An educators’ collective is casting doubt on the validity of a survey that Prime Minister Chris Luxton used to justify bringing in a new maths curriculum next year.
The Aotearoa Educators Collective says the mathematics education policy is rushed and not based on research, evidence or consultation.
The collective is a group of academics, principals and teachers which promotes progressive ideals in education and isn’t aligned to any political party.
Lat week the Government announced a change to mathematics education from Term 1 in 2025.
This decision came after data from the Curriculum Insights and Progress Study (CIPS) revealed just 22 per cent of Year 8 students in New Zealand are at the expected curriculum benchmark for mathematics.
The study concluded only 12 per cent of Māori students are where they should be and that 63 per cent of the overall Year 8 students are more than a year behind.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described this as a “total system failure” in teaching mathematics.
But the Aotearoa Educators Collective says the data contradicts previous national and international studies - NMSSA, TIMMS and PISA, which all show higher levels of student achievement.
The collective says the data isn’t reflective of a drop in achievement but rather a change in the benchmarking.
The collective said the results were benchmarked based on the refreshed curriculum, which was meant to be implemented in 2026, but the education system still uses a curriculum from 2007.
Initially, the idea was that the 2023 curriculum refresh would start in the first three years of education and, as the children moved through the school years, their maths achievements would advance.
The collective questions the use of data based on assessments where students are measured against a curriculum that isn’t being taught.
Now the coalition government is revising the September 2023 version of the maths curriculum.
There has been no consultation of the sector and the changes will start next year, which the collective believes will place extra pressure on teachers.
The announcement last week said there would be teacher guidebooks and student workbooks but the collective says these are being developed by an unknown publisher, and there is no information on how they’re being developed and tested.
The collective also says there has been no assurance on whether the resources will be culturally appropriate or contextually suitable across all of Aotearoa.
It says the one-size-fits-all all mandated approach ignores the diversity in New Zealand and doesn’t take into account the research and practice found in Aotearoa.
Finally they say the government should be investing in the greatest resource, teachers.
Minister Stanford has been contacted for comment.