Australia’s education system continues to grapple with persistent inequalities, with recent data highlighting growing challenges for disadvantaged students.
The 2024 NAPLAN results show overall student performance remains steady despite significant mental health pressures. However, achievement gaps for First Nations and non-Indigenous students, as well as those from low and high socio-educational advantage households, are wider in Year 9 than in Year 3, particularly in writing and numeracy. These disparities underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions to address entrenched inequities.
According to Dr Venesser Fernandes, Senior Lecturer and Associate Head of Monash’s School of Education, Culture and Society, a big part of the solution lies in shifting from a ‘league of tables’ deficit narrative towards a place-based improvement that uses participatory, community-based improvement strategies.
“This would mean taking the focus away from the school alone as being responsible for student learning and instead bringing in community resources that assists students and parents in addressing the learning deficits along with the educational work being done by their schools and teachers,” Fernandes told The Educator.
“Where there is deep seated learning deficits found both students and schools need to have suitable supports being given to them by the system as needed and this supportive improvement work being done with them not on them either.”
Dr Fernandes pointed out that schools with higher needs would naturally need more supports to assist students and their parents.
“A really good example of this approach is Doveton College in Victoria who partners with the Coleman Foundation and other external community support systems to provide a wholistic service to their students,” she said.
“They have successfully managed to turnaround some of the deep-seated issues found in community that impacts the delivery of education by the school.”
Rethinking NAPLAN as a tool for tailored support
To help school leaders embed community-based improvement strategies, NAPLAN testing should guide tailored support and meaningful intervention for schools and students, Dr Fernandes suggested.
“The onus through testing like NAPLAN is on the system providing the school with informed support as required at the school cohort level as well as the individual student level,” she said.
“If you are collecting information at the system level for each student, then tailored support systems for them and their schools needs to be extended as well. Why assess if there is going to be no after assessment triaging put in place?”
Dr Fernandes suggests a collaborative approach, where external support systems work alongside schools to address both learning and wellbeing needs.
“Schools are already dealing with complex issues, so instead of expecting them to work out complex wellbeing as well as learning strategies for students and parents, it would be good to have external supports assist schools in providing this service back to students and parents,” she said.
“Also, the approach must be contextualised and place-based, with measured equity indicators being considered and pit in place.”
Dr Fernandes said these learning deficits have been “knotty, complex and deep-seated issues” that cannot be expected to be resolved by only those who are practitioners in education.
“It requires a suite of complex care being extended to the school community as equitably needed within that community.”
Building trust through respectful, empathetic communication
Dr Fernandes said that by partnering with parents and community, schools can reverse the “deep-seated and ingrained” learning deficits exist in some parts of Australia and across certain communities.
While there is no one approach to building partnerships with parents and communities, Dr Fernandes noted that this “invisible emotional labour” of school leadership must be recognised.
“Appropriate supports must be provided to principals and their teams to triage a response in communities where student and parent needs are complex and not just education based,” she said.
“These partnerships in themselves are place-based triaged approaches to respectfully help those who need our help the most and need to be equity-focused at the individual student level and contextualised within the school community.”
Dr Fernandes said respectful, empathetic communication is key to building trust among schools, parents, and support systems.
“If we are measuring student learning through the NAPLAN, we need to address their learning needs looking at the whole complex structure that exists around the student and the school,” she said.
“We need to support their school personnel who are already doing everything they possibly can and help all Australian students reach their best potential.”