Call to hold NAPLAN tests earlier in year to prevent prepping
The $1m review, commissioned by NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, in defiance of the federal government, recommends major changes to the standardised test.
Education
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Annual literacy and numeracy tests could be held earlier in the year and other skills assessed in the wake of an independent review of NAPLAN.
The $1m review, commissioned by NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, in defiance of the federal government, recommends major changes to the standardised test.
Results would be turned around more quickly so teachers have more time to act to address students’ shortcomings.
And Year 10 students would take the test, rather than Year 9s, to give an indication of their skills before senior school, while Years 3, 5 and 7 would still sit the assessment.
“In Year 10 students are more mature and, more importantly, reaching the stage at which important choices are to be made about their studies in the upper secondary years,” the report states.
“Students’ achievement levels and the absenteeism rate at Year 9 reveal a relatively low level of student engagement with NAPLAN compared with Years 3, 5 and 7.”
The report recommends that science testing be added to NAPLAN, as “Australia’s performance in science in the international surveys has declined in recent years”.
The writing component of the test would also be changed dramatically to weed out rote responses.
The report also recommends rescheduling the test from May to as early in the year as possible to stop teachers drumming formulaic answers into students that skew the results.
Students are told not study for NAPLAN, but it is broadly accepted that teachers waste time preparing students for the assessment because the results are publicly reported.
Under the proposed changes, test results would be distributed to educators within a week amid concerns about the current four-month lag.
Secondary Principals’ Council president Craig Petersen agreed that quicker results would help improve teaching.
“In the time teachers are waiting on results, they could otherwise be targeting their lessons to address the shortfalls highlighted in their students’ test results,” he said.
The final report, presented to the Education Council on Friday, reflected the widely held view of educators that NAPLAN is in need of an overhaul to maintain its relevance, NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said.
“NAPLAN has been disrupted this year by COVID, providing the perfect opportunity to implement a robust national test that is fit for purpose,” she said.
“What students and their teachers need is a diagnostic tool that captures the breadth of a student’s ability, measures student growth and provides systemic and individual results back quickly.”
But federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said the government’s priority was NAPLAN’s move online.
“Rather than focus our energies on destroying the only national test that provides evidence of how our students are progressing, we should be concentrating our energy on improving standards,” he said.