Schools to benefit in NAPLAN rapid tests

‘Critical improvements’ have been made to NAPLAN literacy and numeracy tests for Australian school students. Here are the changes.

NAPLAN tests will be held earlier next year. ​

Students will sit literacy and numeracy tests within eight weeks of starting school next year, after education ministers ­ordered “critical improvements’’ to NAPLAN exams.

The National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy exams will be brought forward from their usual date in May to the middle of March.

For students from years 6 to 10, NAPLAN will be expanded to test students’ broader knowledge – starting with science in 2024, civics and citizenship in 2025 and digital literacy in 2026.

Federal, state and territory education ministers agreed on Wednesday to hold the tests earlier in the year, with rapid results sent to parents and teachers.

“Bringing the test forward puts information in teachers’ hands sooner, allowing for more targeted support for students to ensure they are gaining important literacy and numeracy skills,’’ they said in a statement.

NAPLAN tests are held every May for all Australian students in years three, five, seven and nine to test their mastery of reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and mathematics.

Science, civics and citizenship and digital literacy tests usually are held every three years for ­selected students.

As a result of the changes, individual schools, private education systems or state and territory education departments will be able to opt in to a 40-minute test for the extra subjects every year.

However, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which administers the NAPLAN tests, said results of the science, ICT and civics testing would not be made public.

“Results of these opt-in assessments will be available to participating schools and systems in order to support their teaching and learning programs, but will not be reported publicly by ACARA,’’ it said, adding: “The ­assessments are designed to inform the development of teaching programs at the school level.’’

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, who pushed for the changes, said the earlier ­testing and results would make NAPLAN a “more effective diagnostic tool’’ for teachers.

“These are necessary changes I have been pushing for over the past two years, particularly following the success of the NSW Check-in Assessments, which give teachers results within 48 hours,’’ she said.

“This is a win for teachers, students and their families. It ensures the assessment can be used more effectively, and provides greater opportunity to improve learning outcomes.’’

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace welcomed the shift in testing from term two to the first term of school next year.

“Moving the test forward means that valuable dataset will be available earlier in the year to inform teaching and learning programs and to give parents information about their child’s performance earlier,’’ she said.

The change comes as 2021 NAPLAN data exposes a widening gap between rich and poor students as a result of the pandemic lockdowns and homeschooling. The Australian has revealed patches of poor performance in suburbs with high levels of unemployment, poverty or large numbers of parents who don’t speak English.

The 2021 results also show that boys are falling further behind girls in reading and writing.

The need for struggling students to catch up on learning lost during lockdowns is being compromised by a shortage of teachers during the Omicron outbreak.