Recently, writes Sally Larsen, Australia woke up to a barrage of reports about the latest NAPLAN results. Media coverage described an “epic fail”, “plummeting” performances and a “bleak picture”. Education experts spoke of “grim reading”, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the results “alarming”. But many of these...
What happens when you pay Year 7 students to do better on NAPLAN? Jayanta Sarkar and Dipanwita Sarkar found out. Next month, we are expecting the results from the annual NAPLAN tests, which students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat earlier this year. Each year,...
From March 13, NAPLAN testing for 2024 will begin, writes Rachel Leslie. Over the following two weeks, all Australian students in years 3,5,7 and 9 are expected to sit tests in literacy and numeracy. Results are then aggregated for schools and other demographics and made public....
Sally Larsen reports that the widespread beliefs about widening gaps are not shown in her research. If students have poor academic results early in school, do they continue to fall further and further behind as they move through their education? The intuitive answer to this question is...
Jessica Holloway looks at why we need to go beyond the headline figures This year’s national NAPLAN results are out, with the news only two-thirds of Australian students met minimum achievement levels in literacy and numeracy. The headlines are everything we would expect them to be –...
Jessica Holloway, Glenn C. Savage and Steven Lewis search for some answers. Australia’s education ministers have recently announced changes to NAPLAN that will start right away (2023). These include bringing the testing date forward and changing the way results are reported. According to the ministers: These new...
What parents should and shouldn’t say when talking to their child about NAPLAN results, writes Jessica Holloway It’s that time of year again when parents and students anxiously await their NAPLAN results. NAPLAN is a nationwide test of literacy and numeracy that all students in years 3,...
‘Stop measuring black kids with a white stick’ Carly Steele, Graeme Gower, Rhonda Oliver and Sender Dovchin look at how we can make assesmenS fairer for ALL. In the title we quote Michelle Martin (with her permission), who is a proud Kija woman and passionate educator. She...
The early NAPLAN results for 2021 released this week suggest the average impact of COVID school closures on literacy and numeracy in 2020 has been relatively small, report Julie Sonnemann and Jordana Hunter This was the first NAPLAN test since students moved to remote learning, and...
The first large-scale study to measure the academic outcomes of children hospitalised with a chronic condition finds one in every 10 kids under the age of 14 live with a chronic health condition (which can include heart disease, diabetes and asthma) that affects many areas...
