http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/curriculum/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/naplan-na-not-a-great-curriculum-plan/ NAPLAN testing is scheduled this week (from May 15 to 17) in schools around the country. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority (ACARA), as well as proponents of NAPLAN, make three central claims extolling the usefulness of this high-stakes test. First, they claim NAPLAN will tell us that the tests are important to assess the quality of teaching in our children’s schools. Second, they will assure us that the tests can diagnose academic issues our children may be struggling with. Third, they will confirm that the purpose of NAPLAN is to maintain Australia’s high levels of literacy and numeracy in comparison to other countries in the world. ACARA and the proponents of NAPLAN (including our education ministers) will not tell you that there almost a complete lack of evidence to support those three claims. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/naplan-na-not-a-great-curriculum-plan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/naplan-na-not-a-great-curriculum-plan/#item8467 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 I don’t know what my nine-year-old daughter wants to be when she grows up. She’s a sensitive, quiet kid who seems to spend a large portion of her time in a dreamland of her own creation. She’s not an academic terrier in the Hermione Granger mould like I was. She isn’t the bookworm I hoped she’d be, and a recent tussle with the seven times tables almost caused me to drop the supportive parent ball altogether. So what will all this that mean for her in the current My Schoo , NAPLAN  Australian Curriculum? Being a child of Australian education circa 2010 I worry that she might never get the chance to discover her passion or talents if they lie beyond the scope of traditional education. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-does-myschool-do-for-non-academic-kids/ I don’t know what my nine-year-old daughter wants to be when she grows up. She’s a sensitive, quiet kid who seems to spend a large portion of her time in a dreamland of her own creation. She’s not an academic terrier in the Hermione Granger mould like I was. She isn’t the bookworm I hoped she’d be, and a recent tussle with the seven times tables almost caused me to drop the supportive parent ball altogether. So what will all this that mean for her in the current My Schoo , NAPLAN  Australian Curriculum? Being a child of Australian education circa 2010 I worry that she might never get the chance to discover her passion or talents if they lie beyond the scope of traditional education. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-does-myschool-do-for-non-academic-kids/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-does-myschool-do-for-non-academic-kids/#item2609 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 I don’t know what my nine-year-old daughter wants to be when she grows up. She’s a sensitive, quiet kid who seems to spend a large portion of her time in a dreamland of her own creation. She’s not an academic terrier in the Hermione Granger mould like I was. She isn’t the bookworm I hoped she’d be, and a recent tussle with the seven times tables almost caused me to drop the supportive parent ball altogether. So what will all this that mean for her in the current My Schoo , NAPLAN  Australian Curriculum? Being a child of Australian education circa 2010 I worry that she might never get the chance to discover her passion or talents if they lie beyond the scope of traditional education.