NAPLAN 2017 summary results have been released this week, triggering responses ranging from criticism to high hopes and panic.

This year’s results mark the tenth time NAPLAN has been conducted.

NAPLAN assesses Australian school students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 across the domains of reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, and grammar and punctuation), and numeracy.

NAPLAN tests all young people in all schools (government and non-government) using an assessment scale divided into ten bands, with band 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) says publishing the test results on the MySchool website increases transparency, allowing for fair and meaningful comparisons between schools.

But critics argue the ranking website twists NAPLAN into having perverse consequences.

Over the last ten years, the latest data shows:

  • no statistically significant difference in achievement across the majority of domains and year levels
  • statistically significant improvements at the national level in: spelling (years 3 and 5); reading (years 3 and 5); numeracy (year 5); and grammar and punctuation (year 3);
  • a statistically significant decline in Year 7 writing
  • Improvements in Queensland and Western Australia across a number of domains and year levels
  • Despite their high mean achievement, results have plateaued in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory
  • students have moved from lower to higher bands of achievement across most domains over the past ten years

Another key measurement is the percentage of students meeting the National Minimum Standards (NMS).

The 2017 figures show NMS percentages over 90 per cent for the majority of domains and year levels.

The highest NMS percentage is in Year 9 numeracy, with 95.8 per cent nationwide.

Year 9 writing has the lowest national NMS percentage of 81.5 per cent.

The Northern Territory is behind the rest of the nation across all domains and years, with NMS percentages falling to just 50 per cent for Year 9 students.

The Australian Education Union says NAPLAN has not told schools much.

“It's time to have a conversation about the importance of assessment and reporting,” the union's federal president, Correna Haythorpe, said.

“We believe in rigorous assessment processes but we don't believe in a narrow, over-simplified test which provides an incomplete picture of what's happening in our schools.”

Education Minister Senator Simon Birmingham said the Government’s ‘Gonski 2.0’ funding changes would help focus money on improving students’ performance.

“We're implementing truly needs-based funding across the country,” he said.

“There's record levels of investment in Australian schools but we need to make sure we get the best bang for our buck.”