KEY POINTS:
Teacher trainers are defending their standards after a major inquiry criticised the quality of new teachers - and suggested holding back full registration until graduates proved able to consistently raise students' achievement.
The parliamentary select committee inquiry said teacher educators should have to guarantee graduates could effectively manage students in a variety of learning environments.
It is the latest in a series of reports that point to problems with some new teachers. A discussion document released by the Ministry of Education late last year claimed graduates were slipping into the classroom without the skills, knowledge and temperament needed to do the job.
The latest document, which took two years and was sparked by a report suggesting one in five pupils was failing, said some new teachers seemed to be unfamiliar with common assessment tools.
Tina Voordouw, principal of decile-one Rongomai Primary in Otara, said about one in five new graduates she hired were "disastrous".
While Ms Voordouw liked the "open minds" of beginning teachers, she said some had a poor grasp of English and others were not equipped to cope with the realities of teaching pupils struggling with basic living.
"Some of them, they come into Otara and their vision is so high they've missed the foundations," she said.
"Even some of them that want to do a good job and get the kids up to higher levels, they haven't got the management skills for our students. If you can't manage your room, learning isn't going to happen."
Lexie Grudnoff, the University of Auckland faculty of education's director of teacher education, said the new Teachers Council's graduating teacher standards introduced nationally from this year addressed many of the concerns.
She said students would face a rigorous demonstration to show they met the new national standards, which covered the professional knowledge, practice, values and relationship skills that teachers needed as they entered the job.
Teacher trainees would fail if they didn't, said Ms Grudnoff.
"Our aim is to produce teachers that can actually make a difference in terms of academic and social success for all kids."
Ms Grudnoff said New Zealand leads the world with advice and guidance programmes.
The inquiry - which examined how to make "the schooling system work for every child" - said teachers were in an unusual position because those new to the profession had to do the same job from day one as experienced practitioners.
It said every student deserved to be taught by "competent professionals" and it was teacher education providers' responsibility to fill the "complex and demanding" task.
Dr Kevin Knight, of the New Zealand Graduate School of Education, told the inquiry of a decline in the standards of behaviour. He emphasised the need to teach teachers to establish a respectful, calm, work-focused classroom.
Placement delay under fire
Some teenagers kicked out of school are waiting more than three months to get a place in another institution - a situation criticised in a new parliamentary report.
Under-16s "drifting" outside the education system has been identified as a factor in teenage crime.
The Ministry of Education told the Herald a review had been done on the process for dealing with excluded students and new measures were expected to be in place within weeks.
Further details would not be revealed until schools had been told.
Meanwhile, a group of Auckland colleges has launched a pilot programme to try to tackle the problem themselves.
A parliamentary inquiry report released this week criticised the ministry for the delays.
"The Ministry of Education has a responsibility to ensure that students who are excluded are placed elsewhere without delay. We are not convinced that the ministry is meeting its obligations in this regard," the Education and Science Committee report said.
Schools have 15 days to find a place for excluded students - and if they can't the ministry becomes involved.
But in central Auckland, it is understood students wait more than 90 days on average to become re-enrolled once the ministry gets the case.
Mt Albert Grammar School head Dale Burden said a group of Auckland schools were getting together to try to cut the time excluded students spent outside the classroom.
A pilot project - so new that not all parties had signed - would formalise an "understanding" that schools which excluded a student were expected to take one excluded by another school.
MAKING THE SYSTEM WORK
The recommendations of the inquiry into making the schooling system work for every child include:
* Teachers should be awarded full registration after two years' employment only if they have demonstrated that they are able to raise consistently the achievement of their students.
* Initial teacher education providers should have to guarantee that their graduates can manage students effectively.
* Health and support services should be either on-site at all schools, or consciously integrated with local community services.
* Early assessment for signs of future barriers to learning, such as hearing loss or poor phonological awareness, should be administered in early childhood education.
* The schooling system should support worthwhile programmes outside the mainstream for Maori.
* The Ministry of Education must ensure that excluded students are placed in another school or in alternative education without delay.
