Approximately 22 percent of students in New Zealand schools – just under 167,000 – are Māori.
“The success of Māori students at school is a matter of national interest and priority,” says Dr Graham Stoop, the Chief Review Officer.
“ERO has been asking questions and reporting on the achievement of Māori students for over a decade. It is disappointing that not all educators are doing as well for these students as they could.”
In its newly released report: Promoting Success for Māori Students: Schools’ Progress, ERO finds that ‘despite widespread information and support available, a substantial proportion of schools do not review their own performance in relation to Māori students achievement; they do not make good use of data to improve classroom programmes; and neither do they use research in their curriculum and teaching development. ERO found that a sizeable minority of schools do not consult Māori parents and whānau about their children’s education, nor do they value the contribution that these parents could make.
Since it last reported in 2006, ERO found that the majority of schools had taken some action to improve the achievement of Māori students, but the range of performance was wide. Most needed to monitor the effectiveness of their classroom programmes, and to improve the way they used achievement data to adapt school practices.
In 2008, the Ministry of Education launched Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy. In its 2010 evaluation, ERO investigated the use school board of trustees had made of this resource to help them with their thinking and planning. Schools that placed a high priority on success for Māori students were also more likely to have used Ka Hikitia to help them set and meet targets, and to improve outcomes for these students.
“ERO is serious about its own role in promoting success for Māori students,” Dr Stoop says.
“ ERO does not consider any school to be high performing unless it can demonstrate that the majority of Māori learners are progressing well and succeeding as Māori.”
This means that one of the key factors for a decision on the return timing for a school’s next ERO review will be how well the school is succeeding in improving the achievement of Māori students.
Copies of this report have been sent to all schools this week.
This report can be found under National Reports:
http://www.ero.govt.nz/National-Reports/Promoting-Success-for-Maori-Students-Schools-Progress-June-2010
For more information please contact Jenny Clark, National Manager Public Affairs, Education Review Office: jenny.clark@ero.govt.nz; phone: 0-4-474 1228