# data[].attributes.body
· Teachers begin

Anonymous
3m
 ·         Teachers begin to teach defensively to a NAPLAN standard. Focus diverts to NAPLAN preparation at the expense of more necessary education, in effect narrowing the curriculum.
·         Low performing schools are at risk of inaccurate blame being laid as to why their students are underperforming without taking location, resources, social, cultural and economic factors into account.
·         Poor results may lead to teacher disillusionment and self-blame and the possibility of losing teachers.
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24m
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SWOT NAPLAN

Anonymous
4mo
SWOT NAPLAN
Pros:
-       Students are tested on their reading, spelling, grammar, punctuation and numeracy
-       Results can provide teachers with an understanding to areas that need to be focused on
-        Families are informed on the results of their children and which areas they may need extra help in as well as notifying them where they succeed
 
Cons:
-       Students are compared to one another based on an aggregated score
-       Students who may not perform as well as others or those who excel in certain areas are all compared to one another


Opportunities:
-    Can show areas of weakness for individual students
-    Can demonstrate where individual students strengths and weaknesses are in regards to their understanding of content

Threats:
-   Beneficial to students with English as their first language, however students with an ESL background or who struggle with their English will be put at a disadvantage

-  No critical thinking necessarily required

-  Students will feel inadequate if their results are not where they initially thought they were
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NAPLAN SWOT - Jessie Smith

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT - Jessie Smith
Strengths:
It measures literacy and numeracy skills to give parents, schools and the government an idea of the level the students are working at and how much they've improved previously.

Weaknesses:
It's not an accurate representation of what students have learnt and  what skills they have. The stress and pressure can affect the performance of students. Some students just don't do tests well but can prove they're knowledge in different ways.

Opportunities:
It can show areas of weakness, not just in the students, but also in the curriculum.

Treats:
It puts teachers and students through the stress and pressures to perform well, when it's not an accurate portrayal of their skills and knowledge.  Instead of teaching students  the curriculum, it teaches them how to take tests.
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NAPLAN SWOT

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT
Strengths:
- It focuses on core skills within literacy and numeracy that are commonly used outside of a school environment.
- Gives governments and associated educational partners concrete information on a school's performance in those areas that they can use for developing policy to improve

Weaknesses:
- Causes considerable stress to both students and teachers through graded scoring.
- Does not necessarily reflect all the skills and knowledge that students get from their schooling
- Encourages teachers to design learning outcomes to a test, which doesn't allow for creative thinking in tasks and may impede students from developing unique ideas and concepts not introduced in the curriculum

Opportunities:
- If used in conjunction with other assessment methods can provide an idea of how the student understands concepts 
- Can be used to invoke curriculum adjustments nationally as it gives a broad picture of Australian standards    

Threats:
-Distinct advantage to certain social groups, especially with those who were born in Australia, have English as their first language and are familiar with such testing
-May grossly underestimate a child's individual ability if they don't perform well with test or are nervous
- Schools and teachers may deliberately focus their lessons on NAPLAN and associated testing even though it may not be the best educational outcome for the students.
- Fails to address many skills beneficial to society after school such as critique, individualised thinking, creativity, social and cultural perspective and understanding.
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SWOT NAPLAN

Anonymous
5mo
SWOT NAPLAN
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SWOT NAPLAN - Sarah Bouassi

Anonymous
5mo
SWOT NAPLAN - Sarah Bouassi

Strengths:

·         Provides information on the literacy and numeracy capability of students 
·         Compares students to other schools and levels and can theoretically be beneficial to ensure equity in education 

Weaknesses:

·         Not the full scope of students knowledge and intelligence or capabilities 
·         Promotes teaching in a way that encourages correct test answers but fails to really educate students 

Opportunities:

·         Allows changes to curriculum and funding based on data 

Threats:

·         Traditional mentality of education may impede student learning and may show the next generation to be well-educated when they are just good at tests. This can impact on the work-force skills and abilities of graduates. 

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SWOT Analysis of NAPLAN- Jozlyn Herd

Anonymous
5mo
SWOT Analysis of NAPLAN- Jozlyn Herd
Strengths-
 
Naplan focuses on and measures the important skills that are necessary for every child to progress through school and life such as: reading writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy.
 
Allows governments, education authorities, schools, teachers and parents to determine whether or not young Australians have the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the basis for further learning in other areas.
 
Provides information for parents and schools with information of how their students are performing and what level they are working at, at the time of the test.
 
Weaknesses-
 
Causes undue stress for students and teachers.
 
Only considers specific skills and results produced in the standardized testing environment
 
Schooling is heavily focused on preparing students for these tests that they may resort to ‘defensive pedagogies’ to ensure good examination results, due to teacher effectiveness being measured by student achievements.
 
Narrowed education, that inhibits student’s development of tools for participating thoughtfully and to not question the status quo.
 
This type of education only suits dominant social groups.
 
Opportunities-
 
Gives schools and the teachers’ information about what level their students are working at, providing comparison between other schools in the state and in other states, providing information of how the current education program is working and which areas need improvement or further focus. 
 
Threats-
 
Can be seen to only suit dominant social groups.
 
Doesn’t support critical thinking.
 
Teacher and students feeling inadequate if results are not up to year level standard.
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NAPLAN SWOT - Jessica Gregor

Apple Cider Vinegar
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT - Jessica Gregor
Strengths:
Measures students literacy and numeracy skills and collects large amounts of data to improve and monitor students learning and the curriculum
Weaknesses:
Creates stress for teachers and students and only considers certain skills produced in the standardised testing environment. Doesn't necessarily reflect depth or diversity in students nor does it give leeway for students to showcase critical thinking due to time restraints.
Opportunities:
Teachers are able to observe the capabilities of their students to a certain degree, and can use this information as a foundation for future practice.
Threats: Is not an accurate representation of students ability or inidividuality.
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SWOT Analysis of the NAPLAN

Madeleine McCarty
5mo
SWOT Analysis of the NAPLAN
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NAPLAN SWOT Analysis

Frances Silva
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
* Provides useful information about how well education programs are being implemented
* Provides information to schools and parents about how well their students and children are performing
Weaknesses:
* Cannot be used as a diagnostic tool for teachers due to late release of results
* Teachers resort to defensive teaching pedagogies
* Some questions may be too difficult for younger age groups
Opportunities:
* Tests can provide skills students can carry on throughout their schooling and future
* NAPLAN results can identify students that may need additional support
Threats:
* NAPLAN testing narrows the school curriculum
* Students anxiety levels may effect their NAPLAN results. Not a true indication of their ability as they may be under too much pressure while trying to answer the questions
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NAPLAN SWOT

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT 
Vasilios Liberidis

Strengths
- Provides schools/teachers an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of test, regarding Literacy & Numeracy

- Provides schools with information about how well their current educational programs are working, and what may need improving

- Comparisons of student outcomes between schools can be made (if a school observes that they are not performing as well as other local schools, it can motivate them to implement new strategies/programs/policies

Weaknesses
- Greater emphasis on school’s student outcomes, and outputs, rather than inputs and processes

- A focus on achieving greater NAPLAN scores may only lead to “enhanced capacity to take tests, rather than enhanced & authentic learning across a broad and defensible range of schooling purposes” (Lingard, 2010, p. 135)

- Teachers may be forced to implement ‘defensive pedagogies’ that will ensure good NAPLAN scores, rather than allowing them to use their own pedagogies and assessment practices that will foster student educational and personal development

- Added student anxiety and stress

Opportunities
- Depending on the student, it may provide them with the motivation to ‘work harder’ in those area of learning

- Opportunity for schools to review how well their own teaching and learning programs are working for students

Threats
- Due to the ‘high-stakes’ of NAPLAN Testing, where the focus is on performing well, teachers are forced to use defensive pedagogies which, whilst ensuring students perform well on the test, prevents critical thinking within students
- Students and teachers feeling inadequate if student results show that they are not up to year level standard

- Overtime can cause a lack of trust towards a teacher’s ability to foster positive outcomes within students. Teachers not being able to implement their own teaching strategies within their classroom.

- Narrowing of School Curriculum
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NAPLAN SWOT analysis-

Broden Williamson
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT analysis-

Strengths- Provides data to school and parents of general performance and is used as a comparative measure against other schools. 

Provides a benchmark of essential skills

Weaknesses- Undue stress on teachers and students

Only test certain skills

Not a critical thinking assessment.

Narrowed education.

Social costs.

Opportunites- 
Teachers are able to understand a general sense of their weaknesses and room for development in their classroom

Threats- Does not accurately depict a students ability. Third party test detaches students and teachers sense of belonging in a school. 
Can make students feel stupid.


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Naplan SWOT

Anonymous
5mo
Naplan SWOT
Monique Flowers
Strengths
Provides big data on the performance of systems and schools.
Allows comparison of Australia with other countries on similar metrics.
Allows comparison of schools' results in broadest terms 

Weaknesses
Poorly designed tests focusing on inappropriate details.
Doesn't reflect the depth and diversity of student learning.
Is a single snap-shot assessment and may be skewed if a student is having a bad day.
Doesn't allow for multiple modes of learning.
Is not inclusive of those with divergent learning styles. 
Makes unfair comparisons between schools.
Encourages "teach to the test" mentality and pedagogy.
Limits the curricula breadth and depth.
Promotes "league tables" of schools in the popular media and on MySchool.
Causes stress for students sitting the test.
Occupies time better spent in teaching the curriculum.

Opportunities
A refined test may provide tracking of a student's progress over time.
May identify weaknesses in current knowledge and pedagogy.
Could be refined to provide useful information n  to enhance teaching.
May be used to argue for additional funding/support based on results.

Threats
Fails to accurately track student performance due to poorly designed tests.
Could be considered a performance appraisal of individual schools, teachers or students

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NAPLAN SWOT analysis - W. PEARCE

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT analysis - W. PEARCE
Strengths:
~Sets a minimum standard of education for all students and (theoretically) attempts to place them at a defined standard.
~ Via the ACARA and states curricula, there is a standard level of education that is (theoretically) the same for all children.
~ Parents and schools can chart a student's progress and learning over a number of years, and compare schools to verify whether their child is receiving a quality education.
~ Teachers can use the results to highlight where a particular student's strengths and weaknesses are found with their learning.

Weaknesses:
# Uses a 'one size fits all' approach which does not allow for differences between a student's learning style, disability or cultural background.
# Provides a narrow scope of education for students and a limited scope in which teachers can engage students in learning (defensive pedagogy)
# Provides a narrow range of questions which do not promote or encourage critical thinking or analysis.
# Places teachers and students under additional (and unnecessary) stress.

Opportunities:
* Provides data to show student progress and can assist with improving a student's weaker areas.
* Schools can assess their curriculum and effectiveness of particular pedagogy.
* Schools may be able to implement changes to learning methods, or focus on areas of additional support where needed.

Threats:
-Tests may be poorly worded and are geared towards 'the middle'.
-No context provided within questions and do not allow for a student to elaborate on answers or show evidence of critical thinking.
-Reinforces the status quo.
-May shame students or schools.
- Provides a homogenised view of education.
- Test results may be heavily influenced by test wording, cultural nuances, and anxiety of students around testing.

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NAPLAN SWOT Analysis

Harney McKinnon
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT Analysis
STRENGTHS:
·     Measures students’ essential skills and abilities in four areas (‘domains’)
o  Reading
o  Writing
o  Language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
o  Numeracy
·     Test skills in relation to the curriculum – as a ‘snap shot’
·     Can provide useful data on students and can provide a reference point
·     Identification of students who are not meeting minimum standards for targeted intervention.
·     Ability to map student progress over years.
 
WEAKNESSES:
·     Taken at a point in time in one day – impacted by student engagement and general mood/capacity on the day
·     Individual student impact (anxiety, self-esteem, engagement, etc)
·     Limited scope to capture talents and abilities.
·     Standardised thus does not meet the diverse learning needs/styles of students
·     Pitched to the ‘average’ and not always accessible to students with special educational needs and disabilities or disadvantage.
·     Cultural and linguistic appropriateness and accessibility of testing.
·     No opportunity to show ‘working out’ and qualitative data of student thinking/rational.
 
OPPORTUNITIES:
·     Targeted interventions of students identified from results to improve learning outcomes
·     Used in conjunction with and complimentary to other evidentiary data
·     The exploration of adaptive testing – to ensure access to CALD, SEND, Indigenous etc.
·     Earlier point of testing – commences in Grade 3 – perhaps considering Year 1 to identify capacities for earlier intervention.
 
THREATS:
·     Narrowing of the curriculum – teaching to test
·     Funding – is it cost effective? Do you get bang for your buck in terms of the quality of data collected and it’s use?
·     Turnaround of test and results renders data useless as an informative teaching tool.
·     The emphasis/perception of ‘high stakes; testing.  Needs to be put into perspective.
 
- Harney McKinnon
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NAPLAN SWOT (Linda)

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT (Linda)
Strengths
provides, governments, schools, teachers ,parents and students information about how they are doing in relation to literacy and numeracy in comparison to other students, schools, geographical areas, which can then be compared internationally.
Weaknesses
does not give an accurate picture of child's ability in any areas outside numeracy and literacy, which can cause unnecessary and unrealistic conclusions to be drawn about the child, teacher and school.
Opportunities 
Enables teachers to gain a wide understanding on content and teaching strategies that need review
Enable teachers to assess negativity surrounding standardised testing, to discuss with peers, advocate for students and lobby governments about the negative impacts in order to bring about change 
Threats
Overall disenchantment with school system, 
Students not strong in literacy or numeracy disengaging
Little time to devote to other areas of curriculum due to over emphasis on preparation for testing
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Strengths:- diag

Anonymous
5mo
 Strengths:
- diagnostic assessment
- consistent across schools
- provides a benchmark
- provides information relating to progression of students

Weaknesses:
- only tests some skills
- hasn't shown any new information in recent years
- creates anxiety and pressure

Opportunities:
- ability to compare and evaluate teaching programs and strategies
- identify students needing support

Threats:
- creates test pressure
- can distract from teaching curriculum
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NATPLAN SWOT

Cassie
5mo
NATPLAN SWOT 
Strengths:
-shows areas for improvement 
-shows student progress 
-allows for comparative analysis 

Weaknesses:
-effectiveness of teachers determined by student scores 
-students measured by one score (some students won't test well/have other strengths)
-pressure on teachers, students, schools to preform well 

Opportunity:
-shows improvement areas 
-allows for critical analysis 

Threats:
-teachers focus on test outcomes to the detriment of the curriculum
-simplifying student's abilities/worth based on a test score 
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SWOT NAPLAN- Hayley Bottin

Anonymous
5mo
SWOT NAPLAN- Hayley Bottin
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Naplan SWOT (Rohan Webb)

Anonymous
5mo
Naplan SWOT (Rohan Webb)
Strengths: An assessment tool that gathers information on a national level.
Can be a useful additional guide to students' progress for teachers and parents.

Weaknesses: Creates anxiety for students in doing extra testing.
Narrows curriculum down to "teaching the test" to improve outcomes.

Opportunities: May assist in curriculum changes in a positive way

Threats: May have negative effects on students who do not perform up to par.
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NAPLAN SWOT

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT
Strengths:
- Shows the teachers what they need to focus on more with each student.
- Gives each state government an idea of where the students are at with their maths and english. 
- Having the NAPLAN tests in years 3, 5, 7 & 9, shows the students progress over those years.

Weaknesses:
- The teachers get so focused on preparing the students for these tests
- Added stress on the students.
- If the students don't do that well it can put them under pressure and lose confidence.

Opportunities:
- Assesses the areas for inprovement in each state.
- Gives insight for the teachers to adjust the or build on areas that the students could be struggling with.

Threats:
- Makes students feel inaquate
- Simplfiys a childs worth to standard performance
- Teacher focus is on teaching exam techniques.
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Naplan Swot

Anonymous
5mo
Naplan Swot
 Strengths: Allows teachers to see what areas students need help with or need greater focus on. Can facilitate changes to the curriculum.
 
Weaknesses: Added stress to students. Forces teachers to teach defensively or to only teach the technical aspects of the curriculum rather than complex parts of skills. Feelings of inadequacy for both students and teachers depending on results. Disparages against students based on class and race.
 
Opportunities: Can facilitate changes to the curriculum
 
Threats: Feelings of inadequacy for both students and teachers depending on results. Force the teacher to focus on the tests rather than teaching other essential topics.
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Naplan Swot

Anonymous
5mo
Naplan Swot
Strengths
Summative test so results can be used to highlight student/teacher areas of weakness so can be improved
Summative test results can be used with other test results to inform parents of children's strengths/weaknesses
Provides school/state/national data
Shows patterns year on year.
Weaknesses
Teachers measured on student performance relating to Naplan rather than other work they do.
Doesn't aptly capture abilities of all students such as those who perform poorly under test conditions and children with disabilities.
May place a lot of pressure on teachers to gain a certain level of results from students.
Places pressure on whole school during the period of testing due to staff required to supervise tests and other students who don't do test needing to be supervised.
Opportunities
Provides data for schools to hone in on student/teacher/local curriculum weaknesses.
Summative test results used by curriculum authorities to view results by school, state, and as a whole nation and make necessary changes to curriculum/teaching methods, etc.
Results can be used to promote schools as high achieving schools.
Threats
Teachers forgo teaching rest of curriculum.
Schools viewed negatively due to student performance.
Schools viewed poorly in community if they achieve poor results.
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NAPLAN S

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN S
(Sarah Gonsalves)
Strengths:
-Identifies strengths & weaknesses that need attention
-Allows states to compare students results and identify areas of the system that need improvement
-The annual testing of NAPLAN 🤬 in assessing student progress over time.

Weaknesses:
-The effectiveness of teachers is judged based on student outcomes
-Correct answer implies only one truth
-Highly cost ineffective to run annually
-Does not consider student wellbeing

Opportunity:
-Assesses area for improvement
-Insight for teachers to adjust the or build upon curriculum to help assess their own 

Threats:
-Causes additional stress and pressure for teachers
-Teacher focus is on teaching exam techniques
-Simplify a child's worth to standard performance
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NAPLAN SWOT (Bianca Pauley)

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT (Bianca Pauley)
Strengths
·         Provides parents and teachers with understanding of individual students progress in literacy and numeracy
·         Shows development as the same test is taken across every year level

Weaknesses
·         There are other ways parents and teachers can, and already do, gauge a student’s progress
·         Only looks at literacy and numeracy capabilities
·         Only shows outcomes based on students’ performance under pressure

Opportunities
·         Provides national statistics at various levels to inform decisions about curriculum development

Threats
·         Can create stress and isolation in educationally disadvantaged students
·         NAPLAN results may spark concerns of “teacher effectiveness” 
·         Teachers focus may change to the aim of producing good test outcomes
·         Can serve as a distraction from the rest of the curriculum as they are additional to school’s assessment and reporting process.

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NAPLAN SWOT

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT
Strengths:
 Focuses on literacy and numeracy skills
Provides feedback for parents and teachers
Drives improvement in students outcomes not only for a particular student but also for all students at that school. -strengths and weaknesses of students identified as well allowing a school to compare results and to discover areas that need improving within the system
Drives accountability for teaching staff and government, ensuring all students across the nation are receiving valuable education that is in line with the Australian Curriculum.

 
Weaknesses:
Measures outcomes, not students progress
Narrow focus on the needs of educations
Results are released in September when it is too late for teachers to help students improve their results.
Creates stress for students.
Creates pressure for teachers to teach the test and not the curriculum. 
 
Opportunities:
Helps schools and government improve education system and close the gaps in certain areas of education. 
Allows government to assess the Australian Curriculum and whether it meets requirements.
 
 
Threats:
Teachers focus on the assessment and defensively teach, and or only teach the test
Students are measured purely from one standardised test, not many tests.
Negative results lead to teacher resignations, self-blame and disillusionment
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Luke Nguyen SWOT

Anonymous
5mo
Luke Nguyen SWOT
Strengths:
1) The test can be used a help prepare students for sitting exam conditions.
2) Test results can be used as a guide to how well the Australian Curriculum is compared to the rest of the world.

Weakness
1) Teachers may focus their efforts on  their students getting answers correct rather than understanding the concepts
2) Not all schools have the same amount of funding and resources to prepare the students for the test. As a results some schools will be put at a disadvantage

Threats
1) Students wellbeing and mental health may be at risk with the pressure that is put on them to perform well.

2) The content on the NAPLAN test may diverge from the Australian Curriculum.

Opportunities
1) Parents may be able to voice their opinions on NAPLAN testing and offer their advice on how it can be improved.

2) Students will know where they need improvement and can work accordingly on specific  numeracy and literacy skills.

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NAPLAN SWOT - Kiara Bartolo

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT - Kiara Bartolo

Strengths 
Provides parents feedback with where their child sits on the educational scale, not only compared to other students of the same age but also the expected level they should be at
universal amongst schools.
 
 Weaknesses 
Costly to run
High pressure on the teachers and students to perform
Students may not perform to the best of their ability due to the exam like environment.
Intelligence should not be measured by simply maths and English as there are many different types of smarts for example students may be better at creative or physical activities.
Not everyone is on the same level due to socio economic backgrounds and some schools having better resources and opportunities to learn, the background which the student comes from and if a child has a learning disability


Opportunities 
 - Governments can focus funding on schools that are underperforming 
Teachers are able to see what areas need improvement
Provides opportunities on improving the curriculum 

 
 Threats
Teacher effectiveness measured by the outcomes of students
Teaching strategies that ensure good exam results as opposed to what would benefit the students 
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NAPLAN SWOT

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT
Strengths
-May reflect some feedback to teachers on whether they are meeting the required outcomes of the curriculum

-Provide some feedback to parents on their child's learning in literacy and numeracy at a single point time

- Schools may use the data to improve particular areas for teaching and learning

Threats
- Does not consider a holistic picture towards education, teachers will focus on just teaching to the test

- May create more school drop outs and the  ( undue stress for 
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NAPLAN SWOT (Maddison Ruchel)

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT (Maddison Ruchel)
Strengths
Provides an overview of a child’s progress
Provides feedback for teachers and parents
 
Weaknesses
Creates undue stress on students
The test has a narrow focus area
It would be a very expensive program to run
 
Opportunities
May help to identify problem areas in the curriculum
May offer insight as to which schools are struggling and need extra resources
 
Threats
Teachers may begin teaching for these tests, not so that students receive a well-rounded education
Children who don’t learn in conventional ways, or who don’t test well may lose confidence and stop trying in school
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NAPLAN SWOL (Luke Co

Luke Condello
5mo
 NAPLAN SWOL (Luke Condello)
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NAPLAN SWOT (Kris Ford)

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT (Kris Ford)
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NAPLAN SWOT (Bevan Sharman

17127271
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT (Bevan Sharman
Strengths 
Universal assessment of students allows governments, teachers, and parents to compare children to others in their age bracket
Allows students of Australia to compared to other countries

Weaknesses
Measures only outcomes, and not individual student progress
Causes uanessacry stress on students and teachers

Opportunities 
Gives data so new teaching methods can be trialled (eg. new techniques can be compared against old ones)
Can help identify which schools and students are struggling, and this may help them get the assistance they require

Threats
Inlines teachers to “teach to the test”, at the expense of providing students with a more rounded education experience
Potential for schools and students who score poorly to be unfairly blamed for their underperformance

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NAPLAN SWOT (Shannon Fitzgerald)

Shannon F
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT (Shannon Fitzgerald)
Strengths:
Establishes standards by which we can attempt to measure ourselves nationally and internationally
Allows for comparison of effectiveness of different educational curriculums
Gives teachers a glimpse at some of the strengths and weaknesses of individual students and how they may have improved over a longer term
Gives parents feedback of where their child may be excelling or struggling

Weaknesses:
Incredibly narrow focus on the needs of education
The such a finite sample of the curriculum may not be sufficient for a test of broader skills.
Standardised testing is flawed and not infallible
Delivering a physical test nationally would be a big expense on the national education budget
Doesn’t account for student diversity where students may be of international origin or intellectually challenged

Opportunities:
Large amounts to data collected over the whole standardised testing process, can be used to find social and economical trends towards effectiveness of education
Helps government and schools see where curriculum can be improved
Gives government a standardised means of testing whether particular schools may require support

Threats:
Forces education through a narrow hoop and forces teachers to shape their curriculum and pedagogy around meeting the requirements of standardised testing
Penalises teachers trying to build their pedagogy around student needs instead take to a “Defensive Pedagogy”
Directs government and schools attention to potentially inaccurate deficits in the efficiency of teaching in a particular area
May force teachers to leave behind students that they know won’t be able to keep up in favor of making sure the majority will still achieve high results
Visibility of school results on Myschool website may unfairly push away potential students
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Jemma Ebsary

Anonymous
5mo
Jemma Ebsary
NAPLAN SWOT
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NAPLAN SWOT (Josh Russell)

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT (Josh Russell)
Strengths:
NAPLAN provides teacher with a specific area of data towards literacy and numeracy. Which then they can use to gauge their teaching outcomes against the standardised curriculum.
Weaknesses:
As the test is standardised and adjusted year by year, many teachers are not aware what areas will increase with difficulty and what questions with pertain to their previous teaching. This leaves both teachers and students in situations where they are unsure of outcomes and places extra stress on students where it is not relevant.
Opportunities:
This environment gives students the opportunity to recognise the faults in the testing system and the current teachings within the curriculum. Teachers can use this test to adjust their lessons and better focus on the national curriculum.
Threats:
The key threat derived from the test, is how students will perceive their goals in the future. In situations where NAPLAN provides intimidating questions, most students will not answer and this leaves gaps in the small data that this test provides. Expanding upon already disadvantageous goals in disparities between public and private sectors.

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SWOT of NAPLAN

Isabella Cattaruzza
5mo
SWOT of NAPLAN
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Kim Townrow

Anonymous
5mo
Kim Townrow
STRENGTHS: 
• Provides feedback for parents and teachers.
• Identifies if students are meeting curriculum standards.
• Allows states to compare peer results.
• Places accountability on the education system for ensuring all students are receiving a valuable education.

WEAKNESSES:
• It is a small sample, possibly not sufficient to examine a child's proficiency and skills.
• Students can become stressed about the test.
• It costs a lot to implement.

OPPORTUNITIES: 
• We have 10 years worth of data and knowledge we can tap in to.
• It identifies areas where funding may be needed.

THREATS:
• Teachers are focusing on the test rather than on curriculum because they feel so much pressure to do well. Results are posted on the My School website.
• Schools who perform poorly are stigmatised, leading families of high-performing students to seek education in 'more desirable' schools. This only serves to further harm the balance of high-performing students to low-performing students and create bigger divides between schools.
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NAPLAN SWOT

Faith Valentine
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT
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NAPLAN SWOT

Sabrine Barakat
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT 
STRENGTHS: 
+ Provides information of strengths and weaknesses within the curriculum based on student outcomes. 
+ Establishes and raises standards of learning and curriculum 
+ Allows parents & teachers to identify individual student progress against a national standard 
WEAKNESSES:
-  Only focuses on outcomes and progress towards standards without any consideration of influential learning factors 
- Places extra levels of stress and anxiety on teachers, parents and students to perform well on tests. 
- Ideology overrides circumstance - disadvantaged, rural, low-SES are not taken into consideration, only identified and measured up against high performance schools. 
OPPORTUNITY: 
+ Allows opportunity for Government organisations & ACARA to assess and implement educational curriculum improvements 
+ Provides information to governments on schools that require more funding and recourses. 
THREATS: 
- Creates room for negative competition between schools and adds to parental pressure. 
- Teaching methods and learning experiences are at risk, teachers focus in outcomes to meet standards and use 'defensive pedagogies' of teaching. 
- Lower performing schools are ranked based on outcomes and test results. Named and shamed as bad schools without any consideration of funding and availability to resources. 
- Teachers are at risk of taking accountability of student outcomes and hold a sense of guilt, however, were placed in a position where they had no choice but to take a "defensive" approach, placing the risk of losing teachers.  
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NAPLAN SWOT

Petar
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT 
Strengths

·         Identifies strengths and weaknesses that need attention
·         Areas of funding and resourcing can be determined 
·         States can monitor the progress of their education system compared to other states
·         Places accountability on the education system to perform to an international standard

Weaknesses

·         Only done once a year with limited coverage of skills 
·         Expensive to run
·         High pressure placed on students to perform well in comparison to their peers 
·         High pressure placed on schools with NAPLAN results posted on the MySchool website

Opportunities 

·         Gain insight to areas and schools where students are struggling with basic literacy and numeracy concepts to assist the disadvantage
·         Schools can get an idea of what teaching areas they need to focus on improving the most; based on the results
·         Parents can gain reassurance on how their child is coping with their schooling from the national comparison of results 

Threats

·         Students lose valuable time to learn curriculum-based content if teachers revise NAPLAN content during lesson periods and, the time taken to sit the NAPLAN tests
·         Students that are advised not to sit NAPLAN tests by schools can lose any confidence and be less likely to enjoy their education experience
·         Tests in some schools may be completed by cheating, which may affect the analysis of the results of those schools and the national averages
·         Schools with low NAPLAN test scores can be heavily stigmatised by members of the public viewing the results on the MySchool website
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NAPLAN SWOT

Hayley Martiniello
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT
STRENGTHS:
- Gives a general idea to parents and teachers of a child's progress
- Illustrates trends of improvement and declines in particular areas
- Illustrates where Australian results compare with other countries
WEAKNESSES:
- Teachers may start using "defensive pedagogies" focussing on teaching for assessment results, rather than learning
- Can cause stress and anxiety for children
- Places pressures on teachers and schools, placing unnecessary blame on school systems and teacher methods
- Does not consider students within vulnerable groups who may be disadvantaged by the test
- Gives a misleading indication into what 'high quality' schools should like and no understanding as to why other school may not score so well
- focusses on test results rather students progress throughout the year
OPPORTUNITY:
- May be used to help curriculum planning and recognise areas that may need improving
- Can help recognise which schools may need more assistance or funding
THREATS:
- Teachers start to focus only on assessment results, and begin to teach defensively
- Children are being measured purely by the results of one standardised test rather than their overall learning and success
- Low performing schools receiving undue blame for low test results and placing too much pressure on teachers could result in them leaving 
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NAPLAN SWOT:

Chrissy Imbesi
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT:
STRENGTHS
·         Reflects whether students are meeting educational outcomes.
·         Helps to identify students with slow progress.
·         Provides information that enables teachers to develop more individualised approaches to teaching
·         Allows for trends in improvements and/or declines to be monitored and actioned if needed.
·         It gives parents a general idea how their child and their school is fairing in comparison to other children and local schools.
 
WEAKNESSES
·         Can have a negative impact on student wellbeing causing stress and anxiety.
·         The test my disadvantage students of diversity, such as CALD, with an unequal opportunity to understanding questions.
·         Puts undue stress and anxiety on teachers into feeling their teaching methods are also being tested.
·         Puts pressure on teachers to teach towards NAPLAN testing so that their students do well.
·         Parents may begin searching for high performing schools without understanding fully why some schools will do well and others won't.
·         Disregards influences such as rural, disadvantaged, culturally diverse and low-income areas.
·         It may inadvertently 'blame and shame' particular schools/teachers or students.
·         Can be used by the government and by the Education Department to hold teachers and schools accountable rather than as an indication of where additional help and funding may be required.
·         NAPLAN Funding may be better spent on educational resources and assistance in underprivileged schools.
 
OPPORTUNITIES
·         Can aid in education policy development.
·         Can aid in curriculum planning and the re-evaluation of current methods and content.
·         Allows state and national government to analyse where funding and resources are required.
 
THREATS
·         Teachers begin to teach defensively to a NAPLAN standard. Focus diverts to NAPLAN preparation at the expense of more necessary education, in effect narrowing the curriculum.
·         Low performing schools are at risk of inaccurate blame being laid as to why their students are underperforming without taking location, resources, social, cultural and economic factors into account.
·         Poor results may lead to teacher disillusionment and self-blame and the possibility of losing teachers.
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NAPLAN SWOT in brief

Anonymous
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT in brief
The ‘strengths’ of NAPLAN are political and commercial. I see it is a form of control and measure to ensure the education remains a commodity rather than a right, another ‘strength’ according to some is the quality control it claims to achieve.. NAPLAN is riddled with weaknesses, it doesn’t’ reflect ‘real world knowledge nor has it managed to improve the greater outcome of learning. The opportunities are again aligned with the ‘strengths’ as nor teachers, nor students gain benefit. The threats are what we see today where children are being measured without consideration of their differences and that the results are what the people focus on rather than the overall learning experience. Cecilia
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NAPLAN SWOT

Marijka Gooding
5mo
NAPLAN SWOT
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Chrissy Imbesi 5mo
Excellent breakdown.
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Dear Students, please pin your SWOT analysis on this padlet.

e_dakich
5mo
Dear Students, please pin your SWOT analysis on this padlet.
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# data[].attributes.body
·         Teachers begin to teach defensively to a NAPLAN standard. Focus diverts to NAPLAN preparation at the expense of more necessary education, in effect narrowing the curriculum.
·         Low performing schools are at risk of inaccurate blame being laid as to why their students are underperforming without taking location, resources, social, cultural and economic factors into account.
·         Poor results may lead to teacher disillusionment and self-blame and the possibility of losing teachers.

# data[].attributes.body
Pros:

-       Students are tested on their reading, spelling, grammar, punctuation and numeracy

-       Results can provide teachers with an understanding to areas that need to be focused on
-        Families are informed on the results of their children and which areas they may need extra help in as well as notifying them where they succeed

Cons:

-       Students are compared to one another based on an aggregated score

-       Students who may not perform as well as others or those who excel in certain areas are all compared to one another

Opportunities:
-    Can show areas of weakness for individual students
-    Can demonstrate where individual students strengths and weaknesses are in regards to their understanding of content

Threats:
-   Beneficial to students with English as their first language, however students with an ESL background or who struggle with their English will be put at a disadvantage

-  No critical thinking necessarily required

- Students will feel inadequate if their results are not where they initially thought they were

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
It measures literacy and numeracy skills to give parents, schools and the government an idea of the level the students are working at and how much they've improved previously.

Weaknesses:
It's not an accurate representation of what students have learnt and  what skills they have. The stress and pressure can affect the performance of students. Some students just don't do tests well but can prove they're knowledge in different ways.

Opportunities:
It can show areas of weakness, not just in the students, but also in the curriculum.

Treats:
It puts teachers and students through the stress and pressures to perform well, when it's not an accurate portrayal of their skills and knowledge. Instead of teaching students the curriculum, it teaches them how to take tests.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
- It focuses on core skills within literacy and numeracy that are commonly used outside of a school environment.
- Gives governments and associated educational partners concrete information on a school's performance in those areas that they can use for developing policy to improve

Weaknesses:
- Causes considerable stress to both students and teachers through graded scoring.
- Does not necessarily reflect all the skills and knowledge that students get from their schooling
- Encourages teachers to design learning outcomes to a test, which doesn't allow for creative thinking in tasks and may impede students from developing unique ideas and concepts not introduced in the curriculum

Opportunities:
- If used in conjunction with other assessment methods can provide an idea of how the student understands concepts
- Can be used to invoke curriculum adjustments nationally as it gives a broad picture of Australian standards

Threats:
-Distinct advantage to certain social groups, especially with those who were born in Australia, have English as their first language and are familiar with such testing
-May grossly underestimate a child's individual ability if they don't perform well with test or are nervous
- Schools and teachers may deliberately focus their lessons on NAPLAN and associated testing even though it may not be the best educational outcome for the students.
- Fails to address many skills beneficial to society after school such as critique, individualised thinking, creativity, social and cultural perspective and understanding.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:

·         Provides information on the literacy and numeracy capability of students

·         Compares students to other schools and levels and can theoretically be beneficial to ensure equity in education

Weaknesses:

·         Not the full scope of students knowledge and intelligence or capabilities

·         Promotes teaching in a way that encourages correct test answers but fails to really educate students

Opportunities:

·         Allows changes to curriculum and funding based on data

Threats:

·         Traditional mentality of education may impede student learning and may show the next generation to be well-educated when they are just good at tests. This can impact on the work-force skills and abilities of graduates.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths-

Naplan focuses on and measures the important skills that are necessary for every child to progress through school and life such as: reading writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy.

Allows governments, education authorities, schools, teachers and parents to determine whether or not young Australians have the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the basis for further learning in other areas.

Provides information for parents and schools with information of how their students are performing and what level they are working at, at the time of the test.

Weaknesses-

Causes undue stress for students and teachers.

Only considers specific skills and results produced in the standardized testing environment

Schooling is heavily focused on preparing students for these tests that they may resort to ‘defensive pedagogies’ to ensure good examination results, due to teacher effectiveness being measured by student achievements.

Narrowed education, that inhibits student’s development of tools for participating thoughtfully and to not question the status quo.

This type of education only suits dominant social groups.

Opportunities-

Gives schools and the teachers’ information about what level their students are working at, providing comparison between other schools in the state and in other states, providing information of how the current education program is working and which areas need improvement or further focus.

Threats-

Can be seen to only suit dominant social groups.

Doesn’t support critical thinking.

Teacher and students feeling inadequate if results are not up to year level standard.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
Measures students literacy and numeracy skills and collects large amounts of data to improve and monitor students learning and the curriculum
Weaknesses:
Creates stress for teachers and students and only considers certain skills produced in the standardised testing environment. Doesn't necessarily reflect depth or diversity in students nor does it give leeway for students to showcase critical thinking due to time restraints.
Opportunities:
Teachers are able to observe the capabilities of their students to a certain degree, and can use this information as a foundation for future practice.
Threats: Is not an accurate representation of students ability or inidividuality.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
* Provides useful information about how well education programs are being implemented
* Provides information to schools and parents about how well their students and children are performing
Weaknesses:
* Cannot be used as a diagnostic tool for teachers due to late release of results
* Teachers resort to defensive teaching pedagogies
* Some questions may be too difficult for younger age groups
Opportunities:
* Tests can provide skills students can carry on throughout their schooling and future
* NAPLAN results can identify students that may need additional support
Threats:
* NAPLAN testing narrows the school curriculum
* Students anxiety levels may effect their NAPLAN results. Not a true indication of their ability as they may be under too much pressure while trying to answer the questions

# data[].attributes.body
Vasilios Liberidis

Strengths

- Provides schools/teachers an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of test, regarding Literacy & Numeracy

- Provides schools with information about how well their current educational programs are working, and what may need improving

- Comparisons of student outcomes between schools can be made (if a school observes that they are not performing as well as other local schools, it can motivate them to implement new strategies/programs/policies

Weaknesses

- Greater emphasis on school’s student outcomes, and outputs, rather than inputs and processes

- A focus on achieving greater NAPLAN scores may only lead to “enhanced capacity to take tests, rather than enhanced & authentic learning across a broad and defensible range of schooling purposes” (Lingard, 2010, p. 135)

- Teachers may be forced to implement ‘defensive pedagogies’ that will ensure good NAPLAN scores, rather than allowing them to use their own pedagogies and assessment practices that will foster student educational and personal development

- Added student anxiety and stress

Opportunities

- Depending on the student, it may provide them with the motivation to ‘work harder’ in those area of learning

- Opportunity for schools to review how well their own teaching and learning programs are working for students

Threats

- Due to the ‘high-stakes’ of NAPLAN Testing, where the focus is on performing well, teachers are forced to use defensive pedagogies which, whilst ensuring students perform well on the test, prevents critical thinking within students

- Students and teachers feeling inadequate if student results show that they are not up to year level standard

- Overtime can cause a lack of trust towards a teacher’s ability to foster positive outcomes within students. Teachers not being able to implement their own teaching strategies within their classroom.

- Narrowing of School Curriculum

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths- Provides data to school and parents of general performance and is used as a comparative measure against other schools.

Provides a benchmark of essential skills

Weaknesses- Undue stress on teachers and students

Only test certain skills

Not a critical thinking assessment.

Narrowed education.

Social costs.

Opportunites-
Teachers are able to understand a general sense of their weaknesses and room for development in their classroom

Threats- Does not accurately depict a students ability. Third party test detaches students and teachers sense of belonging in a school.
Can make students feel stupid.

# data[].attributes.body
Monique Flowers
Strengths
Provides big data on the performance of systems and schools.
Allows comparison of Australia with other countries on similar metrics.
Allows comparison of schools' results in broadest terms

Weaknesses
Poorly designed tests focusing on inappropriate details.
Doesn't reflect the depth and diversity of student learning.
Is a single snap-shot assessment and may be skewed if a student is having a bad day.
Doesn't allow for multiple modes of learning.
Is not inclusive of those with divergent learning styles.
Makes unfair comparisons between schools.
Encourages "teach to the test" mentality and pedagogy.
Limits the curricula breadth and depth.
Promotes "league tables" of schools in the popular media and on MySchool.
Causes stress for students sitting the test.
Occupies time better spent in teaching the curriculum.

Opportunities
A refined test may provide tracking of a student's progress over time.
May identify weaknesses in current knowledge and pedagogy.
Could be refined to provide useful information n  to enhance teaching.
May be used to argue for additional funding/support based on results.

Threats
Fails to accurately track student performance due to poorly designed tests.
Could be considered a performance appraisal of individual schools, teachers or students

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
~Sets a minimum standard of education for all students and (theoretically) attempts to place them at a defined standard.
~ Via the ACARA and states curricula, there is a standard level of education that is (theoretically) the same for all children.
~ Parents and schools can chart a student's progress and learning over a number of years, and compare schools to verify whether their child is receiving a quality education.
~ Teachers can use the results to highlight where a particular student's strengths and weaknesses are found with their learning.

Weaknesses:
# Uses a 'one size fits all' approach which does not allow for differences between a student's learning style, disability or cultural background.
# Provides a narrow scope of education for students and a limited scope in which teachers can engage students in learning (defensive pedagogy)
# Provides a narrow range of questions which do not promote or encourage critical thinking or analysis.
# Places teachers and students under additional (and unnecessary) stress.

Opportunities:
* Provides data to show student progress and can assist with improving a student's weaker areas.
* Schools can assess their curriculum and effectiveness of particular pedagogy.
* Schools may be able to implement changes to learning methods, or focus on areas of additional support where needed.

Threats:
-Tests may be poorly worded and are geared towards 'the middle'.
-No context provided within questions and do not allow for a student to elaborate on answers or show evidence of critical thinking.
-Reinforces the status quo.
-May shame students or schools.
- Provides a homogenised view of education.
- Test results may be heavily influenced by test wording, cultural nuances, and anxiety of students around testing.

# data[].attributes.body
STRENGTHS:

·     Measures students’ essential skills and abilities in four areas (‘domains’)

o  Reading

o  Writing

o  Language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)

o  Numeracy

·     Test skills in relation to the curriculum – as a ‘snap shot’

·     Can provide useful data on students and can provide a reference point

·     Identification of students who are not meeting minimum standards for targeted intervention.

·     Ability to map student progress over years.

WEAKNESSES:

·     Taken at a point in time in one day – impacted by student engagement and general mood/capacity on the day

·     Individual student impact (anxiety, self-esteem, engagement, etc)

·     Limited scope to capture talents and abilities.

·     Standardised thus does not meet the diverse learning needs/styles of students

·     Pitched to the ‘average’ and not always accessible to students with special educational needs and disabilities or disadvantage.

·     Cultural and linguistic appropriateness and accessibility of testing.

·     No opportunity to show ‘working out’ and qualitative data of student thinking/rational.

OPPORTUNITIES:

·     Targeted interventions of students identified from results to improve learning outcomes

·     Used in conjunction with and complimentary to other evidentiary data

·     The exploration of adaptive testing – to ensure access to CALD, SEND, Indigenous etc.

·     Earlier point of testing – commences in Grade 3 – perhaps considering Year 1 to identify capacities for earlier intervention.

THREATS:

·     Narrowing of the curriculum – teaching to test

·     Funding – is it cost effective? Do you get bang for your buck in terms of the quality of data collected and it’s use?

·     Turnaround of test and results renders data useless as an informative teaching tool.

·     The emphasis/perception of ‘high stakes; testing.  Needs to be put into perspective.

- Harney McKinnon

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths
provides, governments, schools, teachers ,parents and students information about how they are doing in relation to literacy and numeracy in comparison to other students, schools, geographical areas, which can then be compared internationally.
Weaknesses
does not give an accurate picture of child's ability in any areas outside numeracy and literacy, which can cause unnecessary and unrealistic conclusions to be drawn about the child, teacher and school.
Opportunities
Enables teachers to gain a wide understanding on content and teaching strategies that need review
Enable teachers to assess negativity surrounding standardised testing, to discuss with peers, advocate for students and lobby governments about the negative impacts in order to bring about change
Threats
Overall disenchantment with school system,
Students not strong in literacy or numeracy disengaging
Little time to devote to other areas of curriculum due to over emphasis on preparation for testing

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
- diagnostic assessment
- consistent across schools
- provides a benchmark
- provides information relating to progression of students

Weaknesses:
- only tests some skills
- hasn't shown any new information in recent years
- creates anxiety and pressure

Opportunities:
- ability to compare and evaluate teaching programs and strategies
- identify students needing support

Threats:
- creates test pressure
- can distract from teaching curriculum

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
-shows areas for improvement
-shows student progress
-allows for comparative analysis

Weaknesses:
-effectiveness of teachers determined by student scores
-students measured by one score (some students won't test well/have other strengths)
-pressure on teachers, students, schools to preform well

Opportunity:
-shows improvement areas
-allows for critical analysis

Threats:
-teachers focus on test outcomes to the detriment of the curriculum
-simplifying student's abilities/worth based on a test score

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths: An assessment tool that gathers information on a national level.
Can be a useful additional guide to students' progress for teachers and parents.

Weaknesses: Creates anxiety for students in doing extra testing.
Narrows curriculum down to "teaching the test" to improve outcomes.

Opportunities: May assist in curriculum changes in a positive way

Threats: May have negative effects on students who do not perform up to par.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
- Shows the teachers what they need to focus on more with each student.
- Gives each state government an idea of where the students are at with their maths and english.
- Having the NAPLAN tests in years 3, 5, 7 & 9, shows the students progress over those years.

Weaknesses:
- The teachers get so focused on preparing the students for these tests
- Added stress on the students.
- If the students don't do that well it can put them under pressure and lose confidence.

Opportunities:
- Assesses the areas for inprovement in each state.
- Gives insight for the teachers to adjust the or build on areas that the students could be struggling with.

Threats:
- Makes students feel inaquate
- Simplfiys a childs worth to standard performance
- Teacher focus is on teaching exam techniques.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths: Allows teachers to see what areas students need help with or need greater focus on. Can facilitate changes to the curriculum.

Weaknesses: Added stress to students. Forces teachers to teach defensively or to only teach the technical aspects of the curriculum rather than complex parts of skills. Feelings of inadequacy for both students and teachers depending on results. Disparages against students based on class and race.

Opportunities: Can facilitate changes to the curriculum

Threats: Feelings of inadequacy for both students and teachers depending on results. Force the teacher to focus on the tests rather than teaching other essential topics.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths
Summative test so results can be used to highlight student/teacher areas of weakness so can be improved
Summative test results can be used with other test results to inform parents of children's strengths/weaknesses
Provides school/state/national data
Shows patterns year on year.
Weaknesses
Teachers measured on student performance relating to Naplan rather than other work they do.
Doesn't aptly capture abilities of all students such as those who perform poorly under test conditions and children with disabilities.
May place a lot of pressure on teachers to gain a certain level of results from students.
Places pressure on whole school during the period of testing due to staff required to supervise tests and other students who don't do test needing to be supervised.
Opportunities
Provides data for schools to hone in on student/teacher/local curriculum weaknesses.
Summative test results used by curriculum authorities to view results by school, state, and as a whole nation and make necessary changes to curriculum/teaching methods, etc.
Results can be used to promote schools as high achieving schools.
Threats
Teachers forgo teaching rest of curriculum.
Schools viewed negatively due to student performance.
Schools viewed poorly in community if they achieve poor results.
Annmaree

# data[].attributes.body
(Sarah Gonsalves)
Strengths:
-Identifies strengths & weaknesses that need attention
-Allows states to compare students results and identify areas of the system that need improvement
-The annual testing of NAPLAN 🤬 in assessing student progress over time.

Weaknesses:
-The effectiveness of teachers is judged based on student outcomes
-Correct answer implies only one truth
-Highly cost ineffective to run annually
-Does not consider student wellbeing

Opportunity:
-Assesses area for improvement
-Insight for teachers to adjust the or build upon curriculum to help assess their own

Threats:
-Causes additional stress and pressure for teachers
-Teacher focus is on teaching exam techniques
-Simplify a child's worth to standard performance

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths

·         Provides parents and teachers with understanding of individual students progress in literacy and numeracy

·         Shows development as the same test is taken across every year level

Weaknesses

·         There are other ways parents and teachers can, and already do, gauge a student’s progress

·         Only looks at literacy and numeracy capabilities

·         Only shows outcomes based on students’ performance under pressure

Opportunities

·         Provides national statistics at various levels to inform decisions about curriculum development

Threats

·         Can create stress and isolation in educationally disadvantaged students

·         NAPLAN results may spark concerns of “teacher effectiveness”

·         Teachers focus may change to the aim of producing good test outcomes

·         Can serve as a distraction from the rest of the curriculum as they are additional to school’s assessment and reporting process.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
Focuses on literacy and numeracy skills

Provides feedback for parents and teachers

Drives improvement in students outcomes not only for a particular student but also for all students at that school. -strengths and weaknesses of students identified as well allowing a school to compare results and to discover areas that need improving within the system

Drives accountability for teaching staff and government, ensuring all students across the nation are receiving valuable education that is in line with the Australian Curriculum.

Weaknesses:

Measures outcomes, not students progress

Narrow focus on the needs of educations

Results are released in September when it is too late for teachers to help students improve their results.

Creates stress for students.

Creates pressure for teachers to teach the test and not the curriculum.

Opportunities:

Helps schools and government improve education system and close the gaps in certain areas of education.

Allows government to assess the Australian Curriculum and whether it meets requirements.

Threats:

Teachers focus on the assessment and defensively teach, and or only teach the test

Students are measured purely from one standardised test, not many tests.

Negative results lead to teacher resignations, self-blame and disillusionment

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths:
1) The test can be used a help prepare students for sitting exam conditions.
2) Test results can be used as a guide to how well the Australian Curriculum is compared to the rest of the world.

Weakness
1) Teachers may focus their efforts on  their students getting answers correct rather than understanding the concepts
2) Not all schools have the same amount of funding and resources to prepare the students for the test. As a results some schools will be put at a disadvantage

Threats
1) Students wellbeing and mental health may be at risk with the pressure that is put on them to perform well.

2) The content on the NAPLAN test may diverge from the Australian Curriculum.

Opportunities
1) Parents may be able to voice their opinions on NAPLAN testing and offer their advice on how it can be improved.

2) Students will know where they need improvement and can work accordingly on specific numeracy and literacy skills.

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths

Provides parents feedback with where their child sits on the educational scale, not only compared to other students of the same age but also the expected level they should be at

universal amongst schools.

Weaknesses

Costly to run

High pressure on the teachers and students to perform

Students may not perform to the best of their ability due to the exam like environment.

Intelligence should not be measured by simply maths and English as there are many different types of smarts for example students may be better at creative or physical activities.

Not everyone is on the same level due to socio economic backgrounds and some schools having better resources and opportunities to learn, the background which the student comes from and if a child has a learning disability

Opportunities
- Governments can focus funding on schools that are underperforming

Teachers are able to see what areas need improvement

Provides opportunities on improving the curriculum

Threats

Teacher effectiveness measured by the outcomes of students

Teaching strategies that ensure good exam results as opposed to what would benefit the students

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths
-May reflect some feedback to teachers on whether they are meeting the required outcomes of the curriculum

-Provide some feedback to parents on their child's learning in literacy and numeracy at a single point time

- Schools may use the data to improve particular areas for teaching and learning

Threats
- Does not consider a holistic picture towards education, teachers will focus on just teaching to the test

- May create more school drop outs and the ( undue stress for

# data[].attributes.body
Strengths

Provides an overview of a child’s progress

Provides feedback for teachers and parents

Weaknesses

Creates undue stress on students

The test has a narrow focus area

It would be a very expensive program to run

Opportunities

May help to identify problem areas in the curriculum

May offer insight as to which schools are struggling and need extra resources

Threats

Teachers may begin teaching for these tests, not so that students receive a well-rounded education

Children who don’t learn in conventional ways, or who don’t test well may lose confidence and stop trying in school

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NAPLAN SWOL (Luke Condello)

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Strengths

Universal assessment of students allows governments, teachers, and parents to compare children to others in their age bracket

Allows students of Australia to compared to other countries

Weaknesses

Measures only outcomes, and not individual student progress

Causes uanessacry stress on students and teachers

Opportunities

Gives data so new teaching methods can be trialled (eg. new techniques can be compared against old ones)

Can help identify which schools and students are struggling, and this may help them get the assistance they require

Threats

Inlines teachers to “teach to the test”, at the expense of providing students with a more rounded education experience

Potential for schools and students who score poorly to be unfairly blamed for their underperformance

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Strengths:

Establishes standards by which we can attempt to measure ourselves nationally and internationally

Allows for comparison of effectiveness of different educational curriculums

Gives teachers a glimpse at some of the strengths and weaknesses of individual students and how they may have improved over a longer term

Gives parents feedback of where their child may be excelling or struggling

Weaknesses:

Incredibly narrow focus on the needs of education

The such a finite sample of the curriculum may not be sufficient for a test of broader skills.

Standardised testing is flawed and not infallible

Delivering a physical test nationally would be a big expense on the national education budget

Doesn’t account for student diversity where students may be of international origin or intellectually challenged

Opportunities:

Large amounts to data collected over the whole standardised testing process, can be used to find social and economical trends towards effectiveness of education

Helps government and schools see where curriculum can be improved

Gives government a standardised means of testing whether particular schools may require support

Threats:

Forces education through a narrow hoop and forces teachers to shape their curriculum and pedagogy around meeting the requirements of standardised testing

Penalises teachers trying to build their pedagogy around student needs instead take to a “Defensive Pedagogy”

Directs government and schools attention to potentially inaccurate deficits in the efficiency of teaching in a particular area

May force teachers to leave behind students that they know won’t be able to keep up in favor of making sure the majority will still achieve high results

Visibility of school results on Myschool website may unfairly push away potential students

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NAPLAN SWOT

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Strengths:
NAPLAN provides teacher with a specific area of data towards literacy and numeracy. Which then they can use to gauge their teaching outcomes against the standardised curriculum.
Weaknesses:
As the test is standardised and adjusted year by year, many teachers are not aware what areas will increase with difficulty and what questions with pertain to their previous teaching. This leaves both teachers and students in situations where they are unsure of outcomes and places extra stress on students where it is not relevant.
Opportunities:
This environment gives students the opportunity to recognise the faults in the testing system and the current teachings within the curriculum. Teachers can use this test to adjust their lessons and better focus on the national curriculum.
Threats:
The key threat derived from the test, is how students will perceive their goals in the future. In situations where NAPLAN provides intimidating questions, most students will not answer and this leaves gaps in the small data that this test provides. Expanding upon already disadvantageous goals in disparities between public and private sectors.

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STRENGTHS:
• Provides feedback for parents and teachers.
• Identifies if students are meeting curriculum standards.
• Allows states to compare peer results.
• Places accountability on the education system for ensuring all students are receiving a valuable education.

WEAKNESSES:
• It is a small sample, possibly not sufficient to examine a child's proficiency and skills.
• Students can become stressed about the test.
• It costs a lot to implement.

OPPORTUNITIES:
• We have 10 years worth of data and knowledge we can tap in to.
• It identifies areas where funding may be needed.

THREATS:
• Teachers are focusing on the test rather than on curriculum because they feel so much pressure to do well. Results are posted on the My School website.
• Schools who perform poorly are stigmatised, leading families of high-performing students to seek education in 'more desirable' schools. This only serves to further harm the balance of high-performing students to low-performing students and create bigger divides between schools.

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STRENGTHS:
+ Provides information of strengths and weaknesses within the curriculum based on student outcomes.
+ Establishes and raises standards of learning and curriculum
+ Allows parents & teachers to identify individual student progress against a national standard
WEAKNESSES:
-  Only focuses on outcomes and progress towards standards without any consideration of influential learning factors
- Places extra levels of stress and anxiety on teachers, parents and students to perform well on tests.
- Ideology overrides circumstance - disadvantaged, rural, low-SES are not taken into consideration, only identified and measured up against high performance schools.
OPPORTUNITY:
+ Allows opportunity for Government organisations & ACARA to assess and implement educational curriculum improvements
+ Provides information to governments on schools that require more funding and recourses.
THREATS:
- Creates room for negative competition between schools and adds to parental pressure.
- Teaching methods and learning experiences are at risk, teachers focus in outcomes to meet standards and use 'defensive pedagogies' of teaching.
- Lower performing schools are ranked based on outcomes and test results. Named and shamed as bad schools without any consideration of funding and availability to resources.
- Teachers are at risk of taking accountability of student outcomes and hold a sense of guilt, however, were placed in a position where they had no choice but to take a "defensive" approach, placing the risk of losing teachers.

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Strengths

·         Identifies strengths and weaknesses that need attention

·         Areas of funding and resourcing can be determined

·         States can monitor the progress of their education system compared to other states

·         Places accountability on the education system to perform to an international standard

Weaknesses

·         Only done once a year with limited coverage of skills

·         Expensive to run

·         High pressure placed on students to perform well in comparison to their peers

·         High pressure placed on schools with NAPLAN results posted on the MySchool website

Opportunities

·         Gain insight to areas and schools where students are struggling with basic literacy and numeracy concepts to assist the disadvantage

·         Schools can get an idea of what teaching areas they need to focus on improving the most; based on the results

·         Parents can gain reassurance on how their child is coping with their schooling from the national comparison of results

Threats

·         Students lose valuable time to learn curriculum-based content if teachers revise NAPLAN content during lesson periods and, the time taken to sit the NAPLAN tests

·         Students that are advised not to sit NAPLAN tests by schools can lose any confidence and be less likely to enjoy their education experience

·         Tests in some schools may be completed by cheating, which may affect the analysis of the results of those schools and the national averages

·         Schools with low NAPLAN test scores can be heavily stigmatised by members of the public viewing the results on the MySchool website

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STRENGTHS:
- Gives a general idea to parents and teachers of a child's progress
- Illustrates trends of improvement and declines in particular areas
- Illustrates where Australian results compare with other countries
WEAKNESSES:
- Teachers may start using "defensive pedagogies" focussing on teaching for assessment results, rather than learning
- Can cause stress and anxiety for children
- Places pressures on teachers and schools, placing unnecessary blame on school systems and teacher methods
- Does not consider students within vulnerable groups who may be disadvantaged by the test
- Gives a misleading indication into what 'high quality' schools should like and no understanding as to why other school may not score so well
- focusses on test results rather students progress throughout the year
OPPORTUNITY:
- May be used to help curriculum planning and recognise areas that may need improving
- Can help recognise which schools may need more assistance or funding
THREATS:
- Teachers start to focus only on assessment results, and begin to teach defensively
- Children are being measured purely by the results of one standardised test rather than their overall learning and success
- Low performing schools receiving undue blame for low test results and placing too much pressure on teachers could result in them leaving

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STRENGTHS

·         Reflects whether students are meeting educational outcomes.

·         Helps to identify students with slow progress.

·         Provides information that enables teachers to develop more individualised approaches to teaching

·         Allows for trends in improvements and/or declines to be monitored and actioned if needed.

·         It gives parents a general idea how their child and their school is fairing in comparison to other children and local schools.

WEAKNESSES

·         Can have a negative impact on student wellbeing causing stress and anxiety.

·         The test my disadvantage students of diversity, such as CALD, with an unequal opportunity to understanding questions.

·         Puts undue stress and anxiety on teachers into feeling their teaching methods are also being tested.

·         Puts pressure on teachers to teach towards NAPLAN testing so that their students do well.

·         Parents may begin searching for high performing schools without understanding fully why some schools will do well and others won't.

·         Disregards influences such as rural, disadvantaged, culturally diverse and low-income areas.

·         It may inadvertently 'blame and shame' particular schools/teachers or students.

·         Can be used by the government and by the Education Department to hold teachers and schools accountable rather than as an indication of where additional help and funding may be required.

·         NAPLAN Funding may be better spent on educational resources and assistance in underprivileged schools.

OPPORTUNITIES

·         Can aid in education policy development.

·         Can aid in curriculum planning and the re-evaluation of current methods and content.

·         Allows state and national government to analyse where funding and resources are required.

THREATS

·         Teachers begin to teach defensively to a NAPLAN standard. Focus diverts to NAPLAN preparation at the expense of more necessary education, in effect narrowing the curriculum.

·         Low performing schools are at risk of inaccurate blame being laid as to why their students are underperforming without taking location, resources, social, cultural and economic factors into account.

·         Poor results may lead to teacher disillusionment and self-blame and the possibility of losing teachers.

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The ‘strengths’ of NAPLAN are political and commercial. I see it is a form of control and measure to ensure the education remains a commodity rather than a right, another ‘strength’ according to some is the quality control it claims to achieve.. NAPLAN is riddled with weaknesses, it doesn’t’ reflect ‘real world knowledge nor has it managed to improve the greater outcome of learning. The opportunities are again aligned with the ‘strengths’ as nor teachers, nor students gain benefit. The threats are what we see today where children are being measured without consideration of their differences and that the results are what the people focus on rather than the overall learning experience. Cecilia

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Dear Students, please pin your SWOT analysis on this padlet.

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Dear Students, please pin your SWOT analysis on this padlet.