ACARA Update, 30 November 2016
NAPLAN Online public demonstration site
The NAPLAN Online public demonstration site is now available for students, teachers, parents and the broader community to see how NAPLAN Online will work and what it will look like. Visit the NAP website to explore the different types of items (questions) and experience the NAPLAN online environment.
The site consists of mini-tests covering all domains for each NAPLAN year level – conventions of language (grammar, punctuation, spelling), numeracy, reading and writing. While the mini-tests consist of questions similar to the NAPLAN Online 2017 test, they do not contain the full functionality of the national online assessment platform, as this is being refined and improved in preparation for the move online in May 2017.
New work samples released
Further work samples have been published, including samples for Years 7–10 Technologies and one sample per portfolio for Years 7–10 Geography.
These new work samples are now available on the Australian Curriculum work samples interactive website.
Work samples portfolios show student achievement of curriculum standards for above, at, and below satisfactory levels. The portfolios support teachers and schools to make balanced judgements of student performance over time, in relation to the relevant achievement standard.
The new work samples add to those already made available on the interactive website.
Previously work samples were available in PDF format only. Now work samples portfolios are published on the Australian Curriculum: work samples new interactive website. This new interactivity will allow users to compare work samples that are above, at, and below satisfactory more easily.
Work sample portfolios will continue to be rolled out until December this year. Portfolios have been selected, annotated and reviewed by classroom teachers and curriculum experts.
2016 student attendance data published on My School
ACARA has updated the My School website with 2016 Semester 1 student attendance data.
The update includes the measure introduced in 2015: the proportion of students attending school 90 per cent or more of the time. Attendance data are reported for each school as ‘all students’, ‘Indigenous students’ and ‘non-Indigenous students’. Data will be suppressed where student numbers are less than, or equal to, five students.
Attendance data reporting is a COAG (Council of Australian Governments) initiative to help improve learning outcomes for all students by monitoring their attendance. ACARA reports student attendance data on My School twice a year: first for Semester 1 (Term 1 and Term 2), and then for Term 3.
Student attendance rates for Term 3 will be released in a separate update on 14 December 2016.
Also being updated today are 2015 data for senior secondary outcomes and VET in schools. Find these data on the sidebar menu on each school’s page of the My School website. These data are being released earlier than in previous years in a move towards the progressive publication of data; we are publishing this information once it becomes available rather than waiting until March next year.
Australian Curriculum website: tell us what you think
The Australian Curriculum website user survey remains open and we want to hear from you!
With over four million user sessions last year, the Australian Curriculum website is a popular place. We want you to tell us what you like about it, what you don’t like, and how we could go about improving it. The survey is still open and will only take around 10 minutes to complete.
+ Take the survey
Read the new Primary Matters
The Primary Matters newsletter (PDF 397 kb) provides information about ACARA’s projects for primary schools and all who are interested in the Australian Curriculum for primary education.