Making Sense of the 2026 Aggregated NAPLAN Data 2026: Reflecting Back and Looking Forward Early intervention always trumps the so-called “wait-and-see”, or as some like to refer to it as the “wait-to-fail” approach, where put simply, the academic gaps to be filled, are larger. With an established list of predictors of reading difficulty, for example, such as (but not limited to) poorly developed oral language skills, knowledge about print and how books work, and family history, various education initiatives, along with the Australian Federal Government’s policy response via the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025–2034, are all shifting the dial towards privileging evidence-informed teaching approaches, universal screening, early identification and targeted additional support for students falling behind before learning gaps become entrenched.