A recent report prepared by the University of Melbourne for the Whitlam Institute found evidence in the international literature that high stakes testing programs around the world may be having some unintended negative consequences for students, schools, curriculum and pedagogy, including:
- Lowering self-esteem and long-term confidence of under-performing students.
- Negatively impacting on the reputation of some schools.
- Increasing stress, anxiety and pressure for some students.
- Narrowing the curriculum.
However, there are many differences between the Australian NAPLAN/MySchool model and international student assessment programs, and detailed findings such as those are not available in the Australian context. NAPLAN was commenced in 2008 by ACARA in order to assess all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Australian schools using national tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy. The introduction of NAPLAN is a significant educational reform, and one which warrants rigorous research to ensure that it advances the interests of students. This must consider not just questions of educational attainment but of the students’ health and well being and the overall quality of their educational experience.
It is now timely to begin to investigate the impact of this initiative.
For this reason, the Whitlam Institute has commissioned the University of Melbourne to survey Australian teachers to elicit their views on the impact of this program on students, schools, curriculum and pedagogy. We take this opportunity to invite you to participate in a very brief (7-minute) survey online in May to give your views. Subsequent IEU newsletters will contain a link to a Survey Monkey site to do the survey. Please participate in May – your views are important!
For any inquiries contact: Nicky Dulfer – 03 8344 8677