'What else can they throw at us?': Principal questions govt's math plans

A South Auckland principal says the government has "manufactured urgency" behind their math curriculum shakeup.

As a part of the government's "Make it Count" action plan a slew of changes including new workbooks and teacher guides will be introduced and from 2025 students will be assessed twice a year on a new maths curriculum based on curricula from Singapore and Australia.

In response to Education Minister Erica Stanford saying more changes will come, Jacquelene Maindonald told William Terite on Pacific Mornings she fears things are moving too fast.

"I'd like to know what's on the way. We've already done a lot with the common practice model, and structured literacy," Maindonald said.

"Now they've moved structured maths a year forward. What else can they throw at us?"

She said the government's rush behind the new curriculum - a response to poor results in maths - has been incorrectly assessed.

"It feels like they've manufactured this urgency with the data being incorrectly measured against criteria of the new curriculum.

"We had 80 per cent with the data from the old curriculum but measured against the new curriculum - so of course it's going to be down."

Watch the full interview via 531pi’s FB below:

Maindonald said that 95 per cent of their students are Pacific where many are bilingual and have English as a second language.

She added that although their school are doing well in achievement rates which they are proud of, haste in changes is concerning.

"Have they put enough thought into the timing [and] the resourcing that we need to make sure that teachers can deliver what they need to appropriately?

"Especially for our Pasifika cultures. Is this the way that is going to best meet the needs of all our children?"

Labour's education spokesperson Jan Tineti said bringing a numeracy approach from overseas does not have the same impact as developing mathematical inquiry communities, RNZ reported.

"We know that in the past the numeracy project was a consistent approach and did not have the results that were needed," Tineti said.

"And basically - because it was a lift and shift from overseas, we brought that in from Australia - it was contextualised to a certain extent, but it wasn't appropriate.

"The evidence showed that it was not making the difference."

Maindonald said although she agrees "a little bit" that the government's approach could repeat past failures in uplifting maths achievement, she says she welcomes some of the changes.

"It does provide a bit more clarity and consistency," Maindonald said.

"When they talk about the level of teachers coming out of teachers college with NCEA maths not even meeting [level] 1, having this clarity and consistency will support our teachers to know what they need to be teaching."

However, she said time will tell if the government's approach will yield the results desired, especially considering National's previous approaches haven't worked.