Report shows National Standards data fatally compromised

A Ministry of Education report which lays bare the huge variability in teachers’ marking of children’s school work against the National Standards has confirmed once and for all that the nationwide data drawn from the Standards is essentially worthless, says Nanaia Mahuta.

The National Standards School Sample Monitoring report revealed that teachers asked to judge samples of children's writing against the Standards got it wrong 49 per cent of the time, while in maths there was a 39 per cent error rate.   In writing, accuracy ranged from 3 per cent to 89 per cent, while accuracy in mathematics ranged from 18 to 90 per cent.

“This report underlines the Government’s folly in releasing this “ropey” data.  It is just not credible to suggest that parents can learn anything meaningful about the performance of their kids and their schools if teachers themselves aren’t in a position to mark work consistently against the Standards.

“Hekia Parata ignored the warnings from education academics, teachers and principals that National Standards data should not be released because of the potential for mis-interpretation.  Basing league tables on such dodgy information is doing a dis-service to parents and children.

“National Standards is a narrow data set and is completely reliant on teacher judgement. Moving down this track may force teachers to focus on ‘teaching to the test’ rather than sharing ideas so children’s learning can be enhanced.

“National’s narrow focus on National Standards will not lift student achievement.  What’s needed is a greater emphasis on tailoring teaching to the diverse needs of Kiwi kids, and annual reporting on a child’s progress in all subjects,” says Nanaia Mahuta.