The 2016 NAPLAN results show Tasmanian students are improving and narrowing the gap towards our goal of being at or above the national average on every measurement by 2020.
Tasmania’s 2016 results are closer to the Australian mean scores on 15 of the 20 assessments, when compared to the 2015 results.
Writing and grammar, and punctuation have improved, with the 2016 results at or above the national minimum standard improving across all year levels completing the assessment compared to 2015.
Importantly, the greatest increases of more than 10 points for Tasmania’s average scores were achieved where our 25 additional Literacy and Numeracy Specialists have been working with students at greatest risk in Year 7 and Year 9 writing, and Year 7 numeracy.
Overall, Tasmania’s strongest performance is in reading and writing at all year levels. We also exceed the Australian results for at or above national minimum standard in both Year 3 and Year 9 numeracy.
These results are a testament to our hard working teachers, principals and support staff in our schools, and I thank them for the great work that they do.
It is very encouraging to see these improvements in NAPLAN results. But of course we want young Tasmanians to have a belief in themselves, to value education and plan for a brighter future.
So while there is still work to be done, we are committed to continuing this improvement through our focus on evidence based structural change, targeted investment and prioritising students with the greatest need.
Already we have started extending our high schools to Years 11 and 12, and it’s delivering results.
We have invested in improving the quality of our teachers and support staff, and already we have 22 new maths & science specialists, the 25 Literacy and Numeracy Specialists and 15 school nurses.
We have been unwavering in our commitment to fund the full six years of Gonski, committing the full $134 million over six years, including an additional $10 million this year.
And, we have proposed significant reforms to the starting age and finishing requirements. This includes lowering the starting age for Prep by six months, to four and a half years, and increasing the leaving requirements to completion of Year 12, a Certificate III, or reaching 18-years of age.
There’s no doubt that there are complex, deeply intergenerational issues and attitudes that will take time and perseverance to change. But this does not deter us.
The release of the NAPLAN results follows testing conducted in Term 2, which was completed by more than 25,000 Tasmanian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 across Government, Catholic and Independent schools.
Parents will receive individual student reports and schools will receive their results from August 8.
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