Andrew Stevenson
October 17, 2011
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CHILDREN at public schools in poor communities are three to five years behind their peers at schools in wealthy suburbs, an analysis of Naplan test results has found.
The education gap is similar for public and private schools in affluent areas, according to the study.
So extreme is the difference in educational performance, as measured by the national literacy and numeracy testing data, that the average performance of year 5 students in wealthy areas in Sydney is better than that of year 9 students from poor suburbs.
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The figures, calculated by Trevor Cobbold, an economist and national convener of Save Our Schools, reveal similar levels of underperformance across Australian capital cities. ''There are colossal gaps between some individual low and high SES schools,'' he said.
The comparison was done by grouping schools according to the comparative wealth of their community as shown by the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage, which the My School website uses.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/poor-students-lag-behind-rich-peers-20111016-1lriu.html
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