Confronting New Zealand’s Inconvenient Writing Problem

Company developed government-coined ‘common practice’ standards for writing years ago

The issue of New Zealand’s youth literacy rates has been met with a range of contentious solutions—from the NCEA pilot programmes, to the government's recent announcement of new secondary school teaching standards. As rates continue to plummet, there’s another player who has been teaching students to write properly for over a decade: Writer’s Toolbox.

Writer’s Toolbox is a whole-school system proven to transform primary and secondary school writing results. It harnesses revolutionary Educational AI that teaches students rules of composition—without doing the work for them. This innovative technology earned Writer’s Toolbox ‘Most Innovative Hi-Tech Creative Technology Solution’ at the 2023 NZ Hi-Tech Awards.

Founder Dr Ian Hunter started the company in response to his own university students’ inability to write. In regards to the government’s recent announcement, he says the New Zealand education system has had a common practice model for years—with one regrettable exception.

“These standards, for example Level 1 English, are offered every year because they give rigour, reliability and consistency. But there is one simple problem. There is not a single standard, expectation, or defined practice for the teaching of writing in a New Zealand secondary school. But there’s a long list of expectations for the outcomes of that writing process. We need to teach kids how to write.”

In response, seven years ago Writer’s Toolbox built a best practice model for the teaching of writing. It detailed the 20 writing skills—specific, measurable, teachable skills—a student should master at every year level, all behind differentiated content to guide students developmentally through the process. And it works. The Educational Review Office (ERO) reported that schools using Writer’s Toolbox showed writing effect scores double those normally experienced, as well as increased momentum and confidence from both students and teachers—in some instances slashing teacher marking time by half.

A research report published by The Education Hub in 2022 revealed that more than a third (35.4%) of 15-year-olds struggle to read and write. A recent literacy pilot run by the Ministry of Education has been yet another chilling reminder of New Zealand’s failing literacy rates with two thirds of Year 10 students failing the writing test.

Writer’s Toolbox is hosting the Australasian Literacy Summit in the middle of this month to address NZ’s writing problem, bringing together leading international education experts and academics.

Headlining is Professor Richard Andrews, Emeritus Professor of Language Education at the University of Edinburgh and global expert on writing instruction methods, including the impact of Britain’s 20-year national literacy strategy. Other speakers include Purangakura Managing Director Professor Jenny Lee-Morgan, University of Auckland Professor Judy Parr, Va’atele Education Consulting Director Dr Rae Si'ilata, and Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) Principal Researcher Christine Jackson.

“If we are going to fix writing, we need to hear from the very best. The Summit is a time for NZ educators to come together and build strategies based on best-practice and interventions that work.” says Hunter.

“Our national statistics have been trending downhill for too long. Enough is enough. It’s time to have an informed conversation about the writing crisis and create a blueprint for the future. It is our duty.”

Background

An Associate Professor at the University of Auckland in the late 1990s, Dr Hunter became concerned about the writing ability of his first year students. In 2011, he left academia to found Writer’s Toolbox with the aim of tackling the writing problem—going school-to-school to grow this ambitious project.

Writer’s Toolbox combines educational research, cutting-edge tech, and pragmatic teaching. Informed by advances in neuroscience and learning theory, Writer’s Toolbox Educational AI builds a picture of an individual student’s writing ability. As students advance through the system, they master writing skills to match their academic load.

Experiencing rapid growth in recent years, Writer’s Toolbox works with around 600 schools across the globe and has over 60 staff located in offices in Australia and New Zealand.

The Australasian Literacy Summit

The Summit runs 18 - 19 September at St Paul’s Collegiate, Hamilton.

More information on the Summit programme and speakers can be found here.

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