One theme pervades the National Party's education policy. Schools, it says, are going to be made more accountable so that parents and pupils get the most from them. "We are determined to increase accountability and give parents better information from early childhood education through to primary and secondary schooling," says
Editorial: Trust parents with the facts about schools
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Minister of Education Anne Tolley. Photo / Christine Cornege
They will also claim a comparison of school results by, say, aggregating test results, takes no account of the advantages, or lack of them, that pupils bring to school. A school that draws most of its pupils from homes that are well off and where education is valued will produce higher marks than a school in a lower socioeconomic area. Yet that latter school may actually be doing a better job in terms of the improvements it is cultivating in its underprivileged attendees.
But whatever the veracity of such complaints, they do not really matter to parents. They simply want to know where their child has the best opportunity of being in a successful and motivating environment. They will take variables into account. They are aware, for example, of the benefits to a school of social advantage and will incorporate that into their assessment of performance information. Thus, they will not expect a lower-decile school to match the results of, say, Auckland Grammar School, but they do want to know it is serving their child relatively well.
National says the current accountability system for schools is "good" but is not being used as well as it could be. Its instinct is right. If schools are placed under greater pressure to perform, they will, in most instances, improve.
Voters have already backed National's approach by endorsing national standards. At some time, the teaching profession will have to accept that parents have a right to information, and trust them to use it wisely.