le driving to the gym tonight I was listening to Anne Tolley being interviewed for checkpoint on Radio New Zealand. One of the points she made was that schools have standardised assessment tools that are aligned to the national standards that they can use when reporting to parents. It is true that schools have a multitude of standardised assessment tools but my understanding is that the work to align them to the national standards is far from complete - term 4, 2010 is the timeline I have heard.One of my leadership mantras is to underpromise and over deliver. At the moment it feels like our parents are being over promised (the assessment tools will not be aligned in time for the first round of plain english reporting) and we will be left to manage the resultant under deliver. This seems a little unfair on schools.
If it is true that the assessment tools will not be aligned to the natioanl standards until term 4 then it would be good if this is the message that everyone hears.
my point is do we want politicians telling us what and how to teach? does anyone really want that. you wouldn't tell a surgeon HOW to operate. just get rid of the rubbish teachers and principals, give ERO some teeth and get on with the job of identifying those who are failing our kids.
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ReplyDeleteWhy is this not being highlighted in the media?
If the the National Standards and Assessment Tools will only be aligned by Term 4, then surely this highlights considerable complexity, and it would reinforce needs for trial - most likely NEXT year?!
A good question. John Key's pamphlet to parents certainly includes a requirement for schools to report whether a child is above, at, below or well-below twice a year. Not sure how we can reliably do this ahead of aligning the standardised assessment tools.
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