Schools and performance

Press, 25 September 1989, Page 22

Schools and performance

Extensive changes are taking place in the administration and financing of education in New Zealand. The radical changes encompassed by the “Tomorrow’s Schools” policy come into force in less than a week. The problems posed are daunting for many schools, for their staffs, and for the new boards of trustees charged with making the system work. It might be months, or even years, before the new system shakes down properly and all the uncertainties, of financing especially, are sorted out. Faced with such an upheaval, this is hardly the time for further sweeping changes to the ways in which the performance of schools and their pupils is measured, examined, or assessed. Last week the Ministerial Working Party on Assessment for Better Learning produced an interim discussion paper on changes to the way in which the performance of students in schools is monitored. If schools are to have more freedom to manage their own affairs under the new arrangements, then assessment of performance is increasingly important. But not at the price of making too many changes too quickly.

The working party’s proposals were introduced by the Minister of Education, Mr Goff, and the Associate Minister of Education, Mr Scott. Both have emphasised that the proposals are not final, they make up a discussion paper intended to elicit the widest possible comment and response from the community. The Ministers have asked for public submissions on the discussion paper to be sent to the working party by Christmas. Once responses have been studied, the working party Will report to the Government. For once, the Government is not pushing forward with great haste to make changes. The community has nearly three months to respond. But even so, the time is hardly generous when many people deeply concerned with education are going to be grappling with the uncertainties of the new

administration of schools. The Ministers have again expressed concern about what they call the “obvious weaknesses” in the School Certificate examination and the manner in which it compares abilities between students. But there is a hint that the Government may be in less haste to get rid of the examination. “The examination will remain until we are convinced that there are suitable and viable alternatives, which allow proper assessment of abilities to a national standard.”

That is refreshing to hear. The School Certificate examination has flaws; it is still the best system available to parents, to employers, and to pupils themselves to assess levels of skills and knowledge. Among its virtues, the examination remains as a check on the performance of teachers and schools, a check that is becoming even more important under the new arrangements. In the end, it may be that good sense will prevail and the School Certificate examination will remain, perhaps in a modified form; and perhaps backed up by a form of internal assessment that can take more account of pupils’ other abilities that are not readily measured by examination. Appealing as it might be to have a school system in which no-one seemed to fail, achieving such an outcome might turn out to be beyond the capabilities of teachers, no matter how able or enthusiastic they are. In making submissions on the latest discussion document, the community has another opportunity to make its wishes known. It will be unfortunate if the energies of those concerned about education are deflected by the uncertainties of the new administration in schools. The quality of teaching, and the success or failure of pupils to learn, are crucial in any assessment of the worth of the country’s system of education. Ways have to be found to monitor these things in a system that has the confidence of the community.