SHANE Rattenbury says ACT schools will participate in a trial of an online NAPLAN testing system to investigate readiness for full NAPLAN online testing in 2017.

“As part of assessing how the NAPLAN Online system will perform, up to 7,000 ACT students across 115 schools will participate in a test run over two weeks from 15 August until 26 August. Nationally, more than 1,000 schools will participate in the trials,” Shane said.

“Schools will choose which year group between years 3 and 9 will participate in the trial and not all students are required to participate.

“It is important for parents and students to understand that this is not an additional test of students’ abilities and no results will be provided for the August testing, but rather this is a test run of the online platform.

“NAPLAN Online is a significant change to the way we will conduct and report on the national literacy and numeracy assessment of children and young people in Australia.

“By moving to NAPLAN online in 2017, student results to parents and schools will be returned within a 3 week period, rather than the current three month process to receive results. This timeliness will increase the relevance to each and every student, and deliver real benefits for teachers as they plan for their classroom.

“The ACT is well prepared for the August 2016 NAPLAN Online trial which will be an important step as we make decisions and prepare for implementation of NAPLAN online from 2017.

“NAPLAN online will not only be an engaging way for students to undertake the test, but also means that schools will get information back about how students are progressing in a timely way so that it can actually be used for responding to students’ needs in the classroom.

“At the recent Education Council Meeting, Ministers got to experience first-hand elements of the online NAPLAN assessment platform. This included sampling new types of questions that have been made possible by the transition to the online environment.

“More than two-thirds of schools have already participated in training for the August trial, which will evaluate the testing platform and how students and teaching interact with the system.

“Our collaborative participation by Public, Independent and Catholic schools in the trial will ensure we have a clear picture of the ACT’s readiness.

“The ACT has worked with the government and non-government sectors on the implementation of NAPLAN online, and because of our size, it makes sense for all ACT schools to transition together to the online platform.

“Our approach in the ACT is progressing well and we look forward to seeing the results of the trial later in the year,” Minister Rattenbury concluded.