Massey report slams Treasury’s agenda for education

12 September 2013
For immediate release

Massey report slams Treasury’s agenda for education in New Zealand

Treasury’s business model agenda for education is the problem rather than the solution*, according to a Massey University report released today.

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Judith Nowotarski said the direction the government was taking in education had been alarming teachers for some time, and it was satisfying to have those concerns vindicated by an independent study.

“This study demolishes the argument for so-called “performance” pay for teachers because it shows that the actual teaching is just one of many factors that affect achievement, such as home background, class size, the quality of school resources, and the ability of individual tamariki (p6-7),” she said.

“Teachers are concerned that National Standards is the launching pad for a performance pay system, but it’s the last thing our students and teachers need.”

“Performance pay as a means to lift achievement hasn’t worked anywhere in the world and it won’t work here either because it stifles cooperation, narrows the curriculum to what is tested and is a disincentive for schools and teachers to work with special needs and disadvantaged children (p7),” said Mrs Nowotarski.

“This is independent research by university academics who say that Treasury is following a failed business model that has been discredited globally. We can only hope that the government will listen.”

*Point 40, Page 10 of The Assessment of Teacher Quality, released by Education Policy Response Group, Ivan Snook, John O’Neill, Stuart Birks, John Church and Peter Rawlins.
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