WA Education Minister, Tony Buti, has today congratulated Western Australian students for their 2023 NAPLAN efforts following the introduction of new proficiency standards this year.
Dr Buti (pictured) said all schools should be acknowledged for their commitment to maximising student participation in this year’s NAPLAN, with WA scoring higher than the national average participation for all year levels and assessments.
He said NAPLAN plays an important role in providing parents and teachers with information about student performance.
“I congratulate all Western Australian students, teachers and support staff for their efforts and some very pleasing results in this year’s NAPLAN results,” said Minister Buti.
“This year’s improvements to NAPLAN provide clearer and more meaningful information on student achievement for teachers, schools and parents.”
The national results released today showed WA students had the highest mean scores for Year 9 numeracy in Australia. The national average is 63.9%, with WA Year 9 students scoring 69.4%.
Under the new standards introduced this year, students are assessed against four proficiency levels based on previous years of schooling. The proficiency standards have four levels: Exceeding, Strong, Developing, and Needs additional support. This information will enable more meaningful conversations between parents/carers and their child’s teacher about their child’s literacy and numeracy development.
The new reports give clearer and simpler information about NAPLAN achievement, identifying where expectations are being met. This will support teachers to target the specific areas of student needs in the context of their classrooms and schools.
WA is performing at a level statistically above other States for a number of assessments. In comparison with other States, WA’s students have the lowest average age for all year levels when completing the assessments, the Minister said.
“The earlier timing of the NAPLAN tests gives teachers more time to support their students’ academic progress in the year of testing,” he said.
“While it’s pleasing to see strong participation and a majority of students meeting the higher literacy and numeracy expectations, the national results also indicate that we still have work to do in meeting the needs of all of our students.”
“With around 10% of our students across all year groups and tests sitting in the Needs additional support proficiency level, our focus on literacy and numeracy must continue.”
