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Broadcaster Alan Jones on the set of his Sky News program . Photo : Supplied
If NAPLAN is a diagnostic test , it seems the diagnosis is hopelessly wrong .
‘ Educational dross ’
Alan Jones lambasts NAPLAN .
By Wade Zaglas
Sky News presenter and former teacher Alan Jones has launched a scathing attack on the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy ( NAPLAN ), which took place in May .
Approximately one million students across the country participated in the test , with up to 70 per cent of them taking the test online .
Jones began the segment by questioning how much federal education minister Alan Tudge says about education – including NAPLAN – “ is driven by bureaucratic advice ”, which Jones said was often incorrect .
“ The argument that the anti-NAPLAN sentiments have been driven by teachers ’ unions is convenient but flawed ,” Jones said .
The Sky News presenter then referred to the 47,000 letters sent out to teachers by The Queensland Teachers ’ Union , arguing teachers should not make their students take the test . Jones then quoted education minister Alan Tudge ’ s response to NAPLAN concerns .
“ The test is a normal part of the school year and not a cause for anxiety , and that the unions are trying to scare kids and parents ,” Tudge said .
The federal education minister added that NAPLAN testing “ is absolutely critical to tracking and improving student outcomes ”.
But the former 2GB host continued to question the worthiness of the highly controversial test , which began in 2008 . Jones cited PISA data to argue that both extra funding and tests like NAPLAN have not resulted in improvements – in fact , there has been a significant regression .
“ We used to be fourth in the world in reading , we ’ re now 16th ,” he said .
“ We used to be eighth in science , we ’ re now 17th .
“ We used to be 11th in maths , we ’ re now 29th .
“ If NAPLAN is a diagnostic test , it seems the diagnosis is hopelessly wrong .”
Jones also questioned whether the test did anything to improve student engagement , as well as whether the “ diagnostic ” argument for the test resulted in extra funding . He also criticised the late release of NAPLAN results , which are made available five months after the student takes the test and are therefore of little value by the time students , teachers and parents can make sense of them .
Among his list of complaints , which were various and also held by many education experts , Jones also mentioned the heightened stress levels that pervade NAPLAN testing time .
“ Children are even told ridiculous stories about how their performance will affect their ability to succeed in school and in life ,” Jones said .
Jones called for a return to “ chalk and talk ”, the teaching of grammar and great literature , as well as assessments that weren ’ t standardised .
“ Set a real diagnostic test – it ’ s called an exam .” ■
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