NAPLAN
What is NAPLAN?
“NAPLAN” stands for the “National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy”. NAPLAN is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It is a diagnostic tool that gives a snapshot of a student’s performance in one test on one day.
NAPLAN tests students in the following four areas:
- Reading
- Writing
- Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
- Numeracy
APFACTS AND NAPLAN
APFACTS has long advocated that NAPLAN testing must not be taken out of context, it is only one test on one day that gives teachers and parents information to assist with student progress. Our comments about NAPLAN and testing:
- March 7, 2014: APFACTS Press Release: Student performance is so much more than league tables
- The Canberra Times: Canberra teachers back Senate call to stop school league tables
- The Canberra Times: NAPLAN: Guides will help parents understand My School data
About NAPLAN
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has made the following resources available on the National Assessment Program website:
- NAPLAN 2014 – Information for Parents
- Support for Parents and Carers
- Preparing for NAPLAN
- FAQs about NAPLAN
- Adjustments for Students with Disability
ACARA has also produced the following videos explaining NAPLAN:
Parents navigating NAPLAN results
NAPLAN results are sent back to your child’s school and a copy of the results are sent to you. NAPLAN results are sometimes hard to navigate.To learn more on how to navigate results, try these resources distributed by the Australian Parents Council for parents:
Ultimately NAPLAN results should not be a surprise to you if you have an ongoing dialogue with your child’s teacher. Your child’s teacher and your school are the best places for a conversation about NAPLAN results so you can all work together on building the skills of the student.
NAPLAN Preparation
NAPLAN testing occurs each year and practicing, preparing your children or creating an environment that stresses children about the test should be avoided. If taken in perspective as one test on one day that is a tool for improvement we can keep NAPLAN testing in perspective. The following articles and video’s are useful :
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