Study finds many beginning teachers lack competence

1.00pm

Almost half of New Zealand's beginner secondary teachers and a third of novice primary teachers do not reach the required level of classroom competence, a new study by the Education Review Office (ERO) has found.

The study, Quality of Year 2 Beginning Teachers, looks at what happens in schools during the second year of a beginning teacher's career.

Teachers were assessed on four areas -- subject knowledge, teaching methods, ability to engage students, and how well they met the needs of all students.

It showed that only 65 per cent of primary and 52 per cent of secondary teachers met required competence levels across all four areas.

Figures for individual areas of competence were better - with about 80 per cent of the Year 2 beginning teachers effective.

However, ERO national manager of analysis and policy, Mike Hollings, said parents should be concerned by the results.

"We believe that to be really effective, you need to be good in all areas. A teacher may be teaching students for the next 35 years, so it's important that we get the early stages right," he told National Radio today.

The results for competence levels across all four areas tested were "not good enough".

The solution was more training and support from teacher mentors in the second year, when beginners were making the transition between graduate trainee to practising teacher, Mr Hollings said in a statement.

The ERO had found many examples of good practice among Year 2 teachers and that most schools gave them good support.

Schools that had the most effective beginning teachers usually had more than one, and had strong tutor teacher programmes.

Those who failed the assessment were more likely to be the only new teacher at the school.



Primary teachers' union president Colin Tarr, of the New Zealand Educational Institute, said today he was not that worried by the study.

Last week's pay deal for primary teachers included a four-fold increase for tutor teachers to $2000 a year.

"There's not an expectation that teachers in the very initial areas of their career are going to be absolute experts across all areas of the curriculum," he told National Radio.

Parents should feel they were getting a very good deal from young teachers "within the context of a full team approach".

The Post Primary Teachers Association principal council chairman, Don McLeod, said it took two or three years of hard work to get all parts of a teacher's work in sync.

"I don't think that you suddenly walk into classes in this day and age and become a teacher who's proficient in all areas overnight."

There was still an inadequate supply of teachers to fill vacancies and schools were going to struggle with quality in some areas, Mr McLeod said.

Acting president of the Secondary Schools Principals Association, Graham Young, said today the figures were "a bit alarming", but he could suggest a cause.

"There is a skill shortage in New Zealand... it certainly could water down the quality of people getting into teaching."

Subject knowledge was of great concern among principals, particularly in some harder areas to staff such as 7th Form English and chemistry, Mr Young said.

"There needs to be a major shift in values towards learning, for us to attract the best school leavers into teaching."

He said salary settlements reached for teachers this year would only just keep pace with inflation.

- NZPA