Education experts have criticised the decision to hold NAPLAN tests in March instead of May this year, saying it is too early to assess progress and the process risks harming already vulnerable students.
More than 1 million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 at almost 10,000 campuses will undergo literacy and numeracy testing over the next couple of weeks to assess whether they are meeting important educational outcomes.
New South Wales Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the early testing made the results more useful.
"What that means is that we'll be able to get results back more quickly to parents and to school communities, and I think that's really important because it just makes that data so much more useful if we can have it back more quickly and just understand which students need additional support," she said.
But education experts criticised the new schedule, which sees the test taking place just over halfway into the first term.
It is too early in the school year to know whether students are effectively learning concepts taught at their year levels, according to Venesser Fernandes, a lecturer in educational leadership studies at Monash University.
"For students already suffering multiple learning and social disadvantages, the test timing could contribute to low self-esteem when it is likely their results will fall in the lower two levels [of assessment]," she said.
"Even though the tests are done online, the time taken for the test results to be prepared remains the same, and this holds the biggest disadvantage for the student and the parent."
Dr Fernandes said NAPLAN tests would be better held at the end of the year, giving students more time to absorb knowledge.
Participation rates continue to decline
There are also concerns about some who will miss out.
A new paper for the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) says secondary student participation is in persistent decline, and there was a sharp fall last year, partly due to widespread flooding.
AERO chief executive Jenny Donovan said the sharpest declines were in year 9.
"We're finding participation rates are seriously low for some of the most disadvantaged groups, students who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, students from remote and regional locations, students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds — the participation of these students in the assessments is getting quite seriously low," Dr Donovan said.
She said there were many reasons behind the decline, including proficiency in English.
"Some students can be deemed exempt because they don't come from English-speaking backgrounds; they don't have sufficient English language to be participating," she said.
"Some students have learning difficulties, some students are absent, and some students are withdrawn at the request of their parents.
"What we're seeing is increased rates of withdrawal and absenteeism."
NAPLAN testing is used to better understand how Australian students are progressing through their learning, which means the data is most useful when as many students as possible participate.
This year, there will also be a change to how results are reported, with the 10-grade structure used in previous years simplified to four.
Given these changes, it will be important for state and territory governments to ensure results can be compared to previous years, said Queensland Liberal National Party education spokesperson Christian Rowan.
David de Carvalho, of test regulator Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, emphasised the need to keep the test in perspective and encouraged students not to feel apprehensive about it.
Data produced by NAPLAN testing helps inform policy development and identify which schools need more support.
ABC/wires
