Answer To: PSYC4200 Argumentative Essay
Dr. Saloni answered on May 24 2022
Running Head: NAPLAN 1
NAPLAN is Effective
Contents
Introduction 3
Background 3
Benefits and Purpose of NAPLAN 4
Improves Teaching and Schools 4
Transparency 4
Accountability 5
Common Criticism 6
No Apparent Improvement in Performance 6
Harms Students 7
The Test is too Restrictive 8
Conclusion 8
References 10
Introduction
Since Rudd Labor management launched the NAPLAN (National Assessment Plan—Literacy and Numeracy tests) in 2008, they have been a matter of much debate (Lee et al., 2019). NAPLAN is contentious because certain stakeholders, including education officials and teacher unions, are worried about what they see as an unacceptable amount of responsibility for teachers and schools, an overemphasis on assessment, and the risk of inflicting student stress. While NAPLAN remains popular among parents, certain stakeholders publicly express concerns about unintended repercussions and student health. These arguments must be evaluated. No tests are flawless (Adams et al., 2020).
Moreover, assessment such as NAPLAN is a vital aspect of education for both individual students and school systems. In this essay, it is argued that NAPLAN is more essential and needed for student and educational benefits.
Background
For children in Grades 9, 7, 5, and 3, the annual NAPLAN assessments encompass four aspects: writing, reading, language conventions (grammar, punctuation, and spelling), as well as numeracy. Students attend the NAPLAN examination four times during their school careers, and the assessments occupy one week of the academic year, though many students take the exam across three-and-a-half days (Blanchette, 2020). NAPLAN is obligatory in school systems but not for individual students. Families who do not want their children to take the exam may choose to drop them. This test is never a high-stakes exam in the traditional sense since there are no adverse repercussions for students who score poorly on the exams, and NAPLAN scores do not affect teacher compensation or school financing (Roberts et al., 2019).
Benefits and Purpose of NAPLAN
Improves Teaching and Schools
Assessment is a crucial aspect of education. It serves several purposes, one of which is to provide data that may help students improve. NAPLAN, as a standardised assessment, acts as a diagnostic instrument for systems and schools, enabling the detection of issues in the educational framework over time and the evaluation of potential responses (Rogers et al., 2018). NAPLAN scores, being objective, standardised statistics, aid in the improvement of numeracy and literacy at various levels. This enables the examination of the performance of many components of the educational system, ranging from teacher practise to federal government regulatory changes (Blanchette, 2020).
NAPLAN data, for instance, is widely used to determine best practise in the case study that has resulted in significant student gains in numeracy and literacy, guiding the practises of other school systems. NAPLAN data may be used to determine pupils who are failing and require extra support at school in an attempt to avoid falling behind in numeracy and literacy. As argued by national parents’ organisations, the assessment scores are the objective tool for families to provide an overview of their children’s numeracy and literacy skills, and to work cooperatively with educators in the future to enhance academic achievement (Rogers et al., 2018).
Transparency
NAPLAN scores are released publicly and are disclosed at the state, territory, and national levels. This assures that the numeracy and literacy outcomes are transparent. If a specific state, for instance, is considerably failing, this will be publicly disclosed so that all residents are aware of this...