NAPLAN questions 'unfair to remote kids'

THE national literacy and numeracy tests discriminate against indigenous children in remote communities, say linguistics researchers.

THE national literacy and numeracy tests discriminate against indigenous children in remote communities, say linguistics researchers.

They say the tests use reading materials about unfamiliar situations and require a level of grammatical knowledge often lacking in students for whom English is a second language.

The tests were also criticised yesterday for misleading teachers about the language skills being assessed in a series of papers released by a group of academics and literacy teachers opposed to the tests, calling themselves Say No To NAPLAN.

The group, formed last year, called on schools and parents to take action against the National Assessment Program -- Literacy And Numeracy, releasing a package of materials including views of the regime from schools, teachers and principals as well as academic papers critical of the quality of the tests.

The researchers, led by University of Melbourne professor Gillian Wigglesworth, say the tests do not provide good information about the proficiency of children learning a second language and many of the texts relate to subjects unfamiliar to children in remote Australia.

"The tests assume a large amount of shared cultural knowledge, which is a disadvantage for indigenous children, and especially those in remote communities where day-to-day life is fundamentally different from that of children growing up in cities," the paper says.

The paper is an abridged version of a study published in the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, which points to the Year 3 NAPLAN test in 2008 that asked questions about a movie poster including the name of the director, the rating and session times, and a paperboy delivering newspapers to letterboxes, which are foreign concepts to children in remote communities.

"It assumes cultural knowledge which these children are unlikely to have -- there are no cinemas, and thus they do not have daily access to this kind of promotional material," the study says.

"The NAPLAN test purports to be a diagnostic tool. However, the tests are simultaneously testing first language speakers and second language learners."

The acting chief executive officer of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, which oversees NAPLAN, Rob Randall, said some of the points raised were worth considering "but there is nothing that would support saying no to NAPLAN".