It's been two years now since national standards were implemented in New Zealand and it's still the hottest topic in the school system.
Proponents say it'll improve education but critics say the system's inflexible to measure every child.
The Principals' Federation’s Paul Drummond is one of those critics.
“The fact that after two years we are still arguing about them and questioning them probably gives you a pretty good indication that they have not been embedded into the system,” he told Firstline this morning.
Mr Drummond says National Standards have not "captured the hearts and minds" of those in the industry, which is why they’re struggling to be fully integrated.
“These particular standards now are rather arbitrary, they fly in the face of what is a world class national curriculum which recognises that children develop at different rates and at different times,” he says.
“If we actually develop high stakes around assessment in these areas and use them to compare children, teachers and schools we take the risk of undermining that curriculum.”
Mr Drummond says while the dialogue around National Standards is healthy, the system is not currently nurturing children.
“It labels someone a failure when really it’s unfair and unjust and narrow,” he says.
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