From the VP: NAPLAN: it's just not worth it!
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 125 No 2, 20 March 2020, page no.9
Shortly after this article went to print, QTU President Kevin Bates called for NAPLAN to be cancelled in 2020 given the national emergency situation. The following day, Education Minister Grace Grace took a proposal to Education Council for NAPLAN to be suspended. The Education Council determined that NAPLAN will not go ahead in any form in 2020. For more information, see https://www.qtu.asn.au/naplan
Even before March State Council voted overwhelmingly to ballot to boycott NAPLAN in its entirety, as a parent I had already decided to boycott NAPLAN in 2020 for my youngest child.
As you would be aware, Queensland Minister of Education Grace Grace commissioned a report into NAPLAN and its place in the Queensland education frame. During the consultation for that report, parent sessions were held to get their views and opinions on the standardised annual test.
I and some of my friends attended our local event to add our view as both teachers and parents. What we heard was reflected in the later report. One parent said that before their child attended school, NAPLAN data was important. However, upon the child entering the school system, it soon became evident what little importance it had in the education of their child. Other parents defined child and school success as being about belonging, outcomes on a day-to-day basis reflected in A-E reports, and a positive relationship between the teacher and their child.
A little bit about myself here – and probably many of you also. I have two children currently in secondary school. The eldest has sat all the NAPLAN tests. He is more than capable academically but knows the place of NAPLAN in his day to day access to a quality education. As a DP when he was in grade five, imagine my surprise at the speed it took him to complete the tests. Done within about 10-15 minutes. We have all seen students do the tests within that timeframe.
Last year, post NAPLAN years, we were talking about the tests at dinner one night. I asked him, how come you used to do the tests so quickly? The response was that it doesn’t contribute anything, I just used to colour the dots. Now, I know this is despite regular teaching of the bullseye strategy and how to skim and scan to assist with gathering the right information from a reading text. Now he is in the more senior parts of school where the assessment items are related to a future pathway, there has been a change to completing day-to-day set tasks and assessment requirements.
So, I ask the question, as an educator and parent: what has been the purpose of my child sitting though NAPLAN tests in years three, five, seven and nine? As an educator, I would say there is limited purpose, and as a parent I can tell you this – there is no purpose, it’s a waste of time.
My youngest is year nine this year, and his NAPLAN ‘journey’ has been a bit different. He is a little more intermittent with his academic progress. I’m sure we have all seen similar students. Leading into the year three test, as a parent I took my concerns about sitting NAPLAN forward and said I was considering withdrawing him. At that point, I was told it was a possible code of conduct issue as a teacher at the school. You know, not showing faith in the system.
Anyway, by year five we agreed as a school it was probably best that he did not sit the test, and we proceeded with a parent withdrawal. At this point, his dad wanted him to sit the tests for the experience, as you must sit tests when going for a trade. He sat the tests and did OK. Year seven being the first year in high school, we just went with the flow. Friends were doing it, he may as well also.
Since then, as a parent and educator, my objections to this testing regime that is not fit for purpose, the narrowing curriculum and the knowledge that he is getting support on a day to day basis with every teacher, we will once more be exercising our parental rights. Our youngest will not sit the year nine testing regime. It is just not worth it. It’s not worth the disengagement. It’s not worth the lead-up anxiety. It does not contribute to the person he is growing into. And, like every child, he is more than a scaled score on a band.