NAPLAN should be cause for reflection, not hysteria

The reaction in Canberra, as a supposed bubble of privilege, where public schools are routinely assumed to have among the highest results in the country across the board, is especially fascinating.

The Canberra Times reported last month that Canberra's public high schools are likely to have the writing and numeracy skills of younger children who've had similar advantages in life. That is, a study of NAPLAN results over the past five years found "an alarming number" of Canberra schools "where the students were, on average, more than six months behind the levels of learning of students in other comparable schools".

Worst was public high school students' maths and writing skills, which were eight to 12 months behind those of students in similar schools. How does this square with our notion that Canberra schools are among the country's best?

Is it due to different teaching practices – are teachers not using NAPLAN testing as a guide? Are the teachers trained differently in the first place? Do we have different academic expectations to the rest of the country, or do we place less emphasis on NAPLAN when it comes to defining academic rigour?

At least one person, mathematician Mark Drummond, believes the findings raise questions about the territory's decision four decades ago to break away from the NSW education system, which is now the top performer in the country.

And ANU law professor Andrew Macintosh, who co-wrote the study, says more research is needed to come to grips with the causes of underperformance.

ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry maintains that Canberra "remains typically the highest, or equal highest, performer in the vast majority of assessment domains and year levels", but she has urged parents and policy makers to look beyond the NAPLAN results when measuring a school's performance, as well as the overall results of the territory.

She has raised concerns about the way the website is used, particularly how "it facilitates simplistic rankings of schools based on point-in-time testing and puts unfair stress on students, families and teachers".

But many have baulked at the notion of abandoning NAPLAN altogether. Taken at face value, it is a useful diagnostic tool in identifying areas in particular schools or areas that need greater attention.

No one has ever openly suggested that NAPLAN should be the only measure by which a parent should choose a school, or even by which a school should be judged by a community or government. But making these figures public, as a neutral and simple – if not simplistic – means of gauging a school's performance, is an important tool for teachers, students and the community as a whole.

It is just one of the ways that education services can be measured, and should not be a cause for undue stress for either students or parents. And rather than seeking to blame any or all of the possible factors at play, it is surely more important to take the results on notice, and work out how to improve them.

Canberra has a shifting population of both teachers and students; like any city, its academic results will inevitably reflect this. The challenge is to ensure that our education services, both public and private, are providing the best that can be expected of a city of our considerable good fortune.