IMPORTANT! 2017 Year 7 and Year 9 ACARA NAPLAN Numeracy tests

In 2017, following a revision to the format of the NAPLAN Numeracy tests by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the Year 7 and Year 9 NAPLAN Numeracy tests will each contain a total of only 48 questions. Students will be required, as in the past, to answer both calculator and non-calculator questions that allow them to apply a broad range of numeracy skills.
The Year 3 and Year 5 paper-based tests will be similar in style and content to previous years.
As the Year 7 and Year 9 Numeracy tests will have fewer questions, students will sit one Numeracy test session instead of two. This one test session will still be split into two sections: Part A, which requires calculators, and Part B, in which students are not permitted to have calculators.
Parts A and B of the new Numeracy test will continue to be presented in a flip test book.

• Part A (40 questions) will have the calculator component. It will make up the majority of the test questions and will cover all curriculum areas. Students will have 50 minutes to complete Part A.
• Part B (eight questions) will have the non-calculator component, and will primarily contain questions requiring number calculations. Students will have 10 minutes to complete Part B.

While the non-calculator section of the test will be shorter, the number of questions across the entire test that require mental calculation will not change. Detailed instructions on how to administer this test session will be printed in the NAPLAN 2017 Test Administration Handbook for Teachers.
As in previous years, calculators used for the calculator-allowed section of the Numeracy test must not be multifunction or internet-accessible devices. ACARA has confirmed that tablets (including iPads) and similar devices fall into this category and their use is not permitted.
Schools must ensure that all Year 7 and Year 9 students have access to, and are familiar with, a suitable calculator for the NAPLAN Numeracy tests in May 2017.

The 2017 Kilbaha NAPLAN Trial Tests have the numeracy tests for Years 7 and 9 in the new format.

Download the order form here.

NAPLAN ONLINE Victoria

From 2017, NAPLAN will transition from a paper-based to an online assessment. As part of the transition in Victoria, the NAPLAN Online Pilot will be conducted in 2017, with participating schools administering the NAPLAN tests online in place of the pen-and-paper tests. Schools participating in the NAPLAN Online Pilot in 2017 will receive further advice via direct communications from the VCAA regarding training and preparation for the tests.

All other schools will receive advice later in Term 1 regarding the transition to NAPLAN Online and associated readiness activities. For general information for about NAPLAN Online, please see the NAPLAN webpages

NAPLAN Online User Guide

The Courier Mail gets it wrong again

Article in The Courier Mail fails to assess the bigger picture  

31 January 2017
Today’s news item in The Courier Mail is based on one example test item that has been provided on ACARA’s NAPLAN Online public demonstration website and leaps from this to a commentary about education standards.
It is disappointing The Courier Mail has chosen this sensationalist angle, when the more valuable discussion is on working to ensure that all students have basic reading comprehension skills much earlier than in Year 9.
To clarify, the text message item is just one in a set of five literacy assessment passages that have been provided on the NAPLAN Online demonstration website. The purpose of the demonstration site is to enable students, parents and teachers to become familiar with the technology-enhanced questions that NAPLAN Online allows, including interactive navigation and features such as drag and drop. The public demonstration site does not, and is not intended to, reflect the full range of items of an actual NAPLAN reading test.
Why would ACARA include a test item using a text message passage?
NAPLAN assessments include a range of questions from easy to challenging in order to assess what all students, from higher to the lower achieving, know and can do.The sample SMS text passage and associated questions are a simple comprehension exercise in the context of an SMS conversation. The questions posed are related to a conversation between students, they are not questions about emojis, or that it is an SMS conversation. ACARA expects that the great majority of Year 9 students would get the questions right, but also anticipates that about 10 per cent of students, those who are at or below the national minimum standard, would not.
In the Australian Curriculum: English, students are expected to study various types of media texts, including newspaper, film and digital as well as literary texts including poetry and novels. The range of texts may contain selections from the classical canon as well as recognised contemporary Australian and international authors. Central to meeting these expectations is a high level of literacy.
While we have high expectations for our students, as evident in the Australian Curriculum, the data from tests such as NAPLAN indicate that we need to do more if we want our students to achieve what is expected.
It is disappointing that the focus of the The Courier Mail’s article has been on just one passage in a small set of sample items – simply to generate a headline. This is a distraction from what we should all be discussing: how we can ensure that all students have basic reading comprehension skills much earlier than in Year 9.   
Robert Randall,
ACARA CEO

2017 NAPLAN tests in NSW

When the tests are administered

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit for NAPLAN in May every year.

The tests are administered over three days. Find out the test dates.

For students in Years 3 and 5, there are four tests covering numeracy, reading, writing and language conventions (spelling, punctuation and grammar).

For students in Years 7 and 9, there are four tests covering numeracy, reading, writing and language conventions (spelling, punctuation and grammar). The numeracy test has two parts – a calculator allowed test and a non-calculator test.

View example tests

Test results and student reports are released in August.

Who administers NAPLAN?

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is responsible for the central management of NAPLAN.

Education Standards is the NSW Test Administration Authority and is responsible for administering NAPLAN tests in NSW schools.

Find out more about NAPLAN in Catholic and Independent schools.

NAPLAN online

In 2017, all NSW schools will continue with paper-based delivery of the NAPLAN tests. Schools and parents will be advised early 2017 when NSW schools will transition to NAPLAN Online.

This approach follows agreement by the Education Ministers for a three-year transition to NAPLAN Online from 2017.

ACARA provides key national information about NAPLAN Online, including frequently asked questions.

Taken from

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/understanding-the-curriculum/naplan/naplan-tests

2016 NAPLAN National Report released

The 2016 NAPLAN National Report has been published, confirming the majority of the initial findings of the NAPLAN summary information released in August 2016.

Data in the NAPLAN National Report show that, compared with 2008 (the first year of NAPLAN), there are some better results in all content areas (except in writing), but not for all year groups; however, in recent years NAPLAN results have largely plateaued.

 

NAPLAN achievement plateaus: is this good enough?

• Visit the 'National reports' page of the NAP website to read the PDF (7.6 mb) version of the 2016 NAPLAN National Report
• Visit the 'NAPLAN results' page of the NAP website to see the interactive version of the 2016 NAPLAN National Report  
• See our graphic with the main findings from the report (PDF 730 kb).
• Read ACARA's  NAPLAN National Report media release (PDF 45kb).

 “While the improvements since NAPLAN started in 2008 are welcome, there is room for more improvement,” says ACARA CEO, Robert Randall.

“There have been improvements in many schools across the country and some improvement in some states and territories. However, at a national level NAPLAN results have shown no significant improvement across the domains and year levels in the last few years. We should expect more for our children.

“As we have also seen recently with Australia's performance in international assessments, there is broad scope for improvement in achievement. We need to raise our expectations and strive for improved results across the board,” Mr Randall concludes.

At the national level for NAPLAN:

• Reading results for Years 3 and 5 are better than they were in 2008. Compared with 2015, there has been no significant improvement.
• Spelling results for Year 3 are better than they were in 2008. Compared with 2015, there has been no significant improvement.
• Grammar/punctuation results for Year 3 are better than they were in 2008. Compared with 2015, there has been no significant improvement.
• Numeracy results for Year 5 are better than they were in 2008. Compared with 2015, there has been no significant improvement.
• Writing results for Year 9 saw a significant decrease since 2011 (the year from which results can be compared with for this domain).

There have been some significant gains in some domains in each state and territory, with Western Australia and Queensland standing out more than others. ACT, NSW and Victoria continue to have the highest mean achievement across the NAPLAN domains in Years 3, 5 and 7.

Data in the national report have also shown that since 2008, there have been some significant cumulative gains in some domains and year levels for Indigenous students, including reading (Years 3 and 5), numeracy (Year 5), spelling (Year 3), grammar and punctuation (Years 3, 5 and 7). There has also been a significant increase in the percentage of students performing at or above the national minimum standard in writing at Year 7.

The Age has a different spin about NAPLAN Online

Power failures, freezing, browser issues and interrupted internet connections have plagued initial trials of the new online NAPLAN tests, principals report.

A survey reveals 23 per cent of primary school principals, who are among those administering the online test for the first time next year, will not be up to the task by May 2017.

They are still grappling with basic challenges such as maintaining power and an internet connection, with a survey of nearly 200 principals finding an alarming 84 per cent faced problems with technology during initial trials of the test.

One school was forced to connect all devices by extension cords to maintain power on the students' devices, posing a safety problem for students and supervisors moving around the classroom.

The Australian Primary Principals Association survey said schools were crying out for more technical support and staff training to prepare for the test.

They said internet connections were dropping in and out, the test overloaded the school's bandwidth, and students were losing work, or not being able to review completed tests. Principals called for "further investigation and research" into whether iPads were a suitable device for the tests, with many freezing for a short time, some requiring to be rebooted, while students had trouble logging on and downloading the test on the tablet.The association's president Dennis Yarrington said the organisation was in talks with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority about developing a contingency plan for schools if technical difficulties arose during the exam."What's the Plan B if there are technical or connectivity problems on assessment day? That needs to be one sorted and put in place," he said."We need to ensure when schools sign up to do NAPLAN online, that they will be fully supported in the implementation of the test."Principals said they would need to improve students' keyboard and desktop navigational skills before the test, while students who had less access to computers at home found the online format more difficult.The online test will be gradually rolled out over a three-year period, with about 10 per cent of schools moving online next year.The curriculum authority indicated in a recent newsletter that initial trials had been "mostly positive" and concerns expressed in the survey did not reflect the experience of most schools participating in  its tests.The authority's chief executive Robert Randall said technical problems were expected during the trial period."We were pleased with how the platform trials went for NAPLAN online. As expected with any trial of new technology we identified some technical issues. Those issues can now be addressed to ensure we are ready to move NAPLAN online from next year."

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/online-naplan-plagued-with-technical-problems-20160930-grsdf8.html

NAPLAN Online passes its first test

ACARA and its partners have undertaken trialling in preparation for the move to NAPLAN online. The results have indicated that NAPLAN online is on track to be implemented from next year and deliver better assessment, more precise results and a faster turnaround of information to those schools going online.

“We are leaving nothing to chance to ensure we are ready to begin the move to NAPLAN online from next year,” says ACARA CEO, Robert Randall, “this is why significant planning, development, research and trialling are going on to make sure we are all ready to move online.”
Initial results from the trials and studies undertaken this year have been mostly positive. The platform trial and readiness test (PTRT) confirmed that the majority of schools have sufficient capacity to access the platform and administer the online assessment. As expected, a number of technical issues were identified, largely relating to the locked-down browser, local filtering and proxy settings, and wireless access and connectivity issues. Jurisdictions will undertake further analysis to ensure readiness of schools in the lead-up to May 2017.

Platform trial and readiness test (PTRT)  

During August 2016, students from more than 1,000 selected schools nationally took part in a trial of the new assessment platform for NAPLAN online. 
Students took one or two online readiness tests, which included examples of the full range of NAPLAN online questions and a separate writing test. 
Results received from the trial have been positive:  

• The platform performed well and the trial confirmed the majority of participating schools could undertake the online assessment successfully and with minimal issues.
• Students engaged with the online format positively, were focused and said they enjoyed the experience of NAPLAN online.
• Of those students who participated in a feedback survey, more than 86 per cent liked using a computer for the writing assessment.
• More than 83 per cent liked using a computer for all other domains (not all students did both the writing and the combined tests).  

About the item trials and studies

Item trials and studies carried out by ACARA have provided information that will help develop the NAPLAN online 2017 test. The online item trial evaluated test items (questions) in a sample of around 180 schools across Australia.
The scaling study was delivered in around 260 schools in August and September. The scaling study has collected information about the performance of students in the multistage test design (or ‘tailored tests’) to be used in NAPLAN online. This will guide and support the development of the tests.
The linking study, which will continue until October 2016, is being conducted to ensure that paper-based tests can be compared with the NAPLAN online tests. On completion, around 180 schools will have participated in this study.
Feedback from schools has been mainly positive. Students found the new online tests engaging; test administrators found the platform easy to operate. Initial results from the study demonstrate that items and tests are performing as expected. Data analysis is now underway.
“The majority of students were extremely positive about the online testing experience.”
State school deputy principal, Queensland
“Students engaged incredibly well, were focussed and later said that they really enjoyed the experience.”
State school deputy principal, Queensland
“All in all, we had a very productive and informative day – certainly a great start to our NAPLAN online experience!”
State school acting deputy principal, Queensland
Feedback from schools will be used to identify improvements required before the first online NAPLAN assessment in May 2017.

http://www.acara.edu.au/news-and-media/acara-update-archive/acara-update-archive-2016/acara-update-september-2016#2

Updated website

The website for Kilbaha Multimedia Publishing has been updated with lots of new resources.

We have also redesigned it so that you can find stuff more easily.

http://kilbaha.com.au

Detailed answers to the 2016 ACARA May NAPLAN Tests.

Detailed answers to the 2016 ACARA May NAPLAN Tests. Years 3, 5, 7, 9. Language Conventions, Numeracy, Reading, Writing. Word files for easy editing. PDF files for easy printing. Available for download from Kilbaha Multimedia Publishing.

Download here

http://kilbaha.com.au/index.php?route=product/category&path=174

NEW! NEW! NEW!

2016 ACARA NAPLAN Tests. Detailed Answers and Responses. Years 3, 5, 7, 9.  Language, Reading, Writing, Numeracy

Detailed answers to the May 2016 ACARA NAPLAN Tests

Available now for immediate delivery by email

2016 ACARA NAPLAN Tests.

Detailed Answers and Responses.

Click here.

NAPLAN Online Video

Watch it here.

ACARA News about NAPLAN online

NAPLAN online trials and studies

In preparation for NAPLAN moving online from 2017, several trials and studies are being conducted in schools across Australia this August and September. ACARA is conducting an item trial, a scaling study and a linking study, while states and territories are conducting platform trial and readiness tests (PTRT).
The ACARA trials and studies provide information required to develop the NAPLAN online 2017 test. The PTRT aims to assess technical, school and student readiness for online testing.

Item trial

The NAPLAN item trial took place between 1 and 19 August 2016.
The purpose of the item trial is to evaluate test items that may be included in future tests. The study is trialling numeracy, reading, writing and conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) in a sample of schools across Australia.
This year is the first year the item trial has been administered online, with around 180 schools participating.

Linking study and scaling study

The studies are taking place from 15 August to October 2016.
The purpose of the scaling study is to collect information about the performance of students in ACARA’s multistage adaptive tests (‘tailored tests’) to guide and support the development of the NAPLAN 2017 online tests. This study tests numeracy, reading and language conventions in a sample of schools across Australia.
The aim of the linking study is to ensure performance on paper-based tests and computer-based tests are comparable and allow the continuation of trend data across years (from 2008). All test domains (numeracy, reading, conventions of language and writing) are included in this study.
Information from the studies will also be used to pre-scale the online test in order to support the tailored tests, facilitating the fast turnaround of results.
Approximately 400 schools are scheduled to participate in the scaling study and the linking study. Initial feedback from both the item trial and linking studies is positive:

• Teachers noted repeatedly that Year 3 and Year 5 students who were reluctant to do the NAPLAN paper tests were far more willing and even keen to participate in the online tests.
• Older students who are familiar with the paper conventions of language NAPLAN test said that they enjoyed and were more engaged by the online test. In discussion afterwards they said they liked the audio, ‘there should be more’.
• In one school, after Year 7 students completed two tests (reading and conventions of language), they were keen to try numeracy [test] as well – and asked why they had not been enrolled in all three tests.

Platform trial and readiness test

The platform trial and readiness test took place in August 2016.
During August 2016, students from selected schools participated in a trial of the assessment platform for NAPLAN online (platform trial and readiness test or PTRT). The students undertook one or two online readiness tests, which included examples of the full range of NAPLAN online questions and a separate writing test.
The PTRT is a ‘practice run’ of the NAPLAN online platform, providing an opportunity for schools to check whether there is suitable bandwidth capacity, wireless connectivity and whether students have access to a sufficient number of devices and are able to practice on the new technology-enhanced items.
This activity is being managed by NAPLAN online project managers and/or test administration authorities (TAAs) in states and territories, in conjunction with the NAPLAN online project management office.
Feedback from schools following the PTRT will help identify improvements required before the first online NAPLAN assessment in May 2017. Initial feedback from students, teachers, principals is positive:

• Students engaged incredibly well, were focused and later said that they really enjoyed the experience.
  School Deputy Principal, Queensland
• …the technology format was positive and that the students were able to relate to it better.
  Teacher, Public School, South Australia

http://www.acara.edu.au/news-and-media/acara-update-archive/acara-update-archive-2016/acara-update-31-august-2016#NAPLAN

NAPLAN online starts in 2017

Learn about NAPLAN online in 2017

Detailed answers to the 2016 ACARA NAPLAN Tests

Available soon.

Years 3, 5, 7, 9

• Language Conventions
• Reading
• Writing
• Numeracy Non-Calculator
• Numeracy Calculator

Download the school order form here.

More details at http://kilbaha.com.au

Final post before the 2016 NAPLAN Tests

I would like to wish all teachers and students the best for the upcoming 2016 NAPLAN Tests.

Relax and enjoy them!

Kilbaha Multimedia Publishing has provided hundreds of schools with quality practice NAPLAN material since the start of 2016.

This will continue throughout 2016 and 2017 as NAPLAN moves online.

Our online interactive NAPLAN tests with automatic marking can be found here.

Bill Healy BSc BA Dip Ed

CEO
Kilbaha Multimedia Publishing (Est. 1978)
PO Box 2227
Kew Vic 3101
Australia

t: 03 9018 5376    

f: 03 9817 4334    

m: 0413 425 374  
skype: kilbaha
e: kilbaha@gmail.com
w: http://kilbaha.com.au
w: http://naplan.blogspot.com

ABN: 47 065 111 373
Providing Quality Resources to Schools and Parents since 1978

The Kilbaha Catalogues can be downloaded at the links below.

• 2016 Kilbaha Textbooks
• 2016 Biology
• 2016 Chemistry
• 2016 NAPLAN
• 2016 Physics
• 2016 Psychology
• 2016 Mathematics

Open letter from ACARA about NAPLAN 2016

Read the letter here:

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/20160426_an_open_letter_to_parents_NAPLAN_2016.pdf&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTQyMDI4ODUxNjE4NjE2NzI1MDkyGmQzNGJlMjAxOTExOTFjM2U6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNFxwov7RvxC9i9nUNx1gz_92TZ3bw

Two weeks to go

 

The 2016 Kilbaha NAPLAN Trial Tests are now available in both hard copy and interactive formats. 

 

Use the hard copy files to print copies for your students. 

 

Use the interactive versions with automatic marking to save time in the lead up to the ACARA NAPLAN Tests in May 2016

NAPLAN - Hard Copy and Interactive

• Now in their 8th year!
• 2016 Kilbaha Hard Copy printable NAPLAN Tests
• 2016 Kilbaha Interactive NAPLAN Tests with automatic marking
• The only NAPLAN Trial Tests produced new and original each year.
• Exactly the same format as the May ACARA Tests
• Detailed answers and responses

  BUY --- DOWNLOAD --- PRINT --- USE ONLINE

Buy the Kilbaha 2016 NAPLAN Trial Tests here.