A nationwide survey of over 8000 teachers and principals raises significant concerns about the negative impacts of NAPLAN (see link below).
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/naplan-is-the-pain-worth-it-20121125-2a1mf.html
It’s that time of year again, when talk of NAPLAN appears in the media, so I’d like to reflect on my words from last year on this topic.
NAPLAN is the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy. It is a set of four assessments, sat under exam conditions, undertaken across the country over one week in May. Students are assessed in reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. Currently at IFS, participation in NAPLAN is a choice, and a cost that is passed onto parents.
During their time at our college, students will sit exams when appropriate and for the right reasons. Our exams will be relevant, connected to content and based on informing students, teachers and parents of progress, rather than providing a ranking. Our academic program is based on students accepting responsibility for their learning. Any exams students sit will test skills and content learned over time, not just content that has been learned for a test and then promptly forgotten. Our teachers are encouraging our students to develop a deep connection with the skills and knowledge they are gaining so that it remains with them for life.
Our teachers are developing an integrated project based curriculum which connects subjects, skills and concepts so that our students can make connections between what they are learning. We are confident that our approach will support students when the time comes to sit an exam and that their confidence in themselves and their ability will minimise the stress and anxiety commonly associated with exams. Exam preparation is an interesting discussion, and even more so, when presented with a choice.
In the coming weeks, parents of students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will receive information regarding their child’s participation in the NAPLAN tests. The purpose of NAPLAN is to identify students and colleges that are falling behind the national average in the basics of reading, writing and numeracy so these colleges and students can be offered the help they need. It allows colleges to identify areas of improvement and, by publishing college results, holds them accountable for the performance of their students. When NAPLAN is used in the way it was intended, it is an excellent form of assessment.
There are many aspects to be considered when deciding whether or not your child should sit NAPLAN.
On the NAPLAN website, www.nap.edu.au the following question is addressed: Can my child be prepared for the NAPLAN tests?
NAPLAN is not a test of content. Instead, it tests skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the college curriculum. Teachers will ensure that students are familiar with the test formats and will provide appropriate support and guidance. Excessive preparation is not useful and can lead to unnecessary anxiety. If you have any questions about your child’s preparation for NAPLAN, you are encouraged to make a time to speak with their teacher. NAPLAN tests are constructed to give students an opportunity to demonstrate skills they have learned over time through the college curriculum, and NAPLAN test days should be treated as just another routine event on the college calendar. The best way you can help your child prepare for NAPLAN is to reassure them that NAPLAN tests are just one part of their college program, and to urge them to simply do the best they can on the day.
For me, the most interesting point in the above response is, that NAPLAN tests skills that are developed over time through the college curriculum. If a student has developed skills over time, do they need six weeks of intense preparation? Is preparation the same as learning? By preparing intensely for NAPLAN, are the results authentic? Does publishing college results put more pressure on teachers, who in turn transfer this pressure onto students to perform well in the test? What happens to the delivery of the curriculum when countless hours are spent on preparing for a test? Do the children enjoy both the preparation and the test?
Students at IFS will not spend hours preparing for NAPLAN. If they are sitting NAPLAN, they will be doing so on the premise that NAPLAN is testing skills that students have developed over time. This would suggest that students practise these skills daily, applying and developing learned skills to the new content they are presented with. We would be doing those students sitting NAPLAN a disservice if we did not give them the opportunity to see a practice paper and get an idea of the format of the test, however it does not make for an exciting college day when hours are devoted to practising skills in numeracy and literacy for a test. Knowing this, it is quite interesting to hear of the countless hours and weeks some colleges devote to preparing their students for NAPLAN, as well as the dozens of websites and tutoring centres dedicated to helping kids ‘do better’ on NAPLAN.
The results of NAPLAN are usually distributed to colleges in October, which begs the question of the relevancy of the results in terms of informing teaching and learning almost six months after sitting the test.
An interesting article in the SMH by parenting expert and University of Wollongong lecturer, Justin Coulson, focused on why his own children will not be sitting the NAPLAN tests. He wrote:
“In terms of individual students’ learning, NAPLAN is next to useless. Individual student data has a short shelf life. NAPLAN data takes so long to come back to a teacher that it loses any potential value it had in regards to individuals. It is a poor teacher that has to rely on NAPLAN to tell them what students in their care can and cannot do. As a means of assessing student understanding, it is a blunt instrument.
NAPLAN will not tell us anything about student achievement. Answers are graded by a computer. Written answers are graded by ‘independent examiners’ who subjectively review hundreds of responses.
NAPLAN tells us nothing about teacher effectiveness. Great teachers create a positive environment and promote curiosity, a love of learning, participation, co-operation and leadership. NAPLAN does not tell us about these things.
NAPLAN won’t improve your child’s literacy, despite claims to the contrary. Teaching children to colour in bubbles does not teach kids to do anything but shade bubbles. Children become literate and engaged in learning when reading is for reading’s sake and writing is meaningful to the person doing the writing. NAPLAN reading and writing offers little intrinsic meaning to anyone, particularly the student.
NAPLAN will not create a positive and respectful college climate. It is particularly damaging to children with disabilities, children whose first language is not English and children from low-income families. NAPLAN tells us even less about college quality. Scores on a high-stakes standardised test tell us nothing about the social cohesion, morale of teachers and students, bullying, extra-curricular successes in sports, music, the arts and so on.”
It is important when debating a topic, that both sides are presented. There are many positives to participating in NAPLAN, including:
• The test can find the areas students may require extra help with to develop literacy and numeracy skills.
• The test results will help teachers work out where students skills lie. The results will also assist teachers to see what aspects they have taught well and indicate areas that require a specific focus or re-teaching. All teachers use the results of these tests.
• Teachers can use the results to develop individual learning plans and goals for students to work towards.
• Sitting the test helps students to learn that during exams the important thing is to stay focused and do your best within the time you have available.
Participating in NAPLAN remains a choice that lies with each individual child’s parents. Before you make your decision, I urge you to do your research. Your decision needs to be well informed and ultimately based on what is best for your child. Either way, we at IFS will support your decision and your child’s learning needs.
I have been against NAPLAN since they began. Both of my children experienced stress and anxiety when sitting these tests and I’m now seeing stress in my eldest son in year 7. I was always under the impression that I had no choice and wouldn’t be able to withdraw my children from doing them. My son in year 7 has decided he will do them, he doesn’t want to be the odd one out. I’ve told him again to do his best on the day and then move on. I am so happy that The IFS/ITS doesn’t ask the children to perform as though they are monkeys.