Laws on National Standards
January 31st, 2010 at 11:01 am by David FarrarMichael Laws writes:
And so into this surreal realm has been injected the future discipline of national standards. An idea so sensible and overdue that one wonders what took so long. The logic is self evident. Except, it appears, to the teaching profession.
In steeling themselves against such external discipline, teacher unions – and their membership – have made themselves utterly risible. They are opposed to defining standards of age-group achievement, opposed to parents knowing their children’s level of competence against those standards, and opposed to schools providing such information to the Ministry of Education.
Basically sums it up. Worth reminding people that Labour is also opposed to parents knowing how their kids are doing against standards.
Why? Because they are scared witless by the concept of accountability. That a national tool might soon exist that identifies under-performing schools, under-performing teachers and under-performing kids.
The Government does want to know which kids are not meeting the standards. Not to punish the kids, or the schools, but quite the opposite. They want to then deliver extra funding to those kids and schools to maximise the chances of bringing the kids up to the desired standard before it is too late, and they become one of the many who leave school unable to read, write or count.
There is another subterranean theme running through the union dissent. That not all their membership is opposed. Many teachers see national standards as their chance to shine. They perceive them as an opportunity to test their imprint upon their charges. To establish a baseline for the norm of achievement for their age and socio-economic charges, and then beat it.
Better still, to be able to communicate the truth to the individual parent without having to find distracting commentary. And confirm bad teachers in their midst.
Little wonder that the School Trustees Association has thrown its public support behind Education Minister Anne Tolley, and dismissed the objections of teacher unions as illogical. The opportunity to be open, honest and transparent around what a child knows and what they do not, has the capacity to revolutionise teaching standards.
It is only the Luddites who are opposed. They, rightly, fear change. Because it will require them to justify their existence and their methods. And that is no bad thing.
Some people welcome accountability, and some fear it.
Related posts:
- Pagani on National Standards
- ERO on National Standards
- Top UK Principal on National Standards
- Dom Post on National Standards
January 31st, 2010 at 11:09 am
Any good teacher, and probably most not so good, must already know which chidlren are learning as they ought to be and which aren’t. Parents don’t and want to.
But identifying who’s not learning well is only the start. Instead of protesting about the standards, teachers should be putting their efforts into ensuring the system changes to get the next step – helping the children who aren’t up to scratch.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:15 am
Most parents who want to know how their kids are doing find out now.
Will national standards make any difference to parents of most underachieving kids? Or will they still not care?
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:19 am
Lets hope John Key and the rest of National stand firm behind Anne Tolley.
She will be under serious attack from the left in the media and elsewhere, and they stop at nothing, with personal destruction always being their favourite strategy.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:30 am
The critical aspect to this issue is understanding why teachers are opposed. You can’t implement something like this and make it successful unless you sell it to those who operate it. You can of course make them do it but designing something like this that can’t be sabotaged from the inside is almost, if not definitely, impossible. So you have to sell it and to do that, you have to address and overcome all of their opposing arguments. Tolley is not doing that, but she has to, if she wants to be successful.
For insight into some of those opposing arguments, take a look at this thread on the Educational Leader’s forum.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:41 am
The sole purpose of the teacher unions is to promote their left wing ideology to impressionable young minds while protecting the lazy and incompetent amongst their ranks. Any attempt to make them accountable to society for their lack of performance will be resisted to the end. When backed into a corner their leaders will, as we have seen, mount a personal attack on the Minister. I think John Key has made the right decision as Anne Tolley will need all her wits about her to deal to the dirty tactics that all stinking socialists resort to when called to account.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:42 am
reid, like you had to sell the Nazis the idea that exterminating the Jews was not a good thing?
There comes a time, and in this case it is long gone, when the time for selling is over and the time for telling begins. Boards of Trustees should be given the means with which to identify and confirm the saboteurs and to dismiss them without appeal.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:44 am
Parent’s want it? Parents want anything that they think will help their kids, whether they are right or not, and in this case, all the international evidence, all the proof, shows that national standards like this are a crock of shit.
If all the parents in NZ wanted their kids to be taught the earth was flat, would that be enough reason to do this? No, because it would be wrong. This is exactly the same.
As much as you enjoy baiting the teachers, you have to admit that the evidence is hugely in their favour. This is a feel-good policy that will achieve nothing beneficial for pupils. But hey, it makes National look like they’re responsive to parents. It’s a cynical, manipulative move to win votes, it has nothing to do with getting kids the best possible education.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:47 am
I do find it strange Tolley had the Tertiary Education portfolio taken off her, it gives the left lots of ammunition to claim that Key is “demoting” her, or that she is failing in her plan to implement standards…
It also seems like s strange act from Key, like Tolley has lot some of his support. If Key was to get right in behind her and stand up to the unions, he could push most of these changes through by virtue of his own personal popularity, which is still massive.
Who are the ordinary people going to side with? Rabid, brainless unionists and sopping wet journalists, or our most popular PM recent history??
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:54 am
” Educational Leader’s forum ”
What a typical Stalinist misnomer. Anyone “leading” education in NZ when its such a basket case dysfunctional socialist failure should be too damned ashamed to admit it.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:55 am
Adolf, I rather suspect the number of saboteurs will be in the thousands. What are you going to do? Dismiss all of them?
Mike, precisely why is this policy wrong? Lots of teachers say it is, based on international evidence. But what does that evidence say, and even if you point to cases where it hasn’t worked, is that because in that particular case, the design is flawed or because it can never work, per se?
Problem for me is, that competition works well as a performance enhancer in most areas of life, so I don’t understand why, provided it’s properly designed, it should not also work in education. Although I’m not a professional educator, I have of course been through the school system, and drawing on that experience as a participant, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
[DPF: Lots of miners went on strike in the UK also. Does that mean they should have got to govern?]
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:56 am
“I do find it strange Tolley had the Tertiary Education portfolio taken off her, it gives the left lots of ammunition to claim that Key is “demoting” her,”
Yeah, but for now, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. There must a be a spine somewhere under all that jelly.
Edit- Well, mustn’t there?
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 11:58 am
” Adolf, I rather suspect the number of saboteurs will be in the thousands. What are you going to do? Dismiss all of them? ”
Damn right. They’re third level employees, not managers. They just need to do their damn job the way they are instructed to do it.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Just return to bulk funding and let the winners rise to the top.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Competition won’t work in education because the teachers union does not want it. As Adolf says sack the saboteurs. Surprise, surprise suddenly competition will work. Reagan did it to the US air traffic controllers and it worked Tolley can do it here if she has the bottle and the backing from the leadership.
Maybe that is what the teachers union fears so much, they have bullshitted the parents for a long time backed by socialist governments. Perhaps they see the writing on the wall this time with at least nine years of right wing government hence the desperation in their attacks on the Minister.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:07 pm
My son just left high school. I read his report. I haven’t a clue as to his basic educational abilities. The reports don’t give me that information only a lot of fuzzy warm stuff. I talked to ambitious students that have left high school to go on to universities. They say the same, the system is to promote laziness and hold back the hard workers. Even the students say this. Teachers and left wingers do not want to be accountable for their work. Being a parent, a standard is desperately needed.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:19 pm
what kind of people are happy to work in an environment where you cannot strive to better yourself
and be measured against others.
the leaders in there fields want to, measure their abilities, have room to think and be rewarded for hardwork.
you would think it would be of national importance to have only the very best
Vote:when it come to educating our future.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Jackp , have you heard of NCEA. That should give you some idea ‘ if he just left high school’.
Has he A,s Bs, or C,s. That a ‘standard ‘ is it not. Or have you only taken an interest ‘now hes left’ .
DPF says “They want to then deliver extra funding to those kids and schools to maximise the chances of bringing the kids up to the desired standard ”
Oh really. And what would the extra funding be . Or is this wishful thinking. Since as the ex napier deputy Mayor Tolley has said . There is no more money for education. ( but there is some for her publicity campaign)
However we allready know the schools where they arent achieving. They will be getting more money this year to rectify this
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/alarming+report+shows+need+urgent+action
Of course not. Tolley doesnt have a policy to spend extra for poor achievement now neither will they have one in the future
Farrar is just Spinning
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:20 pm
” My son just left high school. I read his report. I haven’t a clue as to his basic educational abilities.”
I’ll nut shell it for you-
Well indoctrinated in fake environmental religion, feminism, Maori racial supremacy, contempt for our Jeudo-Christian heritage, fake NZ history, the mantra that one should never ever do anything that might be construed as offensive (especially by homosexuals) and the looney tune concept of “social justice” and a dozen or two of other well disguised Marxist concepts.
Training in traditional educational- reading writing arithmetic, history and science? Minimal to zero.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Interesting that on the same day as we read that the Laws family are entrusting Lucy to the state primary school system, he launches an attack on those very people who are to care for her:
“It is easy to dislike schoolteachers. They are reviled for many reasons – fair and unfair ………., but the primary world is different again. It is now almost a male-free zone gushing Gaia and bran muffins. ……..”
(http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/3278915/Now-Lucys-off-to-school/)
How would you say to Lucy’s teacher tomorrow – watch your back, perhaps.
What hypocrisy from Wangas.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:25 pm
well they could close down under performing schools.
crap teachers could be fired.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:27 pm
“Since as the ex napier deputy Mayor Tolley has said”
Just like I said the stinking socialist losers can’t resist the personal attacks on the Minister. Shows they are down to their last few cartridges. Fuck off troll.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:28 pm
dont forget
having a good first 15 is of high importance
subjects like
soft-work and hard work.
i mean wtf!!!
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:28 pm
This documentary on the bulk-funding fight back in the 80′s screened on the Documentary Channel before Christmas.
You get a flavour of its perspective from the short description on the site: e.g.
Unfortunately I have a feeling that history is about to repeat itself here, as it tends to do when you don’t study it and learn from it. Accordingly I hope and expect that Tolley has analysed just precisely what went wrong in the 80′s and has incorporated those learnings into her strategy. Puzzlingly however, what I’ve seen so far is a play-by-play replica of the same failed strategy. Tolley, are you listening? I hope you’ve been talking extensively to Lockwood and Wyatt about this.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:33 pm
that is the most left leaning, bias discription i have ever heard! lol.
dog eat dog sounds like natural evolution to me.
socialists are so un-natural.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
” This documentary on the bulk-funding fight back in the 80’s screened on the Documentary Channel before Christmas.”
For Christ’s sake. Its not a damn documentary. Its Goebellian propaganda. Why the hell are you always giving the left legitimacy by framing the debate in their terms??
The way to defeat the left is always to confront their lies and to call out their lying propaganda agents in the mainstream media. They never have an an argument that is underpinned by truth, and this is always their greatest weakness.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Ian Wishart did a search of the Te Kete Ipurangi website, in which they describe themselves as:
“TKI is a bilingual portal and web community which provides quality-assured educational material for teachers, school managers, and the wider education community. It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education”
101 items under the heading of “social justice”
157 items under “women in history”
29 items on “women’s suffrage”
96 on diversity
63 on racism.
0 on the US constitution
0 on the magna carta
. . . I think you get the picture
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:38 pm
The Documentary Channel (with a few notable exceptions like Palin etc.) is a propaganda showcase for left wing crap end of story.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:41 pm
The left’s worst nightmare.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/parents-rush-to-switch-schools-after-my-school-website-goes-live/story-e6freuy9-1225825015932
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Ann needs to prepare the political ground carefully. Line up support everywhere and then go in hard against the teachers unions that are opposing Government policy. But preparation is essential.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Most of the arguements I’ve heard from the Union movement are about teachers trying to make themselves look good, and not about teaching kids how to read, write and add. Until I hear a persausive argument that standards will mean kids can’t read, write and add better then I am 100% behind them.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:55 pm
common sense
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 12:59 pm
RB, when I watched that doco, I had the leave the room several times to vomit. Plus, I wasn’t aware that my previous post contained any connotation of approval. I merely follow Tsn Tzu’s advice: know your enemy intimately.
As we all know, the education system holds thousands of people who share that documentary’s perspective. They comprise, in my judgement, the vast majority within the teaching profession.
Now Tolley can’t ever hope to convert these fools, they’re too blind, ignorant, arrogant and full of hubris. But nevertheless she must find some way to deal with them. One obvious strategy is to bypass them altogether and use the parents and the school boards as pressure points which is what you’re talking about when you suggest calling them out in the MSM. I assume she’s going to be doing that a lot. Another obvious but extremely difficult strategy is to understand the precise nature of their objections and shoot them down one by one with unassailable science and logic. That leaves these fools with nowhere to run to, since their precious intellect, in their minds far superior to all others, has been bested using the very tools they themselves relied on to develop their flawed perspective. But doing this is unbelievably difficult because their egos are bound up in their perspective. They passionately believe that competition is flawed because it creates winners and losers and you can’t have losers under any circumstance. It’s basically about as easy as convincing Maori to give up all their land claims.
If I was Tolley I’d be inviting the world’s top educational professionals who advocate national standards to give endless seminars and press interviews and I’d be making sure that both parents and educators were invited to those seminars. That does two things: it allows all the NZ educators to have a public opportunity to express all of their objections and it ensures that a national debate has been had so the NZ educators and Liarbore politicians can’t then turn around and say they won’t do it anymore the moment National loses power. It’s the only practical way I can see that these fools can be dragged kicking and screaming into this brave new world.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Check out the link provided by Sweetd above above. Here’s an excerpt-
” PARENTS rocked by the My School website have already begun pulling their children out of poorly performing schools. At the same time, principals from Sydney schools that rate highly on the Federal Government website have received dozens of calls from parents wanting to transfer their children, the Sunday Telegraph reports. ”
The task is simply this- ensure that the opinions of parents and the public are those that prevail, and that these opinions are not overridden by an organisation of self interested leftist propagandists and their media cohorts who have always put political power before education.
The biggest problem is the National Party’s isolation from real NZ and its infuriating willingness to succumb to pressure from self serving bureaucrats, elitist media propagandists and various other outspoken advocates of Progressivism.
There’s every chance this shallow and timid cadre of bumble fisted leftist sycophants (National) will hang Tolley out to dry in the mistaken opinion she lacks real support.
The left will try their hardest to undermine her as they’re well aware of the spinelessness that characterises National. The task of anyone who wants to free education from the death grip of indoctrinating leftist totalitarians is to try and stop the Progressives from undermining Tolley.
Given the directionless and purposeless state of National, and their sheep like willingness to succumb to the strategies of the left, (that the Nats are apparently so inexplicably blind to) no easy task.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Redbaiter, there is already a website for you if you have this desire to find underperformining schools.
Vote:It is http://www.ero.govt.nz.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:58 pm
bc, I thought that ERO’s main job was to seek out and expose those schools which weren’t being sufficiently rigorous with respect to applying PC psychobabble bullshit…
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 2:13 pm
” Redbaiter, there is already a website for you if you have this desire to find underperformining schools.
It is http://www.ero.govt.nz. ”
So why all the frantic concern with the establishment of another source of information??
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Well ERO is obligated to invistigate whatever is mandated by the government (they call it areas of interest). Such areas of interest have included Maori/Pasifika achievement, bullying, welfare of international students, and preparation for the new curriculum. They also are obligated to look at administrative and educational requirements (NAG’s and NEG’s). There’s a lot of information there if people are prepared to look for it.
Vote:Unfortunately, from reading these posts I’m guessing people like redbaiter just want a nice easy table to look at from school 1 at the top to school [whatever number] at the bottom. I may be wrong – it would be good if he could put his misimformed (ignorant?) prejudices to one side and elaborate.
So the question becomes, how to do make such a ranking? On what criteria/weighting?
ERO reports also give information on whether schools are getting results on national qualifications like NCEA at a higher or lower level than similar decile schools. What more do you want?
January 31st, 2010 at 2:41 pm
“So why all the frantic concern with the establishment of another source of information??”
Because the “source of information” (National Standards) is too simplistic – I believe it insults the intellegence of parents.
Vote:And it could also lead to misinformation. For example, lower decile schools often have to deal with kids who come to school considerably “below standard”. They are never likely to meet some kind of arbitarily defined standard, but they make considerable improvement. Great, except all it looks like is that the school has kids below standard. By having a basic standard the schools added value is ingnored.
January 31st, 2010 at 2:50 pm
People could make exactly the same subjective assessment of the ERO site. Go away you feeble brained hypocrite. Stop trying to force your damn deceit ridden socialist POV down other people’s throats, and stop attempting to deny parents information.
They want it, (as the Australian site proves) and there is no way they should be denied it based on the politically partisan logically disjointed rhetoric of divorced from reality zealots like you.
Get out of the way with your politically motivated garbage.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 2:55 pm
bc, I don’t know what RB wants, but what I want is a “nice easy table to look at from school 1 at the top to school [whatever number] at the bottom.”
“So the question becomes, how to do make such a ranking? On what criteria/weighting?”
A universal national exam where students are given a % score which everyone sits and from which every single student’s mark is published – names excluded, for every subject and for every school in the country.
NCEA gives meaningless bands and I may be wrong, but IMO it was introduced like that in order to protect students from experiencing a sense of failure. Well newsflash. If a child has been properly loved and cared for at home, they can take failure in their stride and place it in its proper perspective. I acknowledge that some children don’t have that experience but the vast vast majority actually do, and it’s a complete mystery to me as to why many educators insist upon dumbing every single thing down just so the minority can avoid feeling depressed. It’s irrational, because you can in fact have your cake and eat it too: i.e. there are other ways to deal with the failure issue, you don’t have to throw out the whole competition thing.
What is a complete mystery to me is why educators are so resistant to exposing themselves to competition. I mean, every other profession is exposed to it. What makes educators so special, bc?
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 2:58 pm
“PARENTS rocked by the My School website have already begun pulling their children out of poorly performing schools.”
And in a shock to the rich, it is there schools that are performing poorly.
“SOME of Victoria’s most prestigious schools are underperforming on national reading and writing tests when compared with similar schools, according to the Federal Government’s controversial My School website.
Mount Scopus College, whose students topped the state in the VCE last year, performed below average compared with similar schools on year 7 reading tests and year 9 reading and spelling tests.
Elite private school Geelong Grammar – which charges almost $28,000 to put a student through year 12 – performed ”substantially” below similar schools in grade 3 spelling at its Toorak campus.
Other high-performing schools such as Carey Baptist Grammar, Trinity Grammar and Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College lagged behind similar schools on some national testing measures.”
No doubt this is not the type of result the redbaiters of the world were hoping to see. And listen to the squealing :
“But schools hit back at the results, saying that national testing was still in its infancy and the data would lead to damaging league tables.
Mount Scopus principal Rabbi James Kennard said his school was roughly on a par with similar schools but the data was only a snapshot. ”It inevitably leads to schools being judged … based on one particular aspect and ignores the huge totality of the life and workings of the school,” he said.”
Top Schools Lag
There’s a lot more to teaching than a pass mark.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Why don’t you let parents be the judge of that, bc?
An oft made point but who gives a fuck, bc? Right now, today, there is one school in the country that does a better educational job than any other school. Now why doesn’t it make sense to identify that school and learn how they do what they do so that other schools can emulate it. And why can’t that happen on a permanent basis so that over time, the performance of every school is enhanced.
Munting on about the loser school and lamenting that parents will judge it badly and making excuses for its poor performance really just shows what you focus upon. You’re obviously an educator and your perspective re this issue is transparent. Clearly there are thousands more educators who think just like you. My question to you is, why do you and your like-minded colleagues only ever focus on and discuss the down-side and never ever ever mention that there is also an upside?
In any case, if this is the biggest objection that you’ve got toward introducing league tables then it’s a pretty dismal argument you’ve got there buddy. I could think of a dozen ways to manage that issue so it didn’t become the problem that you bemoan and I don’t even work in education.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 3:18 pm
The teachers’ unions in opposing a popular policy of the Government will provide the Government with a heaven sent opportunity to drive the teachers unions out of education and into the gulag. It would be good to see them mining salt in siberia or in the NZ context cutting scrub on the Chatham Islands.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 3:21 pm
” No doubt this is not the type of result the redbaiters of the world were hoping to see. ”
How about you learn some damn manners and cease presuming to speak for others?
I totally reject the proposal that dromgools such as you and so many other politically partisan activists posing as school teachers should be gate keepers of information on the education system. Whatever the information, good bad or indifferent, it should be out there for parents to make use of, and not restricted by self interested jack booted anti freedom of expression goons like you.
Not that anything written in the commie Age is worth more than a pinch of goat shit.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 3:37 pm
“No doubt this is not the type of result the redbaiters of the world were hoping to see. And listen to the squealing”
Interesting LeftRightOut how you conflate those who support league tables with that select group of parents who have the financial wherewithal to send their children to extremely expensive schools.
Like so many lefties, you can’t seem to discern that there is in fact a huge number of merely middle-class parents who have nothing more than common sense and very average resources, who also want league tables.
In your fevered imagination, perhaps the league-table-supporters also wear top hats, old-fashioned three-piece suits and smoke large cigars while they while away the hours being mean and cruel toward the poor. Possibly this fantasy is also what prevents you from understanding that those parents of children at Geelong etc would be very pleased indeed to have those result, for it gives them a good reason to go and beat the principle over the head with them until s/he cleans up their act and starts giving them value for money. And why would that be a bad thing?
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 3:55 pm
What really worries me is that the teacher unions who are so opposed to National Standards are very supportive of the new curriculum. Could it be that the principles of the Treaty will now be more important than science or maths?.
I assumed the ruination of our education system by those women in sensible shoes was complete when I found out you could get a credit towards NCEA by picking up rubbish or answering the phone. But no. It just gets worser.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I don’t support this measure but I’m prepared,since I’m no longer in the classroom, to see how things go.
Vote:But a few points I want to pose.
When they find that schools in South Auckland,Porirua,Rural Northland and lower socioeconomic areas are constantly not meeting standards will they pour money into those schools, money that has been taken from schools teaching effectively.
I am sure that will be accepted kindly by communities around the country !!
If we achieve results that reduce the failing group by 5% then we probably doing well. What we are trying to do is like convincing alcoholics to stop consuming alcohol. Many of these failing students have parents who couldn’t care less about reading. Will they reinforce the good results from school.
Reading Recovery was a great scheme, however the adage “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink” is very applicable in education we all go to school but arrive at the school gate with differing entry behaviour.
As a TLA councillor I shudder to see the results of library surveys where only about 50% of ratepayers use a library. I get angry at hearing people talk about the fact that they haven’t time to read or to read to their young off-spring. Seems like reading is off the priority list for many kiwis. Now some TLA’s are going to charge for book borrowing.
A lot of the opposition to the teachers seems to be from people who have had unfortunate school experiences. I find the NZEI and PPTA really bully boys . Teachers are not all idiots, although some of the bloggers are so biased themselves they don’t realize there is another point of view.
Perhaps vouchers to parents might be the best idea- good schools succeed with numbers. Success breeds success in succeeding schools. Failure is endemic in failing schools.
I don’t think the present proposal will have a great impact other than political image making.
January 31st, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Neil, why do you appear to think the only solution is to provide money? Secondly why would you want to take it off the top performers? To punish them for standing out from the mediocre? Money is one possible solution, but it’s far from the only one and furthermore, it’s not always the panacea those without it seem to imagine it is. The additional health funding during Liarbore’s reign didn’t result in a commensurate increase in ops, did it.
I always keep an open mind on everything, but I also care about outcomes. For years I’ve watched the PC psychobabble bullshit approach run rampant in our education system and guess what? The results keep getting worse and worse and worse in terms of the outcomes that are being produced. Law Schools have even had to run High-School level English classes to improve the standard of student essays FFS. That’s just one example.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 6:43 pm
So, simply put all of this is to allow parents the evidence so they can exercise freedom of choice in their child’s education. Why not do this, and at the same time provide a voucher system so the funding can follow the child. Now we have truly empowered parents. Failing Schools can compete with what they have against those which are successfuly, and at last – in one area of Government Provision – the market will provide.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 7:08 pm
The money didn’t initially increase operations because the resourse limitation was staff. In order to increase operations you have to go and hire surgeons and nurses. There is not some big pool of surgeons waiting around for a job to come up, you have to go and get them from somewhere. There is a huge lag in the system.
The education pot is a fixed amount (or so the minister tells us). If the all this standards stuff is to identify the failing kids so that resources can go their way (or so the minister tell us) then the money has to come from someone where. It has to come from the schools that perform well.
One of the negative things that’s going to happen is that students with diabilities, behavioural issues or leaning difficulties will find it harder and harder to get into a school, stay in a school and will spend more time between schools as schools fight with the MoE to keep them out.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Just because you have a voucher doesn’t mean that you will get into the school you want (there are physical resource limits). If some other kid is better than yours than he/she will get in first.
Vouchers won’t be parent choice but school choice. Look what happened when AGS set some places aside for kids from South Auckland, a huge number of parents chose the school but only a few (and the very best) students were chosen by the school.
Vote:January 31st, 2010 at 8:00 pm
mpleger I dont know where you get your information about the out of zone enrollments at AGS ( Auckland Grammar School)
Perhaps you have relied on gossip because its not what AGS says
“My son is a very strong academic / sportsman / musician. Will this give him preference over other boys for an Out of Zone place?
No. The ballot is carried out under police supervision and is akin to a lottery or lucky dip.”
http://www.ags.school.nz/content/enrolment/frequently_asked_questions.html.
I understand its the government requirement that all out of zone places are balloted
I could say you dont know what you are talking about , that includes 95% of those commenting here and more
Vote: