Collection of National Standards data delayed till 2012

Education minister Anne Tolley

National standards for primary and intermediate schools will be implemented next year, but the controversial issue of reporting data to the Government will be delayed until 2012, Education Minister Anne Tolley said today.

After consulting with the sector it had been decided to implement the standards in literacy and numeracy with schools reporting to parents on their children's progress against them, Mrs Tolley said.

However the data will not be sent the Education Ministry until 2012 after schools set their targets against the national standards in 2011.

"This timeframe will allow us to work together on addressing the issues, such as how the data is presented and used," Mrs Tolley said.

Many teachers and schools feared that the nationally collected data would be compiled to make league tables on student achievement.

They argued these would be simplistic and misleading.

Mrs Tolley she had taken into account the feedback from over 10,000 people who attended sector and parent meetings or gave written submissions on the issue.

The standards are due to be published and distributed to schools in October of this year.

"National standards will help us to get the best possible results for our children, as well as informing parents about their achievement levels," Mrs Tolley said.

Education sector union NZEI president Frances Nelson said the decision was victory for common sense.

"It is reassuring that the minister has listened to the feedback from the sector and given us extra time to bed down the standards and road test them before any formal reporting has to happen," Ms Nelson said.

Pushing out the deadline for the official collection of standards based achievement information would give breathing space to work through the issues, she said.

- NZPA