NAPLAN

[*elizabeths-mum*]

Why do parents cram their children to do well in it? My daughter tutors and that has been high on the demand list recently and I noticed the newsagency is full of books to prepare. Isn't it just a test to see where the gaps are so they can be remedied?

[aspie*mum]

NAPLAN is simply a snap shot in time, of how that child does on that day.

It CAN show where I child needs help, but with ongoing assessment, a teacher should know this.

Parents who train their kids for the NAPLAN are wasting their time and money, it's a test that means very little.

The education department uses it as a tool to graph which schools may been in need of help (often lower socio economic areas).

If my daughter wants to do it, I'll let her, but as she is ASD she will have the option to sit out if she wants to.  As a parent, I don't care if she does it.  But I wont have her doing it, if it upsets her.

There isn't much point in kids who are going to fail badly doing the test, because they know they can't do it, and they get upset knowing this.  So it's not a bad idea for parents to keep them home, for the kids own self esteem.  Some parents send the kids as they want an official "result" of how far behind their kids are - a report is much more indicative of this.  IMO don't make kids suffer the test if you know they can't do it.  It's not fair to them and makes very little difference to the schools overall result.

[*crikey*mate*]

My son was asked to stay home in yrs 5 & 7. 😞

meh - he dodged a bullet - so many of the kids end up getting so stressed out about these tests.

It would have hurt his feelings and self confidence though (and wouldn't have made you feel very good either) so for that I feel really sad for you both.

Unfortunately many schools manipulate the statistics, this is one example, there are many, many more.

I don't know if this will help, but my boy pretty much failed most of his NAPLAN tests, some he scraped through. He finished year 12 last year and got an OP score of 2 (That's pretty good in Qld) and was awarded several scholarships for unis, plus guaranteed early entry into 2 different unis - so he didn't even have to stress out about taking the grade 12 tests that most kids do - he did have to do them, but for him, they weren't stressful like a lot of the other kids.

He used to perform very badly at tests, we tried to address that by getting him to take as many tests as possible - back then scholarship tests for schools were free (I think they have fees now) so we used to take him to every one we could find.

There are also specific courses available (or there were) to help kids with exam anxiety etc - we went through an Educational Psychologist.

(I mention this cos I thought I saw you mention your boy got nervous over tests - don't mean to be out of line if I am)

[*crikey*mate*]

NAPLAN is simply a snap shot in time, of how that child does on that day.

It CAN show where I child needs help, but with ongoing assessment, a teacher should know this.

Parents who train their kids for the NAPLAN are wasting their time and money, it's a test that means very little.

The education department uses it as a tool to graph which schools may been in need of help (often lower socio economic areas).

If my daughter wants to do it, I'll let her, but as she is ASD she will have the option to sit out if she wants to.  As a parent, I don't care if she does it.  But I wont have her doing it, if it upsets her.

There isn't much point in kids who are going to fail badly doing the test, because they know they can't do it, and they get upset knowing this.  So it's not a bad idea for parents to keep them home, for the kids own self esteem.  Some parents send the kids as they want an official "result" of how far behind their kids are - a report is much more indicative of this.  IMO don't make kids suffer the test if you know they can't do it.  It's not fair to them and makes very little difference to the schools overall result.

AM, I agree with 99.9% of your post.

But I do think participating in and taking tests/exams are very good preparation and practise. Unfortunately, a child's school record, the classes they are allowed to select in high school, their employment or career possibilities, uni entrance etc etc etc are all determined by that academic record - just the numbers on a page. Those numbers may not reflect a child's true ability/potential or knowledge - a lot of it is how they were able to "perform" under exam conditions.

My opinion only of course - but with so much riding on the results of an exam, I believe that the more practise a child;d can get in taking them, so they can learn not to be anxious about them etc, the better.

Plus there are many different types of tests to master as well.

It's one thing to have the knowledge, but wuite another to be able to get it out in such a way to display how much knowledge and ability you have.

[krazy.kiwi]

strangely enough, this kid doesn't have a problem doing tests - except he can't effectively handwrite because of poor fine motor skills.

but given his ASD, he needs to know what an exam is like before he gets to one that actually does count.

My younger son is the one who stresses out over tests, but still absolutely nails NAPLAN tests. His results are usually up in that tiny triangle area at the top of the scale for most of it.

[*crikey*mate*]

strangely enough, this kid doesn't have a problem doing tests - except he can't effectively handwrite because of poor fine motor skills.

but given his ASD, he needs to know what an exam is like before he gets to one that actually does count.

My younger son is the one who stresses out over tests, but still absolutely nails NAPLAN tests. His results are usually up in that tiny triangle area at the top of the scale for most of it.

Mine still can barely even hold a pencil far less physically write a legible sentence.

You can get special consideration for the tests to use a scribe, or electronic device - even for the scholarship exams. (He was always allowed a PC for the scholarship exams - one supplied by the school in question, so no doubt "cleaned up" to ensure he couldn't cheat LOL - you just need to make prior arrangements) So there are ways around that too,

[aspie*mum]

crikey*mate - Some children and ADULTS at uni, can get special consideration to take their tests in a room by themselves.

For people with severe anxiety disorders (lots of ASD kids and adults), this is a much better way to take a test.  Whilst I agree that practise is important, as a teacher AND a parent, I don't believe that pushing an anxious child to do a test like NAPLAN in primary school has any benefit to them whatsoever.  

If my child wants to sit the tests in the class environment, that's fine.  If she wants to do them in another room that's fine too.

Very little assessment is done through big tests like the NAPLAN in primary school, therefore, I don't believe it's important for kids to do it, if they have issues that would make it upsetting for them.   

In fact, depending on what uni course you do, there is very little traditional "testing".  In my primary teaching course, I can think of 2 tests in 4 years - which you could have special consideration for too.

My Masters course (Speech pathology) is also not very test based.

Traditional testing is quite "outdated" which is why lots of kids struggle with it, and why teachers have to "teach to the test" for NAPLAN.

[*crikey*mate*]

ok, was just my opinion...

That's just how we got my kid through school, and yes, we are aware of how uni operates.

Big fella has opted not to emphasize/draw attention to the stuff he finds tricky since grade 11 and now in Uni as much as he can. Simply because he doesn't want to have to staple his label to every job application he ever fills out. Also, by the time he was in his teens, he felt different enough to his peers, without drawing extra attention to himself. He just wanted to be as much as possible like a "normal" kid and not stick out.

That's just us and how we do it/did it.

*shrugs*

[krazy.kiwi]

Mine still can barely even hold a pencil far less physically write a legible sentence.

You can get special consideration for the tests to use a scribe, or electronic device - even for the scholarship exams. (He was always allowed a PC for the scholarship exams - one supplied by the school in question, so no doubt "cleaned up" to ensure he couldn't cheat LOL - you just need to make prior arrangements) So there are ways around that too,

I know that. It's why we gave up occupational therapy when we realised he was suffering more psychological damage trying to get him to write than good.

But you can't with NAPLAN, they won't allow it. both the school and I are furious about it.

[fiestas*girl]

Big Waves to Elizabeths Mum, long time no see! - hows your gorgeous baby doing?

[azureline**]

But they take nothing else into account other than the child's performance on those days. Even then they are a snap shot in time.

As mentioned above - schools now spend a LOT of time preparing the kids for these tests and the style in which they are admisnistered.

Some kids are able to be excluded from the tests (as mentioned above)

So how, when these leagues tables are correlated, do they give a real indication of a school's performance?

How do you compare a selective school with all the mod cons and bells and whistles where entry is based on prior academic achievement to one where the kids have dirt floored classrooms and only have a teacher who speaks English 2 or 3 days a week?

Also - the grade 7 and 9 ones are a joke - as many schools only start at high school - so the performance of their students in grade 7 and/or 9 are realistically evaluation of the child's education before going to that school. How is that an accurate indication of a school's performance?

There is far more to an equal and just education than simplistic leagues tables and policy documents display, yet Governments award money based on them and parents select schools based on them.

I disagree....

and really? this is what I mean about the way the media uses the information.

I give parents more credit that that...... schools are chosen for many more reasons than Naplan results.

Until this year, year 7 was primary school in Qld.......

and yes, they do take many things into account.