By Alesha Capone
Schools located in Australia’s more advantaged areas tend to do better in NAPLAN testing than schools in disadvantaged suburbs and towns, according to a new study.
Macquarie University PhD candidate Crichton Smith is the lead author of the study, which involved researchers analysing school grade 5 NAPLAN results from 2008 to 2016.
They compared the results of schools in different regions based on data including income, employment and internet access.
Mr Smith said that within Melbourne, most schools in the east, south and inner city were performing at or above average for grade 5 NAPLAN reading results.
In the more disadvantaged areas of the north and south-east, there was a concentration of schools ranked below average.
Within the west, the results were mixed.
“Around Williamstown and Altona, up to Yarraville and Footscray, there aren’t that many schools below the national average,” Mr Smith said.
“But it’s a different story for Sunshine and the north-west cluster around St Albans, Keilor Park (Brimbank).”
Among schools located in and around Wyndham, including the suburbs of Laverton and Altona Meadows, nine placed above the national average (including four in the Point Cook/Altona Meadows area), 15 about average and 18 below average.
“Our findings show the area a school is based in has more bearing on NAPLAN results than whether the school is public or private,” Mr Smith said.
