2007 literacy and numeracy results released

The 2007 Year 3, 5 and 7 literacy and numeracy test results have been released by the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, highlighting the performance of young Queenslanders.

Education and Training Minister Rod Welford said the 2007 test results showed Queensland students performed on a par with their national counterparts on the 2007 literacy and numeracy tests.

“In a number of areas, more than nine out of ten students are achieving the national benchmarks and more than eight out of ten students are achieving the benchmarks in other areas,” Mr Welford said.

”These point-in-time tests, while important, should be considered along with the range of other performance information collected by schools about student performance.

“The greatest use of these test results is in schools where teachers can use the results to reflect on the performance of individual students, with a view to lifting the performance of every student in the school.”

Mr Welford said that while these results were encouraging, more could still be done to improve literacy and numeracy standards.

“For example, while the writing results are an area of strength, the Year 7 numeracy results are an area where we need to do more work,” he said.

“For those students who struggle to reach the literacy benchmarks in Year 5, we’re providing targeted intensive literacy support for them in their upper primary years.

“Over four years, our Government has allocated $35.6 million to provide up to 15 hours of intensive tuition for students who need that extra support.

“We’ve also introduced a $1.5 million numeracy strategy to help students.

“With the introduction of the statewide Prep Year, our students will soon have completed an equivalent number of years of schooling as their interstate counterparts at the same year levels.

“We expect the Prep Year will make a great difference to students’ performance in the literacy and numeracy tests.

“Literacy and numeracy skills are the building blocks of learning and are vital for young Queenslanders’ success in education, the workplace and society.”

Mr Welford said the 2007 tests were the final state-based literacy and numeracy tests, prior to the common national tests being introduced in 2008.

Media contact: Marnie Stitz on 3237 1000 or 0419 734 985