NZ Centre for Political Research

The Need for Accountability in Education

In “What’s up with our schools? A New Zealand principal speaks out”, I wrote:

“When I took over Rangitoto College in 1993 it was made very clear to me by some individual school trustees, by parents who sought meetings with me and by teaching staff that there was poor teaching in a couple of areas. I sensed two things. The first was a frustration that the system seemed to protect poor teachers (to be fair, it did and still does). The second was that the other teachers, in particular, wanted me to do something about it. Measured against other schools that I had worked in, the issues were not that great, but my standards were high and, just as importantly, so were the standards of the college and its community.

We knew already what the researchers in Tennessee were finding. Students who were being poorly taught were falling behind other students and that was neither fair nor right. Every student, not just those lucky enough to get into the right class, is entitled to a top-quality teacher. I have never accepted the argument that says, if your child has a weak maths or science teacher, it’s only for a year and they will have a better teacher next year. Once a youngster loses out on a year’s learning, for whatever reason – and usually it is poor or non-existent teaching – they never catch up. That was my experience in a couple of subjects at high school and I know it has been the experience of thousands of people who have gone through our primary and secondary schools. We must leave nothing to chance if we are to give every New Zealand youngster a good teacher in every class that they ever enter.

I recall one meeting with a delegation of parents who had come to speak to me about an area of weak teaching. Everything they said to me was fair and reasonable. I ended the meeting by saying that there was nothing swept under my office carpet and that the day anyone found anything there would be the day it was time for me to go. It was one of the smartest things I could have said. I knew that if I dealt with issues of individual teacher quality there would be difficulties for me, but I also knew that if I did not deal with them there would be difficulties for me. I decided to do what was best for all the students and the other teachers. A couple of staff had to leave, but it was all done quietly and with the greatest of respect for people who had given years of service to the college. In such situations, I am always anxious to maintain the dignity and self-respect of the individuals concerned. In a couple of other cases teachers were demoted, and a couple were warned as to what would now be expected of them.

Teachers who were early in their careers at that time have since told me that the standards and expectations I expressed in those early days made a real impression on them and quite a few socks were pulled up as a result. One young teacher of the time who has since been promoted twice, and who now plays a significant leadership role in the college, reminded me of something the last time I promoted her. She said that she and other young staff had been accustomed to going to work (school) dressed as if they were going to the beach and that a quiet comment I made resulted in an immediate improvement in their standard of dress. They noticed a corresponding rise in respect from their students. It’s not rocket science, is it? Top-quality teachers dress well, and students respond well to a well-dressed teacher. It’s about setting standards and being a role model. Top-quality principals are top role models for their teachers and top-quality teachers are, in turn, top role models for their students. It starts at the top and spreads down. On reflection, I hope that one of the best things that I have done for all of the young teachers at Rangitoto College has been to role-model professional behaviour of the highest standard, thereby giving them the confidence to do the same for their students.”

I have always believed that the most important people in our schooling system is children. Their interests must come before all others. They are the reason that we have schools. It is for them that the taxpayer contributes so willingly. As I said in the extract, whenever I had to make a decision that was going to cause me difficulty, I made it in the interests of children first and foremost.

One of the features of the New Zealand schooling system is that there are insufficient consequences for school or teacher failure. Too many New Zealand children are being denied the quality of education that they need if they are going to take responsibility for themselves in a globally competitive economic environment. And we have allowed to develop around that failure a whole education lexicon to avoid holding schools, teachers and bureaucrats responsible for when our schooling system fails children.

Accountability is not something that the education sector takes to readily. Too often it is seen as a conspiracy to expose bad schools and bad teaching and therefore to be avoided at all costs.

And who loses most from this? Too many children.