NAPLAN week draws multifaceted critique

Months before controversial NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes called for NAPLAN to be scrapped last week, change.org user Sparkt started an online petition in this vein. In the interim, a retired MIT professor slammed the tests, calling them "bizarre". Some Australian experts joined him; others, as well as parent groups, opposed him. All the while, the federal government stood by the standardised literacy and numeracy exams. Clearly, NAPLAN attracts extremists on either side. But there are also moderates, education academics like Glenn Savage included.