The report was commissioned by us so we could find out more about how national standards are bedding in. It is very useful because it highlights areas where we need to do more to support schools. In fact, we already knew about the issues it highlights and have been working on supporting teachers to improve their assessments.
It shows 4 years after their introduction, 89% of schools are using national standards data to deliver extra help to many of our kids who need it most. This is about 30% higher than in 2011. That’s really positive.
The vast majority of teachers are doing a great job applying them. The report notes more than 80% of principals were confident about the assessments their school was making. But a much lower proportion were confident about the judgements of other schools.
The report contains 2014 data.
A lot has happened in the last 2 years to support principals and teachers using national standards.
Improvements are being made. But there’s more to be done around how teachers are assessing progress, particularly between those who are ‘below’ and ‘above’ the standard.
The report’s remit was not to assess the value of national standards. The overwhelming feedback we are getting from parents and many teachers and principals is that they are extremely useful in helping show the progress children are making.
National standards are doing what they are intended to do which is show where kids are at in their learning and what they need to do next.
There is a tool teachers can use to more accurately make assessments, known as the Progress and Consistency Tool, or PaCT.
It’s a piece of software that allows teachers to input a range of evidence on a child’s progress in reading, writing and maths and will assist teachers to make sound and consistent judgements.
More than 420 schools have signed up to use it and 400 more schools are interested in using it. Hundreds of workshops to explain the PaCT have been held with thousands of teachers across the country. More are planned. Our focus is on getting more schools and teachers using PaCT to ensure their judgements are robust and reliable and shows them what individual student progress looks like.
We continue to hold workshops and if schools are interested they should contact us on Pact.Feedback@education.govt.nz. The more teachers know more about the tool and are able to use it, the more consistent their judgements will be.
We know that PaCT helps teachers better identify students knowledge of reading writing and mathematics in Years 1 to 8 and will help improve the consistency of teacher judgements. As will the greater sharing of teacher expertise around moderation and judgements, within and between schools, in Communities of Learning.