Anne Tolley can’t stand to hear any criticism of National Standards, and she doesn’t want you to hear it either. Audrey Young reports:
Education Minister Anne Tolley is to complain to the Speaker Lockwood Smith over a Parliamentary Library research paper on national standards in primary schools. Mrs Tolley said the paper was “unprofessional”, “highly political” and so biased it could have been written by the union opposing the policy. Mrs Tolley wants the paper withdrawn and rewritten.
Library researchers frequently produce papers on topics of the day, on the economy and legislation before the House. They are displayed in the library, in the Beehive cafeteria and some are available on Parliament’s website. The paper on national standards says:
*”Schools may not have time and sufficient professional development support to become familiar with the national standards.”
*”Students assessed as not achieving could lose motivation for learning, affecting their achievement.”
*”Schools and teachers will need professional development assistance and support that may not be adequately provided for under the standards.”
*”The standards have been designed and implemented in a short time frame that has not allowed a trial to determine whether they have been set at the correct level.”
*”[League table information] does not help parents make an informed choice on what is a good school to send their child [to] and ends up unfairly labelling some schools.”
Tolley has done more than complain and call for the paper to be rewritten to suit her ideological blindness. She has had the current paper withdrawn from the Parliamentary web site. It was there on 26 June (thanks Google):
It isn’t there now:
Although removed from the front page (and from the direct link that dpf provided), the paper still exists deep in the bowels of the Parliamentary web site, and of course Google has a copy. So go read for yourself the paper that Anne Tolley doesn’t want us to see.
[Update: The remaining pdf copy on the Parliamentary web site linked just above has now been pulled as well – but here’s our copy.]
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