Ha, ha, ho, ho, he, he, gasp, hiccup, oh my aching ribs!
Rhrosty.

It is state teachers who get all angsty with NAPLAN, not kids. They thought they were getting a sinecure for life with no review for slack performance and now someone is looking over their shoulder calling out the child abuse that is poor education.

Yep, Mc. Crappy teachers and their unions, along with some parents who should keep their mouths shut and stop bleating about the stress caused to the kids. The parents are the cause of the stress to kids.

If everyone kept quiet and let the kids do the tests without all the hoo-hah, they would pass or fail; in the latter case, they would get extra help, which is the whole idea of the thing, surely?

It's almost 50 years since I left school, and I was rubbish at some subjects. Not one teacher suggested that I needed extra help. If naplan saves kids from the indignities I suffered, it's a very good thing. Hang the objectors.

So obviously the whole reading-comprehension thing is missing among commentors. The article was explaining that NAPLAN is comparison test, not an assessment test. There is no pass or fail, just an idea of how each child is doing in comparison to other kids in their school, state and nationally.