The number of substantiated cases of security and general breaches in Australian schools during national literacy and numeracy testing last year increased by 58 per cent on the year before.
There were 54 cases in which schools failed to follow correct procedure, allowed students extra time, compromised the security of test material or pressured students to stay home, compared with 34 cases in 2010. But the number of substantiated cases of cheating - in which teachers or principals gave students answers or changed incorrect answers - fell to nine, compared with 12 cases found in 2010.
The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority has investigated 75 allegations of breaches and cheating in last year's NAPLAN tests, compared with 63 in 2010. Of these, 21 were found to be unsubstantiated.
Three incidents occurred in the ACT, including a security breach when a photo of test material was published in The Canberra Times, a general breach when a contractor introduced a spelling error into a literacy test and a case of cheating when a test supervisor encouraged a student to change their answer.
The supervisor has since been reprimanded.
According to the national results, three Queensland teachers helped students complete their tests, in Western Australia a teacher allowed students to change their answers after they had finished and another allowed students to re-do questions the next day. In South Australia, a class of Year 9 students were allowed extra time to complete a test.
All of the teachers involved face disciplinary action, which included a reprimand, fine or dismissal. There were also several instances of schools encouraging students not to take part in tests - presumably because their performance was expected to be poor. Twelve significant security breaches were substantiated, including one in a NSW school in which all completed Years 3 and Year 5 writing tests disappeared from secure storage before collection. Save Our Schools campaigner Trevor Cobbold said schools were under incredible pressure to provide good results because they were published on the My School website. ''Cheating is very difficult to stamp out when school results are published,'' he said.
''It continues to flourish after 20 or more years of publication of school results and league tables in the United States and England.''
Mr Cobbold said he had heard reports of young children also feeling the pressure, with ''NAPLAN belly'' becoming a common ailment in schools during test weeks.
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