NZ falling in education under Nats

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, December 21st, 2012 - 21 comments
Categories: education - Tags:

trends in educational achievementThe other day, David Farrar helpfully linked to an international report (here, here, and here) into achievement in education.

Somehow though, he missed the part where educational achievement rose in all but one measure under Labour and then fell in each measure under National.

21 comments on “NZ falling in education under Nats ”

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  1. mickysavage 1
    21 December 2012 at 9:41 am

    Typical tory.

    Rather than having the decency to concede things are not going so well or to at least ignore the data they try and spin it to suggest things are somehow better.

    • Mary 1.1
      21 December 2012 at 8:07 pm

      “Somehow though, he missed the part where educational achievement rose in all but one measure under Labour and then fell in each measure under National.’

      Yeah, David “by-the-numbers” Farrar. He thinks he can spin anything simply because he “declares” his Tory links. He tells lies on Jim Mora’s radio show, too.

  2. The Baron 2
    21 December 2012 at 10:11 am

    Moving backwards, yes – but at what a rate of knots!

    The only reasonable interpretation of this is the whole game has been static for 10 years. Probably due to the stranglehold the damn teacher unions have on any innovation.

    For shame really, my paycheck thinking rather than whats good for kids thinking.

    • Craig Glen viper 2.1
      21 December 2012 at 10:20 am

      You have no idea Baron do you? How is it the unions fault given National are implementing their policies? This is Nationals failed policies coming home to roost, face it Baron the political policies you champion just dont work. National and its supporters always want someone to blame for the shit they create.

      • burt 2.1.1
        21 December 2012 at 12:49 pm

        How it’s the unions fault… Teachers are underpaid and have been for decades… And wow .. the union has been strong throughout that time but never seem to make things better for the teachers.

        NB: Creating a hideously complicated remuneration situation isn’t helping either – imagine how well the teachers might be doing if they were paid like IT contractors and weren’t constrained by needing to keep a whole bunch of union tossers feeling important as they keep the teachers fighting the man so they themselves can keep their jobs.

        • One Tāne Viper 2.1.1.1
          21 December 2012 at 1:04 pm

          Why do you even bother? Do you think your drivel actually persuades or informs anybody? All you do is demonstrate your myopia.

          Do I really have to add [citation needed]?

        • felixviper 2.1.1.2
          21 December 2012 at 1:17 pm

          The teachers are the union you div.

        • mike e 2.1.1.3
          22 December 2012 at 12:49 pm

          burt how come every time national are in power our education standards slip!
          The latest research shows that countries with national standards type testing have no improvement or slide backwards in education outcomes+ this standards type testing takes away creative thinking as well !Something New zealand is or was World renown for!
          Hey burt with your thinking our people will all be living in yurts!

  3. alwyn 3
    21 December 2012 at 10:25 am

    I don’t think you can possibly justify your claims for the relative performance under National and Labour on the numbers in the report.
    Why do you label the columns as 2001/3 and 2006/7? The report appears to give figures for 2003 and 2007, not some average across a number of years.
    When you look at a change between 1995 and 2003, and assume that the results were obtained at the end of the year, then it included 4 years each of National and Labour led Governments. It is impossible to say what happened under each Government separately.
    I could spin that it rose hugely in the first 4 years and then dropped in the next 4. You of course could argue the reverse.
    Similarly for differences between 2007 and 2011 which includes a period under each parties leadership one can’t say what happened under either.
    I admit I only skimmed the whole reports so perhaps I have missed something important but I don’t really think so.

  4. Blue 4
    21 December 2012 at 12:19 pm

    But the NZEI and PPTA say its amongst the best in the world and doesn’t need changing? Using these same measures during the Labour years it still wasn’t amongst the best in the world. It was mediocre at best, so why do the unions insist it is at the top, when it patently isn’t, and hasn’t been?

  5. Pascal's bookie 5
    21 December 2012 at 2:35 pm

    The thin about numpties wanking on and on about the bloody teachers and unions and all the rest.

    They don’t know what they are talking about. They really don’t. Most of the ‘innovations’ they imagine teachers are selfishly stopping,are imported from the US, developed in think tanks and designed for ideological reasons.

    Their own blinkers mean that all someone has to do is whisper ‘unions’ at them and they’re off. It’s all a big conspiracy if damnable lefties and lazy time wasters and cultural marxists and and blah blahh cut my taxes.

    Turns out those damn pinko scum in the treasury reckon the ACT party is full of shit too though.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1212/S00136/treasury-documents-reveal-scepticism-of-charter-schools.htm

    “This competition takes place in a context of parents having poor information on which to base their choice of school and empirical evidence that suggests the gains from competition are minimal or negative….”

    “We remain sceptical around the student achievement benefits that could be gained from introducing more actively competitive mechanisms into the New Zealand schooling system, such as vouchers, removal of zoning arrangements and increasing financial support for private schools. Systems that have pursued these policies have not gained systematic improvements in student outcomes.

    “There are provisions within the current system to increase the diversity of schooling choices available to parents….although these have been used infrequently…..this may indicate that the current level of diversity within the state sector is sufficient to meet parents demands.”

    That’s the whole National/ACT philosophy of education policy shot to shit, on its own terms, by Treasury.

    So just listen to the people who actually know what they’re talking about for a while now eh? Don’t just assume that teachers are scum because they are are unionised.

  6. Georgy 6
    21 December 2012 at 3:12 pm

    People resort to blaming the unions when they dont know what they are actually talking about. It is mindless rhetoric. And the nact govt use these trolls all the time to create spin.

    • indiana 7.1
      21 December 2012 at 4:42 pm

      Are you suggesting that teachers can operate with impunity? Those 40 people can take action against poor performing professional. What action can a class full of students and their parents do against a crap teacher?

      • karol 7.1.1
        21 December 2012 at 4:53 pm

        Parents and children can complain to the head or education authority. And some do. Unlike with doctors and lawyers whose professionalism is widely respected, many more non-teachers think they know how to teach.

      • freedom 7.1.2
        21 December 2012 at 9:10 pm

        sometimes i really wonder about the thought processes of other people 🙁

        i am suggesting indiana, based on your bizarro take on things, that you missed the point

  8. Saarbo 8
    21 December 2012 at 4:50 pm

    David Farrar is a joke. He has got his work cut out trying to stand up for this incredibly inept National government.

  9. lurgee 9
    21 December 2012 at 11:33 pm

    Don’t think you can read too much into these figures. They seem to show high points in 2001/3 and then a steady decline since. Probably nothing to do with the party in charge.

  10. SPC 10
    22 December 2012 at 2:03 am

    Until we get a focus on child poverty demographic change is not on the side of New Zealand doing well in international comparison.

  11. AC 11
    22 December 2012 at 7:31 am

    This is exactly what National wants. I would have thought they would have achieved a greater failure rate than this (they even failed to achieve this). The more unqualified workers we have the better for the economy. Cheap labour force! In reality they couldn’t give a stuff about the quality of our education system. Look for more cost cutting in this sector, larger class sizes, performance pay (that has the opposite effect on quality of teaching) and more school closures. Make education accessible to only those that can afford it. Hypocrisy seems to be this government’s national standard. Back pay, pay rises for them- no one else! If performance pay is meant to lift achievement then surely this is the pay system our MPs should be paid by. This year most of them would be living out of their Ministerial cars. What a year of balls ups.