ACARA news, May 2019

NAPLAN resits – update


28 May 2019

NAPLAN online resits were undertaken across Australia today, with approximately 10,000 online tests submitted by 2 pm AEST. Considerable effort was made by schools, students, test administration authorities (TAAs) and national agencies to organise these resits in a short period of time. There were no connectivity issues reported.

In organising the resits, steps and processes were required to enrol students, including resetting the timer. For some students, the timer was not reset appropriately. Many of these instances were managed in class using procedures available in the platform. Advice received so far from TAAs indicates that the majority of students successfully completed the tests, while others may have reverted to paper.


NAPLAN resits


28 May 2019

Today some students across the country will resit NAPLAN tests disrupted due to connectivity issues on the first day of NAPLAN online assessments (Tuesday 14 May). For most, this is the writing test.

Test administration authorities and schools have been working hard to offer the resit option for affected students and to identify which students would be doing the voluntary resit.

Up to 15,000 students across Australia will resit the affected test in an online format, with a similar number to resit the tests on paper.

Students resitting the writing test will be given a new writing prompt for the test.

The resit option was agreed by government education authorities to support fairness in the assessment and in response to calls from principals, teachers and parents.

Investigations are ongoing regarding the cause of the original connectivity issue.


NAPLAN Online – test resits


23 May 2019

Test administration authorities can offer test resits to students whose test experience on Tuesday 14 May was disrupted by connectivity issues to an extent that prevented students from having a fair opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. Government education authorities agreed to offer NAPLAN resits to support fairness in the assessment and in response to calls from principals and teachers.

Students are only able to resit tests that were disrupted on Tuesday 14 May. These tests can be retaken on Tuesday 28 May.

Students will be able to resit the test in whatever domain was affected on Tuesday 14 May. For most, that will be the writing test. A new writing prompt will be given to students who resit the test on Tuesday 28 May.

State and territory test administration authorities that offer resit options for affected students are working with schools within their jurisdictions to identify which students will be taking up the option of resitting assessments. These authorities will also decide whether these students retake the tests on paper or online.

Participation is optional and students are not required to retake tests.

The reporting of NAPLAN 2019 results will be considered by Education Council in due course.

Education Services Australia continues to investigate the cause of the issue.


NAPLAN Online update: students affected by connectivity problems on 14 May


17 May 2019

On Tuesday 14 May disruptions to connectivity in a number of schools impacted students while they were undertaking NAPLAN assessments online and may have caused distress to students.

Schools have worked hard to prepare for NAPLAN Online, so it is important to ensure that all students have a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do in NAPLAN.

The Australian Education Senior Officials Committee, with representatives from each state and territory and the Commonwealth, has agreed that jurisdictional Test Administration Authorities should have the option of offering affected students the opportunity to re-sit tests impacted by significant disruption. Tests can be retaken on Tuesday 28 May.

Participation will be optional. Students who do not wish to retake tests will not be required to do so. The result of the second test is the result that will be recorded for those students for NAPLAN 2019.

ACARA will consult with states and territories and details of implementation will be available early next week.

In the first week of NAPLAN online, over 1.5 million online tests have been submitted.


NAPLAN Online – updated information


15 May 2019
*Updated 3.30pm AEST*

Another 400,000 online tests were successfully submitted today. Overall feedback is that online testing has proceeded smoothly, with few connectivity issues experienced.

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Education Services Australia continues to investigate the cause of connectivity issues experienced by some schools during NAPLAN Online yesterday. 

Any inconvenience to schools and students during testing is regretted, and if technical issues are experienced in the coming days, there are procedures in place to manage them and ensure that all students are able to take the tests. This includes taking the test on paper as a last resort. 
 
The technology and logistics of a national online project of this size are highly complex, involving national testing authorities, states and territories and schools, and the cooperation and assistance of all involved is appreciated. 
 

NAPLAN Online


14 May 2019
NAPLAN 2019 began today with around 50% of schools across the country taking the assessments online. Last year, 15% of schools took the assessment online. 

Over 350,000 NAPLAN online tests were successfully submitted today.

The technology and logistics of a national online project of this size are highly complex.  

A number of schools have experienced some connectivity issues on the first day of NAPLAN. If technical issues or anything unexpected does occur, there are procedures in place to manage any issues and ensure that all students are able to take the test, including taking the test on paper as a last resort.

Schools are familiar with these processes. However, inconvenience to schools and students during testing is regretted. 
 

NAPLAN assessments begin Tuesday 14 May


14 May 2019

NAPLAN paper tests: 14–16 May 2019. 

NAPLAN Online test window: 14–24 May 2019.

See the 2019 test timetable on the NAP website.