At Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC) in Kew, teachers are using a winning formula to boost students’ literacy outcomes, and at a time when results on the national level are plateauing in some areas and declining in others.
While the latest National NAPLAN Report found the literacy outcomes of Australian students have remained mostly stable for a second year in a row, a separate study found that by Year 9, 85% of students are constructing sentences at or below the level expected of Year 7 students.
At MLC, a strong focus has been on making sure staff can gather crucial insights and evidence into student learning so they can adapt their teaching to better meet students’ learning needs in this all-important area.
Below, Louise Peyton, Head of Junior School at MLC tells The Educator about how the school’s students performed during this year’s NAPLAN, the impact formative assessment, and what she sees as NAPLAN’s role in the future of Australian education.
TE: Was the 2022 NAPLAN worthwhile?
We know that NAPLAN isn't a perfect representation of a student's progress, but it is one tool in a teacher's arsenal. When used effectively, NAPLAN data can provide schools with a benchmark to allow teachers to tailor their curriculum and address specific gaps.
TE: How did students perform in NAPLAN this year?
It has been promising to see NAPLAN results this year continue a long-term positive trend, particularly considering students in both Years 3 and 5 have never before sat the NAPLAN exams.
At MLC we use evidence-based practices to ensure the best education is provided to our students. It is pleasing to see the new national curriculum is placing more importance on the most recent evidence-based approaches, such as an increased focus on phonics for literacy. It is likely that this will continue to be a contributing factor to the positive results from the NAPLAN testing here at MLC, but also nationwide.
TE: What is MLC’s approach to formative assessment?
Formative assessment means attaining continuous feedback to allow a teacher to evaluate impact and a student to move their learning forward. It answers three key questions, what is to be learned, how is learning progressing and what will be learned next?
It’s essentially the gold-star approach for education. Throughout the year at MLC, we use different methods of formative practice to gather evidence of student learning and adapt teaching to meet our students’ learning needs. This includes clearly communicating learning intentions and success criteria, embedding formative assessment in practice, peer- and self-assessment, and gathering and using evidence of students’ learning.
NAPLAN data is used in a formative way to identify gaps in learning which we then address in future planning. NAPLAN data also provides a summative, nationally comparable understanding of student performance in reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy at a point in time.
TE: Does NAPLAN have a place in the future of education?
If students have been supported effectively, NAPLAN can be a useful tool not just for seeing how students are performing over time, but also for mapping out the future of the next generation’s educational curriculum.
It's important to remember good teaching practice shouldn’t rely on one form of testing but on a mix.
While there are positives, such as allowing for progressive comparisons and analysis across specific areas within the school, there are also negatives, including increased stress and losing a week of teaching and learning. However, the most important thing is not to hyper-focus on just this one standardised testing format.
We believe schools need to use other standardised tests alongside a range of formative assessments to best inform teaching approaches and student progression. This will allow better monitoring of growth and support of students throughout their schooling life and ensure targeted interventions are applied when needed be it support or enrichment.