B h a r a n i k a 1
Harshitha Bharanika
Tamy Chapman
Advanced Writing
28 April 2020
NAPLAN and its controversy!
NAPLAN is a standardised national assessment program introduced in Australia in 2008 for Years Three, Five,
Seven, and Nine. All students in these year levels are expected to participate in tests in Reading, Writing,
Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy in May each year. NAPLAN is not
designed to test content, but to test skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the
school curriculum.
The NAPLAN results are made available four months later, and since 2010 have been published on the My
School website at an individual school level (Senate Standing Committee on Education, Employment and
Workplace Relations, 2013). The NAPLAN website (www.nap.edu.au) states that NAPLAN is designed to “give
a snapshot picture of students literacy and numeracy skills. It is designed to give government education
authorities, schools, teachers and parents information about the literacy and numeracy levels of students”.
NAPLAN has been very controversial, and this essay will identify some of the arguments relating to NAPLAN
including: the lack of clarity about the objectives of NAPLAN; the impact of NAPLAN on teaching practices; the
problems related to using NAPLAN as a formative assessment tool for teachers and schools; the cultural bias
of the tests themselves; and the way that the data is used to produce ‘league’ tables.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) provides an expanded version of the
primary objectives of NAPLAN: To provide the measure through which governments, education authorities,
schools, teachers and parents can determine whether or not young Australians have the literacy and
