Information For...

National Assessment Program (NAP)

Students in various year levels are assessed in the areas of literacy and numeracy, science, civics and citizenship and information and communication technologies through the National Assessment Program.

Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

Prior to 2008 students completed a system wide ACT assessment program (ACTAP). Reports from ACTAP can be found at the Publications page.

In 2008 all Australian school students will participate in state and territory assessments of reading, spelling, writing and numeracy in years 3,5,7 and 9.

Communication to parents has been achieved through a parent information brochure (161kb) and a website. The website located at www.naplan.edu.au provides parents and schools with test samples.

Newsletters, with specific information on NAPLAN are published regularly and can be accessed through:

Scientific Literacy (NAP-SL)

The NAP-SL program assesses and reports on the scientific literacy of year 6 students. NAP-SL tests students' grasp of basic concepts and scientific processes. It assesses practical problem-solving investigation as well as open-ended short-answer items and multiple choice items in a variety of themes: earth and beyond, energy and change, life and living and natural and processed materials.

The NAP-SL assessment was implemented in the ACT in October 2003 and occurs every three years. For more information see the MCEETA Taskforce website for Scientific Literacy.

The attached document from the 2003 PSAP provides information on the scope of the assessment, examples of questions, administration instructions and resource materials. Schools can use this information for evaluation and planning purposes.

Primary Science Assessment Project 2003 School Release Materials (3.6mb)

Civics and Citizenship (NAP-CC)

The NAP-CC program assesses and reports on student achievements in civics and citizenship through a representative national sample survey of year 6 and year 10 students. NAP-CC tests the knowledge a student has gained from their civics and citizenship education program, which looks at their rights and responsibilities as citizens and enables them to analyse our history. In the ACT, civics and citizenship education can be integrated through all the Key Learning Areas, and is ideally suited to the ACT Essential Learning Achievements.

The NAP-CC assessment was first implemented in the ACT in October/November 2004, and will occur every three years.

For more information on civics and citizenship education see the DET Civics and Citizenship page, and for further information on the assessment project see the Curriculum Corporation's Discovering Democracy website.

For more information visit the MCEETYA Taskforce website for Civics and Citizenship

Information and Communication Technology Literacy (NAP-ICTL)

The NAP-ICTL program assesses and reports on a range of student achievement in general information and communication technology (ICT) skills and knowledge in a cross curricular context (i.e. ICT literacy), rather than the more technical skills and knowledge developed through specialist ICT courses. Reporting of student achievement in NAP-ICTL is in terms of bands of performance and two of these bands will become the performance standard at year 6 and year 10. The final standard was developed after the first national sample assessment of ICT literacy in 2005.

The NAP-ICTL assessment was first implemented in the ACT in 2005 at year 6 and year 10 level, and will occur every three years.

For more information visit the MCEETYA Taskforce website for Information and Communication Technology Literacy.

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

The OECD PISA Project is a study targeting 15-year-old students, which compares student achievement in different countries. The project aims to assess the knowledge and skills that students possess which will enable them to participate fully in adult life, rather than to assess them on particular school curricula.

PISA assessments are conducted every three years. The focus of the assessment may change. In 2000 the focus was on Reading Literacy, while in 2003 Mathematical Literacy was the major domain, with Scientific Literacy and Problem Solving skills also assessed. In 2006, Scientific Literacy was the main focus.

Education authorities, principals and teachers throughout the world have found the results from PISA to be very informative and have used those results to guide future planning. In Australia, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) is using the results from PISA to monitor student progress and to make comparisons and plot trends across states and territories. The Australian Bureau of Statistics now also includes data from PISA in their reports relating to education and schools.

More information can be found at the OECD PISA website.

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)

TIMSS is an internationally conducted testing program, occurring every four years. It assesses the mathematical and scientific abilities of year 4 and year 8 students around the world. TIMSS was first conducted in the ACT in 1998. TIMSS provides valuable results, which inform policy makers and curriculum designers across the developed world. Schools in the ACT are randomly selected to take part in this study.For more information see the TIMSS 2006/07 website.

Publications

Publications relating to the National report on schooling, National benchmark results (set minimum standards for reading, writing, spelling and numeracy) and the assessment of student achievement can be found on the MCEETYA Publications website.