Abstract
AbstractThe annual National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) measures the literacy and numeracy skills of primary and secondary students in Australia. Under the three Smarter Schools National Partnership, additional funding is provided to the independent schools with the expectation of improving student performance. Using multilevel modelling to account for within-school variables and demographics, we analyse NAPLAN data from the 2008–2011 tests for a sample of independent schools to estimate the effect of the National Partnerships on student performance. The results indicated that on average male students performed higher in the numeracy test but scored lower in each of the literacy tests. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students scored lower in numeracy, reading, writing, and grammar and punctuation. Students from low socioeconomic status schools performed lower in writing.
Highlights
The National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy, better known as NAPLAN, was first administered in 2008 to Australian students in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9
Data collection The NAPLAN and associated data were provided by the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia (AISWA) which in turn received the data from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students performed worse in every test except spelling, and girls performed worse than boys in numeracy
Summary
The National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy, better known as NAPLAN, was first administered in 2008 to Australian students in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 It tests these two foundation skills of learning, using separate tests for numeracy, reading, writing and language conventions, the latter including spelling, and grammar and punctuation. Nazim Khan (PhD, BSc, BE) is a lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics, Stephen Humphry (BPsych, PhD) is a psychometrician and Robert Hassell (BA, DipEd) is an educational consultant, who are interested in assessment matters and strategies for improving teaching and learning. They have authored several papers in this area and presented talks in international conferences in education
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