-
Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
Related
Education Minister Anne Tolley says an "alarming" report by the Education Review Office (ERO) into the education of New Zealand's youngest students shows the need to introduce national standards.
The ERO evaluation into reading and writing in the crucial years one and two at primary schools found that about 70% of teachers were performing well but the other 30% were not up to scratch.
The report also found that almost two-thirds of principals and senior managers were not properly monitoring students' achievement or progress, and that three-quarters of principals did not set expectations of high achievement levels.
"Parents and communities will be extremely concerned with the findings of this report, which goes some way to explaining why one in five children are leaving school without the basic skills they need," Tolley says.
"That is why it is vitally important that national standards are introduced in primary schools next year. Schools will be required to assess, monitor and report in plain language on each child's progress in reading, writing and maths. The standards, or benchmarks, will allow us to identify those children that need extra help, and will provide a valuable tool for improving teaching."
National standards start in February next year, when teachers will assess students against benchmarks in reading, writing and maths and report to parents.
The standards regime has come under fire from teachers, parents and academics, concerned at the speed of its implementation and the effects it would have on children who were falling behind.
Academics say the system is doomed to fail. Teaching and principal unions believe the standards should be trialled first, but that has been ruled out by Prime Minister John Key.
Meanwhile, the ERO, in its report, recommended that school leaders, teachers and trustees reflect on the quality of teaching, assessment and monitoring of reading and writing for children in their first two years at school.
It also recommended school leaders work towards using achievement data from years one and two for monitoring and self review, give trustees regular updates on the extent of underachievement in years one and two and outline strategies to improve.
It also said boards of trustees should ensure years one and two classes were taught by competent teachers and monitor the impact of interventions on raising student achievement.
Teachers should extend their work to become confident in using effective teaching of reading and writing for years one and two students and get better at using reference points to monitor children's progress.
It also recommended the Ministry of Education should develop writing assessment tools for years one and two and support new teachers using and analysing data from a range of reading and writing assessment tools.
