Studying the effects of NAPLAN on Indigenous education in remote schools, Australia
Studying the effects of NAPLAN on Indigenous education in remote schools, Australia Thesis
School of Health Sciences
- Author(s): Unsworth, Paul
- Published: 2013
- Publisher: University of South Australia
- Volume: PhD
Abstract: Persistent under-achievement by Indigenous students in national literacy and numeracy tests remains a complex problem in education in Australia. This problem is most sharply defined in the contexts of remotely located schools situated in Indigenous communities which over time have been subjected to a range of government policies and interventions. Since 2009, policy reform in Australian Indigenous education has focused attention on accelerating Indigenous students’ achievement in NAPLAN: the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy. Applied annually, NAPLAN is a key priority embedded into each school’s site improvement plans. This research study investigates the influence of NAPLAN-as-policy across remote schools in three states of Australia. NAPLAN as a test object is not the primary focus for investigation. Rather its use as a policy device to measure and report school performance is examined. In particular, the study aims to understand the complex relationship between NAPLAN-as-policy and its enactment by educators into practice. The study investigates respondent’s lived experience of NAPLAN-as-policy drawing data from 124 respondents represented by school leaders, teachers and education support assistants. The study explores reasons why the NAPLAN results from remote schools with significant Indigenous populations have remained relatively unchanged since 2009 and why, compared with their mainstream counterparts, the aggregated NAPLAN result of Indigenous students is significantly lower.
- Urls: https://unisa.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/view/delivery/61USOUTHAUS_INST/12146594650001831
- Publisher Location: Adelaide
- Keywords: NAPLAN, Indigenous education, remote education, Australia