Hon Anne Tolley
Minister of Education
Private Bag 18 888
Parliament Buildings
Wellington 6160
Dear Minister
Re: National Standards
The purpose of this letter is to convey the results of our Board meeting where the Board discussed the National Standards.
I write as chair of the Glenbervie School Board of trustees, one of the many schools who have yet to sign a resolution to defer setting targets in 2011 based on the National Standards. At the beginning of this year we had concerns about the Standards because they had not been trialled, they do not provide clear direction, they are vague and confusing and there is a lack of alignment with the NZC, a document we regard highly.
We wish to provide an assurance that the Board is not against standards. While we acknowledge that the current government has a mandate, given in the 2009 election, we find that we are unable to place much faith in the good of the policy proposed and the way that it is being implemented.
Some staff have attended the recent workshops and the teachers have worked with the Standards to determine whether our school could comply with the new reporting requirements as set out. Unfortunately, these staff reported that the more that they have worked with them, the more they realise that the Standards are flawed and difficult to accurately moderate across a school, let alone a country.
At Glenbervie School, we have always worked to standards, based on the NZ Curriculum, and we will continue to set targets based on our school standards using reliable assessment data to set high expectations for all of our students. Through our reporting processes we have always been honest with parents about their children’s achievement and progress. A discussion with parents about report formats showed that there was confusion about the National Standards and is where the ' above, at, below or well below' really is. As a result we find that we have no confidence in the Standards or the data that will be collected and sent to the Ministry from across the country. There is difficulty in the moderation of a broad standard as the overall teacher judgments (OTJ’s) are very subjective and every school is using a wide range of assessments. This effectively makes them school standards not national standards.
As a result, the Board has been unable to answer the question ‘How can we be sure that the data is valid?’ This is exacerbated by the seemingly constant stream of poorly communicated changes in process or the names of parts of the process, which has added to our concerns that the Standards are not yet ready for use.
When reporting on achievement, Glenbervie School has always focused on progress made because children all come into school at different levels and they meet learning goals at different stages as a result. We work hard to provide quality and innovative programmes and resources at Glenbervie to cater for individual learning needs and we will continue to do this. Our school has nothing to fear from ‘league tables’, data collection or reporting.
As a successful and popular school, with good leadership and above average Education Review Office (ERO) reports, we attract teachers who are professional, committed to teaching, and prepared to take part in Professional Development that will improve their teaching and lift student achievement levels. The Board is unable to understand how these Standards will 'lift achievement levels'. The process of implementation has left the teaching profession confused and angry as their concerns seem to be being ignored.
We believe that quality teaching, quality PD, resources for additional support programmes and support for families and parents from the time their children are born, are what will make the difference.
To summarise; the points of concern discussed at our meeting:
- if this is a 'three-year implementation programme and this is very much a bedding-in year', why have schools been asked to set targets in 2011 in relation to the Standards? How can the data that the Ministry will receive in 2012 be valid?
- how was the Ministry’s Advisory Group selected? Have the people on the Advisory group worked in schools with teachers to see how the OTJ’s are being made? What changes have they suggested? How many Ministry staff have been out into schools and worked with the Standards?
- have they tried to report back to a Board of Trustees with school-wide data and if they have, what conclusions did they come to in terms of how well their students were achieving compared to students at other schools in New Zealand?
- it has been stated that 'National Standards will ‘help schools and the Ministry of Education identify which students need additional support over and above quality teaching’. We believe that at Glenbervie School we have always been aware who our underachieving students are and have programmes in place to support these children.
- you have said that 'It would be irresponsible to pause the programme to do further research and let a school-generation of children pass through'. Surely it is more irresponsible not to get the Standards right before you ask schools to report on them.
- there appears to be a confrontational and inflexible approach being adopted by the Ministry and this is proving divisive and damaging. We have great concerns over this as there needs to be cohesion and respect within the education sector.
The Board has resolved to defer the setting and evaluating achievement targets based on National Standards for the 2011 year and has instructed our principal accordingly. We will of course, continue to educate our students using the processes and high standards that already exist in our school. Glenbervie School will adopt National Standards when the board is satisfied that there is clarity and validity to the standards which can be used without subjectivity and with confidence.
Thank you for encouraging us to give you feedback about the National Standards. We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely
Jim Taylor
Chairperson
Glenbervie School Board of Trustees