Parents, students and teachers are being asked to share their thoughts on NAPLAN, as the ACT's parliament launches an inquiry into standardised testing.
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The ACT Legislative Assembly's standing committee on education, employment and youth affairs will run the ruler over the use of tests like NAPLAN in ACT schools, looking at their impact on student wellbeing and mental health, teacher morale and professional autonomy and the amount of time devoted to preparing for and conducting these assessments.
The inquiry will also examine the cost of standardised testing, how ACT students perform and how the results inform school enrolments.
It comes after ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry cast doubt on the usefulness of NAPLAN for measuring student achievement in March, saying it had become a "trigger for stress, anxiety and depression among young people fearful of letting someone down as opposed to a constructive tool for learning".
While ACT students consistently perform well above the standards of other Australian children, an audit report last year found the territory's schools performed worse than similar schools in other states despite student funding being among the highest in the country.
Last year, more ACT parents withdrew their children from the test than any other state except Queensland, with only 93.7 per cent of students taking part last year.
Momentum has been growing to scrap NAPLAN amid concerns that it encouraged "teaching to the test" and forced students to concentrate on "low-level mechanical skills" like memorising spelling lists.
This week, the head of the NSW education department Mark Scott said NAPLAN testing would soon become "obsolete" in favour of more sophisticated assessment measures.
People can lodge submissions to the inquiry via LACommitteeEEYA@parliament.act.gov.au until July 30.
The committee will hold public hearings in September.
