As part of the 2024-2027 improvement measure cycle, schools have a purposeful focus on a small number of improvement measures including attendance, reading, numeracy and pathways (if the school has senior secondary students). Schools are also able to set additional school-identified improvement measures aligned to the School Excellence cycle, for example on wellbeing or writing, based on the needs of students. Schools use the annual reflection process to evaluate progress on their initiatives and progress measures.

The approach to school improvement measures is inclusive, purposeful and reflects the wide range of school contexts in NSW. Schools are provided guidance about improvement measures. Principals then work with their Director, Educational Leadership (DEL) to set aspirational, yet achievable measures that are appropriate for the school context and that speak to the needs of the school and students.

Progress measures represent the work that schools do in support of their improvement measures. Principals work with their DEL to choose and develop annual progress measures that reflect the improvement initiatives they feel will best lead to achievement of the improvement measure. For attendance and pathways, chosen progress measures will be reported in annual reports in 2024, 2025 and 2026, with improvement measures reported in annual reports in 2027.

For reading and numeracy, single year improvement measures were in place for 2024 due to the change in the NAPLAN time series. The 2024 annual reflection will review these improvement measures. As sufficient NAPLAN data is now available, schools will set new improvement measures for 2027, with progress measures reported on in the annual reports in 2025 and 2026.