NAPLAN and its infuence on curriculum and library usage

15 th April 2009

My fears for the future of school libraries

As School prepares for NAPLAN testing I have noticed a significant drop off in Library visits and reading by students and classes. Teachers are saying they are well behind in their normal work programs because they are spending a lot of time of practice NAPLAN tests and on drilling the students in the very narrow range of coentent that will be tested.
The publishing of the NAPLAN results for school in the national media has elevated their importance. It has become critical for their students to get the best possible makes on the NAPLAN tests. In schools such as mine, I can see these tests driving the curriculum and teaching. Students will be drilled extensively in the NAPLAN testable skills. The School relies on its profile in the very competitive education market place and it is obvious that parents are going to make crucial decisions such as their choice of school on these narrow banks of test results.
Because of the obsession I see developing, time “heavy” activities such as developing research skills, researching assignments and developing wide reading programs for enjoyment are suffering. I fear for the future – will we recover from this obsession of publishing scores for basic literacy/numeracy skills and the impact this has on the learning process and move back to a more reasonable middle ground or is this the pattern for the future.