PPTA releases position on national standards

Media Release
January 28, 2010

PPTA releases position on national standards

PPTA is releasing a paper today in a bid to inform debate on national standards and steer the country away from ‘assessment mania.’

The paper looks at the dangers of National’s standards in a country that “already over-assesses,” PPTA president Kate Gainsford said.

“Excessive monitoring does not improve teaching and learning,” she said.

“A child is more than a test score.”

“Plain English and informative reporting is a good thing for teachers, parents and students. You don’t need expensive national standards to do this. The money would be better spent on more one-on-one time and smaller classes to help pick up the students that are falling behind.”

PPTA has released the paper to make sure that public discussion is well-informed.
“We welcome robust and well-informed debate,” Gainsford said.

The paper can be found on the PPTA website at:
http://www.ppta.org.nz/index.php/-issues-in-education/897-national-standards-ppta
Or by going to the Issues in Education section on our home page and looking in “What’s New”

ENDS

© Scoop Media