It's a blackboard jumble

Consultation on national standards raises more questions than answers

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OPINION: I went back to school on Monday night. I was one of a group of 25 well- behaved mums and dads who listened politely as the Ministry of Education "sold" National Standards to us.

We'd been invited to consult with the ministry about the nationwide change. From next year the progress of primary school children in maths, reading and writing will be measured against government-set standards.

But the two-hour meeting was contrived and our well-intentioned feedback felt meaningless.

For starters, Welbourn was one of only two Taranaki schools in which parents were consulted. The other was Mangorei School - just across the gully, similar decile rating, and similar group of parents. Patea parents didn't get a look in; neither did those in Okato, Stratford, Lepperton or Toko. But go online and put in a submission - do it fast. Consultation closes today.

Monday's meeting began with pleasantries before the ministry ladies - there were three - told us the why, what and who of national standards. We chimed in with questions, some of which were answered. They skirted around other issues; several times they said we would get back to a particular concern. We didn't. Next they dished out examples, on paper, of what the standards would look like.

We broke into groups to discuss the examples - simple bar or line graphs, or plain blocks of text; there was no disputing their simplicity. One graph was like the line graphs we get in our children's Plunket or Well child books: Easy to see if your kid was above or below the national standard.

And then the meeting finished. We filled in feedback forms but were given no further chance to return to issues at the heart of this controversial change.

Suggestions from us on alternative examples were not seriously sought. This was no genuine consultation, just a token attempt.

Before Monday night I didn't think I had much of an issue with national standards. Doesn't it make sense to know how well your six-year-old is reading compared with other six-year-olds from Cape Reinga to the Bluff? Well yes, except national standards won't do that - you'll just know whether they've made the government-set grade - not whether they are in the top 15%.

And schools like Welbourn already use assessment tools with a national ranking. Ask your child's teacher and they can give you one-off score results like those for the STAR reading tests.

The ministry ladies said a prime motivation was lifting the achievement level of kids who fail at school. But is telling those parents that their kids don't make the national grade in reading or maths going to inspire them?

I believe schools are already doing their utmost to lift the achievement levels of those kids. How is this going to change that kind of work, except make it more pressured?

Schooling doesn't happen in a vacuum and if the Government is genuinely concerned, why doesn't it address related issues like better funding for social workers. (This year's Budget cut baseline funding for the ministry of social development by $3 million.)

There's something else: the National Standards are only relevant for the three r's: So Johnny at six years could be slow off the mark when it comes to writing but might be a whiz with a coloured pencil or a soccer ball. Doesn't matter. Sciences or arts or physical activity won't be assessed nationally.

Do they matter less? Will teachers throw their weight behind the three r's - at the expense of a more holistic approach - because these subjects are getting national exposure?

And what do parents do with this extra information? Feel smug if their child is above national expectations? Demand the school give their child one-on-one remedial reading if they're below expectations? It's quite possible they are doing that anyway. Where does the money come from to pay for extra teacher time needed in preparing help for bad-at- writing Johnny? Certainly, there was no suggestion of more educational funding to pay for teacher aides or teacher release time.

What about the way in which schools measure how well Johnny is doing? There isn't going to be one test sat on one day - the ministry has made that clear and that's good. Schools can use a range of assessments tools, but does that leave them open to accusations of inconsistency?

And who's written the national standards? Our Monday night ministry ladies said experts were tasked with that. Those experts had hands-on experience and a list of them could be provided, they assured us. Finally, what's the rush? Consultation spanned just six weeks and took in 45 primary schools. Schools are expected to start putting the standards in place next year.

Ministry press releases have reiterated that standards will be given out in plain language but compartmentalising our budding learners isn't that simple. Encourage a well-rounded, diverse education and don't narrow the focus, I say.

* Sarah Foy is a mother of three with two children at Welbourn School.

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