Right: former Education Minister, now Prime Minister Julia Gillard made NAPLAN and the MySchool website the centrepiece of her plan for education reform.
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Background information
(The following information has been taken from Wikipedia's entry titled 'National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy' and an entry on the Kids First Children's Services site. This information can be accessed in full at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assessment_Program_%E2%80%93_Literacy_and_Numeracy and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assessment_Program_%E2%80%93_Literacy_and_Numeracyhttp://www.kids-first.com.au/app/articles/articles/view/naplan-a-testing-time-for-kids)
NAPLAN, or the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy, is a battery of tests administered annually to Australian students. 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.
The ACARA website states that the NAPLAN tests 'broadly reflect aspects of literacy and numeracy common to curriculums in all States and Territories' and that the test formats and questions are 'chosen so that they are familiar to teachers and students across Australia'. The tests are also designed to be carried out on the same days all across Australia in any given year.
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.
NAPLAN facts
1. Who sits for NAPLAN?
All students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9
2. Where do the tests take place?
NAPLAN tests are conducted at schools and administered by classroom teachers
3. When are the NAPLAN tests held?
The tests are held in May each year.
4. Who marks the NAPLAN tests?
NAPLAN Test papers will be marked by independent markers
5. What are students examined on?
Test questions cover aspects of Literacy (Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, Reading and Writing) and aspects of Numeracy at grade appropriate levels
6. What sorts of questions are asked?
Questions are multiple-choice or require a short written answer. The Writing Task requires students to produce a piece of persuasive writing.
7. When are results made available?
The NAPLAN results are released to each school in September of the year in which the test is taken. School then send a NAPLAN report on each student's progress to the child's parents. The same report format is used for every student in Australia.