So as they finish primary and intermediate schools, only 1 in 4 students are at the level expected for maths. Shockingly 3 in 5 are more than a year behind.
For students at schools in low socio-economic areas only 1 in 12 are at the expected level in maths and 4 in 5 are more than a year behind.
However that doesn’t mean all is okay at the wealthier area schools. Only 1 in 3 of their students are at the level and almost 1 in 2 are a year behind.
Writing is little better.
Overall 1 in 4 at the level and 3 in 5 more than a year behind.
Of some interest is there is little difference between students at low and moderate socio-economic schools. There is an improvement in high areas, but still poor with 1 in 3 at the level and 1 in 2 more than a year behind.
Erica Stanford has announced:
For students at schools in low socio-economic areas only 1 in 12 are at the expected level in maths and 4 in 5 are more than a year behind.
However that doesn’t mean all is okay at the wealthier area schools. Only 1 in 3 of their students are at the level and almost 1 in 2 are a year behind.
Writing is little better.
Overall 1 in 4 at the level and 3 in 5 more than a year behind.
Of some interest is there is little difference between students at low and moderate socio-economic schools. There is an improvement in high areas, but still poor with 1 in 3 at the level and 1 in 2 more than a year behind.
Erica Stanford has announced:
“From Term 1 next year, a new Writing Acceleration Tool will be available to support 120,000 Years 6–8 students who are below expected writing levels and won’t have the benefit of structured literacy from Year 1. Teachers will be supported to deliver explicit teaching and will be able to monitor student progress in real time, adjusting how their teaching based on individual needs and responses to intervention.
“Every Intermediate and Secondary School will be funded to train their own structured literacy intervention teacher. This training will be tailored for older students and extends what is already available for those teaching in Years 0-6. As requested by the sector, teachers will gain the skills needed to work with small groups of students who need targeted support, using structured, evidence-based approaches.
Great to see the Minister focused on listing achievements while so many on the left are obsessed with trivia such as removing some te reo words from a few books designed to teach English.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
8 comments:
While well known for a long time, this is still a shocking indictment of an incompetent, grossly over-staffed, MoE. Where is the accountability of the likes of Rose Hipkins, the thankfully now gone Iona Holsted, and the myriad of other highly paid typically faceless/nameless bureaucrats that have overseen/orchestrated this decline?
While the Minister is now addressing what's taught in the classroom, it's long past time the backroom swamp was drained of those that have sat by and allowed this to happen.
This just confirms what I thought happened to my kids when we moved here from Australia a couple of years ago - they really did go backwards in reading and maths!
Australian primary kids learn to read using phonics - and maths is a bigger enforced/ dedicated part of every day.
We moved here and they literally went backwards in their ability to read! And then each of them were repeating the previous years maths work. They’re both still nowhere near the levels I remember myself being at their respective ages.
Nz state primary education f-ing sucks!!
High school biology is characterised by a complete absence of academic rigour (I wish Erica Stanford would challenge me to produce the evidence for this). In that respect, NZ high school biology is arguably below 'Third World' level. A first step should be to achieve Third World status.
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2021/02/guest_post_something_is_rotten_in_the_state_of_education_high_school_biology_in_new_zealand.html
Way back last century (!) I went to Raumati Primary School, then Kapiti College. We sat in desks facing the teacher who was at the head of the classroom. We had tests and exams to assess our progress.
Somehow this classic system actually WORKED.
What are ‘te rep’ words doing in an English reading book? Could this be indicative of the greater problems?
What people just don't get is that the current ideology in Progressive Education (PE) has always had limited interest in teaching the basics .
It's aim right from the beginning in about 1950 was to use schools to build a socialist utopia in keeping with Fabian Socialism , not achieved by violence but very gradual change. Hence it took a long time for our excellent traditional education to to destroyed by Progressive Education ., but that is what has happened. Aotearoa Educators Collective, AEC, in Auckland , which is solidly based in Progressivism as is stated in their own description of themselves, has as one of its tenets ; success at school cannot be reduced to achievement in literacy and numeracy. Another tenet is that education should address long seated inequities and injustice through curriculum design .
Hence schools for them are not places of intellectual learning but sorting out injustices in society. That is why we have academic failure throughout our schools.
We need to recognize how we declined so badly , before we can fix it. All our political parties are responsible for this failure since they colluded with those promoting progressive ideology which is unfortunately dominant in all our present educational institutions.
Old School or Traditional Liberal Education as we used to have is the sworn enemy of PE., because it believes in concentrating on the basics. AEC was formed recently because, I think they feel threatened by the back to basics movement.
Throwing out individuals , from the Min. of Ed. unfortunately , Peter will do little to change the endemic rot we have throughout our entire schooling . Parents need , somehow to take over education.
Not sure if parents taking over education is a good idea. Remember "tomorrows schools"? Some parents hijacked school committees and standardised curriculums were lost
At the end of the day this is a failure of our teachers to teach our kids to read and write. Where is there pride in doing their job. Where are the secondary school teachers speaking up that kids coming from primary school are lacking the necessary reading, writing and maths skills. Think of any other profession where if you fail to do your job you are struck off, sacked etc.
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