National standards data not comparable enough to release

23 May 2013

National standards data not comparable enough to release

With last year’s national standards data due to be published as soon as next week, new research shows that the introduction of National Standards into primary schools shows extreme variability in the processes underlying judgments against the standards which makes the release of any standards data irresponsible, says a leading academic.

Martin Thrupp, Professor of Education at the University of Waikato, who is leading the three-year RAINS study*, says that his second report, released yesterday, shows that the data is not national and not standard. The Ministry of Education plans to release nationally aggregated National Standards and the first lot of Nga Whanaketanga data from kura as early as next week.

Professor Thrupp says in the six RAINS schools being studied, judgments against the National Standards were being affected by many sources of variation at national, regional, school and classroom level.

He said they were so idiosyncratic and wide-ranging that it was impossible to accurately compare achievement in any two schools, let alone apples with apples comparisons across all primary and intermediate schools.

The numerous sources of variation that underlie schools judgments also mean that any claim of overall improvement or decline in the achievement of New Zealand children against the National Standards will be quite spurious.

The report also provides some evidence of National Standards having damaging effects on the culture of schools, although this aspect of the study is still on-going.

"Overall this second RAINS report offers many important insights into what is really happening with the National Standards in primary schools," Professor Thrupp said.

NZEI vice president Frances Guy says that the data being released next week will be no better than last year’s data which the Prime Minister called “ropey”.

“Schools have done their best with a flawed and unreliable system. This does nothing to inform us about what is best for kids’ learning. It just sets up “winner” and “loser” schools and labels children as failures.”

*Research, Analysis and Insight into National Standards (Rains) Project - second report: Understanding New Zealand’s Very Local National Standards (available online at www.nzei.org.nz)

ENDS

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