The government has announced mandatory reading, writing and maths tests for primary schools.

From next year, schools will be required to test the ability of five year olds to link sounds and letters at 20 and 40 weeks of schooling.

From years 3-8, schools would have to test children’s reading, writing and maths twice a year using either e-asTTle or Progressive Assessment Tests (PATs).

  • BlueÆther@no.lastname.nz
    2·
    2 days ago

    We have a young-ish one that has severe anxiety issues I cant see that being a good environment for her - lucky we started to homeschool both girls at the start of this year and dont have to put up with this crap

  • Dave@lemmy.nzOPM
    91·
    4 days ago

    Sorry, posted to wrong community. Removing the old and putting this here.

    My comment from the other post:

    This is so dumb. I particularly dispise the idea of testing 5 year olds. Many countries, especially ones we compare ourselves with, don’t start school until 6 or 7. Hell, we don’t require school until 6. We know that forcing young kids into academics before they are ready can be detrimental to their later learning, which is why the first couple of years only have casual learning and lots of social interaction to build those skills.

    Could the government be wrong? No! It is the experts who are wrong.

  • TagMeInSkipIGotThis@lemmy.nz
    4·
    3 days ago

    Its back to the future all over again…

    NACTional have been beating the same drums basically the entire time i’ve been a voter; despite every time they implement their ideas it turning out (as the experts have repeatedly told them) that it doesn’t work like they claim it will. Tax cuts to improve the lot of everybody, boot camps to stop youth crime, standardised testing for children - its all the same nonsense over & over again.

    They implement it, it doesn’t help anything, and then under a Labour government they remove it & implement what the experts in the field have been suggesting instead.

    Testing 5 years olds isn’t got to cost us the $300m hit for not buying ferries so its not the same immediate economic vandalism; but if it helps to ruin the first few years of education for a whole cohort of children that can’t exactly be great for the country in 20 plus years.

    2014: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1409/S00145/government-continues-its-obsession-with-testing-children.htm 2009: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1121909.pdf

  • RecallMadness@lemmy.nz
    1·
    3 days ago

    This is one of the reasons I emigrated. To get away from standardised testing when it doesn’t matter.

    Sigh. Sorry kiddo, tried to do the right thing.