Interpreting NAPLAN results for the lay person

20 October 2009. What do we need to consider when making comparisons using NAPLAN results? How accurate is a test containing only 40 questions?

The following paper attempts to provide a non-technical guide for those interested in NAPLAN results and their appropriate use.

Download the pdf: Interpreting NAPLAN Results for the Lay Person

Media commentary

19 October 2009. There has been some media interest in the recent work by Margaret Wu regarding NAPLAN results (see the August and September What's new sections below). Links to articles that recently appeared in The Australian and The Age newspapers are included below.

Read the article National literacy and numeracy tests 'not reliable' as it appeared on the front page of The Australian newspaper on 12 October 2009.

Read the article Not measuring up as it appeared in the education supplement of The Age newspaper on 5 October 2009.

Using NAPLAN to compare school performance?

28 September 2009. NAPLAN results are just not precise enough to use for comparing 'like' school performance.

Download the brief (half a page) rationale provided by Margaret Wu as it appeared in the Age newspaper here.

This letter is in response to an article that appeared in the Age on Sat 26th September 2009. http://www.theage.com.au/national/backlash-at-schools-ranking-20090925-g6cy.html

NAPLAN

2009 v 2008?

September 2009. The 2009 Australian National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy results are now publicly available at www.naplan.edu.au.

Are the differences between 2009 and 2008 fact or fiction? Download the short 2 page analysis by Margaret Wu here.

Large-scale Assessment Issues

August 2009. Issues in Large-scale Assessments. Are the big assessment programs really delivering on their objectives? What alternatives might offer solutions to the problems inherent with the current assessment programs?

Margaret Wu recently delivered a keynote address at the Pacific Rim Objective Measurement Symposium (PROMS) conference in Hong Kong on Issues in Large-scale Assessments. You can download the conference paper here.

March 2009. EMS now offers online assessment services. For more information, including demonstration tests, please visit us at www.smeebu.com.