Success in NAPLAN Takes Patience: AVID Australia Celebrates Progress and Looks to the Future
MELBOURNE, VIC, Dec. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the My School update approaches, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Australia is proud to celebrate the results of a comprehensive evaluation of its impact over the past ten years. The findings confirm that meaningful improvement in student outcomes is a long-term journey—one that rewards patience, persistence, and a commitment to evidence-based practice.
Celebrating Sustained Progress
The evaluation led by Dr Pete Goss demonstrates that AVID’s whole-school approach is delivering significant, lasting gains in literacy and numeracy for students across Australia.
- Students in AVID Australia schools made impressive gains. One school closed three-quarters of its Year 9 writing gap to the national average since 2014.
- Nearly all established AVID schools improved their NAPLAN results faster than students with similar background. Most outpaced their neighbouring schools.
- Established AVID secondary schools were 2.6 times more likely to outperform in all three core NAPLAN domains–Reading, Writing, and Numeracy–than other schools.
- Established AVID schools added nearly eight times more value in Year 9 and three months more value in Year 5 than comparable local schools.
- Several AVID schools show sustained NAPLAN improvements for the full ten years.
School Improvement is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
AVID Australia’s journey shows that real change in education takes time. These NAPLAN improvements are the result of years of dedicated effort by school leaders, educators, and students working in partnership with AVID Australia to deliver a shared vision of opportunity and achievement. The greatest gains occur when a whole-school focus on high expectations and evidence-based instructional practices is supported by strong systems and a culture of empowerment and trust.
Robust, longitudinal analysis of NAPLAN data shows that it takes at least three years for improvements to become visible, and several more years to confirm that progress is sustained. School leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders must exercise patience and perseverance, even as schools strive for daily improvement.
A Call for Sophisticated Use of NAPLAN Data
AVID Australia urges journalists, policymakers, and educators to use NAPLAN data more thoughtfully. When used well, NAPLAN offers insights into school impact and system change that few other countries can match. Rather than focusing on single-year results or league tables, longitudinal and comparative analysis provides a richer, more accurate picture of school improvement and helps identify what truly works in education.
Looking Ahead
AVID Australia looks forward to seeing how its schools perform this year and to learning from the My School update to drive further improvement. As more schools embrace evidence-based strategies and commit to the long game, the potential for student success grows. AVID stands ready to support schools on this journey and welcomes opportunities to share insights and connect journalists with high-performing AVID schools for further stories.
About AVID
AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to closing the opportunity gap in education. Through evidence-based professional learning and schoolwide systems, AVID empowers educators to prepare all students for success in further education, careers, and life. Since its founding, AVID has impacted millions of students across the United States, and internationally. AVID Australia has been supporting schools in Australia since 2011. Learn more at www.avid.org and www.avidaustralia.edu.au.
To arrange interviews or connect with high-performing AVID schools, please contact the AVID Australia media team.
The analysis of AVID’s NAPLAN results is available at https://apo.org.au/node/331884. The full impact evaluation will be published early next year.
Quotes:
Claire Brown: We need to change education conversations to highlight the complexity and time required to advance student outcomes and teaching quality over time with evidence-informed, high-quality professional learning initiatives that respect and amplify teachers’ confidence, capability and agency. AVID WORKS! Teachers have known this. Now we have independent evidence to support our claim.
Cassie Freeman: “These results speak volumes about the impact of AVID Australia—and about the power of NAPLAN data to provide insight about whole-school change.”
Dr Pete Goss: “Over the course of a decade, AVID schools in very diverse contexts have shown remarkable improvements that will transform the lives of their students.”
Dr Pete Goss: “School improvement is complex, contextual and non-linear, and there are no magic bullets. The big gains come when schools sustain fidelity and improvement over the long term.”
Dr Claire Brown AVID Center Australia +61 414 642 063 cbrown@avidau.org Dr Pete Goss S J Spencer Consulting + 61 404 017 975 pete@sjspencer.com.au
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