Literacy and numeracy are essential for success in life. In Australia, students’ academic achievement is monitored using the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). One of the aims of NAPLAN is that results will drive student improvement by identifying which students are underperforming against national minimum standards and who require additional learning support. This study investigated the performance trajectories of students who were identified as “below the national minimum standards”, relative to students above the national minimum standards. This study used standardised reading and numeracy test scores for Australian students and regression discontinuity methods to investigate whether students who performed below the national minimum standards showed improved performance in subsequent years compared with similar students above the national minimum standards threshold. On average, achievement gaps between students below the standards and students at or above the standards persisted across year levels. Labelling students below the national minimum standards had no significant effects on later reading or numeracy achievement. The results suggest the NAPLAN national minimum standards labelling is not driving student improvement, highlighting the need for effective early identification and interventions for children who do not meet school year benchmarks for literacy and numeracy.

中文翻译：

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3、5、7和9年级学生的学习成绩与国家阅读和计算能力最低标准相抵触：回归不连续性分析

素养和计算能力对于生活的成功至关重要。在澳大利亚，学生的学习成绩通过国家评估计划-识字和算术（NAPLAN）进行监控。NAPLAN的目标之一是通过识别哪些学生的学习成绩不及国家最低标准，以及哪些学生需要额外的学习支持，从而推动学生的进步。这项研究调查了被确定为“低于国家最低标准”的学生相对于高于国家最低标准的学生的表现轨迹。这项研究使用了针对澳大利亚学生的标准化阅读和算术测验分数以及回归不连续性方法，以调查表现低于国家最低标准的学生与高于国家最低标准阈值的同类学生相比，其后几年的表现是否有所改善。平均而言，跨年级的学生在成绩低于标准的学生与达到或高于标准的学生之间的成就差距仍然存在。给学生贴上低于国家最低标准的标签不会对以后的阅读或算术成绩产生重大影响。结果表明，NAPLAN国家最低标准标签并没有推动学生的进步，突显了对不符合学年识字和算术基准的孩子进行有效的早期识别和干预的需求。