In Western Australia, students who had to re-sit NAPLAN will have their highest score reported, regardless of whether that was achieved in the first or second test.
In WA 17,000 students had to re-sit the writing tests, representing 20 per cent of the state’s NAPLAN population – a much higher percentage than the reported national figure of 5 per cent.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has criticised the decision, writing to WA Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery to express disappointment in the decision.
Minister Ellery has rejected this criticism, stating the decision was in the best interests of WA students.
“No student should be disadvantaged by the technical issues experienced this year,” she said.
The information provided by the WA School Curriculum and Standards Authority showed examples of many students with dramatically worse outcomes between the two tests.
“Once we realised we had two sets of data, and I was shown clear examples that there were significant differences between the two test results, it would have been irresponsible to use the earlier decision to only count the second test result,” Minister Ellery added.
“The integrity of NAPLAN is brought into question if parents are provided with information that clearly does not reflect their child’s proficiency.”