Work continues on plan to lift student achievement

23 June 2014

Work continues on plan to lift student achievement

Work is underway on the next phase of design of the Investing in Educational Success package intended to raise student achievement, says Ministry of Education Deputy Secretary Dr Graham Stoop.

“We are moving on with the next steps in developing this policy with the continued involvement of representatives from the education profession. We are grateful to have their engagement.”

The following work is underway:
• Meetings have begun of the newly formed advisory group, made up of academic experts and representatives of unions, principals, boards of trustees, Maori, Pasifika and other education professionals. The group is designing the detail of the policy.

• Sector Reference Groups of practitioners working in schools are being formed, to give advice on how the proposal will operate in practice.

• Work on Communities of Schools: Those working on this part of the policy are the Ministry, NZSTA, NZEI Te Riu Roa and PPTA. They have been meeting for the past month and are developing processes and guidelines for forming and operating Communities of Schools. They will visit the Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Christchurch over the next two weeks to observe existing networks in operation. The group will produce guidance and material for schools and kura by late August.

• Work on Selection, Appointment and Appraisal: Those working on this part of the policy are the Ministry, NZSTA, NZEI and PPTA, with work underway for the past month. They are developing processes and guidelines for the selection, appointment and appraisal of the proposed new roles for teachers and principals. Their work will be completed by September.

• Work on Professional Standards. An expert writing group is being formed to develop appointment criteria and an assessment process for the new roles. This work will be completed by the end of August.

“I am also continuing to travel around the country responding to invitations from education groups large and small to explain this new policy. So far I have met more than 50 groups, and I’m happy to talk to any groups of parents, boards of trustees, teachers or principals,“ says Dr Stoop.

Work is also underway in consultation with the sector on:
• establishing the Teacher-led Innovation Fund, to be allocated over the 2015 to 2017 years (as proposed by the working group)
• the Principal Recruitment Allowance to attract highly capable candidates to principal vacancies at schools that have the greatest challenges
• designing an evaluation framework for Investing in Educational Success.

Bargaining for variations to the relevant collective agreements has been initiated with sector unions and will begin this month.

The Ministry is also hosting a series of online question and answer sessions. The next one will be held on 30 June at 7.30pm, to make it easy for board members and parents to take part.

ENDS

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