There is little evidence to suggest that testing teaching students on their literacy and numeracy will have any impact on the quality of teaching and learning in Australian classrooms.
Young children enter care as a result of neglect or abuse, which has a big impact on their ability to engage in school.
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A new report finds children in care are less likely to achieve the national minimum standards in literacy and numeracy – with the gap growing as they get older.
School funding should be needs-based, but how do you judge the need?
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While the NT consistently performs lowest on national and international tests, with a long tail of low achievement, the ACT consistently performs highest.
It is usually students in the lower band who are absent from NAPLAN testing so results may be inflated.
Stefan Postles/AAP
Tailored testing where the test gets easier or harder depending on how the student is faring actually gives us a better idea of how students are going.
Will a computer algorithm understand the creativity, flair, irony, wit and unconventional approaches used in kids’ writing?
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NAPLAN is going to be marked by computers from 2017. Can an algorithm understand the complex and emotional writing techniques we want our children to be learning?
While more information on schools isn’t a bad thing, it won’t lift outcomes.
AAP
Expecting the My School website to improve learning outcomes assumes that parents will see a drop in results and move their child to the other school down the road - but markets in education just don’t work like this.
Measures to close the gap in Indigenous education outcomes aren’t working.
AAP
This year’s update on Closing the Gap presents a picture similar to 2014 in education - there is much work still to be done to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students…
Non-cognitive skills like perseverance and hard work might be more accurate predictors of success than literacy and numeracy quizzes.
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Who do you think would do better at school or in the workplace: someone who is smart, but lazy, or someone who is not naturally brilliant but will keep working at a problem until they get it right? Intuitively…
Offering cash incentives for school performance seems like a good idea, but there are a lot of unwanted consequences.
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If there is one iron law of economics it is this: people respond to incentives. Offer an “all you can eat” buffet and people eat a lot. Double the demerit points for speeding on a holiday weekend and fewer…
NAPLAN testing can’t be all bad if the government is still committed to it, can it?
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Since NAPLAN, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy began in 2008, everyone and their dog has criticised the process. Detractors say teachers are forced to teach to the test, it pits…
If you ask any parent if they want to know about their child’s progress at school, they will of course say yes. However, while some school reports are valuable and informative for parents and students…
Leader of the pack: Djalu Gurruwiwi of the Galpu clan leads younger performers at the 2013 Garma Festival in Arnhem Land.
AAP Image/Youthu Yindi Foundation
Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion with students in the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory. Research shows acting on overcrowded housing could greatly improve Indigenous kids’ school attendance in remote communities.
AAP/Neda Vanovac
Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
NAPLAN results do have their uses, but they are often overstated and they certainly don’t paint a picture of a child’s overall success at school.
AAP
Results are out for NAPLAN 2014, and already the discussions have started around the meaning of those results. The program remains controversial, with academics and the public debating its impact on students…
School is the place where questioning the status quo should take place - but not in a high-stakes test.
AAP
There has been widespread and well-justified critique of the NAPLAN tests in Australian schools. Concerns have focused on the ways the testing severely narrows the school curriculum, compounds disadvantage…
Is NAPLAN worthwhile? Or is it just putting pressure on our kids for no good reason?
AAP
New research raises questions about the impacts of the National Assessment Program – Literacy And Numeracy (NAPLAN) on the wellbeing of students and on positive teaching and learning approaches. NAPLAN…
Paper and pencil NAPLAN testing will go online in 2016, but will schools be ready?
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The Australian Government plans to conduct the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) online from 2016. This presents a significant challenge for Australia’s 9,500 schools. Conducting…
Years of schooling separate the rich kids from the poor kids.
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The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Stewart Riddle outlines the correlation between low socioeconomic backgrounds…