Middle year students not well served, says report

By ALAN PERROTT, education reporter

Third and fourth formers are falling into the "forgotten years" and may require specialised schools of their own, says a report from the Education Review Office.

The study released yesterday found students entering secondary schools are held back by traditions which push them to the back of the class and provide only "marginally appropriate" educations.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard said the report would feature in a review of the national secondary school structure and could mean more middle schools being established for forms one to four.

Gary Sweeney, president of the Association of Intermediate and Middle Schools, said the report and the minister's comments were a "real shot in the arm".

"It's about time we had a look at these middle years. For too long we've only looked at the senior end of secondary, so we're pretty heartened by this. As an intermediate principal. I feel middle year pupils deserve a far better deal."

The ERO report was based on a review of 257 ERO reports of individual schools written between 2000 and 2002.

State secondary schools with students from third to seventh forms (Years 9 to 13) were found to provide the lowest education standards when compared with other types.

But widespread shortcomings were found in curriculum, teaching techniques, student assessment and organisation which the report said have become part of the traditional character of Years 9 to 13 schools. Decile rating, school type, gender, roll size and location reportedly made little difference to the quality of education.

Suggested remedies include a more integrated curriculum reflecting the interests and needs of young adolescents and more student input into the subjects offered and how they are taught.

The report predicted the introduction of NCEA would encourage such flexibility.

The failure to engage third and fourth formers is illustrated by their dominance of statistics for disciplinary actions, with 13 and 14-year-olds making up more than 50 per cent of stand downs (suspensions of up to five days) and open-ended suspensions last year.

The early-teen years are considered by some researchers to be the last chance after infancy to get students switched on to education, but Mr Mallard said schools were not fully meeting the age group's needs.

"That's why we need a special focus on these years, to provide the right programmes and prepare students as well as possible for the transition to secondary school," he said.

Middle schools which serve forms one to four have been promoted as the best answer.

There are only seven such schools, with four featuring in the ERO report. A middle school may soon be built in Albany on the North Shore.

While the report said the information collected from them was too limited to be statistically relevant, it found students at middle schools outperformed those at other schools serving Years 9 and 10.