Teaching to the NAPLAN writing test. Why some teachers do and some teachers don’t

Over a million Australian students complete the National Assessment Plan – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests each May, yet the implementation of NAPLAN has been controversial for many reasons. Increasing media articles, research papers and reports suggest these tests have been bad for learning, bad for wellbeing, and bad for teacher practice. But the influence of NAPLAN on teacher practice differs widely from school to school and classroom to classroom. In this mixed methods study, we sought to uncover factors influencing the use of NAPLAN support materials by Tasmanian secondary English teachers to plan, teach and assess persuasive writing lessons. We used a survey and focus group conversation to investigate the extent that six individual and school factors helped explain why some teachers rely on NAPLAN materials while others avoid them. The findings highlighted two factors that significantly influenced teacher decisions to plan, teach and assess to the test, which we will explain. Do you believe NAPLAN has enabled or constrained Australian students’ literacy learning? What are the norms regarding the implementation of NAPLAN at your school? As the future of NAPLAN and MySchool are publicly debated, we invite you to come and share your perspective on this controversial issue.