Decision by Palmyra Primary School to hand out medals to kids who aced NAPLAN sparks debate

A decision by a primary school in Perth’s south to hand out medals to kids who aced their NAPLAN tests has sparked an unintended furore among parents and educators. Palmyra Primary School held a special assembly in August where parents were invited to watch students who did well on the national literacy and numeracy tests receive medallions and certificates. Bicton Labor MP Lisa O’Malley, who presented the prizes, wrote on social media that Palmyra’s academic assembly “celebrated the students who scored top marks across various subjects in their NAPLAN” alongside a picture of the winners. A Palmyra father said parents were split on the move, with some welcoming the awards while others — including him — found the focus on individual NAPLAN results “a bit bizarre”. He believed it was odd for kids to be rewarded for something that was only meant to be reported to schools and parents. “I’ve never seen it happen before and I’m not aware of any other schools that do that,” he said. The parent assumed the awards ceremony had the Cook Government’s backing because of Ms O’Malley’s presence, but Education Minister Tony Buti distanced himself from the event. “Schools are best placed to decide what events are suitable for their communities,” Dr Buti said. “However, it is important to note, NAPLAN tests are just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. They don’t show all aspects of a student’s progress and should be viewed accordingly.” WA Primary Principals Association president Niel Smith said giving out awards for NAPLAN “wouldn’t be common practice” because there were other academic competitions that students could enter. “It isn’t what we would see as a traditional way to use individual student NAPLAN data,” he said. “It potentially puts more importance on NAPLAN than we believe it should have.” But offering students incentives for achievement has merit, according to Queensland University of Technology associate professor of economics Jayanta Sarkar. A study he did that rewarded Year 7s who reached personal goals on their NAPLAN tests with a canteen voucher found they tried harder when given an incentive. Associate Professor Sarkar said prizes worked better with younger kids. “It is an important tool to motivate them to do better at tests — especially NAPLAN, which is a low-stakes test for children because the results don’t go on their report cards,” he said. “So students may be more willing to put in more effort for a trophy or a medal.” Education Department South Metropolitan regional director Sue Cuneo said Palmyra’s decision to award NAPLAN medals would be up for review next year. “The school community celebrates the successes of students in all areas including sport, art and academically,” she said. “This year, for the first time, the school also decided to recognise students who performed well in their Progressive Achievement Test and NAPLAN. School staff and the school council are open to reviewing these awards next year.” NAPLAN provides national data on how students are performing in literacy and numeracy, areas for improvement and which schools need support. All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the tests in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy in March.