2. Principal hits out at 'useless testing' – SMH

NAPLAN testing has come under fire many times since its genesis. In this article in the Sydney Morning Herald, ''It dumbs down learning and narrows the curriculum. What about thinking, curiosity, music? Its narrow Anglo focus also means it's not inclusive,'' Mr. Pope says.
Mr. Pope touches down on a few important issues, such as speaking of the NAPLAN in its Anglo focus and it’s not inclusiveness.
This argument has great poignancy in relation to culture and identity in education. The NAPLAN test being the main test that school rankings are based on throughout many years of schooling needs to be a fair test. However if what Mr. Pope is saying about the test being exclusive to other cultures and particularly Anglo-centric then it will obviously create problems for school and areas who have a large immigrant based population.
As Mr. Pope talks about in the article, many of the immigrant students come to Australia with little to no education, and in 2 years are expected to complete a test that will mark their competency in Math and English.
The test therefore should be monitored over known areas with a saturated immigrant population. Of course these area’s will do worse than others in areas of the NAPLAN such as English, as many migrants from the Asia-Pacific would not have had any formal education and of course would not be able to speak any English. Again this article links to ideas of cosmopolitan learning and through cosmopolitan learning we accommodate and make exceptions for those who are of a different culture. Rizvi, F. (2008).
Mr. Pope also mentions in the article that the test is a ‘waste of public funds’ and he believes that the NAPLAN makes no difference in the way that schools are funded as he has worked for 20 years at disadvantaged schools and never seen an increase in spending. Again this delves into the idea that public schools are being left behind. Widening the gap between private and public schools will only further encourage the marketization of the private sector of education, and this desire to consume will perpetuate itself only further widening the gap.

References:
Reid, C. & Sriprakash, A. (2012). The possibility of cosmopolitan learning: Reflecting on future directions for diversity teacher education in Australia. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 40(1), 15-29.

Rizvi, F. (2008). Education and its cosmopolitan possibilities. In B. Lingard, J. Nixon & S. Ranson (Eds.), Transforming learning in schools and communities: The remaking of education for a cosmopolitan society (pp. 101-116). London: Continuum.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/principal-hits-out-at-useless-testing-20121014-27l0c.html