NAPLAN reporting to be made clearer

Across Australia, NAPLAN individual student reports (ISRs) will be simplified and made clearer for parents and carers.

These reports show a child’s NAPLAN achievement against the higher national standards agreed by all education ministers earlier this year. This new way of reporting means that NAPLAN results from 2023 will not be comparable to the NAPLAN results from previous years. Reporting on NAPLAN changes over time will start this year, building on the 2023 results. Parents and carers will begin receiving the new reports in the first half of Term Three.

The updated reporting shows how students are achieving in literacy and numeracy skills against challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing, based on previous years of schooling. The new reports have four levels of proficiency, “Exceeding”, “Strong”, “Developing” and “Needs additional support”, and will more clearly identify those students who need additional support.

“This new approach to NAPLAN reporting is based on advice provided by expert teacher panels and the views of parents and carers themselves,” said David de Carvalho, CEO at ACARA.

“The new reporting system clearly states whether students are meeting these higher expectations. Parents want to know if their child is where they should be at that stage of their schooling. With these new reports, they will know at a glance whether students need literacy or numeracy support to improve and meet the NAPLAN expectations for their year level.”

The specific timing of the release of the ISRs to parents and carers varies across states and territories but schools should begin receiving the reports in coming weeks to provide to parents and carers.

“It’s important that as teachers, schools, parents and carers begin receiving these reports that they keep in mind that expectations have been set at a higher level than previously and it is to be anticipated that a higher number of children will not yet be meeting the expectations at the time of testing,” de Carvalho said.

Schools and teachers are best placed to discuss a student’s progress. NAPLAN tests are a point in time assessment, and form only one part of each school’s assessment and reporting process. As they are held once every two years for each student, they cannot replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance.

Image credit: iStock.com/Lincoln Beddoe