Friday 13th February 2015
The writing component of this year’s NAPLAN test will be split for the first time between primary and high school students as a result of a controversial question last year.
The old model of a single prompt across all age brackets will be replaced with one for year 3 and 5 students, and a separate one for year 7 and 9 students in the May exams, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) confirmed.
Last year’s question – “Which law or rule would you make better in your view?” – was criticised for being too wordy for younger students and for contributing directly to poor results overall in the writing section.