Saturday 30 June 2012
Immediate Release

League Tables Will Lead to Children Missing Out - NZEI

League tables of primary schools would provide a false picture of student achievement and school effectiveness and lead to children missing out in the end, the primary teachers union NZEI said today.

Mr Leckie said the initial attraction of league tables was understandable but the teaching profession had an ethical reponsibility to promote what was best for children's learning.

"Superficially, league tables are attractive because people's natural assumption is that they are based on reliable statistical data. However, the Minister of Education herself admitted yesterday that the quality of the information was inconsistent. How can the parents get an accurate picture of what is happening if the information itself is unreliable?"

"There is no evidence to show league tables improve school effectiveness or student achievement, and plenty to show that they force schools to narrow their teaching focus, compete for the "best" students and reject those who fall behind. This will lead to loss of creativity and individual learning because of a narrowing of the curriculum."

"The end result is that schools will begin to say no to some students - children with disabilities, children with difficulties in learning, children with social and behavioural issues and children who come from poorer backgrounds."

Giving parents unreliable information about schools and student achievement was giving them a false picture and not one NZEI could condone, he said.

He said learning, like parenting, was a complex and uneven process. To reduce it to a simplistic ranking based on inconsistent National Standards iwas unfair to students and school communities because it would be inaccurate as a measure of school effectiveness.

If parents wanted to know more about the performance of their school or others, the best way was to visit the school and talk with the teachers and principal. They could also go to the ERO website and look up the school evaluation reports. In that way they could be assured that the information they find is truthful, in context, based on multiple factors and fair.

He said NZEI would be encouraging school communities to talk together about the impact of league tables, charter schools, performance pay for teachers and class sizes next term.

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