Media Release – Thursday 20 October 2011
International evidence has shown that high stakes testing and reporting with financial rewards attached would lead to manipulation of testing outcomes, said the Independent Education Union.
Federal Secretary of the IEU, Mr Chris Watt said reports in today’s newspapers claiming that weaker students are being withdrawn from the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests to boost school results are concerning, but not surprising.
“Manipulation of results in this type of testing has been the lesson the world over so why would we expect anything different in Australia,” said Mr Watt.
“There is no question that schools have welcomed the resources that have flowed from the NAPLAN testing regime to improve student learning.
“What these reports really mean is that schools are currently underfunded in dealing with students with additional learning needs.
“Whilst we might want to give a snapshot of what is happening in our schools and the progress that is being made we don’t need to link an evaluation process to support schools with a public competition about how much green and red a school has.
“What is also extraordinary is that some continue to describe the NAPLAN as “student diagnostic tests” despite evidence to a Senate Inquiry by Australian curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA) bureaucrats that the tests are not diagnostic.
“It’s about time politicians and ACARA bureaucrats were able to agree on the nature and purpose of the NAPLAN tests,” said Mr Watt.