NAPLAN stands for the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy. NAPLAN is a series of Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 tests to assess a student’s understanding and achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar. It is an Australia-wide assessment of students’ performance in these areas. The data provided by these tests inform schools about how their students are achieving and guide their pedagogical programs.
WHAT DOES NAPLAN DO?
NAPLAN is not a test that is a pass or fail . Instead, it provides a band scale and a point of comparison, highlighting a student’s position. When the NAPLAN results are released, an individual report will measure a student’s performance against an assessment scale.
Your child’s school will send home their NAPLAN report, and you can use the individual results to discuss progress with particular teachers. Current Year 9 parents should have previous reports for their children when they sat NAPLAN in Years 3, 5 and 7. Using the final report in conjunction with the other three collected over your child’s schooling will show snapshots over time, identify trends, and indicate added value.
Naplan year 9 practice is important as it provides very useful information to schools, as it can identify students’ strengths and highlight areas where additional support or work may be required. In addition, it can assist schools and teachers with their teaching strategies and planning.
WHY IS NAPLAN SO IMPORTANT?
NAPLAN tests are important because they are the only tests we have in the country that all students in certain year levels participate. As a result, the results give vital data to teachers, schools and education departments that help them plan their programs at school, state and national levels. In addition, you can use the information to identify if you should be concerned about your child’s academic level in relation to the cohort WHAT IS TESTED AND WHEN?
There are four NAPLAN tests, held over several days, strictly in the following order:
- Writing
- Reading
- Conventions of language (spelling, punctuation and grammar)
- Numeracy
HOW DO YOU HELP YOUR CHILD PREPARE FOR YEAR 9 NAPLAN?
In Year 9, students should be well versed in taking tests and working under time constraints. Preparation for Year 9 NAPLAN has been built into a school’s curriculum over a student’s education. Students should see this as part of the school program and approach it like any assessment where they do their best. An early night, a nutritious breakfast, a positive attitude, and doing NAPLAN year 9 practice test papers are the best preparation students can have in their approach to NAPLAN.
Children can become concerned their parents or teachers may be angry if their results aren’t good enough, so it’s important to reassure them that NAPLAN testing is not to be feared. It is designed to assess their capabilities, not prescribe their future, and won’t affect how their teacher or parents see them.
Reassure your children that their NAPLAN results assess what they can do well and what they still need to work on and learn rather than their worth as a person.
