 Sign announcing tests, Greenbank State School, 2014 | |
| Acronym | NAPLAN |
|---|---|
| Type | Standardised test |
| Administrator | Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority |
| Skills tested | Numeracy, literacy |
| Purpose | To provide a snapshot of a student's current reading, writing, language and numeracy skills |
| Year started | 2008 |
| Offered | Once a year |
| Regions | Australia |
| Languages | English |
| Used by | Schools (grades 3, 5, 7 and 9) |
| Website | www |
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a series of tests focused on basic skills that are administered to Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. These standardised tests assess students' reading, writing, language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy and are administered by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). The National Assessment Program is overseen by the Education Ministers Meeting.[1]
NAPLAN was introduced in 2008. ACARA has managed the tests from 2010 onwards.[2] The tests are designed to determine if Australian students are achieving outcomes.[2] There has been a great deal of contention in the educational community as to whether the tests are appropriate, whether teachers are teaching as they normally would or teaching to the test, and what the results of the test are being used for. The data obtained from the NAPLAN tests are collated and used to show all schools' average performance against other schools in the country on the Government My School website.[3]
The tests are also designed to be carried out on the same days all across Australia in any given year. Parents are able to decide whether their children take the test or not.[4] The vast majority of Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students participate.
The NAPLAN tests for 2020 were cancelled on 20 March 2020 due to "widespread disruption to schools" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[5]
In November 2023, a review commissioned by the West Australian teachers' union recommended that NAPLAN should be scrapped in favour of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).[6]
- ^ "National Assessment Program". ACARA. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b Johnston, Jenny (2013). Contemporary Issues in Australian Literacy Teaching. lulu.com. p. 3132. ISBN 978-1300812821.
- ^ Justine Ferrari (27 January 2010). "Parents' guide to My School website". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Brittany Vonow (22 February 2016). "School flouts NAPLAN; Principal 'doesn't believe in' the tests". The Courier-Mail. News Corp. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- ^ Duffy, Conor (20 March 2020). "NAPLAN exams cancelled due to coronavirus disruptions". abc.net.au/news. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- ^ "Calls for NAPLAN to be scrapped, more regulation on independent schools in teachers' union-backed review". ABC News. 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.