National Report on Schooling in Australia 2009

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education

7.5 Assessment: NAPLAN (Second Page)

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Table 7.10 shows the national percentages of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students whose results place them at or above the minimum standard and mean scale score for Numeracy, by Indigenous status.

Further information about student achievement in Numeracy, by Indigenous status, is available from the 2009 National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy – Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy report. Specific achievement data for Numeracy are included for Year 3 (p. 46), Year 5 (p. 100), Year 7 (p. 154) and Year 9 (p. 208).

Table 7.10      Achievement in Numeracy for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 at or above minimum standard and mean scale scores by
                         Indigenous status, Australia, 2009

Notes:

Exempt students were not assessed and are deemed not to have met the minimum standard.

CI = Confidence Interval

The percentages reported in this table include 95 per cent confidence intervals.

Confidence intervals should be used to compare data within 2009 only.

Sources: MCEECDYA, National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy 2009; ACARA (unpublished data)

Closing the Gap

In general, the achievement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at or above the national minimum standard in 2009 was below that of other students at every year level and in all three key domains.

The gaps between the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and non-Indigenous students attaining the national minimum standard for all year levels and domains ranged from 16.7 percentage points to 30.2 percentage points.

The figures below represent the NAPLAN results of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students by Year level across the three domains using the data provided in Tables 7.8, 7.9 and 7.10.

Figure 7.7       Achievement of Year 3 students at or above minimum standard, by NAPLAN key domains, by Indigenous status,
                          Australia, 2009 (per cent)

Figure 7.8       Achievement of Year 5 students at or above minimum standard, by NAPLAN key domains, by Indigenous status,
                         Australia, 2009 (per cent)

Figure 7.9       Achievement of Year 7 students at or above minimum standard, by NAPLAN key domains, by Indigenous status,
                         Australia, 2009 (per cent)

Figure 7.10   Achievement of Year 9 students at or above minimum standard, by NAPLAN key domains, by Indigenous status,
                        Australia, 2009 (per cent)

Reading
In 2009, Reading outcomes were greatest for Year 3 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, with 75.1 per cent achieving the national minimum standard, compared to the lowest outcome of 66.7 per cent for Year 5 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

The gaps between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student outcomes and non-Indigenous student outcomes in Reading ranged from 19.7 percentage points for the Year 3 cohort to 26.5 percentage points for the Year 9 cohort.

Writing
The Year 3 Writing outcome (79.9 per cent) for the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students achieving at or above the national minimum standard was the highest for all year levels in each of the key domains in 2009. 

The gap between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous student cohort for Year 3 Writing at 16.7 percentage points was the smallest of all gaps for each year level in each of the key domains.

The outcome for the Year 9 cohort was the lowest for all year levels in each of the key domains in 2009 at 59.0 per cent and the gap in outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous student outcomes was also larger in Year 9 Writing than it was in any other year level in each of the key domains (30.2 per cent). 

Numeracy
In 2009, Numeracy outcomes were greatest for Year 7 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, with 75.8 per cent achieving the national minimum standard. Year 3 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students had the lowest outcome, with 74.0 per cent achieving at or above the national minimum standard. 

The gaps between the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous student outcomes in Numeracy ranged from 20.0 percentage points for the Year 7 cohort to 21.2 percentage points for the Year 3 cohort. 

Participation

Participation rates in Reading, Writing and Numeracy can be used in conjunction with achievement rates to measure the Closing the Gap target of halving the gap for Indigenous students in Reading, Writing and Numeracy within a decade.

Students are classified in three ways: assessed, exempt, absent/withdrawn. Participation rates are calculated on the basis of all assessed and exempt students as a percentage of the total number of students reported by schools, which includes those absent and withdrawn.

The difference between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous participation rates can be derived from the data provided in Table 7.11. The non-Indigenous NAPLAN participation rates for Years 3 and 5 remain above 96%, with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rates from 90.3% to 92.9%. The gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous participation rates increases as students move from Year 5 to Year 7 and Year 9. The most noticeable difference occurs at Year 9 with the non-Indigenous rate at 94% and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rate at 80%.

Table 7.11             Number and proportion of students participating in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 NAPLAN Reading, Writing and Numeracy,
                                by Indigenous status, Australia, 2009

Notes:

The percentages of students represented have been rounded and may not add to 100.

Participation rates are calculated as all assessed and exempt students as a percentage of the total number of students in the year level, as reported by schools, which includes those absent and withdrawn.

Students for whom Indigenous status was not stated are not included in the data.

Source: MCEECDYA, National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy –  Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy, 2009

Further information demonstrating the participation rates of Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students in Reading, Writing and Numeracy, by Indigenous status, is available from the 2009 National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy – Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy report. Specific participation data for Reading, Writing and Numeracy are included for Year 3 (p. 54), Year 5 (p. 108), Year 7 (p. 162) and Year 9 (p. 216).