Declining NAPLAN participation rates are likely skewing the data

The National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is supposed to assess all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to see how schools and students are performing against a national average. The data is used to inform education policy and strategies to improve student learning in literacy and numeracy. Despite continually being spouted as otherwise, NAPLAN has become a highstakes test for schools, with school, sector and system data released for public scrutiny. The result of this is that students, teachers, schools and systems are held to account, both positively and negatively, for the results that are achieved. Since its inception, rates of student participation in NAPLAN tests have been in steady decline each year. There are a number of ways that students can be non-participants in one or more of the tests.