9. LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What were the results of the Programme for International Assessment (PISA), which looked at New Zealand students’ achievement in reading, maths, and scientific literacy?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) Link to this
The latest Programme for International Student Assessment results show that our top-performing students are up amongst the best in the world, and we should be proud of that. However, New Zealand continues to have a disproportionate number of lower achievers. In fact, of the top-performing countries in reading literacy, which was the main focus for the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2010, New Zealand has the largest range of student scores between the top and the bottom 5 percent of students. And New Zealand has the largest range of scores in the middle range—that is between the top and bottom—at 25 percent. In addition, there has been no significant change in our students’ performance in reading for the last 10 years or in maths for the past 6 years.
What is the Government doing to address the findings of the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2009?
In the modern world we cannot allow any of our students to be left behind. National standards in reading, writing, and maths will give us the information that we need to address underachievement as early as possible with timely and targeted interventions. To further strengthen work that is already under way, the Ministry of Education will take a much more direct, front-line focus on supporting schools to lift student achievement.