Tale of Twelve Schools under the new Equity Index System – aka … another chance to improve the lives of kiwis through education butchered.
Minister Hipkins has always argued against differentiation and parental choice in education as “every school should be a good school”.
The Minister has recently overseen the implementation of an Equity Index Number (EQI) system to replace the decile system. Here I have shown what an overall disaster our high school system currently is and put EQIs against the schools’ University Entrance percentage for leavers in 2021. You can look up your old school, your children’s high school or any school you like. While at it ask why the increased funding comes with no accountability at all (a huge PPTA complaint about charter Schools).
The Ministry say this about the EQI system; “The EQI is updated annually through Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), considers 37 variables that we know relate to achievement and is based on the circumstances of individual tamariki and rangatahi, rather than of the areas they live in.”
This could have been good as when you challenge schools on their achievement they will often say – but you don’t know our kids, their family situation, etc, …
If accurate that would mean that schools would the same EQI should be very close in terms of student outcomes. We can test that with, for example, 12 schools (with near equal EQI pairs). The higher the EQI the more students with a range of “risk factors” (Flaxmere College wins that race at EQI 564). Six pairings are as follows:
| School Name | EQI Number | UE for Leavers 2021 | Retention to 17yo | To Degree Study 2020 |
| 1. Nga Tawa Diocesan | 425 | 85.7% | 94.3% | 68% |
| 1. Hobsonville Pt SS | 436 | 52.8% | 89.8% | 31% |
| 2. St Paul’s Ponsonby | 484 | 84.1% | 95.5% | 26% |
| 2. Whanganui High School | 479 | 23.8% | 79% | 27% |
| 3. Christchurch GHS | 411 | 74.3% | 95.1% | 75% |
| 3. Christchurch BHS | 413 | 51.1% | 87.5% | 49% |
| 4. Manukura | 498 | 76.5% | 82.7% | 44% |
| 4. Stratford HS | 491 | 10.8% | 63.4% | 14% |
| 5. Liston College | 496 | 67.7% | 91.7% | 57% |
| 5. Rototuna Senior HS | 460 | 39.8% | 84.2% | 42% |
| 6. McAuley HS | 489 | 65.8% | 96.1% | 52% |
| 6. Southland Boys HS | 467 | 15.8% | 71.9% | 20% |
Three things to conclude.
1. I do not know what the 37 factors were supposed to explain but they SaS do not explain these achievement differences like they said they would. We MUST find out what the higher performing schools are doing and replicate it.
2. Are you supposed to know this stuff? I think – as an educators, parent and grand-parent, business person, politician, taxpayer if should be completely transparent. We have hidden this all away for far too long. When choosing a school the Ministry certainly do not advise looking at achievement data. If you are a school parent (or for any other reason) and want detailed data on your local schools email me on alwyn.poole@gmail.com Go to Board meetings, ask the hard questions, advocate for a support improvements, challenge apathy and excuse making.
3. This matters! Politicians quip – kids don’t vote, the Ministry tries to keep stark realities out of the press, media to do see education as one of their big topics. Education in NZ belongs to families – fight for the best – it is very possible.
If you are one of those people with social media – please share this one.