ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an opening for tuning into students voices in the contested space of Australia's national testing experiment in National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). From the teacher survey study, the research gap addressed in the chapter concerns students' accounts of NAPLAN and its perceived impact on their learning. Researching significant educational issues from students' perspectives has recently gained momentum in different parts of the world. The chapter presents research interviews that began with the question about students' description of NAPLAN. Participants were asked how teachers had prepared them for NAPLAN and what the teachers had told them about the national assessment program. The interviews were conducted very soon after the NAPLAN results had been released, and it is interesting that a majority of participants had no knowledge of their individual NAPLAN result. Australia has spent significant resources on administering NAPLAN to inform public accountability and to promote equity for all students.
