Shocking writing stats expose teaching gaps - Editorial

Greater investment in teachers should also come with training to address the skill gaps. Photo / Ayla Yeoman

Editorial

• Less than a quarter of Year 8 students meet the writing benchmark, with 61% more than a year behind.
• Education Minister Erica Stanford emphasises writing’s importance and introduces measures like the “Writing Acceleration Tool” for Year 6–8 students.
• More training will be introduced for teachers in structured literacy, addressing skill gaps.

Yet more damning statistics for our education system were released this week.

We learned less than a quarter of Year 8 students have a writing ability which meets the Government benchmark.

Alarmingly, 61% are more than a year behind where they should be.

Even worse, the data, which was gathered before this year’s introduction of the new English curriculum and structured literacy support, suggests our children’s ability declines as they progress through school.

At Year 3, 41% of students are at the expected benchmark. This falls to 33% by Year 6 and 24% in Year 8.

Think for a moment about who a Year 8 student is.

These are not new school starters - kids we can introduce to support early on. These are 11 and mostly 12-year-olds olds.

They are about to enter secondary school. By this age they should know the basics of writing along with reading some of their first novels. They could also leave school and enter the workforce in just three more years.

So, if less than a quarter of them write to a minimum level for their age, what kind of future are we helping them achieve?

As Education Minister Erica Stanford says, writing is a critical skill for learning, thinking and communicating.

It opens up your world to all kinds of opportunities. If you cannot write, then your opportunities in life are limited.

How can it be that we have failed this generation of children so poorly?

Stanford is unwilling to give up and says this generation is not “lost” and cites the mandated teaching of at least an hour a day of the basics.

“We’re making sure that teachers at high schools are trained in structured literacy. That’s the big gap. What we’ve got at the moment is not something I ever thought we would need to do to help a secondary school teacher teach a child to read.

“But that’s the gravity of where we’re at. And so, we’re not shying away from it... we’re investing.”

Stanford’s comments about teaching skills are where the real problem lies.

It is somewhat ironic the data also came in the week unionised secondary school teachers went on strike after pay negotiations with the Government broke down.

Yesterday’s strike was dubbed a “political stunt” by Public Service Minister Judith Collins and the union described as “trigger-happy” by Associate Education Minister David Seymour after only a few days of negotiating.

The union and Government are playing politics - again.

Could teachers be valued more? Of course. But are the union and some politicians missing the greater concern here?

It is too often we are seeing skill gaps exposed among teachers of all ranks. Often, they are highlighted by the teachers themselves.

Those striking yesterday were high school teachers, and many will argue by the time students arrive in their classrooms the damage has been done. Regardless, parents should not see their children’s literacy rates decline, whatever their school year.

From Term 1 next year, a new “Writing Acceleration Tool” will be available to support 120,000 Year 6–8 students who are below expected writing levels and won’t have the benefit of structured literacy from Year 1, Stanford explained.

Every intermediate and secondary school will also be funded to train their own structured literacy intervention teacher.

“As requested by the sector, teachers will gain the skills needed to work with small groups of students who need targeted support, using structured, evidence-based approaches,” she said.

Let’s hope Stanford’s measures start a trend of improvement and the teachers themselves lead the way to turn these results around.

Because nearly two thirds of kids being left more than a year behind their peers is not an option.

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