Topics: NAPLAN results
Leon Delaney: Now, the latest results from NAPLAN has provoked an interesting response from various quarters. For example, the official announcement from ACARA, the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting authority says that the national results are `broadly stable’. Right? Okay. One of the headlines in the newspapers says, `NAPLAN 2024 results show little change in student performance’. Then we’ve got another headline that says, `NAPLAN results show one in three students don’t meet minimum standards. These kids need more support’. And then, of course, you have the media release from the Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Henderson, who says, `Back to basics education is critical to combating disastrous NAPLAN results’. Sarah Henderson, thanks for joining us today.
Senator Henderson: Leon, terrific to join you.
Leon Delaney: Well, some people don’t seem to think these results are all that disastrous. In fact, the official release from a car seems to be very blasé, doesn’t it?
Senator Henderson: It does indeed these results are disastrous because one in three Australian children is not meeting minimum standards in reading, writing and maths. That is simply not good enough. And the reason this is happening is because they don’t have the best evidence-based teaching methods in every Australian classroom. Because we know Leon that when you have things like explicit instruction, the teaching of phonics, the things that we know work, children’s results improve, and frankly, to deny children the best evidence-based teaching methods is negligent. It’s child neglect, and it should not be happening in a country as lucky as ours. And as for ACARA, that the curriculum regulator described these results as stable because they’re as bad as last year, is absolutely embarrassing. It actually said: `These stable results are an important achievement’. Well, there’s nothing to be proud about, and we need to do much better as a country, and the Coalition is determined to go back-to-basics, to give parents the education their children deserve, because that is certainly not happening under the Albanese government.
Leon Delaney: Well, you’ve certainly known for quite some time that we face challenges on literacy and numeracy, and that’s one of the reasons why we have NAPLAN in the first place. But the bold claim that the results are broadly stable, or even the headlines saying, `Oh, there’s been little change’, – that is in itself an admission of failure, isn’t it? Because it’s a clear statement that things are not getting better.
Senator Henderson: Things are not getting better, and when you look at the situation 20 years ago, the average year 10 student was one year ahead in their learning compared to now, so we have seen a generational decline, despite, you know, enormous leaps and bounds in the work that the Coalition did in terms of improving teacher training, embedding evidence-based practices in the national curriculum. We’ve still got a lot more work to be done, and what’s so disappointing Leon is Jason Clare, the education minister, promised to drive these reforms that we need in every Australian classroom, but all he has delivered is a national school funding war with five states, including the ACT, no national reforms, an unsigned agreement, and frankly, an absolute mess, which is just not good enough.
Leon Delaney: Now, of course, the challenge of literacy and numeracy has been with us for a long time, but in recent times, for a couple of years now, there’s been a lot more discussion about what you’ve been identifying evidence-based teaching. The phonics wars appear to be over. The general consensus of opinion seems to be now, `Oh no, we had it wrong for all those years. We need to go back to the old-fashioned ways that we know worked’. What’s the hold up?
Senator Henderson: Well, exactly what is the hold up? And to be fair, we have seen some significant progress in a number of states. In New South Wales, they have now rewritten their syllabus. The Victorian Government has quite belatedly, but they have announced that it is moving to a phonics and other evidence-based teaching practices. So that is good news, and yet Jason Clare is sitting on his hands, which is really disappointing, because we know this works, and we want children to absolutely survive. And there’s a great example here in Canberra, Leon, so the Canberra Goulburn archdiocese, so the Catholic schools in in the ACT and in the Goulburn archdiocese have introduced a new way of learning and teaching called Catalyst, a number of years ago, and they have seen a very significant improvement in their now plan results, which is a great credit to that school and school system. Other schools are doing it. Some other school systems are embracing these changes. So the only it seems that the only organisations which are opposing evidence-based teaching are the teacher unions. So why would you be a teacher and join a union when your union, the Australian Education Union, is the standout, is opposing evidence-based teaching reforms, which just shows how little they care about the welfare and the education of young Australians.
Leon Delaney: You mentioned the funding dispute, and it’s a strange situation, isn’t it, where we have Labor states and territories in a dispute with the Labor federal government over funding arrangements. I know we have a little bit of argy-bargy all the time, but still, you’d think that they’d be able to get on the same page when they’re from the same party, wouldn’t you?
Senator Henderson: Well, it’s a really disappointing, missed opportunity for Jason Clare, because we’ve got, as you say, predominantly Labor states. He has reached an agreement with the Northern Territory and WA but the rest of the states and the ACT are at war, and it just seems to me that he hasn’t been able to do the job of implementing and getting agreement to drive these national reforms, which don’t require additional funding. And we know that Leon because New South Wales, has already made significant changes, and the same thing is happening in Victoria and also in Tasmania, they’ve made some very important improvements in their evidence-based literacy program. So, it’s just a huge missed opportunity by this minister who, frankly, has got chaos in the school sector, and of course, chaos is also reigning supreme in the university sector, where the entire higher education sector is in meltdown over legislation that the government is bringing forward to try and fix its immigration mess. So, things are not going well on this minister’s watch.
Leon Delaney: Sarah. Thanks for your time today.
Senator Henderson: Thank you, glad to talk to you.