Local schools uneasy about National Standards

August 13th
By David Armstrong

Primary schools in the Motueka area are uneasy about their role in the government's policy to introduce and adopt National Standards for literacy and numeracy in schools, with most principals opting not to publicly comment on the controversial issue.

One who was happy to comment was Martin Major, Principal at Parklands School, who said that his staff agree with the idea of Standards, but would argue that they already had them and that they have already been reporting to parents about their childen's progress in relation to the expected level for their time at school.

"What we don't agree with is the manner with which the Standards are being forced on schools at a time when we are already introducing a new NZ Curriculum, the fact that they are untested, the limited amount of training being provided (only Principals and lead teachers) and the potential harm which may be caused if the media use National Standards data to develop league tables," he told Motueka Online in an email.

"We already use a range of assessments - including standardised tests, teacher observations, peer and self assessments etc - to inform teaching and learning. There is no intention for schools to 'test' for National Standards. We are expected to use 'Overall Teacher Judgement' in the same way we already do."

Asked if his teachers are being trained in implementing standards, he said the school is availing itself of what little training is being provided. "There is a great deal of information to get our heads around at a time when our priority is implementing the revised NZ Curriculum."

Does he think national standards will improve or harm educational outcomes in his school? "I am neutral on this," he said. "We already had tried and true benchmarks at each year level that we assessed against and reported to parents. The new 'Standards' are untested.

"It all depends on how school data is used, particularly by the media. League tables are potentially very damaging, will not reflect the difference a school has made for its students and will serve to further 'bash' low decile schools serving disadvantaged communities. Furthermore, many schools have high annual roll turnover so that a school's population can change markedly during a school year making comparisons invalid.

Motueka Online talked with several other principals but none wanted to express publicly their opinions or what approach their school is taking. However, overall the impression gained was of similar unease with what standards mean, the inadequacy of the information and training they had received, and whether the outcomes will be better or worse than the testing and reporting that they are already providing.

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