September 11, 2009     Education Minister Bronwyn Pike today revealed that Victoria ranked among the highest performing states and territories in the second annual National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests.

“We agree with parents that nothing is more important than their children’s education. That is why our government has invested more than $80 million in schools with dedicated literacy specialists and maths and science coaches to ensure that every student is given every opportunity to reach their full potential, and clearly initiatives such as these are working.”

Victoria, along with the ACT and NSW are the highest performing jurisdictions in Australia;

VIC: The report found that:

• On average, Victorian students across all year levels performed better than the Australian average in reading, writing, numeracy, as well as grammar and punctuation;
• Victorian students also performed significantly better than the Australian average in spelling at Years 3 and 5;
• In 19 of the 20 assessment measures, the percentage of Victorian students performing at or above the national minimum standard was significantly higher than students in Australia as a whole;
• In writing, across all year levels, the percentage of Victoria’s students in the top achievement band was significantly higher than students in Australia as a whole;
•  In Year 3, across all domains, the percentage of Victoria’s students in the top achievement band was significantly higher than students in Australia as a whole.

Premier Nathan Rees today welcomed the latest national test results which confirm NSW students lead the nation in spelling, writing and numeracy.  The Premier congratulated school teachers and students across the State on their outstanding results in the 2009 national literacy and numeracy tests.

“NSW students, teachers, principals and parents should feel proud of these strong results, with students performing well above the national average,” Mr Rees said.  “This is proof we have a strong curriculum focused on literacy and numeracy and students benefit from a world class education. These results would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of teachers and principals in more than 3,000 schools across the state."

NSW: The report found that:

• NSW students were the undisputed champion spellers in the country, with NSW students getting the highest marks in the nation at every year level tested.
• NSW also has a greater proportion of students achieving above the national average in the key area of writing, with NSW ranked first in almost every year group.
• In numeracy, NSW has the greatest proportion of students in the highest achievement band at every year level.

Copies of the NAPLAN Summary Report on Achievements in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation, and Numeracy can be found at: NAPLAN

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