Queensland Teachers’ Union anticipates NAPLAN won’t go ahead as State Government advocates replacement

State school teachers have been told by the Queensland Teachers’ Union not to “waste time and effort” in preparing for NAPLAN as it could be scrapped from next year. SHOULD IT BE REPLACED? VOTE IN OUR POLL

THE Queensland teachers’ union is telling teachers to halt NAPLAN preparations saying it is a waste of time and energy ahead of its potential scrapping.

The State Government had promised the union it would advocate for replacing NAPLAN as part of a deal which followed teacher anger and lobbying over the government’s pay-rise deferral for principals and teachers.

Queensland Teachers’ Union President Kevin Bates said every year schools start preparing during this term for the following year’s NAPLAN tests but it was now encouraging members not to “waste time and energy on something that might not happen.”

NAPLAN 2019: How every Queensland school performed

Top 50 best Queensland NAPLAN schools revealed

Queensland Teachers Union President Kevin Bates says members are being told not to prepare for next year’s NAPLAN tests. Picture: Claudia Baxter

Replacing the test would require consensus at the Education Council, comprising the commonwealth, state and territory Education ministers. The next meeting is scheduled for September 4.

“There’s a whole range of processes they have to go through, that’s work that’s being done for an uncertain purpose,“ Mr Bates said.

The Teachers’ Union has made no secret of its opposition to the test which requires, what Mr Bates called a “ludicrously ridiculous amount of work for what’s supposedly a low-stakes test”.

However, Centre for Independent Studies research fellow Glenn Fahey said the test should not be cancelled as it was the only national indicator of student achievement and improvement.

“It‘s the only way parents can discern the performance of their chosen school,” he said.

Mr Fahey said teachers use the test to provide feedback for individual pupils and to identify the level of achievement of incoming cohorts.

The contentious testing has been subject to several reviews.

A 2018 review which surveyed 7,500 Queensland parents found they believed the high-stakes nature of NAPLAN put pressure on students, teachers and schools which outweighed the benefits of the data.

The report’s author Dr Gabrielle Matters added that parents did not “fully understand the purpose of NAPLAN and so their ability to fully judge its value and benefits is reduced”.

The findings from the latest independent review, commissioned by the governments of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, are expected to be presented at the next Education Council meeting.

Education Minister Grace Grace said she expected the commonwealth and states would carefully examine the outcomes of the review before making any decisions.

But Ms Grace said she would continue to advocate for NAPLAN to be replaced “so that it benefits all students, parents and teachers.”

“Given the extraordinary circumstances occurring around the world right now, particularly in Victoria and NSW, it is difficult to know when that consensus will be reached,” she said.

However, LNP Education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said the Palaszczuk Government needed to guarantee NAPLAN was held next year.

“Scrapping the test isn’t the answer because the results are going backwards,” he said.

Ormiston mother April Bradstreet said she registered her son in tutoring with Cluey Learning so Jhett, 12 was confident in the classroom.

“It doesn‘t matter if they’re not doing NAPLAN, they still need to be learning literacy and numeracy,” she said.

Originally published as Queensland Teachers’ Union anticipates NAPLAN won’t go ahead as State Government advocates replacement