NAPLAN and the maintenance of mediocrity

2. Following an intensive survey of international research into high-stakes testing, Greg Thompson of Murdoch University obtained responses from 961 teachers from WA and SA. about their expert opinion of the effects of NAPLAN. It was published in October, 2012. http://effectsofnaplan.edu.au/wp-contents/uploads . The findings were “consistent with international research about the effects of high-stakes testing.”

The overwhelming concerns were obvious: [1] “High-stakes testing creates incentives for teachers to narrow the curriculum, adopt teacher-centred pedagogies and teach to the test. These strategies are detrimental to literacy and numeracy learning.” [2] “The majority of teachers do not see NAPLAN as improving literacy and numeracy." [3] “Stress makes learning more difficuIt, not more likely. Trying to improve education outcomes through NAPLAN at the same time as it increases the stress of those involved, would appear to be a self-defeating strategy.” [4] “Only a minority of teachers perceive NAPLAN has had some positives.”

MoM:- Make sure that the word does not get out. Constituents might become alarmed about these effects. Make sure the press does not mention it. It didn’t say a word. The tactic worked.

3 There has been a “Big Increase in Students Withdrawn from NAPLAN Tests” according to Trevor Cobbold. His Research Paper of November, 2012 http://saveourschools.com.au demonstrates that “there has been a four-to-five-fold increase across Australia since 2008 in the percentage of children withdrawn from the numeracy tests.” “Certainly more and more parents are becoming aware that NAPLAN is not compulsory despite the efforts of education authorities to suggest they are mandatory.” and “...the rapid growth poses a threat to the reliability of NAPLAN results for inter-school comparisons, inter-jurisdictional comparison and trends of student achievement.”

MoM:- Again, the press managed to protect its readership from information of this kind as it has done on other important issues during the year.

Especially important educator visitors to Australia like Jounni Vakijarvi and Pasi Sahlberg of Finland education; Professor Robin Alexander, chairman of most comprehensive report on primary education [6 years of collective integrated study] ever compiled – The Cambridge Report; Yong Zhao ex-China now U. of Oregon; Andy Hargreaves of Boston; Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore and important others visited Australia during 2012. You wouldn’t know about it. Each had something to say about high-stakes testing. None rated a mention. Not a single solitary word in even the more prestigious media outlets.

Nor did the deliberations of the APPA-NZPF Conference on ‘Leading Learning’ get a mention. Nor did the announcement on 11 September that there would be a Senate Inquiry. Nor did....who knows?

The maintenance of high-stakes testing is plainly deceitful. Until our undemocratic, testucating leaders concentrate on child learning – the loving [YES – LOVING] development of each child and its learning talents, no matter what they are - we are stuck forever on mediocrity. Present processes guarantee it.

There is little doubt that NAPLANISM just gets stupider and stupider. ACARA measurers, their political buddies and all those testucators who are victims of the Milgram hypothesis, just have to ‘think children’, admit to a billion dollar mistake, and find ways to lead learning the proper way. ‘THINKING CHILDREN’ [not testing] is critical.