"They will be set to be aspirational, or ‘stretch zone’ targets but still within reason,with this balance to be trialled with a small number of schools later in the year." Literacy and numeracy targets will relate to NAPLAN results, while wellbeing will be reflected by feedback to the department's Tell Them From Me student survey. The equity target will focus on how schools strengthen support for groups such as Indigenous, low socio-economic and rural students, although the methodology for measuring this is still being finalised. Loading The policy is an expansion of the Bump It Up strategy launched across 137 schools in 2016 to increase the number of students achieving in the top two NAPLAN performance bands.

Participating primary schools increased students in bands five and six by 5.2 per cent, compared with 2.6 per cent for schools outside the program. The new targets will be based on each school's improvement trajectory, and how their outcomes compare with similar schools. "Schools that don’t meet their targets will be afforded stronger system support," the spokesman said. Many principals are unhappy with the announcement. Reactions ranged from mocking the corporate jargon to worrying that setting ambitious targets meant that any achievement that fell short of them would not be celebrated. Some also felt that it over-simplified the work of schools. "[They are] five measures that in no way represent the complexity of a young person," wrote one principal on Twitter. Chris Presland from the Secondary Principals Council said principals were concerned that the targets would be centrally-imposed. "The most effective targets are those that are discussed and negotiated and set by schools in consultation with their own community," he said.

Mr Presland also said targets could lead to artificial improvement. "That's the danger," he said. "You can either focus on learning, or you can focus on targets. They are not mutually exclusive, but you can focus on targets without focusing on learning." Adrian Piccoli, the director of the Gonski Institute for Education, was education minister when the first Bump It Up program began to target schools with strong potential to lift students cruising in the middle bands of NAPLAN. He supported the move to stretch targets. "As long as it's done in consultation with schools, then it's not a bad thing," he said. "Aren't we all about trying to improve performance in schools? Providing it's done properly, that's what parents expect. "The government is not asking schools to do something out of the ordinary. They're asking them to improve student literacy and numeracy. That's business as usual. That's what we spend $13 billion on." Arncliffe Public School was one of the original Bump It Up schools.