Quality teaching key to student achievement, Mallard says

3.00pm

Education Minister Trevor Mallard is putting a new emphasis on quality teaching and says it will be a priority in his programme to lift student achievement.

Mr Mallard today released three research reports which draw together international and New Zealand educational experience and evaluation about how to effectively improve learning.

"The research has found that within the education system the quality of teaching practices by educators is the largest influence on the achievement of children in schooling," he said.

"Stronger connections between homes and classrooms, between parents and educators, are also shown to be a crucial factor."

Mr Mallard said about $120 million was spent each year on professional development and advisory services.

"I am now working, through a careful exercise, to realign this spending so it reinforces what we now know makes a difference," he said.

"This government is today giving a commitment to focus on quality teaching as a key priority for schooling."

Some of the key findings in the documents are:

* taken as a whole, family and community resources, processes and characteristics are the most important influence on educational outcomes for children;

* while educational outcomes across the population are related to characteristics such as ethnicity, parental education and income, there are evidence-based examples of how the link between underachievement and these background characteristics can be broken;

* within the system, the quality of teaching practices is the largest influence on the achievement of children;

* significant gains can result from effective links between home and early childhood education, and through family and educator partnerships;

* effective teaching requires a strong professional knowledge base and expertise that enables teachers to be responsive to the diversity of students;

* differences in achievement within schools and between classes are generally far larger than the differences between individual schools.

Post-Primary Teachers Association president Phil Smith welcomed the reports' findings.

However, he said the reports presented a major challenge to the Government to consider how best it could support quality teaching in New Zealand's schools.

Mr Smith said the findings showed external factors, such as home attitudes, resources and students' own natural abilities and aptitudes affected learning. It confirmed that the quality of teaching was the next most important factor in determining how well a student achieved at school.

"As the reports say, effective teaching requires a strong professional knowledge base and expertise that enables teachers to respond to the diversity of students," Mr Smith said.

He said funding for professional development was eroded when bulk funding began in 1989. Money for professional development had declined steadily during the 1990s and, although it had started to be increased again under the Labour Government, was still not enough.

"The amount which some schools spend on professional development is minimal, as boards balance it against other demands which seem more urgent to keep the school operational."

- NZPA