STATE schools have been caught teaching an outdated and inappropriate curriculum, with no checks and balances in place to stop them.
The damning finding is just one of several shortcomings in the Education Department uncovered by Queensland's Auditor-General in a report this week.
The report also found gaping holes in the way the department was using student result data, and a lack of training for teachers and principals on how to analyse NAPLAN results.
The department is also accused of failing to ensure teachers get effective feedback on classroom performance.
The report comes despite the State and Federal governments spending hundreds of millions of dollars on initiatives to improve Queensland students' poor literacy and numeracy results on the national tests.
The audit found some classes were being taught a curriculum dating from the mid-1990s.
"Despite two major curriculum reforms in 1998 and 2005, some of the mathematics and English plans at the schools visited had not been revised . . . since 1995," the report says.
A Queensland Studies Authority spokesman said schools had been required to implement the 2008 syllabus, but it was up to the department to deal with schools that didn't.
Opposition education spokesman Bruce Flegg said the curriculum findings were "frightening".
"It raises the question as to whether students in the affected schools have been disadvantaged compared to other schools," Dr Flegg said.
Education director-general Julie Grantham and Minister Geoff Wilson were quick to point out that only 12 schools were reviewed in the audit.
But the Auditor-General said his methodology provided "a sound basis for the audit conclusions", with an electronic survey also sent to 150 schools.
Ms Grantham said progress had been made since the audit.
"Were the audit to happen today, it would find positive progress around all of the recommendations including curriculum," she said.
Mr Wilson said the Auditor-General had confirmed the Government was on track with its education reforms.
