ACARA’s Mea Semi-Culpa on NAPLAN
NAPLAN got going this week. Our daughter did it, so we’re told. Whatever. The pointless train runs another pointless lap. Except, this year the train apparently has had some scheduling issues.
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Shuffling NAPLAN’s Deckchairs
We’re late to this, but it’s gotta be done. Some State education ministers, unhappy with NAPLAN, commissioned a review, which appeared a couple weeks ago. The Review considers many contentious aspects of NAPLAN, but we’ll focus upon “numeracy”, NAPLAN’s homeopathic proxy for mathematics. We’ll leave others to debate “literacy” and the writing tests, and the […]
The NAPLAN Numeracy Test Test
The NAPLAN Numeracy Test Test is intended for education academics and education reporters. The test consists of three questions: Q1. Are you aware that “numeracy”, to the extent that it is anything, is different from arithmetic and much less than solid school mathematics? Q2. Do you regard it important to note and to clarify these distinctions? […]
NAPLAN’s Latest Last Legs
The news is that NAPLAN is on its way out. An article from SMH Education Editor Jordan Baker quotes Boston College’s Andy Hargreaves claiming tests such as NAPLAN are on their “last legs”. This has the ring of truth, since Professor Hargreaves is … who knows? We’re not told anything about who Hargreaves is, or […]
NAPLAN’s Numeracy Test
NAPLAN has been much in the news of late, with moves for the tests to go online while simultaneously there have been loud calls to scrap the tests entirely. And, the 2018 NAPLAN tests have just come and gone. We plan to write about all this in the near future, and in particular we’re curious […]
NAPLAN’s Numerological Numeracy
This year Australia celebrates ten years of NAPLAN testing, and Australians can ponder the results. Numerous media outlets have reported “a 2.55% increase in numeracy” over the ten years. This is accompanied by a 400% increase in the unintended irony of Australian education journalism. What is the origin of that 2.55% and precisely what does it […]
NAPLAN’s Mathematical Nonsense, and What it Means for Rural Peru
The following question appeared on Australia’s Year 9 NAPLAN Numeracy Test in 2009: y = 2x – 1 y = 3x + 2 Which value of x satisfies both of these equations? It is a multiple choice question, but unfortunately “The question is completely stuffed” is not one of the available answers. Of course the fundamental […]
David de Carvalho, Annotated, Again
Two years ago, we annotated parts of a speech that ACARA CEO, David de Carvalho, gave at The Age Schools Summit. De Carvalho’s stage-setting for ACARA’s soon-to-be-released draft curriculum was nonsense throughout, and included a cunning reference to the “Joint Maths Statement” from “five of the leading maths and science organisations” supposedly supporting the then […]
ACARA Didn’t Expect the Sydney Inquisition
Catholics Schools NSW has begun some serious interrogation of ACARA. Led by CEO Dallas McInerney, their chief weapon is sense, and truth. Their two weapons are sense and truth, and intelligence. Their three weapons are sense and truth and intelligence, and a pastoral ethic. Amongst their weapons are …
Education Experts Notice the Disintegrating Dyke, and Advocate More Fingers
Yesterday, the Grattan Institute released a report: Tackling under-achievement: Why Australia should embed high-quality small-group tuition in schools Great idea. While you’re at it, maybe give each kid their own pony.