The Shire of Toodyay has topped the region as the 'most advantaged' location for educational possibilities, despite still ranking poorly compared to the rest of the state.
A new interactive tool launched by Teach For Australia revealed schools within the Shire's postcodes placed 74th overall for study opportunities, out of 139 areas in Western Australia.
The Shire of Beverley came in second place in the region at 103rd in the state, closely followed by the Shire of York which ranked 105th.
Both were labelled 'disadvantaged' when it comes to students' educational possibilities, compared to the rest WA.
The Shire of Northam was labelled 'most disadvantaged' in the region, sitting at 108th overall.
Compiled using information from the 2015 Dropping off the Edge report by Jetsuit Social Services, the research used a number of indicators of educational disadvantage, including qualifications post-schooling and NAPLAN performance, to collate a map of postcode rankings in each state.
The data also revealed, by age 15, Australian children from the lowest socio-economic households were, on average, almost three years behind in school than children from the highest socio-economic households.
Shire of Toodyay
- 74th overall of 139 areas for education outcomes in WA
- 51st in qualifications post-schooling
- 131st in readiness for schooling
- 65th in reading at Year 3
- 96th in numeracy at Year 3
- 78th in reading at Year 9
- 80th in numeracy at Year 9
- 76th in school leavers before age 15
Shire of Beverley
- 103rd overall of 139 areas for education outcomes in WA
- 88th in qualifications post-schooling
- 48th in reading at Year 3
- 89th in numeracy at Year 3
- 129th in reading at Year 9
- 127th in numeracy at Year 9
- 96th in school leavers before age 15
Shire of York
- 105th overall of 139 areas for education outcomes in WA
- 72nd in qualifications post-schooling
- 117th in readiness for schooling
- 77th in reading at Year 3
- 102nd in numeracy at Year 3
- 129th in reading at Year 9
- 127th in numeracy at Year 9
- 67th in school leavers before age 15
Shire of Northam
- 108th overall of 139 areas for education outcomes in WA
- 80th in qualifications post-schooling
- 125th in readiness for schooling
- 102nd in reading at Year 3
- 91st in numeracy at Year 3
- 97th in reading at Year 9
- 110th in numeracy at Year 9
- 92nd in school leavers before age 15
Teach For Australia founder and chief executive Melodie Potts Rosevear said a postcode "shouldn't define a child's future".
"Children from both metropolitan and rural areas deserve to be able to achieve their potential," she said.
"At Teach For Australia, we are working hard with a number of different stakeholders to ensure that all children achieve their potential, regardless of their postcode."
Ms Potts Rosevear said it was time for something to be done to tackle educational disadvantage.
"For decades, student outcomes on average have not improved," she said.
"As a result, Australian kids are being left behind and disadvantaged in a rapidly changing world.
"This is a systemic problem, with no one group responsible, but the consequences are dire for our children and our country's future."
This is a systemic problem, with no one group responsible, but the consequences are dire for our children and our country's future.
- Teach For Australia founder and chief executive Melodie Potts Rosevear
A Teach For Australia spokesman said the non-profit organisation wanted to raise awareness about the difference in educational possibilities based on a child's location throughout Australia.
"We know that a child's postcode can dramatically affect future opportunities for children, but we also know that awareness of this pervasive issue remains too low," he said.
"While we've been working to help level the playing field for Australian students for the past decade, many Australians are unaware of the inequity that exists here.
"The tool was designed to allow visitors to further understand the varying educational opportunities available across Australia and to highlight the work being done to address it."
The spokesman said, for many, it was surprising to see how their region stacked up in comparison to neighbouring areas.
"The postcode search tool shows clearly that many areas experience strong educational outcomes, however complex educational disadvantage is experienced by a small but persistent number of locations which is particularly prevalent, but not exclusive to, regional and remote areas," he said.
"Of course, measuring educational disadvantage is multifaceted and levels of disadvantage differs across postcodes, but also within postcodes
"This tool is meant to raise awareness of the issue of educational disadvantage, and start the conversation of how we can achieve equity together."
The spokesman said Teach For Australia was working hard to achieve accessible quality education for all Australian children.
"There's so much we can and must do and we think that for Australia to achieve an excellent and equitable system, we need to attract top talent into teaching, provide instructional coaches to early-career teachers, tailor professional learning to teacher contexts and foster collaboration and community in the teaching profession, among other things," he said.
"Over the past 10 years, we have placed over 830 teachers - all of which fill genuine teaching vacancies and nearly half of which are in regional and remote areas.
"No one person or institution will be able to amass the changes required, but a group of committed actors across our system can and that is what we hope to generate. Teach For Australia is looking forward to continuing working with federal, state and territory governments, universities, schools, families and community organisations to ensure that all children, regardless of their postcode, achieve an excellent education."
A West Australian Department of Education spokeswoman said the state government would continue to work alongside the non-profit organisation to obtain the best results for students.
"We work with Teach for Australia and have for some years," she said.
"WA public school students have access to the same learning opportunities, regardless of where they live, and follow the same Western Australian curriculum.
"We have options for students who may not have access to some courses because they are travelling or live remotely or if the school they are enrolled in may not offer a particular course."
For more information, or to see how your postcode stacks up, visit the Teach For Australia website.
