NSW Education Standard Authority CEO David de Carvalho agrees with the feeling across the country that the reporting requirements for NAPLAN “are distorting the intent of the assessment”.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr de Carvalho though believes it is too early to say what a NAPLAN review, ordered by the Education Council, will find.
But, when speaking to the Mercury during a visit to Shellharbour Anglican College on Friday, the NESA chief added he wouldn’t be surprised to see the review change the way NAPLAN results are reported back to parents.
“The issue with NAPLAN is how to get the best out of it,” he said.
“Certainly there are a number of ministers who still, and a lot of teachers and principals, see value in NAPLAN.
“It is a question of how it needs to change in order to get best value out of it for the purposes of teaching and learning.”
Shellharbour Anglican College foundation head Tony Cummings was on the “same page” as Mr de Carvalho when it came to NAPLAN.
“[We’re] not questioning the value of NAPLAN but have significant concerns about how it is reported, how it is managed and how it is perceived in the public,” Mr Cummings said.
But I think it is good that we question things like My School and how it is reported.
- Tony Cummings
“Literacy and numeracy are still 21st century skills and how literacy and numeracy is used both now and in the future will never go away.
“So the value of NAPLAN stays. But I think it is good that we question things like My School and how it is reported.”
Mr de Carvalho also dropped by St John the Evangelist Catholic High School in Nowra on Thursday.
“The purpose of my visit is to hear from school principals and school leaders, teachers and students on how we might be able to support schools better,” he said.
The first review of NSW’s school curriculum in 29 years, meant Mr de Carvalho was in for a “big 18 month process”.
“We are going to be consulting very closely with teachers, principals and parents. We also want to get the student voice involved,” he said.
One of the messages we are getting very strongly from teachers and parents across the board is to declutter or uncrowd the curriculum.
- David de Carvalho
“We haven’t had a review on this scale for a long time.
“One of the messages we are getting very strongly from teachers and parents across the board is to declutter or uncrowd the curriculum,” he said.
“Teachers seem to be concerned that they've got too much material, that we are asking them to cover.
“It would be better to allow teachers to linger longer on particular areas, to go deeper, so the children can experience deeper learning and understanding and really get the opportunity to practice skills around research, creative and critical thinking.
“But in order to do that they really need to have time to go deeper into these subjects.”