JOY Burch says ACT school students have again topped the nation in NAPLAN tests, with the latest results ranking the ACT first or equal first in 19 of the 20 testing areas.

“I am proud that ACT students across all year levels continue to lead the nation in reading and are ranked first or equal first for spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy,” Ms Burch said.

“Our Year 9 students – who were the first to sit NAPLAN as Year 3 students in 2008 – are ranked equal first in all 20 areas.

“We have seen significant improvements this year for Year 3 reading and grammar and punctuation, and Year 5 reading, spelling and numeracy when compared with the 2008 results.

“However, we will not rest on our laurels. We are committed to continuing to improve our performance. From next year, we are introducing literacy and numeracy tests for all new teachers seeking to work in ACT public schools.

“We are working with the Teacher Quality Institute and the universities to improve teaching degrees and practical placements for student teachers.

“We have an ambitious parental engagement plan to empower families to become more involved with their child’s school and education, which we know will lead to better educational outcomes for our students.

“Our schools will look carefully at this NAPLAN data to support decision making and determine strategies at the school level to improve student learning outcomes.

“NAPLAN is an important tool in highlighting areas of success and focusing on areas of improvement, but it is not the only indicator of success in schools.

“The ACT’s strong results can be attributed to our passionate and highly skilled educators, and the parents and carers who help their children meet educational goals every day.”

NAPLAN is a nationwide test undertaken by 1.1 million Australian students across more than 9,500 schools. 18,000 Canberra students across Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participated in NAPLAN testing in 2014. Students undertook testing in reading, persuasive writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and numeracy.