Aus: The Grattan report re the widening gaps in literacy

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

http://grattan.edu.au/report/widening-gaps/

Widening gaps: what NAPLAN tells us about student progress

by Pete Goss and Julie Sonnemann

Learning gaps between Australian students of different backgrounds are alarmingly wide and grow wider as students move through school.

The gap between students whose parents have low education and those with highly educated parents grows from 10 months in Year 3 to around two-and-a-half years by Year 9. Even if they were doing as well in Year 3, disadvantaged students make one to two years less progress by Year 9 than students whose parents have more education.

Importantly, the learning gaps grow much larger after Year 3. Disadvantaged students are falling further behind each year they are at school.

Bright kids in disadvantaged schools show the biggest losses, making two-and-a-half years less progress than students with similar capabilities in more advantaged schools.