Students across Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are currently sitting for the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests. These tests are supposedly designed to identify whether…
For all its faults, NAPLAN is helping Indigenous education.
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Federal education minister Peter Garrett confirmed late last week that education ministers from around the country had agreed to lift national efforts to improve Indigenous education results. Results from…
If you want to improve science education, standardised science literacy tests is not the way to go.
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The federal Labor government’s proposal to expand the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) franchise and include science literacy is not a surprising move.
Once national testing…
There’s been plenty of attention on NAPLAN testing this week, but ACARA’s Barry McGaw argues there needn’t be.
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There has been much controversy this week over a study released by the Whitlam Institute claiming that NAPLAN testing is being treated as a high-stakes program that
is causing unnecessary stress among…
Literacy and numeracy tests are having a negative impact on Australian students.
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NAPLAN tests – the literacy and numeracy tests given to primary and secondary students – are causing health problems and promoting a culture of “teaching to the test”.
A national study released today…
What’s the real effect of NAPLAN testing?
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Australian teachers are not convinced that NAPLAN improves the reading and maths skills of students.
Over the next week, NAPLAN results will be arriving at students' homes around Australia. But new research…
Bad NAPLAN results can lead parents to seek help, but which learning programs can they trust?
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The latest NAPLAN results have arrived, and soon enough thousands of Australian parents will tear open the envelope containing their child’s NAPLAN results.
They will be faced with a series of graphs…
The government will boost schools funding today, but what’s next?
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Today the Prime Minister will announce the government’s full policy response on schools funding, following the Gonski report earlier this year.
The Gonski report recommended a funding boost across the…
The government needs to respond to the Gonski report on schools funding and start improving student outcomes.
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It’s been six long months since the Gonski panel made its recommendations on schools funding, but in the next few weeks the federal government will finally respond and release the details of its school…
Education minister Peter Garrett along with his state counterparts have agreed upon some pretty big changes to teacher development.
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Finally, perhaps the time has come. The Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders and the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework, both signed off…
A recent report into Indigenous education that points the finger at schools and teachers missed the point.
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Any work that shines a spotlight on the appalling state of education for Indigenous Australians is to be welcomed.
And so Helen and Mark Hughes are to be commended for their latest effort, a report called…
The NAPLAN tests are about getting the best results for students.
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A small but vocal group is calling on parents to withdraw their children from the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests.
But if this call is successful and enough children…
Do we need to go down the Confucian path of learning – or is there another way?
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As the fifth year of NAPLAN testing gets underway this week, it has prompted the usual debates. Are the tests in our student’s best interests? Are students adequately prepared? If teachers are “teaching…
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised an education revolution, but where are the results?
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All is not well in the Australian school system.
Australian schools are struggling to meet the achievement levels of OECD leader Finland.
With the release of the commissioned research reports for the…
