The draft national educational standards have arrived and yes, it is possible to be 6 years old and a failure.

Faced with the reality of a Government bent on this policy it seems clear that Anne Tolley will have the most significant impact on schooling of any Education Minister this side of Tomorrow's Schools.

National has championed its education standards policy as being the saviour of the long tail of underachievement and muddy reporting to parents. This rationale seems convincing - both issues need improvement.

Except that there is scant evidence of national standards making a difference for children's learning and voluminous evidence of the damage that such policies cause.

Worryingly, national standards represents a shift away from a high-trust environment between government, parents and teachers to one of low trust fuelled by the drive for public accountability. There exists in the schooling sector deep mistrust of the minister's intentions.

Flying under the radar but occasionally seen is evidence of the Government's intent to author national standards as a public lever to address poor school performance.

Tolley's recent statement about standards being "disinfectant" is telling.

As the formal (and very brief) official consultation round begins it is important to remind ourselves that no child ever improved their reading because they were sent to stand in the corridor.

Tolley's "disinfectant" is not an aspirational idea and it has no place in our shared effort to eliminate the tail of underachievement and improve reporting for parents.

Glaringly absent in the advocacy of national standards has been the failure to explain how exactly they will improve student achievement.

What is the likely change in teaching that will come about as a consequence of this policy? As the draft standards are identical to expectations already held in schools the inference must be drawn that it is not the standards that will make a difference but what happens to the information generated by the standards.

This is not about learning in schools but rather control over schools - an issue that should rightly concern parents on school boards who currently hold schools accountable within the context of their local communities.

We can easily predict that higher decile school communities, where children arrive at school with impressive literacy and numeracy skills, will shine against the common standard and those schools who deal with children who start the day hungry and tired, or who arrive at school having rarely picked up a book, will invariably appear to be failing their children.