“Do you agree that too much money is being spent on toys?”

This was the persuasive writing skills question in the 2011 NAPLAN. Each of my kids took a different approach, my year 5 boy took the negative,  whereas my Year 3 girl went the affirmative, then again she always expects a lot at gift giving time!

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As a lapsed advertising / marketing victim, an on-sabbatical economics teacher and active dad, I would’ve taken my son’s view with vengeance and crafted a thesis on the capitalistic exploits parents fall victim to, yet my time was diverted to the SMH article that cautioned a warning to parents, teachers and politicians on the shortcomings of NAPLAN.

In the SMH article this week, Justin Coulson, a lecturer doing his PhD on parenting and family life,  claims that caution is warranted.  This is what Justin  had to say…

“There are many things NAPLAN will not do and these things are important: ….

❏ NAPLAN will not tell us anything about student achievement. Answers are graded by a computer. Written answers are graded by ”independent examiners” who subjectively review hundreds of responses.
❏ NAPLAN tells us nothing about teacher effectiveness. Great teachers create a positive environment and promote curiosity, a love of learning, participation, co-operation and leadership. NAPLAN does not tell us about these things.
❏ NAPLAN won’t improve your child’s education. Standardised tests do not improve student achievement; it does the reverse. The curriculum is narrowing. Many schools are reducing time on music, sports and art. In some schools, children have been kept in class to ”practise” tests rather than attending alternative activities – such as lunch.
❏ NAPLAN won’t improve your child’s literacy, despite claims to the contrary. Teaching children to colour in bubbles does not teach kids to do anything but shade bubbles. Children become literate and engaged in learning when reading is for reading’s sake and writing is meaningful to the person doing the writing. NAPLAN reading and writing offers little intrinsic meaning to anyone, particularly the student.
❏ NAPLAN will not create a positive and respectful school climate. It is particularly damaging to children with disabilities, children whose first language is not English and children from low-income families. NAPLAN tells us even less about school quality. Scores on a high-stakes standardised test tell us nothing about the social cohesion, morale of teachers and students, bullying, extra-curricular successes in sports, music, the arts and so on.
❏ NAPLAN won’t help relationships between parents, students and teachers. Instead, particularly if NAPLAN is linked with proposed merit pay for teachers (which is presently endorsed by both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader), NAPLAN will punish teachers, lead to increased pressure on students and will promote hostility between administrators and parents.
❏ NAPLAN won’t improve your child’s performance at a tertiary level. At university your child won’t see the questions in advance, nor will answers be force-fed as they are in school. At university you’re expected to think critically, learn independently, inquire and generate answers to real problems. NAPLAN does not measure, test, or diagnose these skills.
❏ NAPLAN won’t make a difference to your children’s employment prospects. In a recent American workplace report, Are They Really Ready to Work, employers say they seek teamwork, ethics and social responsibility, professionalism and oral communication as valued skills in prospective employees. NAPLAN does not measure, test, or diagnose these skills.
❏ NAPLAN provides nothing in terms of education for life skills. Children’s NAPLAN scores will not help them develop them into good mothers and fathers or husbands and wives. These are the most important roles in life and they require confidence, co-operation and compassion. Standardised tests produce stress and anxiety and promote competition. Children in Australian schools are experiencing headaches, stress, depression, stomach aches and fatigue in growing numbers. The percentage of children being medicated is also increasing.
❏ NAPLAN (and standardised testing generally) runs precisely against research on what makes for quality learning and the very core of academic engagement. It also fails equitable opportunity and ignores developmental differences in children.
Our children need teachers and parents who provide opportunities for curiosity, exploration and mastery. They need less pressure, less high-stakes testing and more opportunities to grow and learn at their own pace with appropriate support. Our children need exposure to a wide range of options, activities and arts. NAPLAN threatens these opportunities.
In terms of individual students’ learning, NAPLAN is next to useless. Individual student data has a short shelf life. NAPLAN data takes so long to come back to a teacher that it loses any potential value it had in regards to individuals. It is a poor teacher that has to rely on NAPLAN to tell them what students in their care can and cannot do. As a means of assessing student understanding, it is a blunt instrument.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/why-my-kids-wont-sit-the-naplan-20110508-1ee67.html#ixzz1MGiErmFw