The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) was again in the press this week. A detailed review to be released on Tuesday will report that Australian primary school students have registered a slow but statistically significant improvement since it was introduced in 2008.
NAPLAN aims to report on the current achievement of a student. NAPLAN tests are in May with results often coming out as late as September. Even without delays, results are only a snapshot in time rather than a comprehensive assessment of ability. There are moves in train to speed up the release of results and save some of the $100 million cost by moving to testing online.
At Queenwood, we have been cautious about online testing. When our girls trialled the online testing in 2017, they were explicit in their preference for paper tests. We also considered studies on the impact of screens on comprehension, which show that students who read on paper outperform those who read on screens.
One study found that students reading PDF files on computer experienced more difficulty in finding information, stating that '...because of their easy navigability, paper books and documents may be better suited to absorption in a text.' These students could only scroll or click through the PDFs one section at a time, whereas students reading on paper could hold the entire work in their hands and switch easily between different pages. These results have been replicated many times in a wide range of contexts.
For good educational reasons, then, we are postponing the move to online NAPLAN testing as long as possible. This decision was vindicated for completely different reasons last year, when our girls were insulated from the widespread failure of NAPLAN’s IT systems in 2019.
Once NAPLAN testing finishes in Year 9, there is another round of testing in Year 10: the HSC minimum standards test. This was introduced to ensure that anyone receiving the Higher School Certificate would meet basic literacy and numeracy standards. The literacy testing is compulsory even though the study of English is also compulsory in the HSC. Worth noting is that the benefits of this additional testing for students in terms of improving their learning have not been clearly articulated, although it clearly increases administration burdens and pressure on students.
Schools are able to delay the HSC minimum standards test until Year 11 and/or Year 12 (when students have more chance of passing – and can have up to four attempts a year) but this can add further pressure to the senior years. In any case, many parents are surprised to learn that the HSC minimum standards test is not required to receive an ATAR and gain entry to university. It is simply disregarded. The stakes are therefore low.
NAPLAN testing takes place 12 – 15 May this year and is a low-key event for us. Our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will again sit the paper-based NAPLAN tests but they are also required to complete an online readiness test ready for 2021, when online testing becomes compulsory. This is somewhat frustrating since we successfully completed the online readiness test in 2017, and it appears to be testing the readiness of the NAPLAN IT systems, rather than of our students or systems.
The greater concern, however, is that the move to online testing for NAPLAN might prefigure – a cynic might suggest they are a softening-up mechanism for – online testing in the HSC. The IB is already moving strongly in this direction. We have little influence on such decisions, but the general antipathy of our students to the online experience as against paper testing should be a consideration.
Over the last few weeks Year 10 have sat their HSC minimum standard tests. These are comprised of three 25 – 45 minute practice tests (reading, writing, numeracy) followed by the three actual tests which they sat for yesterday. It is necessary to obtain the HSC but it takes the equivalent of a full school day and is of questionable relevance. All girls passed at either the first or second attempt last year and we already know that all girls have also passed the Reading and Numeracy this year. If they did not, then they would have multiple opportunities over several more years to do so. We therefore do not worry about their capacity to pass, but we lose significant teaching time for something that adds stress and administrative burdens.
Although these administrative burdens are frustrating for the students and staff at Queenwood, they are less significant for us than in many schools. Where students complete multiple practice tests and then attempt the test repeatedly in Years 10 – 12, they could lose anything from four to twelve days of teaching. These are the very students who would benefit most from more time in the classroom learning the curriculum.
In comparison to many countries, the Australian curriculum is more tightly regulated than most, largely due to calls for accountability to the public. It is important, however, that in meeting these demands we don’t forget the opportunity cost paid by all students – whether they are in an advantaged or disadvantaged, high or low performing school. Our approach to these tests aims to minimise the impact on our girls, and we hope that this will be backed up at home by parents with a matter-of-fact attitude to it all. This is the best way we can support our girls.