South Australian schools are showing encouraging signs of improvement following the release of the 2019 NAPLAN results today.
This year’s results have seen Year 3 mean score results up in every test domain, as well as nation-leading growth in writing scores for South Australia.
The state’s results have also improved against the Australian average in 15 of the 20 measures compared to 2018.
Other highlights for South Australia include:
- The Year 9 writing mean score result is greater than the Australian average
- 46 per cent of Year 3 students are in the higher bands for reading, the highest since NAPLAN testing began
- There has been positive growth in writing in all year levels and numeracy in Years 3, 5 and 7
- We have achieved the highest mean scores in Years 3 and 5 numeracy since NAPLAN testing began
Acting Education Minister Rob Lucas said the results were encouraging but also leave further room for improvement.
“These results indicate that while we are seeing improvement and we are heading in the right direction, much work is still to be done,” said Acting Education Minister Lucas.
“We are giving schools the support they need to deliver better literacy outcomes for students and while we readily acknowledge there is still a long way to go, the early signs are positive.
“Principals, teachers and support staff in our schools are working hard and the improvement shown in today’s results are to their credit.
“The Marshall Liberal Government is committed to implementing the package of measures outlined in our Literacy Guarantee to support students to improve further.
“We are determined to build on the growth that’s been achieved over the past year to deliver long term improvement so that all South Australian students can benefit from a world class education system.”
As part of the Marshall Liberal Government’s Literacy Guarantee, the Education Department now delivers the following supports:
- Literacy coaches, with expertise in phonics and teaching students with dyslexia and other learning difficulties, working with schools and teachers.
- Phonics screening checks delivered to all Year 1 students in government schools during term 3 2018 and 2019, with support given to schools to provide evidence-based interventions for students identified as needing them.
- Free dyslexia workshops for parents across South Australia – including regional centres not previously serviced.
- Literacy Guarantee conferences providing new high level professional development opportunities for teachers during school holidays. All conferences so far have been extremely heavily subscribed.
- Mandatory literacy and numeracy testing for new teaching graduates to gain registration with the Teachers Registration Board.
- Breakfast programs expanded widely through extra support to Foodbank and Kickstart for Kids.
