The literacy and numeracy skills of students across the country aren't improving, with NAPLAN test results plateauing, the latest summary data shows.
The writing skills of year 7 and 9 students are of particular concern, with a significant decrease in test results since 2011, the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, Robert Randall said.
Meanwhile, the Australian argues that NAPLAN results show that more money - which would have to be borrowed on the national credit card, adding to the deficit - is not the answer.
It points out in its recent editorial that a long-term trend in which less capable students are selecting and being allowed into teaching degrees is undermining the quality of the teaching workforce. The entry bar to teaching courses should be lifted in all states, as it has been in NSW.
Despite the longstanding opposition of teachers unions to merit pay structures, it is essential, as Education Minister Simon Birmingham said yesterday, that teachers' salary progression be tied to performance and achievement rather than length of service alone.
