NAPLAN shows 1 in 7 Year 9 boys can't read at a basic level

NAPLAN shows 1 in 7 Year 9 boys can’t read at a basic level

February 6, 2023

Whether you are Team NAPLAN or not, today’s findings aren’t encouraging: one in seven boys in Year 9 can’t read at a basic level. The policy makers at schools, education authorities and governments need to act now to reverse this trend.

The key take home message from the 2022 NAPLAN results, according to CQUniversity education expert Professor Ken Purnell, is that we need a refocus on how we teach boys to read.

“The main big-ticket item of concern from this year’s NAPLAN results is that Year 9 boys’ reading has fallen to a record low,” said Professor Purnell.

“One in seven can’t even read at a basic level, just a few years before they leave school, and they are a year behind their female counterparts.”

He said Year 9 boys’ reading needs serious policy attention at all levels of classes, schools, schooling authorities and state and federal governments.

Professor Purnell believes priority should be given to programs that are known to work and have a good evidence base that teachers, parents and tutors can readily implement.

“We need to be employing quality reading programs that use age-appropriate reading content with tutorial assistance, whether by peers, teachers, parents or outsiders,” he explained.

“Simply interacting socially with others about the text being read, and supported in doing that reading in a brain-friendly way, helps the learning of reading.”

Professor Purnell said another item of real concern from this year’s NAPLAN results is that Indigenous students remain about two-and-a-half years behind their non-Indigenous counterparts.”

“This is largely attributed to differences in school attendance rates according to other experts looking at this issue – in remote areas especially where school attendance is significantly less.”

Despite the pandemic causing a loss of learning for students over the past few years, results seem similar to previous years, proving that the shift to online learning has had limited impact on students.

“Victoria’s results where students had a full year of home learning did not show lower achievements, although the State did invest heavily in catch-up tutoring.”

“In fact, long-term trends over the past 15 years show students’ results have broadly stayed the same or improved.”

Professor Purnell said girls outranked boys in reading and writing, but that was not surprising. Conversely, boys outperformed girls in numeracy.

“Overall, across Australia, two per cent fewer students participated in NAPLAN tests than last year.

“Reasons included natural disasters in New South Wales, such as floods, and perhaps parental and student concerns about the value of the testing when weighed up with their child’s mental health – and their own.”

Summing Up

We wholeheartedly agree with Professor Purnell’s point about reading programs. Boys will read if you provide them with engaging content and choice.

Engagement is the driving success behind Literacy for Boys and it’s why our program is so successful.

The release of the latest data will re-invigorate the debate about whether NAPLAN is worthwhile.

There will always be areas of concern but the results should not be used to discourage students or blame teachers that they are not doing enough.

Our Results

An effective reading program needs to be backed by strong results. Literacy for Boys was independently tested in one of the largest State Primary schools in Qld. Students in Years 3 to 6 improved their reading, spelling and comprehension ages by an average of 12 months after only 18 weeks on our program! Click here for the full report.

info@literacyforboys.com.au

info@literacyforkids.com.au

Want your students to finish strong in their literacy? Want more from your literacy program? Contact us for a 30-day free trial in your school or classroom. New schools receive these great ‘Turn and Talk’ comprehension cards for their classroom ~