ACARA news, March 2024

Successful NAPLAN testing concludes for 2024

It’s a wrap for NAPLAN 2024. A record 4.48 million online tests were successfully completed by more than 1.2 million students in 9,411 campuses and schools across Australia. 

This is the second year NAPLAN has taken place in March and the third year of full online testing.

New resource for teachers to support Australian students in understanding artificial intelligence

A new online resource for teachers to help students develop their understanding of how artificial intelligence (AI) works, the elements that comprise it, and its responsible and ethical use has been developed by ACARA, working with academic and teaching experts in the AI field.

This new Curriculum Connection resource means teachers will now be better equipped to teach about artificial intelligence through the Australian Curriculum covering the learning areas of Mathematics and Technologies, the general capabilities of Digital Literacy, Ethical Understanding, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy and Literacy and the cross-curriculum priority of Sustainability. 

“Artificial intelligence is already an indispensable part of our lives and embedded into the digital tools people use every day,” said ACARA’s Acting CEO Stephen Gniel.

“While AI technologies have the potential to improve teaching and learning opportunities for our children and provide enormous benefits for education, there are also increasing concerns about its negative and harmful uses. 

“That’s why ACARA has taken a leading role on this issue by developing a new resource to help our teachers equip our young people with the skills and knowledge they need to understand the challenges, opportunities and risks of AI. It provides an opportunity for young Australians to learn what AI is, how it works and how to use it responsibly and ethically,” Mr Gniel said.

In addition, updates have been made to the previously published Curriculum Connections for Food and Fibre, Food and Wellbeing and Outdoor Learning. 

Read ACARA’s media release (PDF 108 KB)

Schools and students set to benefit from earlier NAPLAN results

Schools across the country are set to receive individual student and school National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results for reading, numeracy, spelling, and grammar and punctuation earlier in the school year than ever before.

The news from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) comes as 1.3 million students across more than 9,400 schools throughout the country are due to start NAPLAN tests on 13 March 2024.

Read our media release (PDF 142 KB).