NAPLAN Parent FAQs
Q: Should you ‘prepare’ your child for NAPLAN?
ACARA’s General Manager of Assessment and Reporting, Peter Titmanis told parents it was “a very strong recommendation from ACARA that (NAPLAN) should be treated as another day at school”.
“There shouldn’t be any excessive preparation,” Peter stressed, “but if (students) haven’t seen a NAPLAN test before they should have the opportunity to do so, so they know what to expect.
“That is quite different to cramming for a range of information that they might expect to be on the test.
“So we are keen to make sure they are comfortable with the type of questions they are likely to see but we don’t expect any additional work to be done over and above what teachers would do during the course of the year when they teach literacy or numeracy.”
Past NAPLAN test papers – and answers – are available on the NAPLAN website. The NAPLAN Online public demonstration site can be found here.
Q: Do the children who ‘missed out’ on NAPLAN last year have to do the test this year?
No, the test will be for current Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students.
Q: What are the benefits of NAPLAN Online?
“One of the benefits of moving online that we have experienced is that students really prefer the online environment…one of the strongest bits of feedback was students were more confident and relaxed about online (compared to) the paper test,” Peter told the webinar.
One of the key selling points of NAPLAN Online is its method of “adaptive” testing, in that as students progress through the test they are given questions better suited to their abilities.
“The beauty of that is we get a much better understanding of the sorts of things they can or can’t do,” he said, “(which) provides teachers with much more quality information about their skills.”
Q: Does a child’s typing ability affect the way they perform in the writing components?
ACARA said “generally speaking” they have found students write a similar amount whether they are doing it by hand or typing. They also confirmed spellcheck is disabled in the online NAPLAN environment.
(Please note: All children in Year 3 complete the writing test on paper.)
Q: Are children who don’t have a computer at home at a disadvantage if they are doing NAPLAN Online?
ACARA told parents a child’s ability to use a device – whether it’s a laptop or Ipad – is now an important part of the curriculum (what students are taught at school).
Q: Can children with special needs use adaptive technology in the NAPLAN test?
ACARA said they had an ongoing program to review how they supported students with special needs. Assistive technologies such as screen readers are sometimes used. Classroom teachers can also provide ACARA with information about a student’s abilities and can be provided with alternative questions.
Thank you to the Queensland Independent Schools Parents Network, who attended APC's webinar, and pulled together this edit of parent questions on NAPLAN.