Who’s to blame for declining school results?

From this week all Australian kids will be back at school for the year, but what can we do to improve their results? There has been a concerning decline in performance in numeracy and literacy tests over the past two decades. Today, education reporter Conor Duffy on why Australian students underperform and how one group is bucking the trend. Conor Duffy explains that the most recent NAPLAN tests show one third of students not meeting minimum benchmarks. He says students from language backgrounds other than English are consistently outperforming their peers. Conor Duffy emphasises the importance of parental engagement in improving student outcomes. Featured: Conor Duffy, education reporter Key Topics: Australian education NAPLAN test results Literacy and numeracy performance Language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE) Parental engagement in education Inquiry-based learning vs. explicit teaching