Well Briggsy @ #13 - what we are introducing here is quite different from what has occurred in the developed world. And of course if it is so bad, how is it that just about everyone with whom we would wish to be favourably compared, and who you say did NS badly, is further up the lifestyle, health, education, and economic ladder than we are.

A sad observation of the postings here indicates there is a wide belief that everyone should have the opportunity to underachieve, and such an outcome is ok. Further, there is a theme that challenging the underperformance of teachers is bad form. It's not, some are setting low standards and then failing to achieve them.

Fact is Labour was at the helm for almost a decade and put us on the reef. They presided over a monumental degradation of much of our wider social infrastructures - ideology over what was needed everytime. We are in fix-up mode; get on the bus or get lost.

I am sorry but the problem is not with the education sector in NZ the problem is in the home.

The reason why 1 in 5 children leave primary school semi-illiterate is because their parents couldn't care less.

Teachers already know which kids are failing and put additional effort into these children but without the parental back-up (reading to kids, helping with homework etc.) the vast majority of these kids will continue to fail and changing the method of measuring and reporting this will have no effect on the situation till the parents are prepared to take on some responsibility.

Sarah @ 24 - '...Children will be labelled as failures from day one. Teachers will be so busy assessing and re-assessing children that they won't be able to give the quailty teaching they potentially could....' From where are you getting this rubbish? Children will not be labelled as failures, and there will not be assessing and reassessing. The existing test regime continues, there is no one test specified. The results of what ever tests used are put against a benchmark to grade the level of achievemnt. From there we see what is working and what isn't. Most of this new policy is already happening in most schools, its only the national collation of it that is new.

Stop being a victim. we are sliding down the OECD ratings in just about every social, economic and health indicator because we have avoided dealing with the hard stuff. Suck it in and get with the programme.

UK teacher #31 and we are doing so well aren't we? Happy with those statistics of how many children leave school not being able to read and write are you? I just cannot believe how teachers are throwing their toys out of the cot over this. It's their job to teach the way parents want them to teach and guess what? National were elected clearly stating they would implement National Standards. So GET OVER IT and do your job!!!!!!!!!!!

1 in 5 students not being able to read or write at a necessarily level. Sounds like it's broke to me Briggsy #13. Or is that fine with you?

@Richard #14 "the national standards in those countries are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to what is going to happen here"

1. Not substantively, though they may be a little different in content. 2. It's the system change that goes along with NS, and the flow on effects it produces in parents & teachers. All pertinent evidence from UK and US shows it produces counter intuitive results. The UK has dropped 10 places in OECD rankings on Maths, English and Science; the US results show no improvements in any curriculum area and declines in some - particularly for schools in poor, urban areas.

Tolley is an embarrassment. Instead of trying to bark at the dog (Mallard), why doesn't she just do her job and explain it - and not just to him, but everyone else. What is she afraid of of? Is she ill-prepared? Does she actually know what she is talking about? Well, who knows because thus far she hasn't provided any evidence of this. Key needs to move her out of cabinet and put in a minister who knows how to communicate well.

Mike #19: a syllogism is predicated, the Standards are based on the curriculum, but the real need for care with semantics is with the word 'standards'. Supposedly, poor standards in education as evidenced in school leavers have led to the need for the National Standards, but the two concepts are antithetical. If the former are raised, pass rates increase; if the latter are, pass rates fall. No wonder it is beyond Tolley. Conservative governments are so routinely hostile to the education system that you would think that their members or supporters must be casualties of it, but any justification for NS cannot be based on the failure of educators. There is already a "government department whose purpose is to evaluate and report publicly on the education and care of students in schools and early childhood services", so the argument for NS assumes two decades of ERO incompetence. That predicate is true, but unfortunately the premise that NS will do any better is demonstrably false.

Mike #19: a syllogism is predicated, the Standards are based on the curriculum, but the real need for care with semantics is with the word 'standards'. Supposedly, poor standards in education as evidenced in school leavers have led to the need for the National Standards, but the two concepts are antithetical. If the former are raised, pass rates increase; if the latter are, pass rates fall. No wonder it is beyond Tolley. Conservative governments are so routinely hostile to the education system that you would think that their members or supporters must be casualties of it, but any justification for NS cannot be based on the failure of educators. There is already a "government department whose purpose is to evaluate and report publicly on the education and care of students in schools and early childhood services", so the argument for NS assumes two decades of ERO incompetence. That predicate is true, but unfortunately the premise that NS will do any better is demonstrably false.

I was in Melbourne end of January when the results of Schools performance was published in a paper there. Everyone thinks its great, especially the customers - you know - the parents. They are the people that pay for the service called education.

What is the problem? the testing that seems to be occurring in the several primary schools our children have attended continues (different tests but they generate the same kind of answer for grading levels of achievement), and the results are alaigned to a national standard. Why are teachers getting bent out of shape over this. Compared to meeting KPIs in the private sector this is a lolly. Wouldn't a school want to know how how they stack up in the sector? Its interesting that we can implement a whole heap of other things nationally, sun hats, outdoor camps, uniforms, holidays, teachers pay, registration, elections of school boards, but the core business of actual learning is somehow off limits to any kind of visability.

I foresee some interesting times where some Boards are going to ask their Principals to put their money where their mouth is.