Joanne Lazarus Speech and Language Pathologist

NAPLAN is the $100 000 000+ test that divides the nation. At this time every year for the past five or six years, I have made public statements in opposition to the mainstream view that NAPLAN is good for our kids.

I don’t get paid for this. In fact, it’s a significant distraction from my usual work. But I care deeply about the issue and I keep putting my hand up to raise my voice against something I think is wrong for our kids, our communities, our schools, and our future.

The past couple of days have been pretty intense on social media and in the mainstream media. I’ve been trolled, abused, and stalked. I’ve been praised, thanked, and lauded.

But what I’ve appreciated most is the thoughtful responses from parents who really, really care about their kids and who want to know what they should do in regard to NAPLAN.

So I want to try to set the record straight and provide clear, concise answers for those parents.

Before I do so, I need to acknowledge that no matter what I say, some people are going to hate me, try to point out flaws and inconsistencies, and want to argue. As I mentioned before, I don’t get paid for doing this, so if you want to do that, please understand that I have limited time for responses, and I do my best to respond only to those who have sincere and genuine questions. Even then, I may struggle. A book deadline is my primary focus – and the talks I deliver around the country.

So here goes. First, I’ll share the main objections I have to NAPLAN and why (in brief). Then I’ll respond to the various questions I’ve had as best as I can.

Why I’m opposed to NAPLAN
1. NAPLAN is, like most tests, all about ranking our children. And it’s also about ranking schools. But to me, education shouldn’t be about ranking or sorting, or creating hierarchies. It should be about teaching and learning, about building and growing, and about mastery and competence. Some testing and evaluation is required to assess learning. But testing and ranking on a national scale is unnecessary for reasons I’ll explain below.

2. NAPLAN, like many tests that rank, can create a damaging and unhealthy “fixed” mindset. This simply means that when kids get told they’re a “band 6” or “band 2” or even a “band 10”, they actually believe that it represents their smarts. And they live into that. If the score is good you might think that’s fine. But studies show it can create horrible pressure for the high achievers. And we already know that if a child believes she is dumb, it’s hard to convince her otherwise.

For more, see my article ‘Say No to NAPLAN’ at www.happyfamilies.com.au/articles/say-no-to-naplan