Helping students perform better
One of the reasons that Kapiti and Horowhenua are popular places to raise a family is because of the good quality schools in our region.
Already this year a new Teen Parent Unit has been announced in Levin to help students who might otherwise drop out of school, and as you probably know, a new school is planned in Waikanae. This will help cater for the increasing number of young families in the area.
As a nation though, we need to improve the results of schooling for our students. While most New Zealand kids do well, we still have a significant “tail” of underachievers.
Around 20% of students leave school without adequate literacy and numeracy, which is why we introduced National Standards.
The Standards are signposts which show what Year 1 to 8 children should be able to achieve in reading, writing, and maths, and by when. Parents now receive plain language reports on their child’s progress twice a year.
Despite a few critics, the programme is working well and I’ve heard good feedback from local parents who appreciate the easy-to-read updates.
As a parent of three young children myself I know how important it is to stay involved in their schooling and give extra help when and where it’s needed. I really enjoyed attending their three-way conference recently where they showed off their work and I could ask questions.
Minister of Education Hekia Parata is also looking at developing a robust way of evaluating teacher performance.
Evidence from other countries shows that a performance system should have a wide range of inputs, including student progress and achievement, and feedback from other teachers, students, and parents.
Once we can identify how well a teacher is doing then we can share best practice with other teachers, target professional development, and provide a mix of rewards that encourage higher student achievement.
A few weeks ago the Prime Minister announced an ambitious target of lifting achievement levels to get 85% of students passing NCEA Level 2 by 2016.
To achieve this, we are going to need parents engaged with their children’s learning and to have the highest quality teaching in our classrooms.