Amid a global slide in literacy skills, Australia was one of eight countries where reading scores did not decline in the latest international tests.
Year 4 boys in NSW are failing to keep up with girls in their reading skills, with the latest major global test results revealing the literacy gender gap has widened in the past decade.
The average reading score of an Australian student was 540 points: significantly higher than the scores of 28 other countries, including New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Malta and Portugal. Grattan Institute education program director Jordana Hunter said Australia was aiming low and, while the country had not gone backwards, the results were by no means cause for celebration. “I think Australia has become to used to accepting underperformance ... we should be setting the bar higher,” she said.
Almost one-third of Australian students from the most disadvantaged schools failed to meet the proficiency standard compared with just 13 per cent of students from the most affluent schools. “It is concerning we have that proportion of young students who aren’t able to move onto reading to learn,” she said. “They are still at the point of dealing with the mechanics of reading and are not able to fully comprehend and engage with what they are reading.”
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