National Standards: The government is listening – but only to people who say what it wants to hear

Today, more than 300 schools handed their charters to the Ministry of Education without National Standards information because they believe setting targets for student achievement using National Standards will produce unreliable information. They were supported by the NZEI. All 300 must be processed within 25 working days, as per section 63A of the Education Act 1989.

Coincidentally, there seems to be a bit of a scrap between the NZEI and the government's National Standard’s Advisory group - a group set up to give the sector a voice and provide feedback to the government on the implementation of National Standards.

The group released its latest report after this month's meeting - and included many recommendations.

One was that “the Minister should be invited to approve the launch of a carefully managed process of review of the standards themselves alongside the current monitoring and evaluation of implementation”.

The NZEI responded that while the education sector was saying that the standards were flawed, it was significant that the National Standards Advisory Group was saying that they need to be reviewed.

Not so, responded Professor Gary Hawke, who heads the group. He said that rather than an admission that the standards needed to be reviewed because they were flawed, they were more about beginning to explore “ how continual improvement might be extended to the way the Standards are stated”.

So it’s all about the language - how how certain teachers express how things are done.

Rather than talking to schools that are representative of the sector, the group appears to be only listening to certain schools - called “ leading schools” - who undertake National Standards-speak. These schools claim National Standards is successful, as teachers say they are able to “diagnose where gains in student achievement are available”. The advisory group can then provide palatable advice to the Minister.

Meanwhile the NZEI would rather express things in language other than National Standards and so the two groups are talking past each other.

The schools’ Boards of Trustees and teachers just want the best for their students whatever the Ministry tells them to do. But in correspondence with the Ministry, many are couching language in National Standards terms for fear of reprisal.

Meanwhile in the classroom, most are doing what they have always done, because they recognise that National Standards – however carefully managed - makes no difference to student achievement.

But you won't hear that advice from the advisory group.

Leaked Ministry document says National Standards opponents are acting legally

A leaked document from the Ministry of Education states that the Ministry will struggle to assess school charters using the National Standards because of its own decision to move the date requiring schools to submit charters from the end of May to January next year. All updated charters have to be sent to the Ministry of Education every year and must be processed within 25 working days, as per section 63A of the Education Act 1989.
The leaked document[PDF] states schools joining the "Boards Taking Action Coalition" who have pledged to defer sending in the charters are acting legally. The Education Act does not specify when charters have to be sent to the Ministry, provided they are sent every year.

In practice, schools send in only the annually updated section of the charter, in the form of the annual plan. Training for Boards of Trustees on developing charters for National Standards only commenced this month. I blogged about the quality of that training here.

For schools that send charters that do not meet the requirements of the Act ( and we know that about 245 schools have pledged to send in charters that won’t meet the requirements) the Ministry determines when that charter takes effect. The leaked document states that charter processing will increase the workload significantly.

We anticipate that you will initially sift the charters to determine whether or not they meet the requirements, and identify those which need further work…. It may take a year or two for you to work out the best way to process this large influx of charters in a short period of time

A new or updated school charter takes effect on the 25th working day after the date that the Ministry receives it. How many school charters – with or without National Standards information - will take effect 25 working days after the Ministry receives them because they have not been processed in accordance with the Act?

Ministry of Education can’t answer school trustees’ questions on National Standards either

It is well known that lots of teachers have been to training on National Standards. In fact more than 80 percent of teachers’ personal development has been on getting to grips with National Standards. However, the teachers and principals have said that many of their questions are not answered, and some princpals and teachers have boycotted further training..

The Ministry is now conducting training with Boards of Trustees. It is offering training to Board members on how to set goals in line with National Standards for their charters. School Charters have to be sent to the Ministry of Eduction early next year and all goals must be in line with National Standards. However, no clear guidance has been given by Ministry officials, hence the training programme for Boards.

While the training for boards is only starting now, trainees still can’t clearly answer questions, this time from Boards of Trustees. This is not good enough. It is clear that assessments of student achievement are consistent, but teacher judgements to make an assessments against the standards are neither clear or consistent.

If the Ministry can’t answer questions in a consistent manner to teachers, principals or Boards of Trustees, there is no way that Boards of Trustees throughout the country are going to be able to present data to the Ministry in a collectively consistent manner. Consequently, teachers will not be able to assess their own students under National Standards in a nationally consistent and valid way.

National Standards sounded like a good policy last year - which is why so many supported it. Support appears to be dwindling when parents, teachers and principals realise that officials can't answer questions on how the policy is supposed to work better than current assessment practices without National Standards adjustments.

What the schools rebelling against National Standards actually signed up to

The Herald is reporting that a third of schools that have signed up as having no confidence in National Standards are in fact going to implement National Standards after the Ministry rang the school to find out if they were or not.

It is important to be clear that each principal of every rebel school supports the board’s actions. But boards did not sign up to boycott the National Standards. They did not sign up to report to parents without using National Standards. They did not even sign up to point blank defer sending achievement targets relating to National Standards to the Ministry. They did not sign up on instructions or pressure from the NZEI or any other union.

Here’s what they signed up to. They signed up to an expression of no confidence in the standards as well as ticking one (or both) of two options. If option one is ticked, that incorporates option two anyway.

1. Urging the Minister to engage in rebuilding the standards in partnership with the sector and to work together for an outcome widely endorsed by the sector, with the action of deferring setting student achievement targets against National standards in 2011

That’s not a boycott. While it is an expression of no confidence, these schools have not agreed to stop reporting to parents using National Standards. If the Minister appropriately engages with the sector, no schools will defer setting 2011 achievement targets against National Standards.

2. Urging the Minister to engage in rebuilding the Standards in partnership with the sector and to work together for an outcome widely endorsed by the sector

A school could completely comply with National standards and sign this section.

Its unclear how many schools ticked option two only, how many ticked option one only, or how many ticked both options. Nobody seems to know.

What is interesting is that there is little guidance as to what the Ministry of Education requires in terms of how 2011 achievement targets are to be reported when schools forward their charters to the ministry early next year. What happens if schools report what appears to be National Standards data, but really the data is actually the assessment data, not that data aligned with the National Standards. What if the assessment alignment to National Standards is just a data transfer – in other words a school decides to grade the same proportion of people who meet the assessments as also meeting the National Standards. Who is to know?

Another political protest on National Standards

National Party supporter Peter McKeefry has a few kids at Clyde Quay school and has complained that his school has "boycotted" National Standards without consulting parents. If he looked at his school newsletters and attended the arranged meetings on National Standards - including one next week - he would have a better idea of what his schools position on National Standards, because as a parent he has been consulted. He just chose not to turn up. He has been given all the relevant information. Has he read it? Or is it easier to undertake a political posturing exercise by going to the media and sending OIA requests to the school to get information that is publicly available.

McKeefry is threatening to withhold donations to the school next year in protest at the boycott. Yet McKeefry knows the school has not boycotted National Standards because he reads his kids' school reports. While Clyde Quay School is reporting to parents on National Standards, it is considering whether to report their 2012 achievement targets to the Education Ministry. He said that his school was denying him his "legal right to know how my children are doing at school."

He's wrong - and he is unable to advise how his legal right has been denied.

It is debatable as to whether a school is breaking the law if it doesn't report concrete 2011 achievement targets to the ministry. While school charters have to give effect to education guidelines, including National Standards, it is less clear how that is to be done when teacher judgements are based on current assessments, but aligned to national standards.

As National Standards are like benchmarks, any charters sent to the Ministry of Education that report the standards will be a little like reporting on how a school is using a scaling system that tells students, parents and Boards of Trustees nothing extra about students' actual academic achievement.

The debates on National Standards are about politics, not education

National Standards in schools are becoming a hot topic as of late. The Minister has said that National Standards are to lift student achievement, while her Ministry has publicly stated that they “won’t make the difference” (to a students achievement) as they are merely signposts.

The trouble with recent debates on National Standards is that the issue has become highly politicised and rhetorical, with much of the news coverage focused on ideological debate and mired in claim and counter-claim. Often the focus on children, schools, and the National Curriculum has been lost altogether. Schools like Balmoral School and Island Bay School, who are publicly outspoken against National Standards and have said they will not implement them, better hope they have good ERO reports or else their educational shortcomings will be highlighted. And one wonders, if Balmoral school Board of Trustees is not only refusing to implement National Standards, but is leading the campaign against the standards in their area, why their school’s charter states it is to report to the Board of Trustees on National Standards in the Annual report. One wonders why its strategic goals state that they will “undertake training and development in the use of National Standards so that the school can report to students, parents, the Board, the community and the Ministry of Education”, when they are publicly opposed to the standards.

So far about 240 Boards of Trustees [full list here] have said they will not implement National Standards. Some have rejected them, others have decided not to provide education targets to the Ministry, but are currently writing school reports mentioning National Standards. Education officials have been reported as saying that the Minister may sack rebel boards of trustees and replace them with commissioners if they don’t toe the line.

While the Education Act does provide for that, if the Minister was to take this approach to boards who do not implement National Standards, she’d be breaking the law. To sack a board or appoint a commissioner, the Minister must have “reasonable grounds to believe that there is a risk to the operation of the school, or to the welfare or educational performance of its students”.

I doubt whether any minister, let alone Anne Tolley, could provide any grounds, let alone reasonable grounds that a board is risking the welfare or educational performance of its schools by refusing to implement National Standards.

But it is not just some opponents of National Standards that are making things up, stating that the standards are setting kids up to fail, supporters are also writing letters to Ministers. One of them, from Island Bay School, sent his letter to David Farrar at Kiwiblog who blogged it - you can read it here( or in the comments below). Among the allegations he raised were: that the Board of Trustees had no paperwork in reaching the schools decision on National Standards; that parents were not consulted apart from one open meeting, and implied that the slides used at that meeting were unavailable unless requested via the Official Information Act. Finally the parent called for the Minister to dismiss the schools Board of Trustees.

As earlier mentioned, the board can’t be dismissed simply for ignoring National Standards. Also the school had consulted on more than one occasion. All paperwork is publicly available, including Board minutes, and the slides were publicly available through the Ministry of Education, so no OIA request is needed. Had this parent bothered to show interest and attend a Board of Trustees meeting, or any other meeting, he could have got some answers. But this man doesn’t want answers, he wants to play politics. Instead of writing to the Board of Trustees, he writes to the Minister stating that schools who refuse to implement National Standards are “ not doing their job”, consequently requesting that the Minister act in an unlawful manner in sacking the board.

Principals get together to campaign against National Standards

The Principals Federation campaign on National Standards is now starting to see light of day. They have a website paid for by New Zealand primary and intermediate school principals out of their own pockets to help parents understand the dangers and limitations of National Standards and why the system won’t deliver what was promised.

During the weekend New Zealand Principals’ Federation President Ernie Buutveld posted Why parents should be worried. Why the system won’t deliver.

The way the National Standards system has been designed, there is a range of different answers a teacher can give about whether a child is ‘at’, ‘working towards’ or ‘above’ the standard. The Standards have room for different interpretations thus making them subjective. One teacher’s ‘at the standard’ is another’s ‘working towards’, and so on.

Because the National Standards are interpreted differently in every school, they won’t give parents an accurate picture about how their school is doing, when compared with others.

.In its simplest terms the National Standards are not ‘national’ standards at all. Rather, they are subjective and individual benchmarks for where a specific child is placed, at a specific school, based upon a specific teacher’s professional judgment of that child, determined after the teacher has used his or her own personal selection of available assessments and indicators.

In addition, the extra money being promised in National Standards is not targeted to the kids who need it most.

Education Ministry to educate parents on National Standards

The Ministry of Education has sent brochures to boards of primary schools for them to distribute to parents to educate them on how children can meet the various National Standards. Apparently these weren’t sent to schools, they were sent to board chairs instead – perhaps to ensure that principals unsupportive of National Standards - which appears to be most of them - didn’t throw them in the bin.

I’ve read the National Standards and the brochures. While the brochures are good and explain what children need to do to improve their learning, they fall a little short in reflecting the Standards. However they do reflect aspects of the National Curriculum. For example, in discussing reading standards at Years 4 and 5, the brochures (see Year 4 [PDF] and Year 5 [PDF] state
that to meet these Standards, children will know what they want to read, they will “read smoothly, like taking”, recognise and understand information in different kinds of books, and understand different levels of meaning.

But the actual Standards for Years 4 and 5 demands that students will read, respond to and think critically about texts. It states they will locate, integrate and evaluate information on ideas as they work at Level 2 and towards Level 3 of the New Zealand Curriculum respectively. That’s just to meet the standard.

It is unclear why the Ministry wants to communicate to parents on National Standards without reference to documents like this [PDF] that attempts to explain what the Standards actually are. It is also unclear why the Ministry does not appear interested to advise parents what children need to do to exceed these standards. It is also unclear what the Ministry is expecting schools to do, because the leaflets say one thing, the Standards another, the Minister, something else altogether.As this indicates, Anne Tolley is deluded.

Meanwhile schools are grading kids as either “meeting” “working towards” or “exceeding” National Standards when they are not even required to grade kids in this way for the purposes of reporting to parents.

Anne Tolley's comprehension standards

Anne Tolley is at war with teachers of over National Standards. She has welcomed a report (as opposed to actually reading it) from the Education Review Office which shows that 80 percent of primary and intermediate schools are already making good progress with implementing National Standards.

Except the report doesn't say that.

The report actually says that less than half of schools have a plan in place to implement the National Standards. In fact 80 percent of schools are not well prepared to implement National Standards. Those schools that are, are ready because they are merely continuing with what they already do. The report says that only 15 percent of teachers and four percent of school trustees understand National Standards, and at least a third of schools hadn`t even thought about how to moderate teacher judgments to ensure consistency of student achievement against the standards.

Tolley thought it was "extremely encouraging" that 75 percent of schools have taken advantage of external support in trying to understand National Standards. What's not so encouraging, however, is that those conducting the external support haven't answered teachers' questions.

Still, she is encouraged that " the vast majority of schools are working hard to implement National Standards in a professional and positive way."

Except there is no evidence that they are..

How you can be above or well below the National Standards - on the same piece of work.

Here is how a parent who has seen their child's school report can be sure that their child meets the National Standards, if that report claims to do so.

In a mapping exercise, a team of 14 experienced teachers independently worked through a set of tests and aligned them with National Standards. They looked at various pieces of work and assessed then against the National Standards. Slight problem - not all got the same assessment.

Here's the graph for Year 8.

The dotted line at 1650 points, shows the judgement made by these experts for a set of scripts that all scored 1650 points. The graph shows that a script with a total score of 1650 can be judged at and below the standard, but also judged well below and above the standard, depending on who assesses it. You can get all these judgements against the National Standards on the same test score.

If a child's work is to be assessed by one school as well below the standard, and above the standard at another, surely that raises questions of reliability if the standards are not clear enough for teachers to consistently use the assessment tools to accurately measure student performance against these standards.