The NAPLAN results are

"good", "bad", "disappointing", "cause for alarm", "show progress" or perhaps just dependent on your view of the school system.

I would say they were "manipulated" and there was "room for improvement", perhaps a lot of improvement. Yes, you might ask why I say that. 

For a start I know of one state school where three children in one class were "absent" on the day of the test. How do I know this? The teacher told me they were. "We made a decision not to include them because it would skew the result for the class". Oh. Really? It was apparently agreed by the parents. 

I wonder how often that occurs. It may not happen on a wide scale but "a child here" and "a child there" not counted in the results may have more impact than we can know about. The only reason I know about the three absentees is that one of them is known to me. He is "struggling" in school. He "hates" school. He has "hated" it from the time he started attending school three years ago. Even prior to that he did not enjoy day care or pre-school. He is happiest when he is outside getting filthy dirty while "building" things. I have never seen a better "cubby" built by an eight year old child. Unfortunately cubby building is not part of the curriculum. 

Recently I mentioned the perceived need for very simple books about the topics and issues being taught to children in the upper years of primary school. There should be no need for this apart to help the few who are genuinely less able. The person who talked to me about this was genuinely concerned by the perceived need for this. She felt children were not reading. They were not borrowing books from libraries to source information. They would watch YouTube videos but they were not ready or willing to access the same information from the written page.

I have used YouTube to access very practical information but my use of it is "selective". I do not rely on it. Given the way I learn it is no substitute for the written word. Perhaps it is for some people but the need to read is still important, very important. I am less concerned about the NAPLAN results than I am about the failure to use the written word. Most books for children are still "fact checked" and the eight year old who hates school so much may not have been able to read the words but he could read the pictures showing him how to tie pieces together for his cubby. Perhaps they should have let him do the test.