Amid a long-term push away from ability grouping, both the Ministry of Education and the Government support think tank Tokona Te Raki - Maori Futures Collective aim to stop this.

In a bid for more equity, the Christchurch organisation launched a new action plan on Monday to remove streaming from Aotearoa's schools by 2030.

Called Kokirihia, the Collective's report has the Matauranga Iwi Leaders Group's endorsement. The Ministry of Education supported its release.

Researchers and report authors Eruera Tarena and Hana O'Regan (pictured) say the practice must be scrapped to make schools fairer for all students.

Tarena, who is Tokona te Raki's executive director, says while streaming has had a place throughout the history of teaching, it's time to re-evaluate it.

"The roots of streaming has been something that is deeply embedded in our history and education system," he says.

"It's the fact it's so deeply rooted in our history that we actually have gone beyond the point where we question it and we see it as normal."

New Zealand continues to have one of the highest rates of ability grouping in the developed world. It comes second in that equation - pipped to the post by Ireland.

The Ministry of Education discourages streaming. Regardless of this, decisions are left to individual school boards as to whether to use ability grouping systems on students.

Ditching streaming is part of an effort to find new ways to shift teaching to become more inclusive than it had been in the past, Tarena says.

"You can't just stop streaming and teach in the same way," he explains.

CORE Education chief executive Hana O'Regan isn't a fan of streaming either.

She argues the practice creates racial inequity for Maori and Pacific students.

"It has hugely damaging impacts on a lot of Maori and Pasifika, But also, what we know is that it's a behaviour which is changeable. What's fantastic is that we know the solution.

"There's a whole bunch of courageous teachers who have transitioned away from streaming and most often they use mixed-ability teaching" she says.

"What we know from the evidence is that when you have these mixed abilities, everyone benefits, but in particular, Maori and Pasifika students' achievement rates go through the roof."

O'Regan says the evidence shows all students benefit from the removal of streaming.

It is important not to be "fearful" of making changes to the education system.

"When we think about our younger and faster growing Maori and Pasifika populations, who are going to be a much larger proportion of our population and workforce in the future — we can't afford to continue a practice we know creates racial inequity.

"Which, to be blunt, means it is a racist practice."

Source

• 1News

So is the view of Alan Duff - New Zealand novelist, newspaper columnist and Duffy Books in Homes founder.

Duff says people should get rid of "losing" mindsets and Maori should drop the "mantra of colonialism", as "it's a losing mindset and it's going to lead us to disaster".

"Last year, I was at an event. One of the lead singers of Sole Mio came out to me and he was in tears.

"He said, ‘they just told me who you are. We are all recipients of Duffy books and the characters in those books gave us the idea that we didn't have to accept that we live in a state house'.

"We can be who we want," Duff says.

"That is what we're trying to do. We're trying to open up a bigger, wider world, full of opportunities for the 100,000 children on our programme."

"We just send them a relentless message that it's cool to read and it's cool to aspire."

Duff made the comments recently in Auckland at a breakfast fundraiser for De Paul House, a transitional housing and social housing provider.

Duff is not alone in his concern about student success.

School principals have the same concern, student achievement, but approach the issue from a different perspective.

The principals say new literacy and numeracy standards could "provoke a crisis" and "undermine the credibility" of the NCEA assessment system.

Their focus is particularly drawn to Maori and Pasifika students, saying they could miss out.

This year 200 schools took part in piloting the new standards.

Just one-third of students passed the writing assessment.

Sixty-four percent passed the reading assessment, and only half passed numeracy.

The principals say that during the pilot, principals said the tests could worsen "institutional racism" in the education sector.

Leanne Webb​, principal of Aorere College in Manukau, wrote to the Education Minister, Chris Hipkins, expressing her "grave concerns" about the pilot and Maori and Pasifika students' lower levels of achievement at the school.

"If a literacy and numeracy qualification is introduced in this form in 2024, it will provoke a crisis of real magnitude in education and undermine the credibility and purpose of the NCEA assessment system," she told Hipkins.

Overall, a plan to "get us out of our moribund achievement" is needed, she told the Minister. But it can't begin with a test in high school. It needs to start at primary school and flow through, she said.

"Merely introducing an aspirational test will not turn around achievement, it will merely increase collateral damage."

Nic Richards​, principal of Naenae College, says the tests would "potentially exclude our most vulnerable students from equitable access to educational credentials" at all levels of assessment.

The co-requisites mean students won't achieve certification at NCEA level 1, 2, 3 despite performing well in other subject areas.

"You're effectively saying here's a hurdle you've got to get over. If you can't get over it, you're never going to have a school-leaver qualification."

Source

• NZ Catholic
• Stuff