What is the NAPLAN review?

In September 2019 a comprehensive review of NAPLAN was announced to be jointly delivered by the state governments of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The purpose of the review is to identify what a standardised testing regime in Australian schools should deliver, assess how well NAPLAN achieves this, and identify short and longer-term improvements that can be made.

The review is led by a panel of experts in curriculum and assessment: Emeritus Professor Barry McGaw, Emeritus Professor William Louden and Professor Claire Wyatt-Smith.

What's new?

NAPLAN Review Final Report

The NAPLAN Review panel has delivered its final report to participating ministers.

Review extension

Consultations with key stakeholders were delayed as schools and systems responded to changes in educational delivery. This was due to the impact of COVID-19. As a result, the timeframe for the NAPLAN Review has been extended and Stage 2 will now report to Education Council in September 2020.

Interim report

Stage 1 of the NAPLAN Review is now complete.

Emeritus Professor Barry McGaw AO

Barry McGaw is an Emeritus Professor of Murdoch University, an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Assessment Research Centre in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne and a Senior Fellow in the UNESCO International Bureau of Education. He has previously been Chair of the Board of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Executive Director of the Cisco, Intel, Microsoft International Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills project, Director for Education at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) based in Paris and Executive Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

Emeritus Professor William Louden AM

Bill Louden is an Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Western Australia where he was Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Education. He has served as chair and board member of state and national statutory authorities responsible for curriculum, assessment and professional standards. Professor Louden has led functional reviews of education authorities in several states and advised governments on a range of issues including literacy and numeracy, professional standards, initial teacher education and sex and gender education. He recently led a national review of NAPLAN reporting for the COAG Education Council.

Professor Claire Wyatt-Smith

Claire Wyatt-Smith is the Director of the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education at the Australian Catholic University and Professor of Educational Assessment and Literacy. Her research addresses standards, professional judgement, and the implications of digital disruption for teacher professionalism. Other research includes a large scale Australian study working with a collective of 15 universities to lead the design and implementation of the Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment. Her work has attracted funding from the Australian Research Council, and governments at national and state levels, as well as international educational agencies. She is the Foundation Editor of a two book series with Springer Publishing.