industry & reform
ACARA CEO David de Carvalho . Photo : Hollie Adams
Now more than ever
Why ACARA ’ s CEO believes NAPLAN ‘ has never been so important ’.
By Wade Zaglas
As another year of the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy ends , ACARA ’ s CEO has highlighted the importance of the controversial test in these times of COVID-19 .
David de Carvalho wrote an opinion piece recently for the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority , the peak body that administers the test . In it , he underscores how important the test will be in times of uncertainty and potentially more school lockdowns , such as the ones we are now seeing in Melbourne and Sydney .
“ COVID is by no means over , and who knows how long it will go on . Even when we are all vaccinated and the infections and deaths have stopped , the impact on all aspects of life will be felt for years ,” he says .
“ What of the educational effect ? What have we learnt ? On the upside , COVID has led to a greater appreciation of our teachers ’ professionalism and dedication .
“ But the disruption to NAPLAN created a blindspot for national comparative data at a time when our results from international assessments show how important that information is .” de Carvalho stated that this year ’ s NAPLAN data will be “ particularly important ” in gauging the “ learning gain ( or loss ) in literacy and numeracy ” during the remote schooling experience of 2020 .
According to the ACARA CEO , the fact that parents of the 2020 NAPLAN cohort
had no “ point-in-time ” assessment for how their child was performing against literacy and numeracy gave them cause for concern .
“ We know through ACARA ’ s ongoing engagement with national peak parent representatives and through the many enquiries we have received from individual parents that the lack of data around suspected lost learning associated with the pandemic is a real concern ,” de Carvalho said .
“ Fortunately , many states and territories introduced their own check-in systems for this cohort , many using NAPLAN questions , but that doesn ’ t replace a consistent nationwide measure .
“[ This year ] schools from across the country [ sat ] down to do their NAPLAN test either on paper or online ; 70 per cent of the nation ’ s schools [ undertook ] NAPLAN online , and next year it will be 100 per cent .” The ACARA CEO argues that the online tests are both more engaging and tailored , resulting in a more accurate assessment of a child ’ s achievement level . “ For schools and education systems , the results will give a good picture of how school closures , and remote learning and teaching have affected student progress , and help them to plan for how to address any issues by identifying particular areas of concern ,” de Carvalho said .
Despite its many detractors , de Carvalho added that the test is critical as it helps educators identify practices that lead to success , something he says is often overlooked .
“ To identify such practices , you have to look for schools that have consistently achieved a level of progress that is above
The lack of data around suspected lost learning associated with the pandemic is a real concern .
what you would expect , given the socioeducational background of the students ,” he said .
“ Just focusing on overall achievement levels tells you very little of that value from an educational perspective . Last year ACARA analysed the data and discovered that when you look at progress rather than just overall achievement , high-performing schools can be found right across the socio-educational spectrum .”
Practices common to high-performing schools include explicit teaching , effective use of student data and a collaborative approach to professional development .
“ Without NAPLAN , we would not have been able to identify these common practices of high performing schools . NAPLAN data also helps education authorities identify schools where additional support and resourcing may be needed ,” ACARA ’ s CEO concluded .
“ NAPLAN should not be a stressful experience for our students and they won ’ t perform well if that is the case .
“ Teachers and parents can help our children and young people prepare for NAPLAN not by ‘ cramming ’ and by making them do endless exercises from ‘ NAPLANstyle ’ books on sale in almost every newsagency , but by helping them relax and just encouraging them to do their best .” ■
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