Preliminary NAPLAN results were released today revealed that Australia’s overall education performance has remained steady, but New South Wales (NSW) Year 9 students recorded the worst results in reading since the testing system began. One in ten students failed to reach the national minimum standard (NMS) for reading, putting the NSW Year 9 cohort behind Victoria and Western Australia. The number of students who failed to reach the NMS for reading has doubled since 2008, where around one in 20 students had failed to meet the minimum standard in the state. However, in all other areas, NSW continues to rank top three and also achieved the highest mean score in spelling and writing for Years 3 to 7. “Once again, NSW students are achieving above the national average in all five domains, at all year levels,” NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said. Similarly, in other states, extended lockdowns and disruptions …