Federal and state education ministers have agreed to review, with some saying it does not go far enough

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Education ministers have agreed to review the publication of Naplan data and how it affects classroom teaching.

The federal education minister, Simon Birmingham, has presented it as a win over teachers’ unions’ calls to review the content of the test and scrap Naplan.

The Victorian, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland governments expressed disappointment that a wider-ranging review was not ordered but presented the result as an important first step because it will scrutinise the use of Naplan data on the My School website and whether Naplan causes teachers to “teach to the test”.

The national assessment program for literacy and numeracy (Naplan) is an annual assessment for all students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

On Friday the education council meeting of federal, state and territory ministers agreed to a review of the current approach to presentation of Naplan data by an independent reviewer.

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The review – which will report on its progress by December – will assess the My School website based on whether it provides “valid, reliable and contextualised” information and ensuring reporting balances “the community’s right to know with the need to avoid the misinterpretation or misuse of the information”.

Its terms include “how teachers and school leaders use Naplan and its results and My School data to inform teaching practice”.

Birmingham said the education council had agreed to a “narrow review” and had rejected “a review of Naplan that was essentially, going to simply do what the unions have demanded, and lead to the dismantling of basic literacy, numeracy assessments across the country”.

The ACT education minister, Yvette Berry, said ministers had taken “a first, albeit small step towards reviewing the effects and unintended consequences” of Naplan.

“I’ve long held concerns about the reporting and culture around Naplan and the league tables enabled by My School – most of all the unfair impact they can have on teachers, students and school communities, particularly in lower income communities,” she said.

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The Victorian education minister, James Merlino, accused Birmingham of being “out of touch with parents, teachers and schools” for vetoing a broad review of Naplan despite “strong support” from states and territories.

Merlino said it had been 10 years since Naplan testing was introduced and it was time to look at how to improve it.

Labor’s shadow education minister, Tanya Plibersek, said there was “no doubt” that standardised testing had become “high stakes.

“Labor supports taking a serious look at how to improve the insights we get from tests like NAPLAN, and how we can better focus on the progress of students and schools over time,” she said.

The Australian Education Union is a consistent critic of the Naplan test, which it believes encourages teachers to “teach to the test” and results in simplistic comparisons between schools’ results – including the My School website.

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A union-commissioned report from the academic Les Perelman concluded that the Naplan writing test was “bizarre” and rewarded students for using big words rather than clear expression.

After the second Gonski review recommended more regular testing of skills in March, the New South Wales education minister, Rob Stokes, call for Naplan to be replaced with smaller more low-key tests. Birmingham rejected these calls.

Ministers reiterated their commitment to standardised testing and the provision of clear information about the progress of students against basic and essential literacy and numeracy benchmarks.