Minister’s advisory group says parents need full information about their child’s performance

The Independent Advisory Group (IAG), appointed by the Minister of Education to monitor and advise on the implementation of National Standards, has stressed the need for reports to parents to include information on both progress and actual performance in relation to the standards.

IAG Chair Professor Gary Hawke from Victoria University says parents need to know what progress their child is making but they also need to know if their child isn’t performing at the standard.

“Reporting progress without any indication if literacy and numeracy are at the required level could be a soft option for not reporting poor performance. All children probably make progress but some do not make sufficient progress and as a result fall further behind. These are the students that National Standards are designed to identify.

“Parents should not be given a shock when their child who had been reported as making progress consistently at primary school is then unable to cope at secondary school.”

Professor Hawke also said that the sector and parents still needed to be persuaded that the standards will be interpreted the same across all schools. He says schools need to have a common understanding of quality, and that moderation between schools is as important as moderation within schools.

“IAG wants to see even more emphasis on moderation of overall teacher judgments. Psychometric tests are useful for checking school judgments against the wider national scene, but they should not be allowed to substitute for judgment. The tendency to look for a formula that can be applied routinely should be resisted,” said Professor Hawke.

Professor Hawke says continuing improvement is fundamental to National Standards. He says it’s a new approach to producing the best readers, writers and mathematicians in the world in the long term, and immediate perfection is not expected.

The IAG also called on professional and political leaders to endorse the positive approach being taken by many teachers.

“There is still apprehension in the sector. Much is focused on a desire to know the right answer. We have advised the Ministry of Education of the importance of providing clear answers to frequently asked questions and of making examples of best practice readily available.”

IAG, which includes Professor John Hattie (University of Auckland), Professor Tom Nicholson (Massey University at Albany), Tony Trinick (University of Auckland) and Dr Avis Glaze (Ontario, Canada) has met twice. It has reviewed material from the Ministry, met individual members from the education sector, and met a small group of Wellington primary school principals.

ENDS

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