Guess who needs help with his literacy and numeracy?

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, September 5th, 2024 - 76 comments
Categories: Christopher Luxon, democratic participation, education, national, same old national - Tags:

Remember when Christopher Luxon told the National Party that we had a maths teaching crisis?

His exact words were:

Today we can tell you about shocking new data on student achievement in maths last year.

Looking at kids who are about to go to high school, this data shows that just 22 per cent of students are at the expected standard for maths at year 8. That means 4 out of 5 are falling behind. 

The results are deeply concerning, but I suspect not a surprise for many parents who I know are frustrated and despondent about the progress of their own children in school. 

And it gets worse: 3 out of 5 are more than a year behind.

The claim was met fairly quickly with the response that the expected standard was a brand new standard that has not been taught yet so of course most kids did not meet the standard.

And this explainer by Derek Chen at the Herald shows how bogus Luxon’s claims were.

From the Herald:

Two lecturers in maths education, David Pomeroy and Lisa Darragh, say it’s misleading to suggest things are getting worse. Luxon did not provide adequate context, including that the CIPS’ data was based on a new draft curriculum, with a higher benchmark compared to previous years.

“They show a change in curriculum and a new benchmarking process introduced last year by the previous Government, rather than a change in achievement,” they said.

They quoted Charles Darr, a lead researcher involved in the study quoted by the Government: “We’ve been tracking student achievement in mathematics at Year 8 for more than 10 years, and in that time, there has been no evidence for improvement or decline. We do have a new draft curriculum, however, and the provisional benchmarking exercise we carried out indicates it requires a higher level of proficiency than the 2007 curriculum.”

The article points out that New Zealand’s performance in maths has been relatively stable in the PISA rankings although showed a dramatic drop between 2009 and 2012. Can anyone recall who was in power at the time?

And as I set out in this post it was not a case of accidental correlation. National’s axing of professional development courses for teachers in numeracy and literacy to give private schools extra money and the introduction of National Standards should be blamed for it.

National’s actions may be simple evidence of gross distortion of the reality for political advantage.

But what should concern us all is that it may be providing a smoke screen for an ideologically driven rewrite of the school curriculum.

National’s attempt to rewrite the curriculum needs careful investigation. The involvement of a New Zealand Initiative plant and the overstepping of its mandate by a Government advisory group should be deeply concerning. Read this post by Bevan Holloway if you want to understand the background.

He reviewed email correspondence released under the OIA and summarised what happened as follows:

The documents show how a small group of ideologically aligned individuals, most of whom had worked and collaborated together previously, were able to take over the refresh of the curriculum. Their takeover has resulted in most of the work of the hundreds involved in the refresh process over the last four years, including Ministry in-house expertise, being discarded. In the case of English, which has been the primary focus of the efforts of this group, five have rewritten the learning area. That group have stretched the bounds of Public Service guidelines in order to achieve this.

Our curriculum is a national document that sets the regulatory framework for how teaching and learning is to happen in a school. Therefore, we should expect it to be developed according to Public Service due process, which includes specific guidelines around the procurement of those involved in its development. We should expect its development to be wide ranging, consulting with and drawing on the needs and experience of stakeholders across the sector, draw on expertise and, ultimately, reflect our place and people. None of that has happened since the formation of the Ministerial Advisory Group. It was happening prior to it.

His conclusion is chilling:

It is, in my mind, a clear case of bureaucratic takeover by a special interest group. Regardless of whether you agree with their education ideas, their actions are a threat to democracy and we should be alarmed by the ease with which they have been able to achieve it.

The worry is there is a dual reason for the attacks on education. First an attempt to capture a headline and attack the last Government as well as the teachers unions. But also an attempt to use the guise of a crisis to make deep regressive changes to the way our children are taught.

76 comments on “Guess who needs help with his literacy and numeracy? ”

  1. Mike the Lefty 1
    5 September 2024 at 12:52 pm

    I personally think the "learning crisis" – if one should call it that – goes down to the fact that teachers are now classroom managers first, and teachers second. They spend as much, if not more, time managing societal issues that come with the kids as they do instructing.

    We expect a lot of our teachers now that we didn't expect in the past. They are not, but are commonly now expected to be, de facto parents, child minders and PAs to their charges.

    When you have to fulfil these extra roles because nobody else is doing it there is less time available to teach the basics.

    Reply
  2. tWig 2
    5 September 2024 at 2:36 pm

    The rise of kiwi SPADs (Special Advisors) to government. This is a wholesale importation from the UK tory government playbook, where 'friends in think-tanks' replace wide-spread public consultation and the involvement of Public Service institutional knowledge.

    The best-known of the UK spads was, of course, Dominic Cummings, who rose and fell in spectacular fashion.

    Reply
  3. Stephen D 3
    5 September 2024 at 2:53 pm

    A lot of that is true MtL.

    In any one day, we can be councillors, mediators, parents, nurses, and paediatric psychiatrists.

    However most of the time we do manage to deliver knowledge and skills.

    What we could all do with is much more PD across the whole range of our roles.

    Reply
  4. Descendant Of Smith 4
    5 September 2024 at 3:35 pm

    Labour did little to address the ideological infiltration of the welfare system during their nine years, including the lack of implementing WEAG, did little about the increased prevalence of religious teaching in state schools (should be banned entirely), continued to reduce public services and close down jobs in small towns for centralised jobs in large cities, and so on.

    I hardly expect them to now have a different vision or approach.

    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/msd-releases-oia-info-on-dr-bratts-and-other-senior-health-advisors-high-salaries-nearly-4-years-late/

    Reply
    • Michael Scott 4.1
      5 September 2024 at 4:53 pm

      I have spent a lot of time in NZ primary schools and classrooms over the past 10 years and my take is the religious schools provide a high standard of education. Many non religious parents queue to enroll their children.

      Boards have the discretion to allow religious instruction programmes in state schools. This means that while some boards may not close their school to allow religious instruction programmes, others may choose to because it reflects what their community wants.

      Obviously the state funded Catholic and religious "special character" schools teach their beliefs.

      Reply
      • Descendant Of Smith 4.1.1
        5 September 2024 at 11:11 pm

        Boards have the discretion to allow religious instruction programmes in state schools.

        They shouldn't.

        Reply
        • weka 4.1.1.1
          7 September 2024 at 4:16 pm

          do you think Steiner schools shouldn't exist?

          Reply
          • Descendant Of Smith 4.1.1.1.1
            7 September 2024 at 5:00 pm

            Certainly there are people who attended them who would not send their own kids. Again this is not news. Likely no. Some stuff is clearly out of step:

            Formal instruction in reading, writing, and other academic disciplines are therefore not introduced until students enter the elementary school, when pupils are around seven years of age.

            Seems we can disregard national standards and benchmarking if we are weird enough.

            My family was involved in Steiner for about 40 years, and gradually drifted out. Steiner has a public front which looks quirky but wholesome, but then a private reality behind it.

            • It's common for children to attend the primary school, then go on to a normal high school for work readiness. I went through from kindergarten all the way through, and most of my class report better shared experience of the lower school.
            • Don't be fooled, you'll be around people with genuinely weird ideas about medicine etc and a whole host of others things. It's this aspect in particular why none of my nieces, nephews, or children will attend the schools.
            • Steiner had some interesting ideas, some of which sit very uncomfortably in 2023. He was a product of his time, but many adherents struggle to see that.
            • Looking back, it's easier to think of Steiner as like a religious school with its own in-group.
            • You get the same teacher for many years when young. This can be great, as I had a highly qualified and professional teacher. But it was a bit pot luck. If you have a teacher who is neck deep in anthroposophy, this will rub off on the class.
            • The whole community is susceptible to conspiratorial thinking.
            • Look up anthroposophy
            • I was diagnosed as being ASD later in life. Don't be fooled into thinking Steiner is inherently better at dealing with these disabilities than state schools. Steiner himself had some paternalistic and even offensive views on people living with disabilities
            • Read the many criticisms of Steiner schools published on the BBC.
            • My parents have dropped out of the Steiner community after Covid, as there was a really sharp community divide between conspiracy theory enthusiasts and the rest

            https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/171lg8v/those_who_went_to_steiner_school_yay_or_nay/

            Plenty more comments in the thread.

            Do you think Steiner schools shouldn't exist?

            You are asking the wrong question. Do I think they should get state funding is the right question. The answer is no – they should be allowed to die a natural death just like religious schools over time with state schools funded well alongside community adult education and second chance learning.

            State schools can easily provide such broader non-academic opportunities through trades academies and pathway programmes, etc.

            Reply
        • Michael Scott 4.1.1.2
          7 September 2024 at 6:09 pm

          DOS Considering that over 80% of people have a religious affiliation it is unrealistic to contend that parents should not want their children to be educated without accommodation of their worldview.

          Reply
      • Kerry 4.1.2
        7 September 2024 at 11:11 am

        Religious schools should be allowed as soon as they can show hard evidence that their god is real. Imagineary friend cults should be not allowed to educate (brainwash) more children.

        Reply
      • SPC 4.1.3
        7 September 2024 at 1:35 pm

        If it was for religious education, they would advocate for it in the state school.

        So it is more about leaving a failing state school for one nearby. These parents focused on educational outcome would exacerbate/grow the relative performance.

        Reply
        • Michael Scott 4.1.3.1
          7 September 2024 at 2:44 pm

          I don't think that most parents choose religious schools for their children to get a good religious education.

          They choose those schools for the quality of education and for their emphasis on character development for their children.

          They typically feature character attributes throughout the year – (such as resilience, self control, deferred gratification, generosity, honesty, integrity etc) – and weave them into whatever curriculum subject they are teaching.

          Reply
          • Descendant Of Smith 4.1.3.1.1
            7 September 2024 at 4:10 pm

            Nah white flight was the biggest factor – high proportion of Maori students – didn't want a bar of it these parents. Zoning meant they couldn't go to the whitest local state school so religious school was next best option.

            You can couch it however you want but racism was the key to what was going on. It's not like this hasn't been known for a while.

            https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/69025550/white-flight-why-middle-class-parents-are-snubbing-local-schools

            Reply
          • Descendant Of Smith 4.1.3.1.2
            7 September 2024 at 10:04 pm

            lol nearly all my religious friends have had affairs, multiple marriages, have found siblings and half siblings, they knew nothing about through DNA testing, used drugs, and so on.

            Two of them meanwhile believe that landing on the moon is impossible.

            I find them very conflicted between their religious beliefs and their actual real world behaviour.

            The problem in seeing the rest of the world as an evil place is that you see the rest of the world as an evil place. It is why the religious see a young girl getting changed by the side of a pool as a pedophile opportunity when the normal people just see a girl getting dressed by the side of a pool.

            Reply
    • Belladonna 4.2
      6 September 2024 at 10:36 am

      Sadly for your thesis – state-integrated schools regularly and consistently out-perform state schools at every decile level (apart from level 10, where they are equivalent).

      Something that they are doing has a positive factor on the education of the kids enrolled there.

      Reply
      • Descendant Of Smith 4.2.1
        6 September 2024 at 1:29 pm

        I know you would like to think that religion would be the impacting factor but I suspect it is more likely to be impacted by decile levels ethnic make-up, white-flight, more stability of student's family housing, etc.

        Would need some proper research.

        Just looking at groupings of schools by decile integrated schools seem to have higher than average deciles.:

        Secondary (Year 7-15)

        Average decile
        State 4.2
        Integrated 6.7

        Primary

        Average decile
        State 5
        Integrated 5.4

        And there is certainly evidence from Germany that later in life outcomes improved when religion was not taught in schools.

        Historically, the churches promoted traditional religious family role models, advocating gender-specific roles within families and marriage before cohabitation. Correspondingly, we find that the reform led to more equitable and less conservative attitudes towards gender roles and family norms later in life. For example, abolishing compulsory religious education reduced the likelihood by 8% of a standard deviation that a person thinks that men are better suited for certain professions than women.

        Recent studies suggest that gender norms are important determinants for lifetime outcomes (Kleven et al. 2019, Jayachandran 2021), but it is not well understood where these norms come from. Our results show that changes in school curricula can affect gender norms, implying that such norms are malleable in public settings outside the family.

        Abolishing compulsory religious education also affected actual family outcomes. It reduced the probability that a person would be married by 1.5 percentage points and decreased the number of children by 0.1 children per respondent.

        The reform may also have affected economic behaviour and outcomes. The bible quotes Jesus as saying “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24-27, Luke 18:24-27). The decrease in religiosity may have promoted a materialistic orientation. Reducing the time spent in various religious activities may have induced a substitution effect towards economic activities (Barro and McCleary 2003, Gruber and Hungerman 2008). Reducing the time to raise (fewer) children may have changed decisions about family and career planning. Changes in gender norms may have opened up better labour-market opportunities for women. In addition, leaving the church reduces the tax rate on labour income in Germany, increasing incentives to work.

        Our results show that the reform indeed led to increases in labour-market participation (+1.5 percentage points), working hours (+0.6 hours per week), and earnings (+5.3%). Overall, the results suggest that the reform affected people’s lives well beyond the religious sphere.

        https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/religious-education-school-affects-students-lives-long-run

        As well as evidence that it is the initial faith that is important, rather than the nature of the school – which again links back to parental attitudes and involvement.

        So if having faith based students being taught such by their parents at home is the primary cause of better grades than there is clearly little need to have such instruction in schools.

        His study of 8,000 14 year olds in the UK up to the age of 25 finds that those who are more faithful tend to achieve more passes and better grades at GCSE. There is also some evidence that academic test scores at age 18 and likelihood of attending university are also positively affected.

        But faith schools in themselves are not as effective: there are no robust results for educational outcomes.

        https://res.org.uk/mediabriefing/faith-and-faith-schools-new-evidence-of-the-impact-on-life-outcomes/

        Reply
        • Belladonna 4.2.1.1
          6 September 2024 at 2:10 pm

          Well, we know it's not decile (since the effect is observed across schools from all deciles).
          State-integrated schools have pretty equivalent ethnic make-up as the rest of the population (certain a broader representation than is common at Decile 10 state schools). So ethnic representation and white flight is unlikely to be a factor.
          We don’t have any evidence at all that housing stability is a greater issue at state schools than integrated ones (although the pastoral care, that follows up on missing kids, may be a factor)

          The robustness of the educational outcome factor – that kids at state-integrated (predominantly faith-based schools) do better educationally, than equivalent kids in state schools – in NZ seems to be undeniable. You may argue for correlation – but causation is equally likely.

          And, the fact remains, that whatever the state integrated schools are doing (whether encouraging parental involvement, or ethics based education) it's working.

          Perhaps it's more than time for the State system to learn….

          Reply
          • Drowsy M. Kram 4.2.1.1.1
            6 September 2024 at 2:44 pm

            Perhaps it's more than time for the State system to learn….

            Most private schools that integrated into the "State system" did so because they weren't financially viable. Many now achieve good educational outcomes within the tax-funded not-for-profit public education service.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-integrated_school

            Reply
            • Belladonna 4.2.1.1.1.1
              6 September 2024 at 6:43 pm

              And (apart from the Decile 10 state schools – which are also effectively private schools, using public money – since they use zoning as a way to keep out the undesirables) – the state-integrated schools out-perform the equivalent decile state schools.

              Whatever is doing it – it's working.

              Seymour, et al would have a lot less of a case for charter schools, if the state schools were performing. But they are not. And they aren't improving.

              Or do you have some evidence that State schools are improving educational outcomes for students. All the stats are showing downward achievement levels. I don't think that's much to be proud of….

              Reply
              • Muttonbird …
                6 September 2024 at 8:05 pm

                One thing they do is charge fees, which range from about $1200 to $5K per year depending on the decile and/or community location.

                This suggests the family is able to pay that fee and is therefore more likely to have a comparatively good and settled home environment. It also suggests the family places a lot of importance on the education of their kids.

                RE in Catholic schools is compulsory to Y13. Not much of it is about Jesus. Most is about the study of faith (concentrating on Catholic faith but also other religions), how religious and non-religious charitable practice benefits society, the study of the Catholic Church as an institution, and really just how to be a good person.

                Charter schools might have a special interest, usually the bank accounts of their owners and shareholders, and I don't know if they are allowed to charge fees, but what special character do they bring to the table with which to engage students?

                Reply
                • Belladonna …
                  6 September 2024 at 8:18 pm

                  Fees are often waived, and fully or part paid by the dioscese, for families in hardship.

                  I agree that many families attending state-integrated schools value education. I'm not seeing any evidence provided that families attending state schools do not (and think this is a pretty radical assumption to make).

                  I also agree that RE (as a subject) involves a considerably wider ethics-based education, than has previously been characterized by some commenters on TS.

                  I don't know what special character the Charter schools will bring – I expect that we'll see this when the first tranche are released. At least one previous one (Vanguard) emphasized a military-style disciplined approach to education. This, clearly, worked for the kids enrolled. Another (tipped for inclusion in this round), is a special character school emphasizing the educational needs of neurodiverse kids – especially those on the autism spectrum.

                  Neither of these educational styles have the remotest possibility of being accommodated within the state education system.

                  Reply
                  • Muttonbird …
                    6 September 2024 at 8:48 pm

                    Fees aren't often waived. Part of the donation process is to a hardship fund to be distributed to families which find themselves in difficulty, usually from the death of a parent. Catholic schools don't just waive fees. Scholarship programs might however be in place at some schools where fees might be covered for students from low income families who show exceptional leadership, sporting, or academic ability.

                    Apart from being really weird, Vanguard is interesting because it has survived as a special character school since 2019. So why can't other special character schools be founded and operate in the same way without this zero-regulation, contract approach?

                    Reply
                    • Belladonna …
                      6 September 2024 at 9:52 pm

                      Vanguard shifted to become a special character school – when the previous government removed the charter school option. It wasn't something they had a choice over. Although it will be interesting to see if they move back. It's an interesting approach. Not one that would have worked for my family – but it's very clear that they have a significant success rate. Clearly, for some kids, this is the educational environment which works for them.

                      Part of the problem is that the MoE is highly reluctant to allow any new special character schools (I think that new faith-based ones may be an exception, as, of course, are kura kaupapa – but I'm not aware of the hoops they have to jump through to get a new establishment)

                      Here's an example of the 'educational establishment' reaction to a serious proposal for a new special character school – looking at education for neurodiverse kids. The parents and the trust looking to establish the school followed all the correct protocols, and were turned down because 'these children are already catered for in state education' – any parent of a neurodiverse kid will tell you that's an absolute lie.

                      https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/23-07-2021/chris-hipkins-needs-a-reality-check-on-kids-with-special-learning-needs

                      Had the MoE and the education establishment been more flexible in allowing special character schools to be set up; and more willing to learn from obvious success stories in the existing special character establishment – I think there would have been much less interest in charter schools.
                      Right now – parents (like the one referenced above) – have given up believing that the state system has any interest in the educational needs of their kids.

                      Note, again as referenced above, many of these were traditional Labour supporters/voters.

                    • Belladonna …
                      6 September 2024 at 9:55 pm

                      Oh, and I can't answer how often fees are waived – I don't have any knowledge of this. I just see the option to discuss fee waiver with the diocese being advertised in school and church newsletters.

              • Drowsy M. Kram …
                6 September 2024 at 10:14 pm

                Whatever is doing it…

                If someone knew 'whatever', they could market it and make a fortune smiley

                Why is our party of 'small government principles' pushing so hard for charter schools – again? Follow the money – again. A couple of reckons:

                PPTA: Charter schools a 'vanity project' taking cash out of desperate public schools

                Just wait for them to pull a UK on this one. The Conservatives promised to reduce the number of under-performing schools. Their solution? Any school that got a great review from the equivalent of ERO wouldn't be reviewed again (unless there were enough complaints from the parents), and any that performed poorly could be taken over by a private organisation and run as a charter school (which didn't get reviewed).

                It wasn't even stealth privatisation, it was just the public system doesn't work here so instead of fixing it we will fob it off to our mates.
                …
                Defunding public schools is the point. They want to abolish public schools and have all schools privately owned, but funded using public funds. They are running out of public assets to fire sell to private investors so now trying to do the same to core govt services.

                If only charter schools were simply another Seymour vanity project.

                Public schools, not charter schools, need the Government’s support [23 May 2024]
                In making the case for charter schools, David Seymour talks in terms of flexibility, competition and innovation. He claims our attempts to innovate “from the centre” have failed, and that it is time to let communities lead.

                This rhetoric is puzzling given we already have one of the most decentralised education systems in the world. Public schools here have huge discretion over what and how to teach, and the state-integrated schools that are attended by about 10% of our students have even more flexibility.

                Seymour’s rhetoric is also driving a huge disconnect with his much larger coalition partner. National are busy overseeing a program of centralisation: continuing Labour’s reforms to the national curriculum to be much more prescriptive, mandating the same approach to the teaching of literacy and numeracy for every child, setting minimum amounts of time spent teaching certain subjects, and introducing nationally standardised testing.

                Reply
                • KJT …
                  7 September 2024 at 8:50 am

                  Not a disconnect. Just typical disaster capitalism.

                  National deliberately fucking up State schools. So that ACT can follow with giving control of schools, and profits to their cronies.
                  The real aim of Nationals education policy "reforms". The real aims of National’s “Education” policy. « The Standard
                  “When you see that the goal is to commercialise public education, regardless of education quality, and entrench the privileged, wealthy “class”, the seeming ineptitude and incompetence in “improving” “education” from National and ACT, makes sense”.

                  Same thing National has been doing to health for decades now.

                  Reply
                  • Descendant Of Smith …
                    7 September 2024 at 10:20 am

                    Much of educational success starts well before starting school.

                    Our specific recommendations are: 1. The most important predictor of positive learning outcomes at 54 months was the extent to which parents were engaged in teaching early academic skills (eg, early shared book reading and later encouragement of their child to print or read letters and / or words, count or recognise numbers), and on average, parents from all ethnic groups engage in these behaviours fairly frequently. However, there was considerable variation within each group, suggesting that further support to ensure all parents have the skills and resources necessary to teach these early academic skills as effectively as possible would be beneficial.

                    2. There was marked variation in terms of the number of children’s books in the home, and an increased number of books predicted fewer concerns about emotional and hyperactivity difficulties at 24 months. Considering these findings, along with the importance of shared book reading for early learning and subsequent teaching behaviours, we recommend policies that help ensure that all parents are able to easily access children’s books relevant to their individual context.

                    3. Previous research has indicated that conduct disorders have lasting and serious impacts on development, but that research has typically focused on older children and adults. Our results indicate that concerns about conduct even among children as young as 24 months tended to predict less frequent parental teaching at 54 months, suggesting that earlier support may be warranted.

                    https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/research/children-and-families-research-fund/earlylearningoutcomes-november2019.pdf

                    Reply
                    • KJT …
                      7 September 2024 at 3:26 pm

                      "Parents as first Teachers" was one of the successful initiatives that has never been funded adequately.

                      In favour of Charter schools and summative testing to tell us what we already know.

                      And yes. Conduct or neuro untypical behaviours make parents involvement in educating children at young ages much more difficult. Help from very young is much better than catching them at the bottom of the cliff. Funding is rarely available before age 7 if at all. Noting that what funding there was is noticiably being removed.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    7 September 2024 at 11:40 am

                    KJT, thanks for the link to your 2014 post:

                    When you realise the real results of the polices that National, and ACT, want to introduce in other countries, you begin to see the real aims.
                    …
                    When you see that the goal is to commercialise public education, regardless of education quality, and entrench the privileged, wealthy “class”, the seeming ineptitude and incompetence in “improving” “education” from National and ACT, makes sense.

                    Some NAct donors will be happy piglets – profits are back on track.

                    Reply
          • Descendant Of Smith 4.2.1.1.2
            7 September 2024 at 10:51 am

            You may argue for correlation – but causation is equally likely.

            No it really isn't. You make lots of assertions but provide no evidence. Research after research shows things like parental involvement, poverty, reading and comprehension ability, stability of employment and housing i.e. less transience etc are major determinants of academic success.

            I get and appreciate the role religions have paid in developing schools and educating people generally (in a Christian context since the co-inciding of the reformation and the printing press) but as religious belief reduced then these schools were slowly disappearing as a result of secular education and a greater understanding of science and human behaviour.

            They were set up in New Zealand in direct opposition to state funded secular education.

            That they first were given access to state funding and that they continue to market themselves as superior and to see to take funding away from state schools at the same time as in my view unethically teaching about gods who do not exist, and beliefs that oft make no sense in this day and age is weird for an educational system.

            The rise of charismatic, prosperity and rapture religions makes religion and education even more concerning – including the infiltration of home schooling in NZ.

            We have seen where this leads to in the US and where it leads to in places like Gloriavale. Parents can teach what they want at home. The sooner religion is out of all schools – and ensures all children are taught in a secular way the better.

            If we were going to fund religious schools then there are better alternate religions anyway.

            “In many ways, Buddhism is particularly dedicated to education because unlike many other religions it contends that a human being can attain his or her own enlightenment (‘salvation’) without divine intervention,” writes Stephen T. Asma, a professor of philosophy at Columbia College Chicago.

            https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/12/13/how-religion-may-affect-educational-attainment-scholarly-theories-and-historical-background/

            Reply
            • Belladonna 4.2.1.1.2.1
              8 September 2024 at 10:31 am

              However, in the NZ context, kids in state integrated schools including at lower decile levels do better educationally than kids in state schools.

              It's an inconvenient fact, that all the handwavium doesn't remove.

              All of the extra-curricular factors you cite: "parental involvement, poverty, reading and comprehension ability, stability of employment and housing i.e. less transience etc are major determinants of academic success" – are just as present in the integrated schools as in the state ones. Unless you have some actual NZ data to share. It seems, however, that the integrated schools are just better at shifting this dial.

              If Budhists want to set up a state-integrated school, there is nothing stopping them.

              And, finally, state integrated is an option. No parent has to send their kid there. You're free to choose the state system. Why should you remove choice from other parents?

              Reply
        • SPC 4.2.1.2
          7 September 2024 at 1:37 pm

          It's interesting how the decile difference grows – primary small, secondary large.

          Reply
    • Kerry 4.3
      7 September 2024 at 11:08 am

      Labour's maths put NZ in the tough spot we have been going through the past year.

      The NZ Press needs to be defunded due to them turning a blind eye to the absolute shambles that Labour & the Greens created!

      Reply
      • KJT 4.3.1
        7 September 2024 at 3:33 pm

        Another who failed maths.

        NZ was looking fine until.
        NACT took over and manufactored a crises.

        Nothing to do with National and the reserve Bank deliberately causing a recession. Of course!

        Reply
  5. PsyclingLeft.Always 5
    5 September 2024 at 5:00 pm

    Guess who needs help with his literacy and numeracy?

    Is it this guy?

    Reply
  6. Incognito 6
    5 September 2024 at 6:17 pm

    Education is just one other area where the neo-authoritarian coalition government has hijacked process to push through its own ideology.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/526359/ministry-of-education-staff-member-raises-fears-curriculum-writing-teams-not-appointed-on-merit

    Reply
    • Michael Scott 6.1
      7 September 2024 at 2:51 pm

      The proof will be in the outcomes.

      If this neo-authoritarian government improves educational performance it will be lauded. At least they are trying.

      Reply
      • KJT 6.1.1
        7 September 2024 at 3:38 pm

        Doing the things that have manifestly failed elsewhere and here in the past, is "trying" all right. But improving education is not their aim.

        Making state education fail, so they can privatise it for their cronies profit is the inevitable result of repeating failed policies.

        Reply
      • Incognito 6.1.2
        7 September 2024 at 4:19 pm

        It depends on the alleged intended outcomes and then there are the unintended consequences, which may or may not be as unexpected when they deliberately ignore opinion, advice, and evidence (research) from professional stakeholders and experts. Of course, an ideological agenda doesn’t need evidence as such, as it can easily rely on rhetoric and manipulation combined with brute-force powerplay aka authoritarianism.

        This government is too quick to celebrate any scores on the board like an over-eager child.

        https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/525411/the-government-celebrates-more-than-1000-children-no-longer-growing-up-in-motels-but-can-t-say-where-they-have-gone

        But I’m glad you at least qualified your statement with an “if”.

        At least they are trying.

        LOL! That’s the most pathetic excuse of all.

        Reply
  7. Binders full of women 7
    5 September 2024 at 7:12 pm

    Can't we just study what Singapore & Finland are doing and take a leaf out of each of their books and pppuuuullleeease desist with the pathetic tokenism that is dressed up as Matauranga… New Level 1 Maths= 'what angle does Maui need his flax rope to be at to successfully climb out of the kumara pit?'.

    Reply
  8. AB 8
    5 September 2024 at 10:26 pm

    Micky – I wouldn't be surprised if the purpose was ideological capture. But to what end? What is the ideology and what is its goal? I didn't get a strong sense of that from your otherwise excellent piece.

    Reply
    • Belinda Carey 8.1
      6 September 2024 at 7:02 am

      Every good teacher knows that there is a sound set of skills that a student needs in order to progress to the next level in any subject. A well educated teacher will know exactly how to make this learning appealing to the student in front of them. Political flip flopping only condemns another cohort of students to a mediocre education and exacerbates inequities. Let the teachers get on with teaching instead of learning new systems and cleaning out the old. Let them have access to quality research and support and trust them to do the job they have been well trained for by a government which values them and the wonderful children they teach.

      Reply
      • Belladonna 8.1.1
        6 September 2024 at 10:09 pm

        Sadly there are many mediocre teachers. Finding a 'good' one (for your child) is an exception, not an expectation.
        From the current educational results – we already have our kids condemned to a "mediocre education"
        Why should we trust an educational establishment which is not delivering now?

        To take just one example – the research has been back in for decades; the phonics based approach to learning to read, delivers better results for more children, than the whole language approach. The MoE (and educational establishment – including the teacher unions) fought to the bitter end to retain the current (failing) system. Even under Labour, Tinetti recognized that it was time to change – and was resisted by the MoE.

        Yes, the school system, now, is required to deliver far more in the way of social work, than in previous decades. And that's not fair (to the teachers or to the students). But, I don't hear the MoE pushing back on this – and enabling schools to exclude violently disruptive students (indeed, they attempt to get schools to re-enroll them). I don't hear them saying that if students are not learning the basics (perhaps, because they're not ready to learn), then they need to repeat the educational year. Instead, those educationally failed kids move up the school system, becoming more and more at sea, with each year that passes. You don't see the MoE requiring schools report progress to parents in plain language (have you read a school report) – along with an IEP to address the educational issues.

        Reply
        • Descendant Of Smith 8.1.1.1
          7 September 2024 at 6:29 am

          indeed, they attempt to get schools to re-enroll them

          When I sat on the board of low decile high school we took all kids expelled from other schools and in the years I sat on the board only ever expelled one. Quite a few of the kids we took on came from integrated schools and state schools who had a "reputation" to protect.

          Until the funding model changed from an annual set date (from memory first of May) these expulsions very rarely happened early in the year. Once the funding numbers had been confirmed then out they went. John Key's government changed the model to term by term numbers which for our school lost further funding as students moved to work in the latter part of the year to help bring an income into the household. This at least reduced the sudden, but planned for, expulsion purge.

          And yeah white flight to the religious schools was real – including the children of my work colleagues in some cases, as was the poaching of our good sports people – which sometime we supported because it often came with job offers for the unemployed parents. (Noting religious schools knowingly and underhandly take more than the 10% of non-religious students they are restricted to. As my work colleagues said – they were told just to say their grandmother was Catholic. Maybe MOE should do something about that.)

          Charging school fees to our parents was pretty much pointless. Many were unemployed for much of the year.

          Also if you measure schools in terms of improvement from entry to exit you will see quite a significant improvement in many, many schools ranking as opposed to ranking them on just final results. There are substantial variation in the starting points of students across different schools as well.

          Reply
        • KJT 8.1.1.2
          7 September 2024 at 9:08 am

          Most of us are "mediocre" including Teachers. It doessn't follow that they do not do a good job, however.

          The advocates of "one best way" such as those who want all kids to learn to read with Phonics, or who think that standardised summative testing is "the answer" have no fucking idea how education works and how people learn.

          In so far as the system is "failing" which is debatable. There are many other social and economic influences on students ability to learn that the one size fits all magical fixes don't change.

          It is significant that the decline in math scores, for example, coincide with the cohort that were subjected to National's last "unfortunate experiment" in education while in primary school.

          Lastly. Every school i've been involved with would love to have the extra resources to devote to children who don't fit in, not being wasted on yet another idealogical "unfortunate experiment" to allow the private sector to get their greedy incompetent paws on education funding,

          Reply
          • Descendant Of Smith 8.1.1.2.1
            7 September 2024 at 12:15 pm

            These charlatans like to think they are exceptional and deserved in a bell-shaped curve way of thinking. Performance is never on a bell-shaped curve as much as they might like to think it is. People who spout stuff like having everyone be exceptional have no practical experience. Even when you get a group of really good staff you are often forced to artificially rank them into a bell shaped pattern to meet the performance model and so defeats the whole purpose anyway.

            A "Power Law" distribution is also known as a "long tail." It indicates that people are not "normally distributed." In this statistical model there are a small number of people who are "hyper high performers," a broad swath of people who are "good performers" and a smaller number of people who are "low performers." It essentially accounts for a much wider variation in performance among the sample.

            It has very different characteristics from the Bell Curve. In the Power Curve most people fall below the mean (slightly). Roughly 10-15% of the population are above the average (often far above the average), a large population are slightly below average, and a small group are far below average. So the concept of "average" becomes meaningless.

            In fact the implication is that comparing to "average" isn't very useful at all, because the small number of people who are "hyper-performers" accommodate for a very high percentage of the total business value.

            (Bill Gates used to say that there were a handful of people at Microsoft who "made" the company and if they left there would be no Microsoft.)

            https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2014/02/19/the-myth-of-the-bell-curve-look-for-the-hyper-performers/

            Reply
          • Belladonna 8.1.1.2.2
            8 September 2024 at 10:35 am

            Tons of research over multiple decades, demonstrates that phonics based teaching/learning is significantly better than whole language.

            Reply
            • KJT 8.1.1.2.2.1
              8 September 2024 at 4:29 pm

              According to supporters of a phonics only approach.

              Education research over many years is inconclusive about the best methods of Teaching reading. As many document reviews have shown.

              Decades of research had shown that an approach tailored to how an individual learns, by a competent and engaged Teacher, works regardless of the approach.

              If, the coalition of cockups, were really looking at evidence in NZ of what works, they wouldn't be defunding reading recovery. Which uses many different approaches and one on one teaching.

              Reply
              • Belladonna …
                9 September 2024 at 11:16 am

                Actually Reading Recovery uses the same approach which has already failed in the classroom setting – it's just failing one-on-one, rather than in a group. It uses whole language as the default approach.

                Phonics-based reading systems just work better for more kids – the research is unambiguous. Of course some kids learn through whole language approaches. Some kids also teach themselves to read without any teacher intervention (and I'm sure that none of us are advocating that approach).

                The problem with the current whole language approach- is that it teaches kids that 'guessing' rather than decoding is a valid approach. And guessing is a heck of a lot easier – so any kid struggling is going to default to this. It's absolutely clear-cut: kids are explicitly taught that a valid strategy is to look at the picture and decide that the word beginning with 'b' is 'ball' (rather than actually 'blue').

                Then, they find, once they progress to books without pictures – or without pictures which incorporate the whole of the text – that many kids actually can't read (as in meaningfully decode text), at all.

                Unless you're proposing that reading should be taught one-on-one – then an approach tailored to how an individual learns, is just not going to work in the learning-to-read space (or, I'd argue in the maths one – where kids are overwhelmed by all of the *possible* ways to get the right answer)

                Note that Tinetti also proposed the shift to phonics-based learning in the last government.

                Reply
    • Barfly 8.2
      6 September 2024 at 8:01 am

      But to what end?

      Create or claim a crisis – Do a 'there is no alternative' with the new measures to be introduced which will include more privatisation and union busting.

      Reply
        • mpledger 8.2.1.1
          6 September 2024 at 10:15 am

          They want to screw over the labour rights of adults, but say it's really about looking out for children. Yea, right. In what other sphere have they looked out for children? In every other sphere they have looked out for the interests of their donors – nothing has changed here.

          Reply
        • Drowsy M. Kram 8.2.1.2
          6 September 2024 at 11:59 am

          Thanks Barfly – NAct's union busting & privatisation agenda is obvious. Our self-serving CoC govt's raison d'etre is to create new opportunities for private capital.

          The continued rise of private capital [8 Feb 2024]

          New Zealand is experiencing a continued evolution of the sectors that are attracting private capital investment in New Zealand.

          We expect there will be a focus from private equity investors on the healthcare, education and technology services sectors. Many New Zealand and Australian private equity funds have made highly successful investments in these sectors in recent years, and we expect that will continue to be the case.

          Reply
      • AB 8.2.2
        6 September 2024 at 9:31 am

        Yep – union busting and privatisation for sure. But I was wondering more about curriculum content and teaching methods. With every policy announcement by the CoC I'm always on the lookout for what will advantage their donors, supporters and social class over other people.

        Reply
        • mpledger 8.2.2.1
          6 September 2024 at 10:18 am

          Union busting and decreasing labour rights across the board. It's easier to do in education because a) they can say they are doing it for the children and b) the workforce is highly female.

          A crucial lesson learned is that you don't start with miners.

          Reply
    • joe90 8.3
      6 September 2024 at 6:57 pm

      What is the ideology and what is its goal?

      Wanting to "remove references to children's rights, and remove an expectation that schools will use te reo and tikanga Māori in meaningful ways" says settler colonialism.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/526981/education-ministry-considers-major-changes-to-schools-legislated-goals

      Reply
  9. Jim Grounder 9
    6 September 2024 at 5:50 am

    ..is it you?

    I ask that because your article doesn't have any examples of mistakes made in literacy or numeracy from anyone.

    Reply
  10. newsense 10
    7 September 2024 at 4:10 pm

    So yeh, thread on Luxon lies and isn’t upon his numbers becomes Belladonna complains about teachers and schools.

    The maths thing was a deliberate fishing lure to turn a focus on his incompetence or disdain into that in my opinion.

    Reply

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  • Leadership for Dummies

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  • Parihaka infrastructure upgrades funded

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  • Serious assaults down 22% in Auckland CBD

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  • Increased certainty for contractors coming

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Draft critical minerals list released for consultation

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  • Government eliminates $190 million in trade barriers to boost the economy

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  • Reo Māori the ‘beating heart’ of Aotearoa New Zealand

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  • Need and value at forefront of public service delivery

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  • Minister to attend Police Ministers Council Meeting

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  • New Bill to crack down on youth vaping

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  • Interest in agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review welcomed

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  • Bill to allow online charity lotteries passes first reading

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    4 days ago
  • Rangatahi inspire at Ngā Manu Kōrero final

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  • Driving structured literacy in schools

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  • Labour’s misleading information is disappointing

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  • Next steps agreed for Treaty Principles Bill

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  • Government unlocking potential of AI

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  • Promoting faster payment times for government

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  • Acknowledgement to Kīngi Tuheitia speech

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  • Māori Education Advisory Group established

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  • First of five new Hercules aircraft takes flight

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  • Sport Minister congratulates NZ’s Paralympians

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  • New appointments to the FMA board

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  • District Court judges appointed

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  • New Zealand to join Operation Olympic Defender

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