27 September 2023

Minister calls for NAPLAN accuracy

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The release of the latest results from National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) show ACT students continue to perform well across the tested curriculum areas but the program doesn’t reflect it.

Minister for Education, Yvette Berry said ACT school students had performed “highest or equal highest” across NAPLAN’s 20 testing domains.

“ACT schools are performing as well as they always have but it’s important to note that NAPLAN is just a moment in time, a test across a narrow margin, and it is just one of the tools that our school teachers use to support students in their learning,” Ms Berry said.

She said inaccurate reporting of ACT NAPLAN results by local media this week had been disappointing.

“I understand that there can be mistakes in the reporting, but it is that incorrect reporting that leads to the circus around NAPLAN,” Ms Berry said.

“You need to ensure that when you are using the data and you’re looking at the comparison tables that you understand that there is an error margin that is not statistically significant,” she said.

“So in 18 across the 20 domains, the ACT has scored highest or equal highest taking into account those error margins and that is the most appropriate way to report the data.”

Chief Executive of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), David de Carvalho said the national NAPLAN result confirmed there had been statistically significant gains in a number of school year levels.

“At the national level, compared to 2008, the performance of Australian students in Year 5 numeracy, Years 3 and 5 reading and spelling, and Year 3 grammar was significantly above the NAPLAN 2008 average,” Mr de Carvalho said.

The 359-page 2019 NAPLAN national report can be accessed at this PS News link.

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