Schools may be strategically manipulating participation in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) to improve their public performance results, according to this research from UNSW Business School.

The research found that schools with lower initial test scores relative to other schools teaching similar student bodies show higher rates of non-participation in NAPLAN tests following the public release of performance data on the My School website. 

In this paper the authors show that the public provision of information on Australian schools’ average national test score outcomes via the My School website, launched in 2010, resulted in poorly performing schools testing fewer students in subsequent years. This increased non-participation in testing was driven primarily by formal parental withdrawal, and poorly performing students were much more likely to be withdrawn from testing. This phenomenon is consistent with schools attempting to ‘game’ the system to improve published test scores. The authors also provide weaker evidence that withdrawal responded more strongly to initial poor performance in independent private schools than in government schools.

Policy implications

Possible policy remedies could include requirements that a minimum percentage of students in each school participates in testing each year; that schools explain any significant year-over-year changes in non-participation; and/or that schools that report large drops in test participation are automatically audited by the government. Without such safety nets, well-intentioned reforms towards improving school accountability may only make things worse for Australia's most vulnerable students.