Labour fears maths revamp will repeat past miscalculations, National admits it will be a ‘big ask’

By RNZ

Labour is hoping the Government’s changes to the way maths is taught in primary and intermediate schools keep in place strategies it says are working to lift achievement.

Education Minister Erica Stanford and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Sunday announced the rollout of the new maths curriculum would begin next year, saying it is necessary to ensure children stop falling through the cracks.

The maths action plan for Years 0 to 8 will ramp up expectations on teachers, backed by a $20 million investment in professional development.

“This is going to be a big ask on our teachers because the system has been letting them down for many decades,” Stanford told RNZ’s Morning Report.

“I mean, they are the most passionate, wonderful people you will ever meet. They have not been well-served by the system. Initial teacher education hasn’t been up to standard when it comes to mathematics. We haven’t required a high enough bar to get into initial teacher education with mathematics. And now it’s my job to make sure that the teachers have the professional learning and development and all of the resources that they need to wrap around them for next year.

“I’m also meeting with all of the peak bodies this week to say, ‘What more do you need? Let’s be creative. Let’s be flexible. What do we need to make this successful for teachers next year?’”

“But I accept it is going to be difficult next year, but I’m putting everything into this, but we cannot wait. Those statistics show us there’s no time.”

New Zealand last year recorded its worst-ever results in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests of reading, maths and science amid an unprecedented global decline in performance. New Zealand students, however, still ranked above the global average, with other countries also recording sliding scores.

Labour education spokeswoman and former minister Jan Tinetti acknowledged work was needed, but wanted to see the detail in National’s plan.

“We’ve got lots of research... in New Zealand that shows that some of the best approaches that will lift Māori and Pacific [learners] by quite a number of years within a year are the developing mathematical inquiry communities. So I’m really hoping that there’s going to be that focus on this, because other approaches – such as the numeracy approach, which was brought in from overseas, brought in from Australia – haven’t had that same impact.

“So I really hope that the research is going to be followed here, and there’s going to be an evidence-based approach and we don’t follow mistakes that we’ve made in the past.”

Tinetti, a former schoolteacher, said previous attempts to streamline the curriculum across schools were not always successful.

“We know that in the past the numeracy project was a consistent approach and did not have the results that were needed. And basically – because it was a lift and shift from overseas, we brought that in from Australia – it was contextualised to a certain extent, but it wasn’t appropriate. The evidence showed that it was not making the difference.

“Now we do have programmes that are being implemented now at some schools throughout the country that... do have that impact, positive impact on our learners that have the most inequity for them.”

She said based on her experience of the numeracy project rollout in the early 2000s, it would cost a lot more than $20m to get every teacher up to standard.

Stanford said charter schools would be exempt from the new maths curriculum.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) and Education Minister Erica Stanford speak to media about the new education move. Photo / Claire Trevett

“Charter schools, you know, have their own ability to write their own curriculum and do their thing, and they will be held to account for their results.

“But in the state sector, the new curriculum will be compulsory from next year and we will be providing curriculum-aligned resources to every teacher – including a detailed teacher guide of how to teach each concept, in which order, and workbooks for every single child, and resources.”

Large numbers of recently-appointed primary teachers lacked the most basic school qualifications in science and maths, research published in May showed.

Stanford acknowledged fixing that would take “many, many years” to unfold.

“So what we need to do immediately to get our kids up to standard is provide those teachers with a detailed teacher guide – a booklet – that shows them what to teach, how to teach it. If they don’t know, click on a video, shows them how to do it.

“It’s been done in many schools. These are private providers that provide these resources. We’re contracting them, which is why I can’t go into the detail about how much yet because we are in negotiations at the moment and it’s commercially sensitive.

“But every single teacher will have that guide, curriculum-aligned, and every single student will have a workbook so that they can practise and the resources that they need to teach this new curriculum. It is significant.”