Photo: RNZ

Should a five-year-old be able to count to 10 and accurately describe shapes?

The designs of the English language curriculum for grades 0-6 and mathematics for grades 0-8 assume that students will be able to master these skills, and more, after six months of school.

The curricula have already been consulted on and the government intends to introduce them next year.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) says the drafts are set to be much clearer than previous documents, especially when it comes to what children should learn at each stage of their education.

They also contain tips for teachers – suggestions on what they should teach and how.

Underpinning both documents is the “science of learning”, which according to the Ministry of Education is essentially a structured approach to teaching that ensures children master one skill or area of ​​knowledge before moving on to the next.

A major change in the English curriculum is the nationwide move to ‘structured reading instruction’ as an approach to teaching reading to children in grades 0-3.

By focusing on teaching children to decode words and understand the sounds represented by letters and letter groups, this program has won the so-called “reading wars.”

The push for structured literacy teaching began under the previous government and most schools RNZ spoke to were enthusiastic about its effectiveness.

This means that families can expect young children to learn to read from books that focus on specific sounds, such as the sentences “Can Nan sleep?” and “Nat knocks on the pot.”

The draft English curriculum places greater emphasis on punctuation, grammar and spelling than the current document.

This led University of Auckland assistant professor Aaron Wilson to describe it as a literacy programme rather than an English language programme.

Meanwhile, the mathematics curriculum aims to significantly accelerate learning of a subject that is undoubtedly a weakness of the New Zealand education system.

Initial testing showed that only 20 percent of third-grade children and 22 percent of eighth-grade children would meet expectations, in stark contrast to the current curriculum, in which 82 percent of fourth-grade children and 42 percent of eighth-grade children meet academic expectations.

MOE’s Julia Novak told RNZ the new curriculum will more clearly emphasise that it aims to help young children master basic maths so that by Grade 8 they have the necessary skills and knowledge.

“They’re starting to see fractions faster than ever before… they’re starting to add, subtract, multiply and divide a little bit earlier,” she said.

Both the English and Maths curriculum outline what children should learn each school year.

This is a big change compared to the current system of a broad curriculum covering several years of study.

For example, the fourth level of the curriculum is mainly for children in the last year of secondary school, i.e. grade 8, but children in grades 6, 7, 9 and 10 can also work on it.

Curricula also provide guidance to teachers on what they should teach and how.

For example, the English language arts curriculum recommends that teachers in grades 4-6 “teach students to segment words into syllables and phonemes” when teaching spelling and “teach spelling every day.”

Ellen MacGregor-Reid of the MOE said the recommendations were based on the Common Practice Model developed by the previous government.

She added that the aim of the project was to ensure that teachers were using proven teaching methods, increase consistency between schools and reduce teachers’ workload.

“It’s not about teachers being able to bring things to life in an exciting way. It’s about providing clarity about all of this learning at different grade levels, what’s important to teach,” she said.

What do teachers think?

Teachers and school principals agree that the curriculum needs to change.

Many welcomed the greater detail about what to teach and when, but some feared it could go too far and limit teachers’ professional judgment.

They also warn that the government is moving too quickly. Consultations on the drafts lasted just four weeks, and schools are due to start using the documents from the beginning of next year.

Directors say this is completely unrealistic.

Education Minister Erica Stanford tried to reassure teachers.

She added that there is no expectation that schools will use the curriculum perfectly from day one next year and that there will be more training for teachers and resources to help them do so.

But she added that the government needs to make changes because too many children are struggling with reading, writing and maths and change needs to start now.

Another cause for concern for teachers is changing expectations regarding achievement in future years.

They argue that children develop at different rates, especially in the early years of life, and it is unrealistic to expect all children at a given age to achieve certain standards.

Are literacy and numeracy skills really as bad as the government claims?

National surveys of children’s achievement show that the proportion of children who achieve the level expected of them under the curriculum falls as they get older and as curriculum expectations increase.

By the end of eighth grade, which is typically the last year of primary or secondary school, 47 per cent of children achieved the required curriculum level in reading and 42 per cent achieved the expected level in math.

The Educational Research Council, which conducted the study with the University of Otago, found there had been no significant change in the maths achievement of year eight students over the past 10 years.

They also tested children’s understanding of the design of the math curriculum and found that only 22 percent of eighth-grade students met its expectations.

The government released the figure when it announced the results earlier this year and school leaders are still outraged, saying the government has distorted the facts to create a sense of crisis.

However, the OECD’s international PISA tests of 15-year-olds show a steady decline in New Zealand teens’ performance in reading and maths. In the 2022 tests, the country ranked 10th in reading and 23rd in maths.

Tests showed that 21 per cent of New Zealand 15-year-olds achieved the lowest level in reading – meaning they struggled with all but the simplest reading tasks – and in maths, 29 per cent scored at the lowest level.

Meanwhile, secondary schools are warning that too many students, particularly from Māori, Pacific and disadvantaged communities, are failing the new NCEA literacy and numeracy tests that aim to ensure teenagers leave school with basic literacy and numeracy skills.

About 55,000 teenagers took the tests in May, with a pass rate of 59 percent in reading, 56 percent in writing and 46 percent in numeracy.

The second round of testing will take place in September.

Although new curricula raise the bar in terms of expectations for children, there is no guarantee that they will improve their achievement.

Stanford is confident that improvement will come quickly, especially in mathematics.

Changes should certainly be made to all schools and teachers who have neglected reading, writing and mathematics or have taught these subjects incorrectly.

But teachers warn they need ongoing professional development and good resources over the years to ensure any changes are sustained.