NAPLAN provides valuable data that helps us take the pulse of how young Australians are performing in literacy and numeracy. It’s a measuring stick that offers us a snapshot of where students stand in relation to national averages, sparking important conversations between teachers, parents, and students to provide the support for those who need it.
But like all standardised tests, NAPLAN is just one piece of the educational puzzle. While it covers essential skills, it risks overshadowing higher-order thinking and creativity, leaving some students in the dark. The pressure it brings can cause anxiety and may narrow teaching methods to focus on test outcomes rather than fostering imagination and engagement.
Australia’s decline in international assessments, such as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), underscores the need for a broader perspective.
PISA assesses skills that will be increasingly important in the future — such as the ability to transfer and apply learning to new situations and unfamiliar problems. This requires not just knowledge of basic facts but also an understanding of fundamental concepts and principles, along with critical thinking.
NAPLAN data shows students progress during primary school but the cracks start to widen at secondary school. It seems that students who struggle early on tend to fall further behind as the demands of schooling increase — a phenomenon known as the Matthew effect. As a result, engagement and attendance rates tend to decline over time.
PISA differs from NAPLAN in that it is taken by a representative sample of 15-year-olds every three years and focuses on how well students apply their knowledge to complex, real-world situations. PISA evaluates critical thinking, synthesising information, and engaging with multiple perspectives, whereas NAPLAN focuses on foundational skills. However, the testing cycle, combined with delayed results, limits its ability to provide timely interventions or effectively track growth. Nevertheless, both assessments are crucial, as they highlight different dimensions of student achievement. We must also not forget our high performers. How can we better support them to extend their learning and achieve their potential?
At Edrolo, we recognise these limitations and have designed our resources to bridge the gaps and help students succeed. It's not just about knowledge or skills; it's about both. We're deliberate in ensuring depth of knowledge so students can apply what they've learned to new, unseen, and challenging questions and problems. We're equally intentional about fostering rigorous, more challenging skills that push students to think critically and solve complex issues.
For example, our problem-solving sections in Maths reinforce competencies similar to those assessed in NAPLAN, while in Science, we integrate NAPLAN’s reading comprehension frameworks into our Science as a Human Endeavour activities. Additionally, we categorise questions in Science as mild, medium, and spicy using NAP-Sci cognitive domains and incorporate PISA-style questions in both our Science and Maths products to ensure students practise applying their learning in real-world contexts. This approach helps all students practise foundational skills and apply their learning in real-world contexts, while also providing challenge and rigour for high performers.
Standardised tests like NAPLAN and PISA should guide learning, not serve as the sole judgement of a student’s abilities. Our proactive approach offers continuous opportunities for support by providing real-time data on student progress. Edrolo’s resources are curriculum-aligned, mapped to achievement standards for each year level, and holistically embed the necessary skills. This ensures that students receive ongoing support throughout their learning journey — not just when test results arrive.
At Edrolo, we invest heavily in building these critical skills into every product. By the time students face standardised assessments, they are not just test-ready — they are life-ready.
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