Standards discriminate against Māori

National standards discriminate against Māori students, says Hita Foster, principal of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Otepou and kaihautu of NZEI Te Riu Roa’s Te Reo Areare.
“The tail of Māori achievement isn’t coming from kids in kura, it’s coming from kids in English-medium schools – and that’s where 85% of Māori children go.

“Yet these standards don’t recognise the cultural context of Māori students – and Māori children learn best within their cultural context, when their whakapapa, their reo, their attitudes, their kaupapa is acknowledged. The research is clear on this.
“National Standards focus narrowly on English written literacy – and go against the progress that is slowly being made for Māori students.”

Hita’s comments have been backed by other principals around the country. Denise Torrey, principal at Somerfield School in Christchurch, said she had looked through the ministry’s standards material for something that was relevant to the Māori students who make up 12% of her roll and could find nothing.
Keri Milne-Ihimaera from Moerewa School in Northland said that the standards contained a picture of a kumara and a kete, but those things seemed to be the only acknowledgement of a Māori world view or Māori learning needs. Her school, with a high Māori roll, is not implementing the standards. “This is something we are prepared to die in a ditch for.  The standards relegate Māori knowledge to the sidelines - which is something that we have no choice but to absolutely refuse to support.”
Te Reo Areare believes the standards discriminate against Māori students to such an extent that there is potential for a claim under the Treaty of Waitangi.

Boards Taking Action

A coalition of some 300 schools has formed to take a stand against National Standards. They are refusing a ministry request to set targets of student achievement against the standards in their charters.

The number of schools joining the Boards Taking Action Coalition grew rapidly at the end of last year, despite the heavy-handed tactics from ministry officials.
Some were told their action was illegal, although an internal ministry document later revealed that there is no legal requirement to set such targets.

Parents “sold a crock”

The government’s goal of implementing national standards in a clear and consistent manner by 2012 cannot be met, according to NZCER Chief Researcher Cathy Wylie. “The standards work is complex, and the standards have not been unpacked in a meaningful way.”
This was just one of many insights shared at NZEI’s National Standards Forum held in November. More than one principal said that, ”Parents have been ‘sold a crock’”,  and NZEI past president and Auckland principal Frances Nelson said the standards were becoming a juggernaut that sucked more and more resources from teaching and learning as the problems unfolded. “Standards are becoming like NCEA for primary schools, and it’s not appropriate.”

Emeritus Professor Terry Crooks said, “We are going down a very dangerous track.” He added that data would be available at the end of 2011 that would enable teachers to use existing assessment tools, such as astle and PATs, to measure students accurately against the standards – but the information that was available now was inaccurate.

Others raised the point that schools were risking their reputations by saying they’d implemented the standards, when this could not be done accurately. “Schools that were early adopters are now being held up by the ministry as examples of how not to do it.”

Public opinion shifts

Surveys and polls at the end of last year show that the tide of opinion is turning against standards.
A UMR poll commissioned by NZEI describes overall public and parent confidence in the standards as “mediocre”.  Only about a third of those polled had confidence that the standards would improve student achievement, a third did not, and a third were neutral. 
Among people who say they know something or a lot about National Standards, 42% agree they are fundamentally flawed and should be scrapped, while 46% lack confidence that they will raise student achievement.

In contrast, a New Zealand Herald poll in February found more than 80% of those surveyed "liked" the Standards. Subsequent online polls on the Herald and Stuff websites in November showed a significant shift in public opinion away from the standards.

The UMR poll also points to the ongoing lack of public understanding about National Standards. Some 49% of parents of primary or intermediate aged children claimed to know “not that much” or “hardly anything”, while only 8% claim to know “a lot”.  It also reflects concern about the rushed implementation of National Standards, with 54% saying they have been hurriedly introduced and should be delayed.

Principals lose confidence

NZEI surveyed principals at the end of one year of the standards policy in schools and found that 58 percent had less confidence in the standards, 18 percent said they had more, and 12 percent were undecided. Some 48 percent said they would not meet the Ministry's deadline for sending in information on student achievement.

Find out more about NZEI’s National Standards campaign at http://www.nationalstandards.org.nz/