The Australian Parents Council (APC) has firmly backed the changes to NAPLAN reporting that state and territory Education Ministers have agreed to today.
Parents have long told APC that NAPLAN reporting was too complicated, too late and hard to understand how it fits with their child's school report. The simplification from 10 bands to 4 levels of achievement is strongly supported by the Australian Parents Council.
ACARA has stated that "The standard will support higher expectations for student achievement and ensure students are gaining the important literacy and numeracy skills they will need throughout their lives." APC recognises that the greatest impact on a child's educational outcomes is the high expectations of their parents and family. National reporting on the literacy and numeracy skills of students underpins the endeavour to deliver a quality education that all Australian families expect to have access to. The Australian Parents Council is thrilled that these small changes will make understanding how a child is developing in this system more accessible for all parents.
"We are really excited about these tweaks to NAPLAN reporting and believe they will be really useful in stimulating parent-teacher conversations about educational progress." said APC CEO Jenni Rickard. The way the data will be presented in the report to parents will enable more parents to understand their child's progress and facilitate meaningful collaboration between parents and teachers. "Often parents tell us they find it difficult to interpret the teacher jargon used in reporting, the simple presentation of this NAPLAN report will be beneficial to many parents across the country" explains Jenni Rickard.
