That ICPA (Aust) requests the Minister for Education to review NAPLAN reporting timeframes, enabling schools to access students’ results in a timely manner, preferably during Term 2 in the year of examination, to better support the specific learning needs of rural and remote students.
In 2023, the dates of NAPLAN testing were moved earlier in the school year, to Term 1. One of the expectations of this change in date is that results would be provided to schools in a timely manner, so that they may review the results, identify the needs of the cohort and individual students, and provide necessary support as available. In 2023, the NAPLAN results will not be made available until Term 3 which limits schools’ capacity to review, act upon and support students in a timely manner. It is well documented that rural and remote students’ have unique educational needs and that there is a widening gap between metropolitan and rural and remote students in relation to results of NAPLAN testing.
More information can be found in the following articles:
https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2022/november/naplan-not-remotely-working
It is difficult to effect change and improve student outcomes in the calendar year if there is a lengthy delay between assessment and access to results. If teachers and school administrators had access to NAPLAN results in Term 2, there is a higher likelihood that supports could be made available to address areas of learning need, particularly for rural and remote children who are already educationally disadvantaged.
