❓ Opposition questions the government's decision to abolish Western Australian monitoring standards in education tests for science and society/environment, alleging cost-cutting and information denial. The Minister defends the decision, citing NAPLAN's misuse and historical context.
AnsweredQoN 725Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MONITORING STANDARDS IN EDUCATION TESTS
725. Mr R.H. COOK to the
Minister for Science:
I refer the Minister for Science to the revelation that the
government has abolished the Western Australian monitoring standards in
education tests in science and society and environment.
(1) How does
the minister justify denying parents and schools important information about
their children's performances, particularly in science?
(2) Is this not just another sneaky cost-cutting attack on
education?
725. Mr R.H. COOK to the
Minister for Science:
I refer the Minister for Science to the revelation that the
government has abolished the Western Australian monitoring standards in
education tests in science and society and environment.
(1) How does
the minister justify denying parents and schools important information about
their children's performances, particularly in science?
(2) Is this not just another sneaky cost-cutting attack on
education?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
No, it is not. The monitoring standards in education system operated in this
state with a fair bit of intellectual integrity in the design, collection and
presentation of data and analysis. In a sense, it has been overwhelmed by the
National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy, which has been
misused by successive governments. I happen to have been an education minister
at the time when David Kemp, the then federal education minister, introduced
NAPLAN. There was a lot of contention about that and I helped to get it in
place.
Mr M. McGowan : No,
you got it wrong.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
NAPLAN testing was originally proposed for year 3 and year 5 initially and it
was designed to monitor the progress of a child through their primary school
years. It was made very clear by the then federal minister and state ministers
around the table that it would not be used in an aggregate sense or to try to
make comparisons between schools and education systems. It was agreed that this
was about information for schools and parents on individual children. I make
that point because it was not designed to ever, in a statistical survey
technique, provide comparative statistics. It was not designed for that, but it
has been misused by successive governments and has led to all sorts of interpretations.
Mr M. McGowan : You
got it wrong. If you're talking about the Western Australian literacy
and numeracy assessment, that sounds right.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
give up, Mr Speaker. It is a waste of time.
No, it is not. The monitoring standards in education system operated in this
state with a fair bit of intellectual integrity in the design, collection and
presentation of data and analysis. In a sense, it has been overwhelmed by the
National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy, which has been
misused by successive governments. I happen to have been an education minister
at the time when David Kemp, the then federal education minister, introduced
NAPLAN. There was a lot of contention about that and I helped to get it in
place.
Mr M. McGowan : No,
you got it wrong.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
NAPLAN testing was originally proposed for year 3 and year 5 initially and it
was designed to monitor the progress of a child through their primary school
years. It was made very clear by the then federal minister and state ministers
around the table that it would not be used in an aggregate sense or to try to
make comparisons between schools and education systems. It was agreed that this
was about information for schools and parents on individual children. I make
that point because it was not designed to ever, in a statistical survey
technique, provide comparative statistics. It was not designed for that, but it
has been misused by successive governments and has led to all sorts of interpretations.
Mr M. McGowan : You
got it wrong. If you're talking about the Western Australian literacy
and numeracy assessment, that sounds right.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
give up, Mr Speaker. It is a waste of time.
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