Yesterday I asked Anne Tolley about the trials she is having done on NCEA minor standards changes and why her national standards are not being trialled. You judge whether she understands her responsibilities.
Hansard below :-
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour-Hutt South) to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by her statement in regard to national standards that “There will be no concessions, there will be no trial period.”?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) : Yes, and I also stand by the next part of that quote: “Parents want National Standards and they are going to get them from next year. There will be constant evaluation, the tenders are just being let, and if adjustments need to be made, then that will happen.”
Hon Trevor Mallard: Does she agree with the statement that “the trials are an important step that allow standards and internal assessment resources to be road-tested with actual students before being implemented”?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY: From memory, that quote comes from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research’s submission as part of the consultation on national standards last year. It made three main points. Two of them we totally agreed with. In fact, the council agreed totally with the national standards and the way in which they are being implemented, and it was very complimentary. The third point related to the timing of the implementation. Its recommendation was that we have a national road test for 12 months. As I say, that was one submission; 11,000 submissions were made during the consultation period. I think that our agreement on two areas out of three was not bad.
Hon Trevor Mallard: Was the Minister aware that the statement I just quoted came not from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research but from last week’s edition of her Education Gazette on how to develop quality standards?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY: As I stated in my previous answer, from recollection that quote was indeed part of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research’s submission during the consultation period last year. That was its recommendation. I am on record as saying that we are happy to have this year with the standards as a bedding-in year. I think that whether one describes it as a bedding-in year or a road test, they are pretty close. I think that it is very good to have a research organisation like the New Zealand Council for Educational Research onside with national standards.
Colin King: Why did the Government not have a trial period for national standards?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY: This Government was elected with a very clear mandate from parents to introduce national standards to ensure that their children were being assessed against nationally consistent benchmarks and to ensure that parents received reports in plain language about their child’s progress. I have seen all sorts of suggestions for trials-for example, one suggestion would involve a 5-year trial of the standards. I can put it no better than one parent, who attended one of the national standards meetings around the country, who said: “Why should my children have to wait any longer?”.
Hon Trevor Mallard: Why does her Ministry of Education, under her direction, consider it vital to trial minor changes to the National Certificate of Education Achievement (NCEA) but not vital to trial national standards?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY: There is such a difference between NCEA and national standards. NCEA has been in schools since early in the 2000s, and there are very high stakes for students because it represents national qualifications. In NCEA we have a consistent process of improvement. That is exactly what I have said will be in place for national standards. We will constantly improve them, because they are not about systems; they are about kids and their educational success.
I have no time, really looking forward to watching this later.
She just makes this stuff up as she goes along right??
It must be fustrating trying to reason with a brick wall.
She doesn’t really ever answer the crucial questions. The parents wanted better reporting. OK. But it is a huge jump from there to National Standards, untested.
My understanding was that better reporting was going to roll out along with the new curriculum anyway, that took 3 years of work on it, and this was Labours doing, not nationals. I could be completly off track.
In NCEA we have a consistent process of improvement. That is exactly what I have said will be in place for national standards. We will constantly improve them, because they are not about systems; they are about kids and their educational success.
I dont think she understands even what a ’system’ is . Just as well shes not setting policy for hundreds of schools and thousands of classrooms
Trevor you are turning the Speaker older by a decade as he has to listen to her gibberish
Does the Minister of Education support the Whanau Ora as a means of improving the education of children?
Yes. Of course.
Does the Minister support the smallness of initial roll-out of Whanau Ora.
Yes. They have many aspects and processes to sort out first.
Does the Minister think that the National Standards would have been better received if it had also been rolled out in a small way so that it could be trialled in the same way?
No er Yes er No. After 9 years of neglect……….
Ianmac…. Does the Minister think we should continue having one in five kids leave school without adequate reading, writing and maths skills ?
johnbt: No. She may be quite sincere about concern about those whose skills are not up to scratch. Most people will agree. OK?
The question is what to do about it. More testing especially blunt generalised testing will not do it. We have known for years which kids are failing and some of the reasons why they are. How about pouring the money and resources into assisting the kids who are in trouble. A large percentage are kids with English as a second language. Many have deperate home lives. Many in overcrowded classrooms.
So how about it johnbt and your mate Anne? Why not actually set out to solve the problem instead of millions on Scotch Mist?
“bedding-in year or a road test” Sounds like she’s asleep at the wheel!
” I can put it no better than one parent, who attended one of the national standards meetings around the country, who said: “Why should my children have to wait any longer?”.”
- A quote from the one parent in the whole country who is actually prepared to support National Standards.
And a single clap did echo through the auditorium.
“We will constantly improve them, because they are not about systems; they are about kids and their educational success.”
Famous last words –
Thanks for the Vid Trev.
Ms Tolley apparently favours beating down under-performing schools, or at least under-performing children (all of those who will be labelled ‘failures’ if they do not measure up against the untrialled National ‘Standards’) rather than proposing sound policy to address this under-performance. Is it from poor teaching? Probably not. Is it from under-resourcing? Probably. Re-direct your efforts and $$$ into supporting remediation for these under-performing students. Schools already know who they are and don’t need an untrialled/unproven process that has been widely condemned to identify them. Schools would prefer more resourcing to address the problems. I am sure the parents of these under-performing children would appreciate that, too.
I can put it no better than a member of the Board of Trustees at my school who said “Who is this stupid tart!”.
What can I say at 11:25pm
Thought I was still bright and sharp. But her repetitively imbecilic responses have rendered my mind unresponsive and dead.
Trevor: maybe you should post a cautionary warning to viewers next time. The ‘judge for yourself’ approach leaves too much to voluntary assumption of risk.
I convey my deep sympathies for the adverse effects of repeated exposure to the Speaker.
It had better work! Has she stated what the measurement for success will be and in what time frame?
Johnbt – how long will you wait to decide if this (NS) has been a success and will you measure it by statistics alone?
The expense of higher ed is insane nevertheless the government is actually seeking to slash scholarships that are the best way individuals similar to me can afford to go to higher education.
Rickey, I feel for you, and for anyone who thinks this Government gives a toss about you or folks like you. If you’re not in their demographic or inner circle don’t expect much