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National tests fail to shed light on literacy levels: expert
Parents will this week learn how their children fared at the national literacy and
numeracy test, with the release of reports categorising their achievement in
reading, writing, grammar, punctuation and numeracy.
RMIT University literacy expert, Associate Professor Kerry Hempenstall, said the
National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (Naplan) test results would
give only limited information.
“Finding out your child achieved the minimum standard or above doesn’t actually
say much about their abilities because there is not enough transparency with these
tests,” Professor Hempenstall said.
“We don’t know what exactly constituted acceptable performance in the literacy
tests and how the benchmark levels were set.
“The tests were flawed in their construction, as the reading part looked only at
comprehension and didn’t adequately reflect the elements that the science of
reading has emphasised as areas of risk.
“The multiple choice format also gave students a one-in-four chance of getting a
question right without having understood a word of the question.”
Professor Hempenstall said while parents should be mindful of the limitations of the
tests, they should take action if their child has failed to reach the minimum
standard as this could indicate serious problems.
“Parents should also compare the results of the national tests with their child’s
school reports as, too often, informal assessments done at school fail to reflect the
child’s true literacy development,” he said.
“We see many children in the RMIT Clinic with significant reading problems despite
parents having been assured by their school that the child was doing well, so if
there is a discrepancy between the national test results and the child’s reports,
parents need to follow this up with the school.”
Associate Professor Hempenstall, an expert on reading development, corrective
reading and literacy, is available for comment on the Naplan tests.
For interviews: RMIT University’s Dr Kerry Hempenstall, (03) 9925 7522 or
0418 357 041.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Media and Communications,
Gosia Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
15 September, 2008
NEWS 
