In a recent speech, Pita Sharples raised the challenge of Maori under-achievement in schools, suggesting open entry for Maori students to universities as one solution.

In response, many people have described this as "institutionalised racism" that tells Maori "they have to be given things without the background work because they are too stupid to earn them as he did".

Dr Sharples is right to point out that at present, compulsory schooling is not working for many Maori students. While 66 per cent of Asian and 44 per cent of European students leave school with University Entrance and/or Level 3 NCEA, only 20 per cent of Pacific and 18 per cent of Maori students currently gain these qualifications.

This is a major problem, not just for Maori and Pacific people, but for all New Zealanders. While New Zealand has a relatively youthful population, an increasing proportion of these young people are from Maori, Pacific and/or low-income families.

Unless these students can succeed in higher education, gaining the skills required to drive an internationally competitive economy, the country is unlikely to prosper.

Recognising this, the Crown has supported the Starpath Project headed by Associate Professor Liz McKinley, which aims to identify when and where Maori, Pacific and low-income students begin to fail, and initiatives that make a positive difference.

Starpath has made some interesting discoveries.

First, while the education system in New Zealand is charged with ensuring that all students fulfil their potential, in fact the management of educational data has more to do with the distribution of resources rather than with tracking the long-term success or failure of students.

As a result, schools are often unaware when bright students begin to fail; or when groups of students (say, Maori boys) begin to follow pathways that lead to failure and early exit.

Second, while the education system invests a great deal of time and money in initiatives aimed at enhancing student achievement, it is largely working blind. Without the long-term tracking of students, it is impossible to know whether initiatives are aimed at real problems, and whether or not they are making a positive difference. This is a poor investment strategy, leading to many uncoordinated, short-term initiatives (80 in one school that Starpath studied) and a failure to identify those approaches that really work, so that they can be adopted across the education system.

Third, while Starpath researchers have found high levels of satisfaction with NCEA, they also found that NCEA is so complex that students and their parents often don't understand the consequences of the decisions they are making.