My take on implications
- Even small improvements, or arrested decline, provide some hope — and yes, I know “hope isn’t a plan”, but it can be a motivator for seeking further and more substantial improvements.
- There is little here to give politicians or any ilk bragging rights. These 15-year-olds would have had two years under National, six years under Labour, and two further years under National. The curriculum changes under National will have had little or no effect, although positive energy around improving achievement may have helped.
- These students also endured the Covid response, which possibly gives further hope that children can achieve despite tough times.
- There is a lot more to do, and the concerns around the huge gaps related to socio-economics remain. The fact that NZ’s total EQI spend is only $250 million — as little as 3% of funding for the highest-EQI schools — is a major issue that needs addressing. A more detailed and consistent curriculum may have marginal effects on equity, but there is a great deal more to be done to close the gaps, as a public education system should.
My full analysis is here (Kiwiblog).
Republished with permission from the author’s Substack.
Image credit: Element5 Digital
Alwyn. Does your full analysis cover declining NZ education standards for the previous 5 years?
All ministers, Bureaucrats, school management, and TEACHERS should hang their heads in shame for the damage they have done to generations of Kiwi Kids, especially those from unprivileged families.
A study by the same people overseeing NZs education decline concludes…
“Getting a school qualification makes a difference to how much you will earn. If you left school with NCEA Level 2, you can to expect to be earning twice as much, nine years later, as someone who left school when you did, but who had no qualifications.
Staying on at school an extra year and entering the workforce with University Entrance (UE) gives you 25% more earnings, on average, than leaving school with just NCEA Level 2.”
Well done Erica Stanford for righting the ship. Now Stanford can hopefully stop hiding from the OIA by using gmail!
Staying on at school an extra year and entering the workforce with University Entrance (UE) gives you 25% more earnings, on average, than leaving school with just NCEA Level 2.”
However-
If a Kiwi student didn’t have the NCEA to enter Uni, they can still do so AS AN ADULT STUDENT WHEN THEY REACH 21 YEARS OLD!
This is especially true of disabled Kiwis who were never provided proper services while still in school, or those Autistic students who were run-out of the system via expulsion, lack of an IEP, and had NO SUPPORT WHATSOEVER!
Our autistic child was attacked, ignored by school teachers & staff, and was always being blamed when he reacted and attacked those who bullied him, INCLUDING SCHOOL STAFF & TEACHERS!!!
He was locked in closets, suspended and then expelled from two primary schools, attacked by ‘neuro-typical’ students, and encountered students waving their penises at him and flashing their buttocks.
The principles did NOTHING to stop these behaviours from the other students!
We then homeschooled.
Even though homeschooling lacks some of the events that the mainstream schools offer, our son was not allowed to participate in those events.
The parents were especially nasty, verifying the Darwinism was in full effect, thus violating our son’s right to an education.
ALL involved violated our son’s human rights, but on ‘agency’ would touch this!
Bullyocracy: How the Social Hierarchy Enables Bullies to Rule Schools, Work Places, and Society at Large
by Donald Jeffries (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (55)
See all formats and editions
Bestselling author Donald Jeffries turns his critical eye onto the topic of bullying to show how teachers, principals, and other school officials invariably side with the bullies in the most egregious cases, instead of protecting the victims. He also shows how many so-called anti-bullying activists and nearly all the professional “experts” excuse bullying and in fact laud sociopathic behavior in general. As Jeffries demonstrates, this curious phenomenon is due to the power and influence of the social hierarchy, and it revolves to a great extent around the enduring popularity of sports. Jeffries talked to parents who’d battled a system that logically should have been working for them, some of whom lost a child to bullycide, the term for children who kill themselves over bullying. His investigation into what has become one of the most talked about issues in America is as explosive and controversial as anything he has written.
“Donald Jeffries is one of our most talented and prolific writers who is never afraid to tackle the most difficult problems facing society today. Here he focuses on bullying in our education system with special insights into cyber-bullying that has emerged as a lethal form of persecution. High schools in many ways have become a jungle where bullies pounce on their weaker victims, many of whom carry the scars for years. Jeffries not only explores the issues involved but adroitly proposes solutions. His information is invaluable.” —Douglas Caddy, Author, and Member of the District of Columbia and Texas Bars
“Jeffries shows the enraging parallels between workplace and schoolyard bullies and how American institutions historically and consistently side with the aggressors, even when they advertise themselves as “zero tolerance” zones. This applies to victims who take their own lives as well, as the book eloquently points how even their experiences are often conveniently rewritten post-death in favor of their abusers. This book collects both tragic accounts of bullying as well as some of the more absurd steps of “zero tolerance” taken in a vain attempt to cover an institution’s rear end instead of caring for the well-being of any tortured individual.” —Gina Tron, author of You’re Fine
“We have insight into the root cause of bullying, why it continues to occur, and its long term effects, so why do we still have a bullying epidemic? Teaching students, parents, and school officials about the negative effects of bullying early-on is only part of the solution. As a society and as individuals, we still allow bullies to rule the classroom, the boardroom, even the oval office. Don Jeffries’s thoroughly researched book explains why and how this continues to occur. Like it or not, bullying affects us all. This is an important topic worth examining and a book that needs to be read.” —Jesse Ventura, former Independent Governor of Minnesota
From hostile high school hallways to the Oval Office, we’ve become a nation ruled by bullies, while those who are ostensibly there to protect us actively or passively enable them. In this trenchant expose, Donald Jeffries reveals how pervasive is the “bullyocracy” and suggests some of the social factors that can diminish its power.” —Michael Kimmel, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, Executive Director, Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities
Next year, our son will be applying as a Special Needs Asperger Student to University when he turns 21, where NCEA is not needed!
He plans on getting a law degree so that he can help other disabled children / young adults who are on the autism spectrum and who may be suffering like he did in the mainstream schools.
And should any University, Uni Staff or Professors attempt to bar his from furthering his education and life goals, as an adult, he will be in the perfect arena to sue the school(s) for denial of a University education as an adult.
We also note that he will be able to sue the previous schools as well on a forensic basis due to violating his human rights, and denying him an IEP education and safe environment.
We’ll see how all of this goes, & BTW-
The last three Education Ministers have this information, as we provided the same terrible treatment that our son but received no replies!