Headline: Parents need good information, not ropey National Standards
How can the data show anything when the Prime Minister himself described the last set of results as “ropey” and all the experts say the current data is meaningless and useless
Parents will be none the wiser about their child’s progress after the publication of National Standards data that is neither national, nor standard, the Green Party said today.
Education Minister Hekia Parata is lauding the latest National Standards data as “extremely powerful” and claiming it shows an increase in achievement at years 1-8, particularly for Pasifika children.
“How can the data show anything when the Prime Minister himself described the last set of results as “ropey” and all the experts say the current data is meaningless and useless?” Green Party Co-leader and education spokesperson Metiria Turei said.
“Concerns about the scaling down of results, and the fact that the data is still neither national, nor standard, mean it was completely irresponsible to release it or to make big statements attributing any meaning to it.
“Parents want good information about their child’s education. But they have told me that their children’s National Standards reports are meaningless at best and traumatising for their kids at worse.
“They say the quality of information they received about their child’s performance was much better before National Standards, and that their kids condemn themselves to failure if it looks like they’re not making progress.
“Principals tell me that the rigid reporting requirements of National Standards mean that they are less able to harness a child’s natural talents to learn in the most appropriate way and that the result will be children failing to reach their potential.
“Education experts, including Professor Martin Thrupp, have warned that this year’s data will not be comparable to next year’s and that parents will think their children are underperforming next year if they try to compare the two.
“The idea of a National Standard may seem reasonable, but unless kids and teachers are machines, its not possible to measure children against it,” Mrs Turei said.
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