NAPLAN data withheld as future of test reviewed
PARENTS will be blocked from seeing data comparing how their children rank on NAPLAN tests, after state and federal ministers agreed to a review that could be the first step toward scrapping the tests.
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PARENTS will be blocked from seeing data comparing how their children rank on NAPLAN tests this year, after state and federal ministers agreed to a review that could be the first step toward scrapping the tests.
NAPLAN data will not be published on the My School website while an independent review is conducted into the way data from the online tests is prepared.
NAPLAN: Our biggest improvers and expensive underachievers in this weekend’s Sunday Mail
Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace told The Courier-Mail there were widespread concerns about the quality of the online data, which is adjusted based on a range of statistical assumptions.
Declaring she did not trust the data, Ms Grace said parents needed better information about how it was prepared and whether it was accurate.
“There is a technical review because there has been that much of what we call scaling and washing of data,” Ms Grace said.
“I don’t trust it myself personally.
“I think at the moment there are doubts about the data.”
Ms Grace has called for a wider review of the NAPLAN tests as well, which has not yet been agreed to by the federal government and all other states and territories.
The calls come after results published for Year 9 children who sat an online NAPLAN writing test this year performed significantly better than those who sat a paper-based test.
The meeting of ministers in Adelaide yesterday agreed to consider further action once they receive an interim report on the data at another meeting in December.
Queensland is reviewing NAPLAN in this state and Ms Grace said this should lead to “a mature adult conversation” across the country about whether the national tests were working.
The decision came at the first meeting attended by new federal Education Minister Dan Tehan, who has been tasked with resolving a damaging funding dispute with Catholic schools.
Ministers gave “in principle” agreement to discussions about national schools reforms but Queensland and other states have withheld the right to block some proposals, including for an ID number for each student.
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