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Published: 24 April 2025

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Newspapers are showing considerably increased interest in literacy and phonics (2025)

 

“There is a lot of press nowadays about how too many students are struggling with literacy. Perhaps one reason is that the NAPLAN literacy results are easily publicized in the press for adults to consider.

NAPLAN stands for the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy. It's an annual national assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 in Australia. The purpose of NAPLAN is to measure students' literacy and numeracy skills, helping to track student achievement and identify areas for improvement in education. NAPLAN data also informs resource allocation and helps schools evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching programs. AI Overview:

Nearly 30 per cent of Victorian school children are struggling with literacy.   Victoria’s 2024 results were not substantially different from the national average, the ACT or NSW on any of the NAPLAN tests. (Towell & Schelle, 2024).

Newspapers are paying considerably increased interest in phonics as an important element in teaching reading to our students.”

 

Phonic boom: The new, faster test for checking youngsters’ reading skills.

“Victorian teachers are saving time they say they can redirect to educating with a new, streamlined and more efficient phonics check designed to gauge the literacy skills of the state’s six-year-olds.

The new 10-minute assessment, part of the state’s move toward an “explicit instruction” model of literacy learning, will replace the contentious English Online Interview (EOI), which the state government scrapped in December.

The EOI, the subject of much criticism over the years from both the profession and academia, is still available for schools to use this year, but from 2026, the grade 1 phonics check will be mandatory in all government schools.

Both the EOI and the phonics checks are one-on-one between a teacher and a student, but the old assessment took up to 40 minutes to administer.

Government schools can now choose to hold off applying the old test for the 2025 school year or begin the transition to the phonics check before it becomes mandatory next year.

As soon as the EOI – which was so lengthy that schools were often forced to draft in casual relief teachers to administer it – was no longer compulsory, Docklands Primary School dropped it.

“There was a lot in the English Online Interview that was nice to know but didn’t really have any impact on students learning to read,” Bethany Tonkin, the school’s literacy expert, said, adding that it also included things like retelling a story or rhymes.

Tonkin said the new grade 1 phonics check was shorter and more focused than the previous assessment.

“The evidence is clear that explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics instructions gets results,” Carroll said.

“Our synthetic phonics program was developed by Victorian academic and education experts in evidence-based reading instruction, including teachers, principals and speech pathologists, to best reflect how students learn to read.”

Caroline Schelle. (2025). Phonic boom: The new, faster test for checking youngsters’ reading skills.  February 23, 2025 https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/phonic-boom-the-new-faster-test-for-checking-youngsters-reading-skills-20250220-p5ldp3.html

 

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Catholic schools reap the benefits of ‘back to basics’ overhaul (2025)

“A “back to basics” overhaul on how Victoria’s Catholic schoolchildren learn reading and maths has yielded positive results including an improvement of more than 20 per cent in numeracy skills in the 12 months since the change was brought in.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools shifted to explicit instruction for its nearly 300 schools in February last year. The method means teachers introduce concepts and skills that students learn “step by step”, with clear explanations and demonstrations of what they have to learn, including the use of phonics.It was the largest school system in the country to embed the method into its teaching practice, and came four months before the Victorian government mandated the teaching style for state schools.

According to Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, there has been an improvement in year 3 numeracy proficiency across its school network.Data shows a 41 per cent improvement in numeracy skills at St Mary’s College in Seymour after just one year, while other schools have had improvements of at least 17 per cent or higher.

“While still early days, we are already starting to see the green shoots of the systemic changes we are making,” said the organisation’s executive director, Edward Simons.

“Importantly, we are also hearing that our students, their parents and our teachers are enjoying this way of learning,” he said. The organisation also expects to see additional improvements when NAPLAN results come out later this year.

For the nearly 600 students at Bethany Catholic Primary School in Werribee North, the introduction of explicit instruction has been a game-changer.

Principal Joanne Webster said the improvement in the school’s numeracy and literacy results were “just the start”. The school was an early adopter of phonics and explicit instruction, bringing in programs in 2023.

There was an 13.6 per cent increase in numeracy proficiency, as well as a 17.6 per cent increase in reading proficiency, between 2023 and 2024.

The gaps between students who were struggling and those doing well had decreased since the change, Webster said.

“The method really does provide them with greater support because we’re finding exactly what they need when an issue comes up,” she added.

A child who had gaps in maths or reading could face difficulties as they progressed through the school system, but explicit instruction meant those gaps diminished, she said.

“These gaps in knowledge, that is what’s diminished. ”The principal said more children were also engaged and remembered what they’d learnt, even during the summer break. “Kids go on school holidays, they’re away for six, seven weeks, and when they come back, they can’t remember what they’ve been taught,” Webster said.” What we discovered last from December, the year before 2023 to 2024, we didn’t have the so-called a ‘summer slide’,” Webster said.

“Our kids retained their knowledge … it’s really strengthening their working memory.”

Teachers were also more confident because they were seeing improved outcomes for their students, she said.”

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Related Article

The big change coming to the way Catholic school kids are taught

 

The improvement in results was not a surprise for Trisha Jha, from the Centre for Independent Studies think tank.

“I’m not surprised at all, and certainly, schools that have moved to this sort of approach have started to see results pretty quickly,” Jha said.

The research fellow said explicit teaching was consistent for all students, and didn’t rely on their background or existing skill level to succeed.

“One of the ‘secrets’ about why explicit teaching works is because it’s based on this idea of thinking carefully on what you want the students to know, and breaking it down into accessible pieces, teaching it explicitly, giving students practice so the opportunity to do a small piece of learning ... and then build on the skill, or build on the knowledge,” she said.

The system-wide change throughout the Melbourne archdiocese schools also meant consistency for students and teachers, Jha added.

Celebrity life

The government’s decision last year to also roll out explicit instruction meant students wouldn’t be receiving drastically different quality of education from school to school, whether they were private or public.

“That means that the quality of education starts to become even rather than letting this be a school-based decision, and that means that parents have the confidence that regardless of which primary school they send their kids to, that their kid is going to receive their quality evidence-based instruction,” Jha said.

Caroline Schelle. February 16, 2025 Catholic schools reap the benefits of ‘back to basics’ overhaul. 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/catholic-schools-reap-the-benefits-of-back-to-basics-overhaul-20250204-p5l9d6.html

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‘Not fit for purpose’ reading test scrapped for new phonics-based check

“A contentious mandatory reading ability test for Victoria’s prep and year 1 pupils is being scrapped at the end of this school year.

The English Online Interview was compulsory for prep and year 1 students, and the state government spent $11.3 million to upgrade it to include a phonics component in 2023.

But Victoria decided late last year to decommission the tool, and it’s no longer mandatory for schools to use it in prep and year 1 this year.

The test is a one-on-one interview between a teacher and a student, where students are assessed on reading, viewing, writing, speaking and listening. It takes up to 40 minutes, and teachers record each student’s responses onto the online system that generates a report.

The phonics component of the EOI faced criticism because it only had 10 words, and five of those were “non-words” which are used to teach sounding out skills. The national standard phonics test had 40 words, and half are “non-words”.

It was also carried out in term 1, but experts argued it should be carried out in term 3, when children have a better grasp of the principles.

Schools will replace the English Online Interview with a mandatory year 1 phonics check, but there will be no mandatory reading test for prep students.

Professor of cognitive psychology Pamela Snow, a co-director of La Trobe University’s Science of Language and Reading Lab, welcomed the move.

“The English Online Interview, with very good intentions, tries to do way too much,” she said.

She said the areas it covered were important, but it wasn’t always accurate in identifying areas where students were struggling.

“It’s a very good thing that it’s being decommissioned,” she said.”

Related Article

The ‘hopeless’ phonics test failing Victorian students but costing millions

“Getting rid of it wouldn’t disadvantage Victorian students or teachers, the professor said.

The new phonics-based test will be introduced this year across Victorian government primary schools but won’t be mandatory until 2026, according to the government website.

“The year 1 phonics check is a short assessment that provides information to teachers on a student’s phonics knowledge. It takes just 5 to 7 minutes for a teacher to complete with each student and involves year 1 students using phonics knowledge to decode real and non-real words,” says the website.

Snow supported the move to the new tool but pointed out it would not test preps.

“There is a case to be having a conversation about what [assessment tool] could be used in term 4 of prep, for example,” she said.

She said as teachers became more confident with explicit instruction, which has been mandated across Victoria’s public schools, they would be better able to spot students who need help.

Some parent groups have also supported the shift away from the English Online Interview, with Dyslexia Victoria Support founder Heidi Gregory saying it wasn’t “fit for purpose”.

Families wanted to know what to expect with the new tool and wanted testing done as early as possible, so issues could be dealt with sooner rather than later.

“We can’t wait any longer … parents need to know when they should be off to an allied health professional or get their kids assessed,” Gregory said.

She argued any new test or tool needed to be compulsory, and that there should be reports available for parents and teachers.

“The evidence is clear that explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics instructions gets results – and we continue to support teachers in the rollout through lesson plans and the new phonics check, helping teachers to gather more detailed information about students’ literacy skills,” said Education Minister Ben Carroll. “The year 1 phonics check is quicker and more appropriate than the English Online Interview and will be mandatory for all year 1 students in government primary schools from 2026.”

Victorian Principals Association president Andrew Dalgleish said it was a positive move, but it wasn’t universally welcomed.”

Related Article

State schools to move to phonics earlier, after reading ‘grenade’ blows up

“There has been some consternation from some schools,” he said of the move to replace the EOI.

But he said replacing the EOI with the phonics check made sense given the shift towards explicit instruction, and the assessment tools had to match the evidence.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the new test should become mandatory sooner. “By allowing the use of this substandard test to continue into 2025, the Allan Labor government is jeopardising learning outcomes for students across the state,” she said. “Instead of further delays, Labor must immediately mandate the use of a new phonics screening test that aligns with national standards.”

South Australia was the first state to implement a year 1 phonics screening check in 2017. NSW followed in 2021 and Tasmania in 2022. SA publishes key data from the assessment annually, and it is not clear if Victoria will follow suit.”

Caroline Schelle ‘Not fit for purpose’ reading test scrapped for new phonics-based check

February 7, 2025 — 5.00am

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/not-fit-for-purpose-reading-test-scrapped-for-new-phonics-based-check-20250206-p5la3x.html

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State schools to move to phonics earlier, after reading ‘grenade’ blows up

Bridie Smith February 1, 2025 — 7.00pm

“All state school students from prep to grade 2 will learn to read using the same explicit teaching method within two years, after the state’s powerful teachers’ union reached a deal with the state government over how the new educational mandate would be rolled out.

The new agreement was forged following last year’s public fallout between the union and Education Minister Ben Carroll during which the union instructed its members to ignore a government directive to transition to the method, because it had not been consulted.

The new agreement means that from 2027, all state school students will learn to read by using phonics. Credit:Wayne Taylor

The Sunday Age can reveal that under the new deal, the government will pay an extra $5 million for resources to aid schools’ transition to the compulsory systematic synthetic phonics teaching method.

The money, to be distributed to schools through their Student Resource Package by the end of the financial year, can be spent on mini whiteboards, letter tiles and decodable texts, which are used as part of the literacy program. Each school will be able to choose how it spends the money.

However, under the agreement, schools will have less time to introduce the compulsory changes, with the government crunching the timeline from three years to two.

The revised timeline means that by the start of the 2027 school year, all state primary and specialist schools will be expected to have implemented the systematic synthetic phonics approach, which teaches children the sounds of the English language and the letter combinations that make them.

Some schools already use the explicit teaching method, but the directive marks the start of a statewide approach in which all prep to grade 2 students in public schools are taught to read using structured phonics.

Students will receive a minimum of 25 minutes of daily, explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness.

Carroll’s announcement, made at The Age’s School Summit last June, prompted an irate response from the Australian Education Union, which ordered its members to disobey the directive and accused Carroll of failing to consult the profession, which it said was a breach of the 2022 Victorian Government Schools Agreement.

The union also said the announcement exposed Carroll’s apparent lack of understanding of the curriculum, given explicit instruction was already used by numerous schools.

Months of meetings followed between the education department and the union before a fresh agreement was struck.

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Teachers told to ignore Victoria’s phonics push as union lashes deputy premier

Newly appointed Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly, who took up the post last month, said teachers’ expertise was at the heart of meeting students’ classroom needs and that the profession should be central to any decisions involving teaching and learning.

“Following the AEU’s call for the minister and department to undertake proper consultation with the profession, there are improved supports and resources being provided,” he said.

“Although the profession would have been much better equipped to implement the changes if proper consultation had occurred in the first place.”

Mullaly said the union, which represents more than 50,000 teachers, principals and support staff in Victoria, would maintain its demand that the state government treat the profession with respect.

The accelerated introduction of explicit teaching also coincides with the introduction of a revised maths curriculum, with some in the profession concerned that too many changes could the compromise outcomes.

Opposition education spokesperson Jess Wilson said students would be taught by “disproven teaching methods” for the next two years.

“These latest revelations have exposed the education minister’s inability to implement evidence-based learning in Victorian classrooms,” she said.

Carroll, who is also the deputy premier, acknowledged when making June’s announcement that he might be “stepping on a hand grenade” and that the reading wars might not be over.

However, he has stood by the mandate and said via a statement on Saturday that evidence showed explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics got results.

“Speeding up the transition of the phonics rollout from three years to two is a priority,” he said. “The additional funding will enable primary schools to purchase resources.”

Last month Victoria signed a new school funding deal with the Commonwealth, which will deliver state schools an extra $2.5 billion over 10 years. A portion of that money will go towards phonics lesson plans.

As part of the funding deal, which comes into effect next year, Victorian state schools will have to undertake a series of initiatives, including phonics checks for year 1 students.

Schools will also have to increase the proportion of students in the “strong” and “exceeding” proficiency for reading by 10 per cent.

Last year’s NAPLAN results showed that 71 per cent of Victorian year 3 students were reading at either “strong” or “exceeding” levels, compared with 66 per cent nationally.”

Start the day

Bridie Smith. (2025).  State schools to move to phonics earlier, after reading ‘grenade’ blows up. February 1, 2025 — 7.00pm

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/state-schools-to-move-to-phonics-earlier-after-reading-grenade-blows-up-20250131-p5l8pq.html

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How can we prevent the education gap widening even further?

Sponsored by The Smith Family By Kim Gillan

January 28, 2025 — 9.05am

“As a nation, we pride ourselves on giving everyone a “fair go”, so the size of the education gap between rich and poor may come as a surprise to many. But when you look closely at outcomes in Australia, you can see that we’re falling short of giving everyone the opportunity to make the most of their education.

Australia is proud to offer a comprehensive public school system, but for the 1.2 million children experiencing poverty, it’s not always a level playing field.Credit:The Smith Family

So, how can we ensure that every child has equal access to educational opportunities to help them create their own futures, not just to improve their own lives, but to benefit the nation as a whole?

The latest NAPLAN results show that by Year 9, children experiencing disadvantage are, on average, more than four years behind their more advantaged peers, and that a third of all students from disadvantaged backgrounds are behind the minimum standards in literacy and numeracy.

“We need to be thinking about how we support young people to help them make the most of the opportunities they receive at school,” says Doug Taylor, CEO of The Smith Family.

“We know that people who grow up in poorer households can be three times more likely to be financially disadvantaged by the age of 26-32, and that’s why intervening early and putting in those education supports is one of those ways to set a different trajectory for that young person and their family.”

Australia is proud to offer a comprehensive public school system, but for the 1.2 million children experiencing poverty, it’s not always a level playing field.

“If you are from a family experiencing poverty and you don’t have enough money to pay for schoolbooks, laptops, uniforms and excursions, then your ability to engage effectively in those education experiences is diminished,” says Juanita Pope, CEO of the Victorian Council of Social Service.

“Children who are living in poverty are at increased risk of poorer socio-emotional functioning, school failure, chronic disease, mental illness, reduced economic opportunities and intergenerational adversity.”

Where support begins for students growing up with disadvantage

One of the biggest barriers for students experiencing poverty in obtaining a comprehensive modern education is the digital divide.

“Thirty per cent of the students that we support through The Smith Family go home every night to a household without a digitally connected laptop or computer [because their parent can’t afford it],” Taylor says.

“Digital access matters for doing homework but also for building those digital skills that they need for future career pathways.”

Offering practical support to students and families is another essential piece of the education puzzle.

“The right support at the right time makes a difference,” Taylor says.

That’s something that Mia, 18, witnessed firsthand when she spent 18 weeks volunteering as a Smith Family student2student volunteer, helping a Year 4 student with her reading.

“Twice a week we would catch up online — we could both see the same screen and she would choose a book and read it out to me and I’d help correct her or ask some comprehension questions,” Mia says.

“She started with level 12 books and progressed to level 30 books, which was the highest reading level.”

At the beginning, Mia sensed a fear of making a mistake was holding her mentee back.

“She was nervous and shy to ask questions, but as we went on, she would ask more questions about different words and try to understand things better,” Mia says.

“Once she became more comfortable making mistakes and asking questions, she was able to have such big improvements. By the end she was having fun making animal noises and character voices.”

 

We also need a policy shake-up

Beyond individual support, Taylor says reform is desperately needed to ensure all students in Australia have the opportunities to fully participate in their education, regardless of their background, to reduce the gap between the “haves” and “have nots” in Australia.

The Smith Family has long advocated for changes that focus on student attendance, achievement and completion of Year 12, using evidence-based measures with an emphasis on literacy and numeracy. Taylor is hopeful the new Better and Fairer Schools Agreement will include a funding model that focuses on equity, prioritising schools with the greatest need, student wellbeing and policies that attract and retain great teachers.

“This education gap has grown in recent times and the knock-on effect is the risk of not completing school and being able to go on to further tertiary education. And we know that future jobs will increasingly rely on tertiary education,” he says.

Pope agrees that if we can make sure every child has the opportunity to take advantage of accessible high-quality learning experiences, we have the best chance of breaking cycles of intergenerational poverty and disadvantage.

“It’s very expensive putting a child through the education system, with uniforms, lunches, excursions and books,” she says.

“All these things become unattainable if a family is struggling to put food on the table.”

Kim Gillan. (2025). How can we prevent the education gap widening even further?

Sponsored by The Smith Family By Kim Gillan

January 28, 2025 — 9.05am

https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/how-can-we-prevent-the-education-gap-widening-even-further-20241122-p5ksuy.html

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Revealed: The state’s top primary and high school performers in NAPLAN 2024

“When Christine Taylor became principal at St Ives North Public eight years ago, she was told by several teachers that the school’s students were already reaching their full potential.

“They thought the school was doing well enough. They said things like we’ve got a good cohort, but we can’t get a lot more academic growth. I thought it was nonsense,” recalled Taylor, a public education veteran and one-time schools inspector for the Board of Studies.

Not content with the status quo, Taylor embarked on a mission which steadily raised the school’s NAPLAN results from above to well-above average scores in almost all domains tested. “Our kids deserve a year’s growth at least,” she said.

Taylor said the changes introduced at the 900-student school and were based on a 2014 NSW Education Department study, titled What Works Best, which outlined patterns of higher academic performance in schools when they focus on the basics.

“At first, it wasn’t necessarily well received, and some teachers left who didn’t want to get on board,” she said. “But eventually, we worked it all into our classrooms.”

Over three years, the school embedded practices from that study, including explicit teaching, high expectations, giving detailed feedback on assessments and setting clear routines in the classroom.

“We also have teachers observe each other in classes to improve practice,” said Taylor, who also teaches an extension literacy class for years 5 and 6. The school has a long-running gifted education program, which began in the 1990s, for high-potential and gifted students.

St Ives North was among 53 NSW schools identified by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) as high-achieving this year’s NAPLAN results when compared with students of similar socio-educational backgrounds.

It also achieves above-average results against the department’s value-add index, which measures how much a school improves the performance of its students.

A separate analysis of this year’s NAPLAN results also reveals the school was among the top-performers when comparing the average year 5 scores across all tested areas: reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy.

The academically selective private boys’ school Sydney Grammar, all-girls private Abbotsleigh and Woollahra Public, which has an opportunity class for gifted students, were the highest performers in year 5.

But public schools St Ives North and Oakhill Drive Public School achieved similar overall score results to high-fee private girls schools Kambala and Ravenswood. St Michael’s Catholic Primary School in Stanmore was the highest-performing Catholic school.

More than 90 per cent of primary and high schools across all sectors which scored overall top results enrolled students from advantaged backgrounds.”

Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone  Revealed: The state’s top primary and high school performers in NAPLAN 2024.

December 5, 2024 — 7.30pm

WA’s NAPLAN high achievers for 2024 revealed

• NAPLAN bands were updated in 2023 and now include four bands – exceeding, strong, developing and needs additional support.
• Students in the top two bands are meeting expectations and those in the last two are not. 
• Results achieved by schools before 2023 cannot be compared to the results from the new system. 
• School results for 2024 can now be found on the My School website, broken down by subject tested and year group, and whether they are well above, above, close to, below or well below other Australian students in the same year. 
• The data can be broken down further to see how schools have performed against other ‘comparable’ students who have similar socio-educational advantage. 

Western Australia’s high-achieving schools in the NAPLAN testing for 2024 have been revealed, with government schools in the metropolitan area – largely in the city’s south-east – forming the majority.

Parents can view their child’s school results on the My School website, after the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority released the latest data from 2024 testing on Wednesday.

The students at high-achieving schools showed above-average literacy and numeracy results when compared with others with a similar background. The list was provided by ACARA and is unranked.

Just three schools of the 20 listed were private with the remaining public schools. Just one school was located outside the metropolitan area – Baynton West Primary School in the state’s Pilbara region.

The Karratha school was also a finalist in the excellence in school leadership category at the 2024 WA Education Awards.

Results before 2023 cannot be directly compared to this year’s marks after the way NAPLAN was calculated changed, but the school has clearly improved significantly over time.

In 2017, the school was below or well below average in many testing areas.

Principal Lisa Ledger said Baynton West was not limited by its remote location, and part of its success could be attributed to a renewed focus on reducing workloads.

Teachers at the school work in teams to share expertise, plan lessons, and moderate assessments.

Teachers will also nominate themselves to trial new initiatives and provide feedback, before they are implemented across the whole school.

“Resourcing and coaching is then made available (on the new initiatives), and all staff are provided with extra time to support workload management, so-called the ‘power hour’,” Ledger said.

One of those initiatives, which has now been running for eight years, is the Talk for Writing strategy. Ledger said writing had since become the school’s “superpower”.

“Our added sentence level and vocabulary component supports students achieve above both WA public school and the national mean in writing,” she said.

St Norbert College was the only Catholic school to make the top 20 list. Principal Sharon Rainford said she was “super proud” of the staff and students at the school.

Head of English and languages Corrina Markich said her team focused on intervention when gaps in knowledge were identified, targeting core skills and concepts necessary at each year level.

Head of mathematics Colette Miranda said NAPLAN data was a resource used to help the school’s teachers find those gaps.

“Teachers can choose to integrate 10-minute numeracy skill sessions into their lessons either at the start or end, at least three times a week, while continuing with the regular curriculum,” she said.

“We focus on students whose NAPLAN proficiency levels are identified as ‘developing’ or ‘needs additional support’.

“We also provide numeracy support in smaller groups.”

Miranda said the school ran a Term 4 bootcamp for incoming year 7 students, to address any mathematics gaps left after primary school.

Across WA, schools in higher socioeconomic areas continued to perform well above the average when compared to all Australian students.

Shenton College was one, with its year 7 and year 9 cohorts performing well above average in all testing areas.

However, when compared to schools with students of a similar background, year 9 performed above average in all by spelling, but year 7 only performed above average in numeracy.

Updated

Harrisdale Senior High School exceeded students with a similar background in nine out of 10 categories, which principal Everal Eaton said reflected “the dedication and expertise of our well-experienced teachers, and the hard work of our students”.

“Our approach combines targeted use of student-specific data with high-impact teaching strategies to ensure the best possible outcomes for every learner,” she said.

Some schools, including Rossmoyne and Melville Senior High School, were high achievers when compared to both similar students and all Australian students.

ACARA chief executive Stephen Gniel said the My School website provided meaningful education performance data.

“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, especially its level of socio-educational advantage,” he said.

“This helps parents and carers understand the full value and quality of a school, inclusive of NAPLAN results within the broader context in which each school operates.”

Holly Thompson. (2024). WA’s NAPLAN high achievers for 2024 revealed. December 4, 2024 — 5.00am

Schools’ success with phonics teaching switch may take years to show

By Bridie Smith August 27, 2024 — 12.01am

“The results of a switch to mandated phonics in public schools are unlikely to show themselves for two to three years, with patience and parental backing the keys to success.

New research says schools have a greater chance of achieving positive results when introducing new programs, including phonics as a way of teaching students to read, if they garner support from parents and invest in teacher training.

The study, by the Australian Education Research Organisation and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, also found that schools which acknowledged that improving results such as NAPLAN occurred over a long timeframe were more likely to implement changes successfully.

One of the most significant changes currently facing schools was announced in June, when Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll said all state schools would be required to teach structured phonics from next year as part of an explicit teaching approach.

Systematic synthetic phonics teaches children the sounds of the English language and the letter combinations that make them. It is different to balanced literacy, which includes some phonics, but also uses strategies to guess words based on pictures and context.

The direction announced in June means prep to grade 2 students will receive a minimum of 25 minutes of daily explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness.

Schools which have not moved towards explicit teaching of phonics by next year will need to show planning for the change over the next three years.

Professor Sharon Goldfeld from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute said the policy shift would be significant for schools.

“I think this is probably one of the biggest system change issues,” Goldfeld said. “However, the level of difficulty will depend on the school leadership and its openness to do these sorts of things.”

Teachers told to ignore Victoria’s phonics push as union lashes deputy premier

The Murdoch institute’s Getting it Right from the Start project involved 16 government and Catholic schools which had reported poor results in oral language and literacy among grade 2 students.

The research, to be released on Tuesday, found the greater a school’s readiness for change, the better a program was implemented. But Goldfeld said how well resourced a school was and its ability to work towards longer timeframes also played a part.

“It takes two to three years for a school to get up to speed. That’s the kind of time period you really need to give yourself, there’s no magic wand,” she said.

While the introduction of structured phonics from next year would likely be evident in prep to grade 2 classrooms, Goldfeld said schools would not see that improvement documented until those students completed their first NAPLAN assessment in grade 3.

What mandated phonics means for Victoria’s haemorrhaging teacher numbers

Tom Mahoney Teacher

Dr Jenny Donovan from the Australian Education Research Organisation said the research results underscored the need for schools to have systems in place which gave staff and the school community clarity, time and resources.

“Using evidence-based practices such as explicit teaching of phonics in reading instruction is obviously very important, but implementation of change is complex and must be undertaken carefully to ensure success,” she said.

Donovan said it was important schools limited the number of changes it made to a manageable level.

“If, like in Victoria where [the government] has said, ‘We’re going to focus on everybody moving to a synthetic teaching approach to the teaching of reading and an explicit teaching approach in general’, that’s one very big change.

“What you wouldn’t want to do at the same time is decide that you’re going to install a new technology system.”

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Where does your child sit? One-third of Victorian students need help

ByNoel Towell and Caroline Schelle

Updated August 14, 2024

“Nearly 30 per cent of Victorian school children are struggling with literacy and numeracy, the latest NAPLAN exam results have revealed, as experts call for system-wide reform to prevent large numbers of students falling through the cracks.

The results of the testing of 1.3 million children across Australia in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in March show little movement from last year’s marks and have been greeted by education specialists as underwhelming and disappointing.

However, the national curriculum authority ACARA praised the “important achievement” of students and teachers in keeping results stable despite big changes to the timing of the test, and the tough new proficiency standards introduced last year.

Victorian students performed strongly against their interstate peers in the tests, with the state’s children at or around the national average in 19 of NAPLAN’s 20 benchmarks.

But with 29.3 per cent – or about 88,000 – of the 300,000 Victorian youngsters who sat the test this year rated as either “developing” or “needing additional support”, experts are concerned.

Female students across Australia outperformed their male classmates in writing, achieving average NAPLAN scores above boys in every year group, with just over 73 per cent of year 7 girls writing at either “strong” or “exceeding” levels, compared with 58 per cent of boys of the same age.

Male students showed stronger numeracy results, with 5.9 per cent fewer year 3 girls and 6.7 per cent fewer year 5 girls achieving “exceeding” results than boys in the same year groups.

The results again showed sharp demographic and geographic divides, with about one in three First Nations students rated as “needs additional support” compared with under one in 10 of their non-Indigenous counterparts.

Fewer than 24 per cent of students from remote areas were rated as “strong” or “exceeding” in their reading this year, compared with more than 70 per cent of students in big city schools, while in numeracy, just 22 per cent of very remote area youngsters were strong or exceeding compared with 69 per cent of urban children.

Nick Parkinson, an education specialist with the Grattan Institute think tank, said on Tuesday this year’s NAPLAN results reinforced a clear message from last year’s marks.

“Too many Victorian kids are falling through the cracks,” he said. “Victoria’s 2024 results were not substantially different from the national average, the ACT or NSW on any of the NAPLAN tests.”

NAPLAN

One third of Australian students fail to meet new NAPLAN benchmarks

“Victoria must not be complacent, and there is hard work ahead to ensure excellence and equity in every school.”

Parkinson said the state government’s commitment this year to phonics instruction and evidence-based teaching was positive, but called for further reform, including a long-term target of 90 per cent proficiency in literacy and numeracy.

“The state also needs better screening checks to flag students who need extra support. Waiting until year 3 NAPLAN is leaving it far too late,” Parkinson said.

“There should be a resit in year 2 for students flagged in the year 1 screening checks. The current English online interview doesn’t cut it.”

Other experts were concerned about the drop in literacy in high school, particularly for students in year nine.

“We’ve been aware for some time that high school literacy is a problem and something that we need to really address,” Professor Anne Castles from the Australian Catholic University.

“There’s been quite a lot of work addressing primary school literacy ... and that looks as though it’s having some moderate benefits ... but the thing about high school is we really don’t have structures in place for identifying or supporting children who have literacy difficulties in high school because high school teachers aren’t taught how to teach literacy.”

The professor, who is part of the university’s Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy, added there needs to be a way to screen children in year 7 who may need extra support.

On numeracy figures, maths Professor Vince Geiger from ACU said children should be taught and shown mathematics matters. A drop in maths skills in the middle years of high school was concerning, he said.

Glenn Fahey, director of the educational program at the Centre for Independent Studies, said the stable achievement results between 2023 and 2024 might point to a broader stabilization in the quality of the educational system.

“This is generally consistent with other test results that may point to a halt – though not a reversal – to decades of generally poor or declining outcomes,” Fahey said.

School funding

‘Disgraceful squabbling’: Students suffer as governments brawl over school billions

“It remains that case that Australian student achievement levels and the gaps between students remain disappointing, given the relatively high level of taxpayer spending.

“Despite more than a decade of Gonski funding – intended to raise achievement and reduce gaps – there is little evidence of substantial improvement in results.”

Fahey said the results showed the achievement targets demanded by the federal government in return for a new $16 billion schools funding package for the states were crucial to improving educational outcomes.

“The currently proposed targets to improve the proportion of proficient students and reducing those who need additional support are a good place to start – but could benefit from being more ambitious,” Fahey said.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the results underlined the need for the reform he was demanding from the states.

“The additional $16 billion of funding for public schools the government has put on the table will be tied to practical reforms, like phonics checks and numeracy checks, evidenced-based teaching and catch-up tutoring,” he said.

Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll said the state had the highest NAPLAN participation rates in 16 years.

“Victoria’s NAPLAN results are no accident – they are the product of our record investment in schools and the efforts of our dedicated kids, teachers, principals, parents and carers,” he said.

Victorian shadow education minister Jess Wilson said stagnant and declining learning outcomes were the real-world consequences of Labor’s mismanagement of education.

With a continuing teacher shortage crisis, long overdue evidence-based learning reforms stalling and debt-driven delays to school upgrades across the state, it should be no surprise Victorian students are falling further behind,” she said.”

Schools’ success with phonics teaching switch may take years to show.

Bridie Smith August 27, 2024 — 12.01am

Noel Towell and Caroline Schelle. Where does your child sit? One-third of Victorian students need help. Updated August 14, 2024 https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/where-does-your-child-sit-one-third-of-victorian-students-need-help-20240813-p5k223.html

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One in three students failing to meet NAPLAN standards, data reveals. (2024)

“Thousands of NSW students have failed to meet basic benchmarks in the latest round of NAPLAN testing, with results exposing the sheer scale of the gap between advantaged children and their disadvantaged peers.

One in three students performed below expectations in this year’s literacy and numeracy exams, while 40 per cent of year 9 children failed grammar and punctuation tests, indicating they struggled to recognise verbs or locate commas in sentences.

The results are likely to intensify the battle between federal Education Minister Jason Clare and his state counterparts, who are at loggerheads over how much extra cash will be pumped into the next schools funding deal.

Clare has issued an ultimatum to state ministers, giving them until September to sign on to an agreement that links an extra $16 billion in school funding to a suite of reforms aimed at lifting performance.

“These results show why serious reform is needed, and why we need to tie additional funding to reforms that will help students catch up, keep up and finish school,” he said.

The academic scorecard reveals little change compared with last year. In year 3, one-third of students failed to meet the baseline standard in reading, numeracy and spelling.

In the first year of high school, twice as many boys than girls are unable to read and write at the basic level expected for their age.

About 40 per cent of year 3 and year 9 NSW students failed to meet proficiency in grammar tests.

The alarming results again lay bare the entrenched gap between rich and poor students across the state, and between children in the city and their regional and rural peers.

Primary aged children whose parents hold a university qualification were about 10 times as likely to achieve in the top “exceeding” band than those whose parents did not finish year 12.

About two in three children whose parents did not complete high school failed to meet standards in reading and maths across most grades tested.

Research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies Glenn Fahey said Australian student achievement levels – and the gaps between students – remain disappointing given high levels of taxpayer spending.

Despite more than $600 billion injected into schools over the decade since the Gonksi reforms were initiated, there has been little evidence of major improvement in results.

The new data is generally consistent with other test results that may point to a halt – though not a reversal – to decades of generally poor or declining outcomes,” he said.

An overall 38,000 students in NSW were identified in the lowest “needs additional support” band for reading across the four grades tested, while another 80,700 were in the “developing” category.

Just over 33,700 were identified as needing additional support in numeracy, and 87,000 in the developing band. For grammar and punctuation, about 50,000 students were marked as needing additional support, and another 97,000 were developing.

More than two-thirds of Indigenous students did not meet baseline standards in year 9 reading and numeracy tests. At least half of teenagers tested in the state’s remote or outer regional schools were in the lowest two bands in maths and reading.

There are some positive signs for writing assessment results in NSW, where 80 per cent of children in year 3 met basic standards.

NAPLAN tests the reading, numeracy, grammar and punctuation, writing and spelling ability of students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. About 400,000 students in NSW took the tests this year, and were measured against four proficiency bands for the second time.

The results come as the states and Commonwealth are locked in a bitter feud over funding as part of the next Better and Fairer Schools Agreement.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car has indicated she will refuse to sign a proposed deal – which ties extra federal cash to education reforms – unless the Commonwealth doubles its current funding offer.

Clare’s proposed reforms include reducing the proportion of students in the lowest NAPLAN band by 10 per cent, increasing those in the top band, and lifting year 12 completion rates, which are on a long-term slide in NSW.

Nick Parkinson, a senior associate at the Grattan Institute, said the results confirm alarming findings from last year.

“It paints a sobering picture and will offer little consolation to many NSW families. The message they send is clear. It’s time to get serious about preventing students from falling through the cracks,” he said.

“These results show big gaps between the educational haves and have-nots.”

The stark gap between students whose parents hold a bachelor’s degree and those whose parents didn’t finish school widens to almost six years of learning by year 9.

“The good news is that the NSW government can turn this around. Without action, we risk countless more report cards echoing the worrying results this year,” Parkinson said.

“Setting long-term targets will help raise the ambition for achievement. Almost all students can achieve proficiency in literacy and numeracy if taught well,” he said.

Car said results show the state’s students “overall are doing well, but there are gaps that need our attention. The Minns Labor government has already begun rebuilding public education, but we recognise that there is still much more to do,” she said.”

Lucy Carroll . (2024). One in three students failing to meet NAPLAN standards, data reveals. August 14, 2024 — 2.59am

https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/divisions-exposed-as-one-in-three-students-fail-to-meet-naplan-benchmarks-20240812-p5k1uz.html

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Teachers slam their own union over ‘outrageous’ phonics stance (2024)

“Teachers are threatening to rip up their memberships of the powerful education union after it opposed the Victorian government’s mandated shift to structured phonics in public schools.

The Australian Education Union’s (AEU) fiery statement this month – attacking the roll-out of synthetic phonics to teach reading to all prep to grade 2 students – was described by one classroom professional as “scandalous and outrageous”.

The union accused Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll of lacking respect for the profession and of not understanding the current curriculum and pedagogy. The main complaint from the AEU, which represents more than 50,000 teachers, principals and support staff across the state, is that the government failed to consult the profession before its big announcement this month.

Among those critical of the AEU contacted by The Age was primary school teacher Brad Nguyen, who said the AEU itself was guilty of not consulting its own membership on the hot-button phonics issue.

“What they [the union] meant was there was no consultation [from the government] with them, they also need to know how working teachers feel,” Nguyen said.

Related Article

Teachers told to ignore Victoria’s phonics push as union lashes deputy premier

He said that although he would retain his membership, he wanted the union to have better systems in place to address teachers’ views on professional issues.

“The union should be advocating for clarity, the funding necessary for changes to be done well and to ensure adequate resources were in place for schools to provide a quality reading education,” Nguyen added.

Another teacher described the union’s position as “unproductive”. “I know many folks in the literacy community who were appalled and horrified [by the AEU statement],” registered teacher Jackie Nieuwenhuizen told The Age.

Nieuwenhuizen, a literacy support lead at a secondary school, formerly worked as a literacy specialist in private practice.

“It’s scandalous and outrageous for the union to actively block something which is going to improve the lives of literally thousands of students and teachers,” she said. “It just beggars belief.”

Primary school teacher James Dobson said more members were considering leaving the AEU after the union downplayed the importance of the phonics reform while a quarter of Victorian students, according to Dobson, were not proficient readers.

“The union needs to make sure that it is representing its members; otherwise it will find that it has fewer members,” Dobson said.

The AEU would not say on Tuesday how many members had quit or complained as a result of the statement, but Victorian president Meredith Peace maintained her stance that the education minister should have consulted teachers.

“Teachers are qualified, experienced professionals who have a right to be consulted about educational matters, like all professions would expect,” Peace told The Age.

The union said the state’s public school students led the nation in year 3 reading – an outcome it argued would be “impossible” if teachers weren’t using all skills required to become proficient readers.

Dobson said the union was continuing to debate a subject when research evidence supporting the phonics method was “pretty one-sided”. “It was really discouraging, and actually kind of hurtful to the work myself and so many other educators have done in this area,” he said of the statement.

“An overwhelming majority of teachers want to do what will best serve their students and are willing to adapt their practice to meet the needs of our students and be responsive to those ... but we need to make sure that we get the implementation of it right.”

 

What mandated phonics means for Victoria’s haemorrhaging teacher numbers

Tom Mahoney Teacher

“Another government school teacher, Kath Holford, said in an online open letter that she was appalled at the union response to the mandate.

“You have not consulted members before taking immediate opposition to the move that will see a huge number of disadvantaged students given the opportunity to learn to read, lifting their future life prospects from one of insecurity in pay, housing and living standards,” she wrote.

She lashed the union’s “relentless attacks” against an improved education system, the failure to represent teachers and “shortsightedness in terms of scientific evidence”.

Carroll announced at The Age’s Schools Summit on June 13 that all government schools would employ the explicit teaching model from next year, with Victoria among the last of the states and territories to adopt the change.

Schools that have not moved towards the model by 2025 will be expected to show planning for the change over the next three years.”

How does Victoria compare?

• Victoria will implement a new teaching and learning model with explicit teaching at its core from 2025. All students from prep to grade 2 will be taught using a systematic synthetic phonics approach, with a minimum 25 minutes’ daily explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness.
• South Australia introduced its Literacy Guarantee in 2018. All government schools are required to use the year 1 phonics screening check. SA also employs about 30 literacy coaches to work with schools to build teachers’ expertise in reading instruction.
• New South Wales mandated the year 1 phonics screening check for public schools in 2021. It also funds ‘decodable’ books for all foundation students. It discontinued funding for reading programs that were not effective and updated the NSW syllabus this year to align with the evidence.
• Tasmania committed to a ‘minimum guarantee’ last year that every Tasmanian primary school will teach reading according to the evidence by 2026. Tasmania will also roll out the year 1 phonics screening check.
• Western Australia has provided schools with a list of recommended phonics programs and assessments.
• The ACT Literacy and Numeracy Education Expert Panel’s final report, released in April this year, recommended system-wide reforms to implement a structured literacy approach in ACT classrooms. The minister has accepted these recommendations in principle and is now designing a four-year implementation plan to begin in 2025.”

Source: Grattan Institute

Caroline Schelle. (2024). Teachers slam their own union over ‘outrageous’ phonics stance.June 26, 2024 — 5.30am

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/teachers-slam-their-own-union-over-outrageous-phonics-stance-20240624-p5jod0.html

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The NAPLAN-topping school that says phonics helped get it there

By Caroline Schelle July 1, 2024 — 5.00am

“At Wheelers Hill Primary School, the science on phonics was settled years before last month’s announcement that all Victorian public schools will be required to use the explicit teaching method.

The 700-student school in Melbourne’s south-east says teaching phonics helped make it the state’s best performing government school on NAPLAN scores last year, with an average score of 580.2.

Learning games at the school use hula-hoops, flash cards and whiteboards to help pupils start their reading journey.

“It’s very hands-on, and physical, which we find is great for all learners,” Wheelers Hill structured language specialist Maddy Gallagher said.

The academic results are clear, but Gallagher said the approach also helped empower children to learn.

The school introduced structured phonics in 2017, starting with the preps and then adding on another grade each year. The rollout has been widely supported by parents.

Principal Michael Ramsey said parents valued their children’s achievement, but he noted phonics also needed to be complemented with comprehension learning.

“Phonics isn’t the silver bullet to fix reading problems because … we need to be teaching students to comprehend as well,” Ramsey said.

 

Related Article

The way children are taught to read in Victoria is about to change

He said his school was caught off-guard when the state government announced that students from prep to grade 2 would be taught using structured phonics as part of an explicit teaching approach to be used in all Victorian public schools.

“The department needs to improve the manner in which it consults schools, and a school like ours that is doing very well and has a phonics approach was not consulted at all.”

The principal said a “cut-and-paste program” would not be appropriate for schools because it didn’t consider differences and abilities of students.

Victorian Principals Association president Andrew Dalgleish said he expected more in-depth consultation by the Education Department with schools on professional learning support and other aspects of the new policy.

 

Teachers slam their own union over ‘outrageous’ phonics stance

Research showed a positive result with phonics, but some teachers remained passionate about the balanced literacy approach, which teaches children to read using the meaning of a word as a guide, he said.

Dalgleish said he didn’t like the term “reading wars” because the conversation needed to follow the research.

“I think it takes it to a conversational level that isn’t as it should be … what we need to be doing is continuing that intellectual conversation around the research.”

An Education Department spokesperson said the phonics changes had been widely welcomed, including by schools and leaders in the teaching profession.

“They reflect the teaching practices already in place in many Victorian schools and are backed by the strongest research evidence,” the spokesperson said.

Any schools that needed to adjust their practices under the new approach would receive support, including ready-to-use lesson plans and professional learning.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-naplan-topping-school-that-says-phonics-helped-get-it-there-20240627-p5jp9h.html

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Teachers slam their own union over ‘outrageous’ phonics stance

By Caroline Schelle June 26, 2024 — 5.30am

“Teachers are threatening to rip up their memberships of the powerful education union after it opposed the Victorian government’s mandated shift to structured phonics in public schools.

The Australian Education Union’s (AEU) fiery statement this month – attacking the roll-out of synthetic phonics to teach reading to all prep to grade 2 students – was described by one classroom professional as “scandalous and outrageous”.

The Australian Education Union president Meredith Peace.

The union accused Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll of lacking respect for the profession and of not understanding the current curriculum and pedagogy. The main complaint from the AEU, which represents more than 50,000 teachers, principals and support staff across the state, is that the government failed to consult the profession before its big announcement this month.

Among those critical of the AEU contacted by The Age was primary school teacher Brad Nguyen, who said the AEU itself was guilty of not consulting its own membership on the hot-button phonics issue.

“What they [the union] meant was there was no consultation [from the government] with them, they also need to know how working teachers feel,” Nguyen said.

 

Related Article

Teachers told to ignore Victoria’s phonics push as union lashes deputy premier

He said that although he would retain his membership, he wanted the union to have better systems in place to address teachers’ views on professional issues.

“The union should be advocating for clarity, the funding necessary for changes to be done well and to ensure adequate resources were in place for schools to provide a quality reading education,” Nguyen added.

Another teacher described the union’s position as “unproductive”. “I know many folks in the literacy community who were appalled and horrified [by the AEU statement],” registered teacher Jackie Nieuwenhuizen told The Age.

Nieuwenhuizen, a literacy support lead at a secondary school, formerly worked as a literacy specialist in private practice.

“It’s scandalous and outrageous for the union to actively block something which is going to improve the lives of literally thousands of students and teachers,” she said. “It just beggars belief.”

Primary school teacher James Dobson said more members were considering leaving the AEU after the union downplayed the importance of the phonics reform while a quarter of Victorian students, according to Dobson, were not proficient readers.

“The union needs to make sure that it is representing its members; otherwise it will find that it has fewer members,” Dobson said.

The AEU would not say on Tuesday how many members had quit or complained as a result of the statement, but Victorian president Meredith Peace maintained her stance that the education minister should have consulted teachers.

“Teachers are qualified, experienced professionals who have a right to be consulted about educational matters, like all professions would expect,” Peace told The Age.

The union said the state’s public school students led the nation in year 3 reading – an outcome it argued would be “impossible” if teachers weren’t using all skills required to become proficient readers.

Dobson said the union was continuing to debate a subject when research evidence supporting the phonics method was “pretty one-sided”. “It was really discouraging, and actually kind of hurtful to the work myself and so many other educators have done in this area,” he said of the statement.

“An overwhelming majority of teachers want to do what will best serve their students and are willing to adapt their practice to meet the needs of our students and be responsive to those ... but we need to make sure that we get the implementation of it right.”

 

Related Article

What mandated phonics means for Victoria’s haemorrhaging teacher numbers

Tom Mahoney Teacher

“Another government school teacher, Kath Holford, said in an online open letter that she was appalled at the union response to the mandate.

“You have not consulted members before taking immediate opposition to the move that will see a huge number of disadvantaged students given the opportunity to learn to read, lifting their future life prospects from one of insecurity in pay, housing and living standards,” she wrote.

She lashed the union’s “relentless attacks” against an improved education system, the failure to represent teachers and “shortsightedness in terms of scientific evidence”.

Carroll announced at The Age’s Schools Summit on June 13 that all government schools would employ the explicit teaching model from next year, with Victoria among the last of the states and territories to adopt the change.

Schools that have not moved towards the model by 2025 will be expected to show planning for the change over the next three years.

How does Victoria compare?

• Victoria will implement a new teaching and learning model with explicit teaching at its core from 2025. All students from prep to grade 2 will be taught using a systematic synthetic phonics approach, with a minimum 25 minutes’ daily explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness.
• South Australia introduced its Literacy Guarantee in 2018. All government schools are required to use the year 1 phonics screening check. SA also employs about 30 literacy coaches to work with schools to build teachers’ expertise in reading instruction.
• New South Wales mandated the year 1 phonics screening check for public schools in 2021. It also funds ‘decodable’ books for all foundation students. It discontinued funding for reading programs that were not effective and updated the NSW syllabus this year to align with the evidence.
• Tasmania committed to a ‘minimum guarantee’ last year that every Tasmanian primary school will teach reading according to the evidence by 2026. Tasmania will also roll out the year 1 phonics screening check.
• Western Australia has provided schools with a list of recommended phonics programs and assessments.
• The ACT Literacy and Numeracy Education Expert Panel’s final report, released in April this year, recommended system-wide reforms to implement a structured literacy approach in ACT classrooms. The minister has accepted these recommendations in principle and is now designing a four-year implementation plan to begin in 2025.”

Source: Grattan Institute

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/teachers-slam-their-own-union-over-outrageous-phonics-stance-20240624-p5jod0.html

The teaching style behind the state’s top-performing schools

A major analysis has found high school students who receive explicit instruction are months ahead in learning compared with peers.

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The teaching style behind the state’s top-performing schools

By Lucy Carroll March 1, 2024 — 5.00am

Key points

• A study found year 7 students who experienced explicit teaching were four months ahead in their learning by year 9.
• Explicit teaching involves step-by-step, clear instructions and constantly checking in class for students’ understanding.
• Only 57 per cent of high school students are receiving explicit teaching and feedback regularly.

High school students who are taught using explicit instruction are months ahead in reading and maths compared with peers not exposed to that teaching method, a landmark study of 16,000 students has found.

A major analysis by the NSW Department of Education and the University of Queensland found year 7 students who experienced explicit teaching – which involves step-by-step instructions and checking for students’ understanding – were four months ahead in their learning by year 9.

The findings reinforce evidence that the back-to-basics teaching approach, which favours clear direction over student-led or inquiry-based learning, is the most effective way to lift results and help children learn.

Researchers at the department’s  analysed student surveys and NAPLAN results from 16,000 NSW public high school pupils to analyse how teaching practices influence achievement.

It found year 7 students who received explicit teaching were 1.8 months ahead in learning compared with their peers who did not experience that teaching style, while those in year 9 were 2.4 months ahead.

“The effect is long-lasting: when a student experiences explicit teaching in year 7 they are on average four months ahead in learning by year 9 – regardless of whether they continue to experience explicit teaching after year 7,” the report said.

Secretary of the NSW Department of Education Murat Dizdar, who heads up the state’s 2200 schools, said clear evidence backed using explicit teaching in the classroom to help lift academic outcomes and help children retain new concepts.

“The reason I loved this practice so much as a teacher was because I found it did not discriminate. Whether a child is struggling or accelerating beyond their class or stage level, explicit teaching is proven to help all learners reach their potential,” Dizdar said.

But the study, which analysed last year’s student surveys and recent NAPLAN results, showed just 57 per cent of high school pupils received explicit teaching and feedback regularly, compared with 78 per cent of primary students.

Results from the department’s Tell Them From Me surveys reveal 62 per cent of high school students reported they were asked to explain their reasoning, with a similar proportion saying their teachers set clear learning goals.

It also found a “clear equity gap”, with students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds more likely to receive explicit teaching than their more disadvantaged peers.

Half of high school students reported receiving helpful feedback, with that figure rising to 75 per cent for primary students.

Explicit teaching practices involve breaking down what students need to learn into smaller chunks, with the teacher modelling each step, reviewing learning before classes and constantly checking for understanding.

 

Related Article

‘Do the opposite to what progressive thinking says’: Pearson slams teaching trends

Evidence shows that when students try to learn new information without being explicitly taught, it can overload their working memory and damage their ability to store, remember and apply what they have learnt.

Researchers argue the more traditional teaching style has been overshadowed by student-led inquiry, where children investigate problems for themselves, anticipating this will result in critical and creative thinkers.

The department’s study, which was conducted with researchers from the Institute for Social Science in Research at the University of Queensland, found that explicit teaching also had a positive influence on students’ learning by boosting motivation, perseverance and engagement.

About 35 per cent of explicit teaching’s impact on NAPLAN reading results was due to its influence on a students’ confidence, and belief in their ability to succeed in an academic task.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car said addressing teacher shortages and delivering high quality, evidence-based teaching in every classroom is critical to improving student outcomes.“Explicit teaching works in the classroom. Period,” she said.

The report highlighted Balgowlah Boys High as a standout school using explicit instruction to drive sustained high results in NAPLAN and HSC scores. The approach has also been embraced by multiple high-performing NSW schools, including Marsden Road Public, Riverbank Public and Killara High, and by a group of schools under the Canberra and Goulburn Catholic Archdiocese.

It also said that when used effectively, explicit teaching is not the same as lecturing or rote learning, but when “implemented well it is a highly interactive and engaging teaching practice”.

The department’s review comes as the nation’s universities are set to overhaul their teaching degrees to include back-to-basics “core content” that includes evidence-based reading and maths instruction and classroom management skills. They will be given until 2025 to ensure the content is embedded in their initial teacher education courses.

Related Article

Boys close the gap on girls as single-sex schools outperform co-ed

At Canley Vale High, principal Effie Niarchos said the school’s approach to teaching is underpinned by explicit teaching and detailed analysis of student data.

“At the start of lessons we clearly set out what we expect of the students and constantly check how students are progressing in the classroom,” she said.

About a decade ago, students from year 7 to 9 began taking literacy lessons each week to help master writing skills and improve their grammar and comprehension.

Peter Tran, who runs the school’s literacy program, said there is an intense focus on literacy, which leads to success in other subjects. “We really need to deal with any literacy needs and problems before they get to senior years,” he said.”

Lucy Carroll is education editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

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There has also been newspaper interest in maths issues:

How these schools are teaching their way out of a national maths crisis

By Lucy Carroll April 13, 2025 — 9.00pm

“Australia has been too slow to rule out “faddish but unproven” maths teaching methods in schools despite persistent underperformance and a third of students failing to meet basic maths standards, a new report says.

About 21 per cent of primary school teachers worry about teaching maths more than other subjects, and most principals say at least at some of their teachers would lack confidence teaching year 5 or 6 maths, a survey by the Grattan Institute reveals.

Australia has a maths problem. One in three of our school students fail to achieve proficiency in maths,” the report states.

Year 3 students in a maths lesson at St Bernard’s Primary School in Batemans Bay.Credit:Tamara Dean

Lead author and education director at the Grattan, Dr Jordana Hunter, said there was a perception among policymakers that primary school maths was easy to learn and to teach.

“But as parents discovered during the pandemic, teaching upper primary maths and even concepts like place value in kindergarten requires a lot of skill,” Hunter said.

Too many children start high school without having mastered maths fundamentals, creating a “vicious cycle” of underachievement and teachers grappling with a wide range of student ability in year 7, the report says.

Last year’s NAPLAN results show one in three students failed to meet proficiency levels, while global testing reveals disadvantaged students in Australia are up to five years behind their advantaged peers.

The latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study found just 13 per cent of Australian year 4 students are excelling, compared with 49 per cent in Singapore and 22 per cent in England.

The Grattan Institute surveyed 1745 teachers, with one in five saying they worried about teaching maths, while 94 per cent of school leaders said at least some teachers at their school would be hesitant to teach year 5 or 6 maths.

While 72 per cent of teachers said they would feel confident teaching year 6 maths topics, that leaves “more than one in four teachers (28 per cent) of who did not feel this way,” the report said.

“Only 25 per cent of teachers said that all students in their school are taught by teachers with strong mathematics subject knowledge.”

Governments have for too long failed to rule out “faddish” teaching methods, the report says, and to lift performance policymakers need to take seriously “the evidence base on how humans, including children, learn maths most effectively.

“The opportunity to lift maths achievement starts in primary schools.”

The report highlighted seven primary schools in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia that have adopted explicit, systematic and evidence-based approaches to maths teaching.”

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“In all these schools principals had a strong sense that they were ultimately responsible for the quality of teaching and students’ maths achievement. As a result, they were frequently in and out of classes and heavily involved in professional learning,” the report says.

Dave Stitt, principal at The Entrance Public in the Central Coast, said his school shifted to an explicit teaching approach five years ago.

“We are now in the top 10 per cent of public schools when it comes to value-add data from year 5 to 7,” he said, referring to NSW Education Department data that estimates the contribution a school makes to student learning.

The Entrance Public uses student warm-up sessions at the start of class to make sure previously taught maths content is reinforced and embedded into memory. Teachers have weekly meetings on student progress and two assistant principals are dedicated instruction coaches.

St Bernard’s Primary School uses a bank of lesson plans and materials which teachers say has cut down the time spent planning classes.Credit:Tamara Dean

At the Catholic St Bernard’s Primary School in Batemans Bay, principal Karen Hadley said the school uses a bank of lesson plans developed by not-for-profit group Ochre.

“Teachers are no longer trying to work it out on their own,” she said. “Before, they would waste a lot of time trying to pull together lessons by themselves.”

Fluency in times tables and maths operations is key, she says, adding the school wound back use of maths games or “manipulatives” in class. Before the school moved to an explicit teaching approach in 2020, maths lessons involved rotating students around “workstations” to attempt activities, but they often weren’t clearly explained or modelled.”

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“Hunter said some schools that use “games and maths-lite activities” are too often the driving focus of a lesson without clear teaching of new concepts and skills

She said Australia needs to “stop accepting maths mediocrity,” and for Australia commit to 90 per cent proficiency in numeracy and for clear national guidance on effective teaching practices.

The federal government’s new school funding agreement with states includes a year 1 numeracy check and NAPLAN targets.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said: “We’re also improving teacher training at university to make sure teaching students are taught the fundamentals about how to teach children to read, write and do maths, and how to manage disruptive classrooms.”

With Bridie Smith

Lucy Carroll is education editor of The Sydney Morning Herald

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“Since 2019, the school has run dedicated explicit literacy and numeracy lessons twice a week in junior years. The school scored above-average NAPLAN results in most domains last year, when compared to students with a similar background. “That program has really helped build capacity for students to meet the challenge in their final years.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/revealed-the-state-s-most-improved-schools-in-the-hsc-20250324-p5llwo.html

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“A child’s NAPLAN results will be fast-tracked to give teachers almost instant access to test scores under a plan outlined by the boss of the national curriculum authority.

About 1.3 million students across years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will next week sit NAPLAN, the national literacy and numeracy tests. It is the third year children will sit the tests in March after a major review recommended the assessments be brought forward from term two.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/the-major-naplan-change-coming-to-schools-20250305-p5lh6g.html

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So, there is a large amount of press now days, and perhaps a reason for that is that NAPLAN is easily publicized in the press.