May 2011     Some secondary schools have reportedly started using NAPLAN tests to determine if they want to enrol particular students.  The Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, has confirmed that it is entirely inappropriate for schools to use NAPLAN results to determine the enrolment of a student.

“The vast majority of schools are using NAPLAN for the purpose that it was intended, that is, as a valuable tool used by parents, schools and governments to understand and improve literacy and numeracy results of our kids,” Mr Garrett said.

Any allegation of schools using NAPLAN data to determine enrolment should be referred to the state education department for investigation.

As a reaction to this, some parents have refused to let their children sit the tests for fear of the test results being used in this manner. Mr Garrett says:  “I fully expect that all students will participate in NAPLAN testing, it is not appropriate to apply pressure to parents to withdraw their children from testing."

"Attendance data for the day of testing will be published on the My School website and any attempt to manipulate the results will be investigated, “Mr Garrett said.  "NAPLAN is only one indication of how well a child is doing at school. There are significant benefits in having a diagnostic tool to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy."

“We understand that literacy and numeracy are the building blocks of a great education and publishing results on the My School website gives us the opportunity to see how well students are performing in the context of the specific school environment."

Quotes by Peter Garrett, from information released on May 19, 2011.

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