Is the focus on NAPLAN’s ‘top’ schools a good idea?

On Wednesday, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority released the school-level results for this year’s NAPLAN tests. This reporting includes scores for years 3, 5, 7 and 9 across literacy and numeracy.

Parents received children’s individual reports in July. Now we can see how individual schools performed.

Parents and the community can see how schools performed in absolute terms and how their students performed compared to other students with a similar background. They can also see how a school’s student cohort has progressed compared to other children with similar starting scores and similar backgrounds.

Media outlets have published stories about “top performing” schools and those “punching above their weight”.

It is a refreshing change to see positive stories of school improvement and student progress rather than the relentless doom-and-gloom of the last few years. However we should still be careful to acknowledge there is no silver bullet when it comes to improving students’ reading and numeracy.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause

Looking at the news coverage about NAPLAN, it’s clear different stakeholders have different explanations about why some schools make more progress than others.

Some attribute NAPLAN success to explicit teaching methods – where teachers clearly explain and demonstrate what students need to learn. Others talk about community support for parents, wraparound services for students who need extra help, or intensive language learning support for students learning English as an additional language.

These are all positive approaches and all of them likely support students’ academic success in different ways, depending on the school context and the specific needs of their students. But it is difficult to identify any one of these programs or approaches as the definitive cause of a school’s NAPLAN growth.

For example, explicit teaching is mandated in NSW public schools. But not every public school is making above average progress. Many schools outside of the NSW public system have also made above-average progress without the explicit teaching mandate.

What about other schools?

We also need to be careful about holding up exemplar or “top” schools, particularly when there might be many other schools following the same practices but not seeing the same NAPLAN results.

The good news stories remind us principals and teachers in these schools are clearly doing a wonderful job. But there are other principals and teachers at other schools doing equally good work, but not seeing those same results. Some schools might see above average progress one year, but average progress the next.

We risk making school leaders and teachers feel disillusioned if they are doing the same things but not seeing the same results.

A more complex picture

The NAPLAN coverage makes creating academically successfully schools seem straightforward, when the research tells us this is complex to achieve and can take time.

Many things contribute to academic success. These include students feeling a sense of belonging, being able to engage in their studies and attending school consistently.

Schools understand the needs of their unique student groups, but providing support, programs and the teaching approaches they need is a continually evolving project.

Staffing and resources

Meanwhile, funding continues to be patchy across Australian schools. Public schools in some states will not be fully funded until 2034.

Specialised supports, programs and staff all cost money. Some schools also find it very difficult to find the teachers they need.

Principals may have a great vision. But if they don’t have enough teachers it is extremely challenging to implement new ideas or embark on a program of school improvement.

What if your school has performed below average?

Remember the numbers reported on the MySchool website are school year-level averages. These tell us something about the group of students at the school each year, but not a lot about individual students.

NAPLAN results on their own are not necessarily going to tell you whether any school is best for your child or family.

So don’t be alarmed if you don’t see your school making above-average progress this year. That’s only one aspect of what a school is doing. It’s more important to look at whether your child is being supported to learn, enjoy school and progress academically.