Advisory group reviews national standards

The Government has set up an advisory group to replace national standards in schools — but has kept it quiet, apparently because of public criticism of the proliferation of policy review groups.

The 13-member Ministerial Advisory Group on the Curriculum, Progress and Achievement will report to Education Minister Chris Hipkins on new measures of student progress and achievement across Years 1 to 10 — two years beyond the old national standards.

The Ministry of Education has also launched an online survey seeking the views of parents and educators. The survey closes on June 28.

The latest advisory group was not included in 122 policy reviews which National Party leader Simon Bridges last week accused the Labour-led Government of starting.

It is due to report by September and will meet up to 10 times.

The two co-leaders, AUT Associate Professor Georgina Stewart and a former Ministry of Education official who led the development of the NZ Curriculum, Mary Chamberlain, will be paid $680 a day. The other 11 members will get $480 a day.

The total cost, including travel to Wellington meetings, has been withheld, but if all 13 attend 10 meetings the daily fees will cost $66,400.

National Party education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye said there were now more than 10 review groups on aspects of education alone, and people were asking how they would all fit together. “Of course there is a role for some, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.”

But Hipkins said the existence of the advisory group and its make-up had been publicly available on the Ministry of Education’s website.

“We want to ensure any changes we make are based on expert advice and that those who are tasked with implementing them have been fully consulted in the decision-making process,” he said.

Hipkins announced last year that primary schools would no longer have to report students’ progress against national standards and said he would “work with the sector, students, parents, wha¯nau and iwi to develop a new approach” by Septem- ber this year. In an April 20 paper for Cabinet he said he no longer believed a new approach was necessary.

The ministry has issued a new version of the Progress and Consistency Tool (Pact) which was developed by the National Government to ensure national standards were measured consistently in Years 1-8.

The new version extends to Year 10 and allows teachers to choose whether to assess their students against national standards or the first five levels of the NZ Curriculum.

The primary teacher’s union, the NZ Educational Institute, has boycotted the tool until now, but NZEI president Lynda Stuart welcomed the plan to assess students across the whole curriculum, not just reading, writing and maths.