School Year Begins Free from National Standards

School Year Begins Free from National Standards

'It is great that schools across the country will begin the 2018 year free from the national standards millstone which has created so much anxiety,' said Whetu Cormick, President of the New Zealand Principals' Federation (NZPF).

The new Government announced in December last year that national standards would no longer be a requirement. Rather, the Minister said that he wanted schools to continue to report clearly to parents twice a year about the progress their young people have made in all areas of the curriculum, not just in reading writing and maths.

'We were quick to let all school principals share in this news,' said Cormick,' and also sent out the Ministry's announcement and links to assessment tools and resources,' he said.

'Before and during the national standards era, schools used a variety of assessment tools to measure learning,' said Cormick,' including learning progression frameworks, e-asTTle, tools for learners with diverse needs and PAT tests, amongst others and teachers have always reported to parents on the progress of their young people's learning.'

'What is so liberating about taking national standards away is that we can now focus on the wider curriculum, without having to obsess about national standards, and choose the assessment tools that best fit our own school contexts, ' he said.

Cormick said he is confident that his 2000 colleagues will be taking the initiative and passing this information on to their school communities so that together they can choose the best ways to assess students' learning and report to their parents in the future.

ENDS

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