From a parent’s perspective I feel that the National Assessment Program is ineffective, indecisive & irrelevant to individual student needs & outcomes.
NAPLAN is not compulsory – parents can & have every right to withdraw their kids. This right is not advertised when it should be. How sad that some 7 year olds can get so stressed that they have a sick day on the day of testing.
I withdrew both of my boys last year (yrs 5 & 7). I will be withdrawing both boys next year (yrs 7 & 9). Both boys are thriving – as a parent I do not need the results of this “test” to see how they are going – I just talk to their teachers.
Kids sit the test in May & then have to wait months for the results that do not represent the national “margin of error”.
If a student shows a poor result in May, they are then offered additional “learning support” in Oct. Surely their teacher would have identified a problem at the beginning of the year, what a shame that additional much needed funding is only available to public schools in Term 4 if their NAPLAN results are poor. I have always enjoyed a great one on one relationship with both of my sons teachers. We did not need an outdated 6 page / full colour “report” to tell us how they were going…
The future of NAPLAN? Will results determine federal / state funding? Will results determine teacher salaries / bonus’s? Will results actually assist individual student needs……….it’s only one assessment tool………..
Sharon Baxter-Judge