Government backflips on linking NAPLAN to HSC over students’ stress
THE NSW Government has caved into pressure from parents and teachers and will no longer use NAPLAN test results to grade thousands of Year 9 students for the HSC.
NSW
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THE NSW Government has caved into pressure from parents and teachers and will no longer use NAPLAN test results to grade thousands of Year 9 students for the HSC.
Education chiefs were hit by an avalanche of complaints claiming the requirement to reach a minimum standard in the national literacy and numeracy tests to qualify for the HSC was causing students unbearable stress.
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) announced today Year 9 NAPLAN tests would not be used as an “early way for students to demonstrate the (HSC) standard”.
“This change has been made to ensure NAPLAN remains focused on its diagnostic purpose and to reduce unnecessary stress on young people,” NESA said.
Under a major overhaul aimed at giving the HSC more credibility, the government decided candidates would have to achieve at least band eight marks _ the third highest NAPLAN level for Year 9 — before they could be awarded the credential.
All HSC students will now be required to meet the HSC minimum standard only through “short online tests in reading, writing and numeracy” that can be taken in Years 10, 11 or 12.
Education Minister Rob Stokes said linking the minimum standards to Year 9 NAPLAN tests had placed unnecessary pressure on Year 9 students.
He said: “NAPLAN should be a simple check-up, not a major operation. It is one tool used to assess educational progress — not a high stakes test.
“Allowing students to demonstrate the HSC minimum standard early with their Year 9 NAPLAN scores inadvertently transformed NAPLAN into a high stakes test.”
The tough new rules were announced in 2016 by then Education Minister Adrian Piccoli and followed plummeting performances by Australian teenagers in critical subjects such as reading, mathematics and science.
A report by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) found the declining achievement level was so serious it could affect the nation’s ability to compete globally for the next 50 years.
Mr Piccoli said at the time he did not want the HSC to be just “a ribbon for turning up”.
“These changes will strengthen the integrity and international standing of the HSC and better prepare our students for work, training, university and for life after school,” he said.
Parents said yesterday they were “extremely pleased” with the decision to scrap the link between Year 9 NAPLAN and the HSC.
Parents and Citizens’ Federation president Susie Boyd said: “This is great news and we applaud the NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes for seeing the logic behind parental concerns and breaking the HSC and NAPLAN link.
“The forced link between the HSC and NAPLAN only increased the student stress levels and threatened the best interests of our students.”
The independent Education Union said it “cautiously welcomed the decision”.
But secretary John Quessy said the union wanted to find out more about the online testing regimen required for students to receive the HSC.
“Acknowledging that NAPLAN is a diagnostic test with the purpose of helping teachers assist and guide students’ learning is the right approach,” Mr Quessy said.
“However, additional online tests could cause more stress to students and more workload for teachers and distract from HSC studies.
“We are awaiting more information from the department about what these tests will look like.”
Mr Stokes said the tests could be taken by students anytime their teachers believed they were ready, “removing the stress and protecting the value of the HSC”.
NESA chief executive David de Carvalho said: “The NSW Government’s decision has removed a complicating aspect of the policy that was causing concern about the purpose of NAPLAN.”
Students who fall short of the standard by the end of Year 12 will not receive the HSC _ instead, they will be awarded the Record of School Achievement (ROSA).
Opposition education spokesman Jihad Dib has said the 50 per cent of students currently not meeting minimum standards will need resources to help them turn it around.