Every year Australian school students are required to sit the NAPLAN tests. These examinations are designed to give both parents and schools an insight into how their children are progressing in the essential scholastic areas of literacy and numeracy.
What is NAPLAN?
NAPLAN stands for National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy. Students sit these tests in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The program commenced across Australian schools in 2008. Previously this kind of basic skills test was run by each state and territory on an individual basis.
For students in years 3 and 5 NAPLAN is made up of four papers, one for numeracy and three for literacy consisting of:
- reading
- writing
- language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
Students in Years 7 and 9 have an extra numeracy paper in addition to the above.
The assessments are held across two days. The time allowed per paper is between 40 and 50 minutes, depending on year level and subject.
Why Students Sit NAPLAN
Individual students’ NAPLAN test results are confidential and are not used outside the education system. Parents receive a detailed printed report later in the same year that their child sits the tests. They are intended to provide parents and teachers with information about individual students but most particularly to assist schools in evaluating teaching programs and curricula.
Parents may use the detailed information in their child’s NAPLAN report to get a general understanding of how their child is faring in literacy and numeracy when compared with both their school average and also the average across the country. It is important to remember that one test on one day may not necessarily best reflect their child’s overall scholastic ability, and that their child’s class teacher is the best first port of call should they have any concerns.
Schools use NAPLAN to assist in identification of students that may have special needs at school. The results can also be used across successive years to identify how their literacy and numeracy programs are working within the school, and whether changes or improvements can be made.
How to Prepare Students for NAPLAN Testing
Since the NAPLAN assessments are testing students’ basic skills in literacy and numeracy, intensive study beyond regular school designated home learning should not be required. It is possible to download practise papers from the NAPLAN website and class teachers will provide opportunities during class time to help children become familiar with the style and structure of the examinations.
Some private tutoring and coaching businesses offer NAPLAN courses in the lead up to the exams. While this is up to parents’ personal preferences, it should be noted that this can place more emphasis on a child’s individual results than is intended by the functionality of the test, and may cause anxiety in some children.
Interpreting NAPLAN Results
Each student receives his NAPLAN results in a report. This includes the individual child’s results in each assessment area as well as the school’s average for the child’s year group, the national average for the year group and the range of achievement for the middle 60% of students nationally.
There is also a detailed table for each assessment indicating a brief description of the skill being assessed in each question, and whether or not the child was correct or incorrect or did not attempt the question. These tables also display what percentage of students in the state that correctly answered the question.
The Australian NAPLAN assessments do not provide a complete interpretation of a child’s academic and social development at school, nor is this their intention. They are not meant to be considered a replacement for the detailed teacher reporting that is already in place in schools, and parents with concerns are encouraged to visit their child’s teacher and principal personally. The NAPLAN tests are however a useful tool for both parents and teachers to gauge individual abilities of students in the important basic skills of literacy and numeracy as well as to identify and address where extra attention may be needed in a school’s teaching of these skills.
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