This the conclusion policy analyst Joel Hernandez comes to in a report he prepared for The New Zealand Initiative.

Many parents want their kids to go to private schools.

But this report claims that New Zealand's state-integrated schools are doing much better than previously thought.

It claims that new data Hernandez crunched shows state-integrated schools may be a better choice.

A state-integrated school generally has a special character—for instance, a religious belief (e.g. Catholic) or a specialist teaching method such as Montessori.

State-integrated schools also charge much lower annual fees for students than private schools.

Often, the annual fee might be $1500, compared with a private school average of $20,000.

Since State-integrated schools were incorporated into the state education system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act, 1975 private schools have generally been viewed as better academic performers.

However, this report shows for the first time that students on average have a higher chance of attaining UE at a state-integrated school than at a private school (after separating the contribution of family socioeconomic background).

"Of course, education isn't just about gaining UE. Yet, giving kids opportunities is a key part of a school's role.

If educators don't believe every kid can gain UE, then we must lift our expectations."

Hernandez will answer why state-integrated schools are doing so well in an upcoming report.

"In an ideal world, students should be getting a world-class education at any school," Hernandez said.

"Yet state schools are much worse off."

The report The State of Schooling: State, state-integrated and private school performance in New Zealand can be read on The New Zealand Initiative website here.

Source

• scoop.co.nz
• nzinitiative.org.nz
• Image: nzcatholic.org.nz

The Government announced the scheme in 2014. It was a major announcement ahead of last year's election.

Schools in IES will get more time to focus specifically on working with other schools to lift student achievement.

The scheme will use $359 million over four years to create Communities of Schools [COS] where principals and teachers are paid extra to collaborate and provide additional teacher-learning time for the schools involved.

So far 29 communities have been formed.

New Zealand's education system gives a high degree of control to each individual state and state-integrated school and its board of trustees, and studies have pointed to a lack of collaboration as a major problem.

The IES programme aims to help rectify that.

While opposed by the primary school teachers' union, the programme eventually won support of the Post Primary Teachers' Association.

Some principals believe the reform could create the most radical shift in schooling since Tomorrow's Schools.

A new principal role will help oversee each Community of Schools and it is anticipated that four or five teachers will work across the schools to share their expertise. These roles will come with extra salary.

There will also be new roles and funding for teachers to stay in their own classrooms and have other teachers observe their good teaching, and how learning takes place - about one in 10 teachers will be able to take up this role if they apply.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• The New Zealand Herald