The Victorian, New South Wales, Queensland and ACT governments have released the Interim Report for their independent joint review of NAPLAN.
The Interim Report discusses issues with NAPLAN, as identified during an initial consultation round. It also includes preliminary ideas for addressing these issues.
Major issues identified in the Interim Report include the increased stakes of NAPLAN and related impacts, such as school comparisons, and the inability of NAPLAN to provide meaningful information about the level of achievement for both high and low performing students.
The Interim Report also identifies concerns about the timing of the test, as the significant delay between students sitting the test and receiving the results means that schools have limited opportunity to use the results to improve student learning outcomes.
The Interim Report identifies a number of potential changes for further discussion including:
- Shifting the timing of the assessment from May to earlier in the year so that results can be better used to inform decisions about future curriculum and teaching choices.
- Changing the school years that tests are administered from the current years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
- Reviewing test content, particularly the writing assessment, to ensure that it tests students for meaningful and useful skills.
- Limiting the availability of test data so it is less likely be used to make unfair comparisons between schools.
“We will always need some form of standardised test – but what I have heard very clearly when I visit schools is that NAPLAN has lost the support of much of the teaching workforce and that simply isn’t good enough,” said Minister for Education James Merlino.
“We need a test that has the support and engagement of the teaching workforce, parents and students and that is why we need to make significant changes.”
The Interim Report was developed by the Expert Panel leading the review, Emeritus Professor Barry McGaw, Emeritus Professor Bill Louden, and Professor Claire Wyatt Smith.
The issues and possible changes identified in the Interim Report are intended to guide further work in the new year, when the Panel will undertake further detailed consultations and seek written submissions.
The panel will present their final report by mid-2020.