The effects of NAPLAN in school communities: National Assessment Program - Literacy and numeracy

This report outlines the results of a 3 phase research study into the effects of the Australia’s National Assessment Program -Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in school communities in Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA). It begins with a brief examination of the literature on NAPLAN testing and similar types of standardized testing regimes, followed by an outline of the NAPLAN results across Australia since it began in 2008. Next, the results of each phase are presented, beginning with the results of a large-scale online survey undertaken in 2012 (Phase 1 of the research). Results from Phase 2 of the study (completed in 2013) are then presented, identifying the key themes from interviews with involving principals, teachers and parents from 5 school settings in WA. The final phase of the research study (Phase 3) examines the themes from surveys and interviews conducted in SA during 2014. Finally, general trends from all three phases are discussed and general conclusions are offered that may contribute to an ongoing debate and examination of the effects of the NAPLAN testing on school communities in across Australia.