Results for each student  in 2023 were reported in four categories: Needs additional support, Developing, Strong, Exceeding. Those in the first two categories fell below national standards; those in the last two categories fell above national standards.

Results were reported for each year level, each of several dimensions of literacy and numeracy, each state and territory,  each sub-group among demographic characteristics, and rate of student participation in the tests. There was a wide range of results for each of these. Participation rates were high, on average in the mid-90s, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students and those in remote settings had the largest percentage of students falling below national standards.

It is not the purpose of this short commentary to report the results in the various categories. These are set out in detail, with accompanying commentary, on the ACARA website. The following is a general commentary:

• Newspapers tended to report that one in three students “failed” the tests, this being roughly the proportion of students who achieved below national standards. Editorial comments invariably stated that there was a national crisis despite years of efforts to improve and large increases in funding.
• Comments from ministers for education often praised the efforts of teachers while expressing concern about overall levels of achievement. Some looked forward to targeted funding in the next National School Reform Agreement between the federal government and states/territories.
• The most frequently-mentioned strategies for improvement were small-group tutoring for students who need additional support and adoption of explicit teaching. There was no acknowledgement that the value of the former has been known for years, for example, it has been a feature of high levels of achievement and high levels of equity over several decades in Finland, especially, and for the latter, a feature in schools in high-performing nations.
• AERO (Australian Education Research Organisation) has reported evidence on the aforementioned strategies. ACARA and AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership) have provided many case studies of recommended strategies; universities have been exhorted to address the same in the most recent review of Initial Teacher Education (Scott Report, as summarised in another entry on this book’s website under Updates and Debates); and institutes and academies have given priority to programs for building related capacities of teachers and school leaders.
• Teacher unions tended to call for higher levels of funding, smaller class sizes and more support for teachers.
• Professional comment tended to come from think-tanks, for example, the Grattan Institute and the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS). Few academics commented. One called for less autonomy for schools in Victoria and a detailed “road map” to guide teachers in the delivery of a national curriculum.
• Other proposals independent of responses to NAPLAN 2023 have been made for lifting levels of achievement, for example, a high-quality knowledge-rich curriculum (Ben Jensen of Learning First in Jensen, 2023) and reports of interest in closing/ceasing construction of open-plan classrooms (studies of the Grattan Institute and University of Melbourne in Grace, 2023).
• Those not working in education have weighed in; for example, Gottliebson (2023) who offered a business perspective .
• Media reporting and public commentary had ceased within a week. There is an element of “kicking the can down the road” as faith is placed on priorities and funding in the next National School Reform Agreement. There have been mixed outcomes of current and past NSRAs as well as of state and territory initiatives.
• No minister or other leader referred to the need for new strategies at the system level. Proposals for re-imagining school systems were included in the book (Chapter 10 in Caldwell, 2023, especially Table 3 on p. 182). It seems that schools will carry the burden and it will be a school-by-school effort if re-imagination at scale is to be achieved (as described in Chapters 9 and 11).
• The case for re-imagining is even stronger when information on school refusal is considered. Data for Australia indicate that this is at record levels following the pandemic (Precel, 2023). A Senate inquiry found that the percentage of Years 1-10 students attending school at least 90 percent of the time had fallen from 71.2 to 49.9. In the United States, more than 30 percent of students in some states are absent for more than 10 percent of the school year; for example, Alaska, New Mexico, Michigan, Oregon, and Nevada (The Economist, August 26-September 1, pp. 25-26).

There are so many “moving parts” in proposals/recommendations/reports that it will take many years for alignment to occur and significant improvement to be realised. There may be a bigger issue in respect to policy/politics/governance, as observed by Paul Kelly, editor-at-large at The Australian:

How much longer do we persevere with inadequate public policies as revealed in multiple reports year after year,   an underperforming skills and education system and insufficient investment for our needs? It’s time to begin a         new conversation that accepts the status quo needs major revision and addresses the major reform components       for  a new order. Or is that too hard? (Kelly, 2023)

Caldwell, B.J. (2023). Reimagining schools and school systems. Victoria, BC: Tellwell.

Gottliebson, R, (2023). NAPLAN: Australia’s education problems and solutions. The Australian. August 24.

Grace, R. (2023). Calls to close door on open-plan classrooms. The Age. July 24, p. 3.

Jensen, B. A bridge in the classroom. The Australian. July 29-30, p. 23.

Kelly, P. (2023). New order reform our one shot against “status quo future.” The Australian. August 23.

Precel, N. (2023). Call for action as school refusal rises. The Age. August 10.