Extract from ABC News
The future of the nation's standardised school testing system, NAPLAN, is under review with a number of jurisdictions, including Queensland, calling for the current model to be scrapped and replaced.
Key points:
- The Queensland Government will advocate for the replacement of NAPLAN when a review is presented to the Education Council on September 4
- The Federal Government says NAPLAN is essential to measure student outcomes and wants to see it remain
- Any changes born from the review must be agreed to by all other states and territories as well as the Federal Government
NAPLAN, introduced in 2008, was axed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the Queensland Teachers Union has told members not to prepare for next year's testing either.
Union president Kevin Bates said there were a lot of question marks over NAPLAN 2021.
"With NAPLAN being cancelled in 2020 we haven't missed it at all and it is a space for us to be having the discussion, in a bit of free air, about what an alternative might be," Mr Bates told ABC Radio Brisbane.
He said taking a short break from NAPLAN preparations while the future of the test was under review was a smart course of action for teachers who have been on the frontline during the pandemic.
As part of an agreement with the union, the Queensland Government will advocate for the replacement of NAPLAN when an independent external review is presented to the Education Council on September 4.
"I expect all states and the Commonwealth to carefully examine the outcomes of the review before making any decisions about what form standardised testing takes in the future," Queensland Minister for Education Grace Grace said in a statement.
"Recognising that changes to NAPLAN require consensus of the Education Council, we will continue to advocate for it to be replaced so that it benefits all students, parents and teachers.
"Given the extraordinary circumstances occurring around the world right now, particularly in Victoria and New South Wales, it is difficult to know when that consensus will be reached."
Any changes born from the cross-jurisdictional review — put forward by Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory — must be agreed to by all other states and territories as well as the Federal Government.
NAPLAN 'an incredibly important research tool'
"There is no question that we can continue to take steps to improve NAPLAN but we cannot get rid of such an important tool which helps us measure where our education system is at," Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan said.
"It enables us to put in place best practice and most importantly it provides the parents transparency about outcomes results so that they can see how their children are going.
Mr Tehan said results from previous NAPLAN testing had prompted a major review into the country's curriculum with a particular focus on maths and science as well as phonetic testing to measure literacy levels.
"All these things we're able to do, and get a sense of, because of NAPLAN," Mr Tehan said.
"Without that we have no way to see what's happening in our school systems."
Mr Bates said settling on an alternative national assessment program would require deep consultation with schools and parents.
He flagged sample testing as a possible alternative to the current model but Mr Tehan said it would not see the same results.
"What all the studies have shown, [is that] by being able to get a complete survey of all the students in the nation, we get a much better result in being able to look at what's occurring," Mr Tehan said.
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