Every year at Maths Matters Resources we used to review and analyse the data for NSW Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN Numeracy. It was a unique service that provided you with a different way to think about your NAPLAN results. We believe it is still most useful as it directs your attention to what really matters, not just whether your class or school is above or below a State average. And if you are from another state in Australia, the results can still be used effectively to compare with your own results.
We carefully look at the grade allocation for every question and then decide if it is correct (several questions have been incorrectly graded by the NAPLAN people …). If so, we then identify all the Stage below questions. For example, if your students are in Year 3, we look at any question graded as Stage 1 or Early Stage 1. For Year 5, we look at any question graded as Stage 1 or Stage 2.
We next consider if this question is one that we would expect 80% or more students to answer correctly. In other words, is this a basic or a core content question. These are the most important ones for your students to answer correctly. They indicate that your students have demonstrated an effective understanding of the stage below content. The 80% cut off mark still allows 1 in 5 students to answer incorrectly, for whatever reason. So what we expect is that 100% of these core/basic questions will be answered correctly by 80% or more students.
Unfortunately year after year we discover that too many students are not able to demonstrate this stage below understanding. And the 2018 results are no different.
Year 3:
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42% were Core Stage 1 questions (15 out of 36 questions)
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Only 73% of the Core Stage 1 questions scored ≤ 80% correct
(11 out of 15 questions) -
13% of these Core Stage 1 questions scored ≤ 50% correct (2 out of 15 questions)
Year 5:
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48% were Core Stage 1 or 2 questions (20 out of 42 questions)
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Only 70% of the Core Stage 1 or 2 questions scored ≤ 80% correct (14 out of 20 questions)
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20% of the Core Stage 1 or 2 questions scored ≤ 50% correct (4 out of 20 questions)
You can view the full details at Whole School Planning – Maths Improvement Plans Terms 3/4.
We create follow-up NAPLAN activities to assist your students with any misunderstandings they may have. For example, you can find a targeted activity in Time Activities – Stage 1 ( F/1/2) that matches Question 31 : Year 3)
Our analysis helps you see exactly which aspects of Mathematics need more attention. These are the most urgent substrands that require your focus in Term 4 and beyond. For each Stage below question that did not get an 80% or more response, look at your school or class results to compare. These questions are marked in bold red and yellow background on the Year 3 and the Year 5 grid summary.
And please contact us if there is any way we can help you further with your own NAPLAN Numeracy analysis. We totally understand that NAPLAN is just one snapshot from all the work you do every year. But let’s look at the data and see what we can discover.