Catherine Wedd, MP for Tukituki: Really shocking data on student achievement in maths

Catherine Wedd, MP for Tukituki. Photo / Warren Buckland

OPINION

I want to update you on some shocking new data just released on student achievement in maths last year.

Looking at kids about to go to high school, the data shows just 22% of students are at the expected standard for maths at year 8. That means almost four out of five are falling behind.

I am a mother of four school-aged children and these statistics are deeply concerning and, I suspect, deeply confronting for many parents across New Zealand.

And it gets worse: two-thirds are more than a year behind. For lower socio-economic areas and for Māori the results are even worse.

That means that last year about 50,000 Year 8 children getting ready for high school, or the equivalent of a full Eden Park, were not at the curriculum benchmark for their age.

There’s no way to describe those results as anything other than a total system failure.

If we are to close the gap and raise achievement, we must have a knowledge-rich curriculum that is explicitly taught, with progress measured consistently. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

This is the product of years of drift and decay by a system that has become utterly distracted from the values we all care about: achievement, opportunity, and success.

How can we change this and set our kids up for success?

First, we are accelerating the shift to a new structured maths curriculum, bringing forward its introduction by a whole year. That means from Term 1 next year your child will be learning maths based on a new world-leading, knowledge-rich maths curriculum, with clear expectations for what children must learn each year.

Second, we will deliver targeted professional development, focused on structured maths for primary and intermediate teachers so they have the confidence to teach maths to young people. Teachers deserve our support – and we’re going to deliver it.

We are also lifting the standard for new teachers. The Teaching Council has agreed anyone wanting to train to become a new teacher must have at least NCEA Level 2 maths.

Finally, we are taking assessment and support for kids who need it seriously. There will be small group interventions for students who are falling significantly behind, informed by twice-yearly assessments for maths in primary schools start of 2025.

Education shapes the future of our children, and that’s why we’re taking it so seriously.