8. Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What support will be available in 2011 to schools that have very poor numeracy national standards results in 2010?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) Link to this
The implementation of national standards is a 3-year programme, and the ministry will not have that data until the third year, in 2012. However, for schools that self-identify as having a number of students with very low numeracy results in 2011, professional development in numeracy will be available. The new student achievement team will also be operating in 2011, focused on front-line targeted support in schools.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
When will she announce her milestones for progress towards her objectives for the proportion of students achieving the national standards?
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Has the Minister decided the milestones for progress towards national standards that she will announce when she is ready?
No, these are not my milestones. These are milestones that that member has been asking for, and I have no intention of announcing them before we have decided them, using the independent advisory group that is advising me on what milestones might be appropriate.
Allan PeacheyThe $36 million will go towards new intervention programmes currently being developed for students who need extra support in reading, writing, and maths. We need programmes in place that provide tailored, specific, and concentrated support for students and teachers. These programmes will be monitored closely to ensure that they are making a difference for students.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Is it still the Minister’s medium-term objective that all students, other than those identified by the Ministry of Education as having special needs, will achieve the numeracy standards?
That is the intention of having standards. Evidence is clear that if clear goals and clear steps to achieve those goals are set, then we can lift student achievement.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Has the Minister taken to Cabinet any paper that includes milestones for her objectives, as she has indicated to the House today?
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Does she agree with the Prime Minister that progress towards good policy is measured by milestones?
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Is she therefore being consistent in saying that she agrees with the Prime Minister on milestones but has none for her own most important policy?
I repeat for that member: this is a 3-year implementation programme. We are not even through the first year of that, so the member should give the sector a break. There will not be any results going to the ministry before 2012, and the system is being rolled out as we speak.
Hone HarawiraHas she read the report “Creating strong achievement gains for Māori children in English-medium mathematics classrooms”, which shows that a focus on developing the relationships between students and teachers produced strong achievement gains for Māori students; how will cultural competency be factored into national standards?
There is very good evidence that shows now that the recognition of a child’s culture and language, and the relationship between teacher and student, can contribute strongly to lifting student achievement. The purpose of the national standards is to provide benchmarks so that we get early indications of where students are not progressing as they should be, and that will have an enormous effect on young Māori, for whom the last 9 years of a Labour Government have seen very little progress in lifting their achievement.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I could not tell then whether in answering the question for my colleague the Minister was quoting from an official document with the milestones in it. If she was, I ask for the Māori milestones to be tabled, even if the Pākehā ones do not exist—
Mr SPEAKER