Educational Standards in Maths Commentary

This is a cut an paste from a post in Mount Albert Grammar website by Patrick Drumm, Headmaster. Emphasis is mine. This is post modernism at work..

"The Government announcement this week regarding fast-tracking changes to our school Mathematics Curriculum follows on the heels of changes to the way Literacy is to be taught in schools from next year.

These proposed changes follow the recent release of data showing many (most) Kiwi students struggling to meet expected standards in Year 8 English and Mathematics. This trend is further reflected in other national and international measurements as students progress through the secondary education system.

Rather than pointing fingers at various parts of the teaching sector, it is the quality of our National Curriculum which must be placed under the microscope.

First introduced in 1993, successive iterations have ‘gutted’ much of the knowledge and content that were part of subject syllabi in the past. Instead, there was a deliberate decision by curriculum writers to elevate skills, attitudes and competencies. ‘How’ to learn (and teach) became much more important than ‘what’ was to be learned.

There were even attempts at deconstructing and reinventing subjects. Schools were encouraged to develop their own (local) curriculum leading to wide variation and interpretation of courses depending on where in the country (or city) you might attend school. Any student who moved between schools could not be guaranteed the same content in their courses. Physics in one school could look markedly different than physics in the school down the road.

The flexible design of NCEA and other assessment tools has masked much of the negative impact of the New Zealand Curriculum on student achievement. It is really only the alarm at our declining standing against international measures that has precipitated the current rethink around curriculum. And despite the rhetoric around equity, it has been our most vulnerable learners who have suffered more than any from the current situation.

A knowledge-rich curriculum accompanied by rigorous, valid assessment has been a lynchpin of a MAGS education. We have been prepared to take a lead in this with our own Year 11 MAGS Certificate of Educational Achievement.

But no school in New Zealand should have to write and design its own curriculum and assessment system. Providing every New Zealand teacher and student with a structured and prescribed document to guide their practice must be the number one priority of the Ministry of Education. Valid, reliable, common assessments must align tightly to the document.

Hopefully, recent announcements are a step in the right direction"

It seems clear that this secondary school (my own high school) has been aware of the downward spiral for some time..