The New Zealand Institute
| Grade | NZ Rank | Trend | Latest Value | 2015 Target | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 5th of 34 | Equal | 524 mean PISA score | 531 | Strong average performance but disadvantages persist |
The skill level of the working population is an important determinant of New Zealand’s prosperity. Educational achievement indicates the extent to which the population has the literacy and numeracy skills required in the modern workplace. Education delivers a wide range of benefits to a society but is included among economic measures to focus on the economic benefits of an educated and skilled population.
Research shows that success in education is highly correlated with improved economic outcomes including lower unemployment rates and poverty, higher productivity, and higher GDP per capita.
Further it is widely acknowledged that success in education contributes positively to improved social outcomes, including lower rates of incarceration and social disharmony, better health, improved equity, lower dependency on the state, higher life expectancy and improved quality of life.
Education is a critical investment in New Zealand’s future; for individuals, for the economy and for society as a whole.
Educational achievement at the primary level (Year 5 or 10 year olds) as assessed by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shows New Zealand has poorer performance levels than the average of the 15 other OECD countries included, with a large group of students achieving at the lowest level.
However by age 15, performance is strong across all levels relative to the OECD, as Figure 1 shows. In 2009 New Zealand was ranked 5th out of 34 OECD countries for mean PISA scores across reading, mathematics and science.
The differences in New Zealand’s relative performance between the two measures can be partly explained by the different skills the assessments are measuring. TIMSS assesses factual knowledge students have, whereas PISA assesses thinking and the ability to solve problems, which is more aligned with the focus of the New Zealand curriculum.
New Zealand’s overall strong performance in PISA masks three important problems. First, wide disparities in student achievement exist between ethnic groups. Māori and Pacific peoples’ average PISA scores are much lower than the average for Pakeha/European students. As Figure 2 shows, the gap has not been narrowing fast enough over the years for Māori and not at all for Pacific peoples.
Over the seven years from 2004 to 2010 Māori and Pacific candidates for NCEA at all three levels and for University Entrance were consistently less successful than European and Asian candidates. For example in 2010, 61% of Māori and 52% of Pacific candidates gained NCEA Level 3 compared to 79% for NZ European and 78% for Asian candidates.
Second, wide performance disparities exist for students from different socio-economic backgrounds. In Education at a Glance 2011, New Zealand is shown to have the greatest difference in reading performance between students from different socio-economic backgrounds out of all OECD countries. Although the relationship between students’ background and school performance is evident in all countries, New Zealand is the least successful at mitigating the effect a student’s background has.
Third, too many young New Zealanders are becoming disengaged and not remaining in education as long as their OECD peers. In the Māori Education Strategy Ka Hikitia, the Ministry of Education recognises that more of New Zealand’s 14 to 18 year old students have disengaged from the education system than in many comparable countries.
As Figure 3 shows New Zealand had the lowest median age of leaving initial education in the OECD in 2006. New Zealanders’ initial education was two years less than the OECD average. Other countries are keeping their youth in education longer, such as Poland, Iceland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands where the median age of leaving initial education was 22 or higher.
In 2009 New Zealand was ranked 26th out of 33 OECD countries for the percentage of the population aged 25-34 that attained at least an upper secondary education. For the same year and age group New Zealand was ranked 6th for the percentage of the population with tertiary education (see Education at a Glance, 2011, p.32 & p.30). This is due to higher entry at older ages and a high proportion of international students.
As shown in Figure 4, New Zealand’s educational achievement at tertiary level is among the highest in the OECD with 40% of adults aged 25-64 in 2008 having tertiary qualifications compared to the OECD.
Despite the high rate of tertiary qualifications, in 2005 39% of employees and self-employed New Zealanders were reported as being under-qualified for their jobs, the second highest rate in the OECD. High rates of under-qualified workers in a context where a relatively large portion of the population have attained tertiary education may indicate a mismatch between the areas people are training in and the skills the workforce needs.
Governments in New Zealand prioritise education. In 2008 New Zealand ranked second in the OECD for the percentage of public expenditure that went to education. Despite the high share of public spend, the dollars spent per student is in the bottom third of the OECD and is half what the highest ranked countries spent. The low spending per student results from New Zealand’s GDP per capita being below the OECD average and total public expenditure as a proportion of GDP being in the bottom third of OECD countries.
Government has recognised the gap between New Zealand’s high and low performing students as one of the widest in the OECD. In the Ministry of Education’s Statement of Intent the Minister of Education sets out the Government’s determination to address underachievement, improve educational performance and outcomes. In response the Ministry focused five of its priority outcomes on areas where the education system needs a lift in performance: increasing opportunity for children to participate in quality early childhood education; every child achieves literacy and numeracy levels that enable their success; every young person has the skills and qualifications to contribute to their and New Zealand’s future; relevant and efficient tertiary education provision that meets student and labour market needs; and Māori achieving education success as Māori. For each of these outcome areas actions are being taken.
The main priority set for Early Childhood Education (ECE) is to direct programmes, funding and resources to improve participation rates among Māori (9% did not attend in 2009) and Pacific children (15%), and children from low socio-economic areas (14%). Government is establishing sector advisory groups to work on improving policies and practice within ECE. A national review of the ECE curriculum and developing a new funding system has also been announced.
In February 2010 Government introduced national standards for primary and intermediate schools, to lift student achievement by being clear about what students should achieve and by when in reading, writing and mathematics during the first eight years at school. Schools are implementing these national standards although there is considerable debate about whether they will improve the situation substantially.
The Youth Guarantee initiative introduced by the Government in August 2009 targets school leavers and aims to help them remain engaged in education and achieve Level 2 NCEA, seen as the minimum qualification for success in today’s world. From 2012 up to 7,500 fees-free tertiary places will be available under the Youth Guarantee scheme, costing $329 million over four years.
In 2012 five vocational pathways will be offered through schools, tertiary education organisations and trades academies: manufacturing and technology, construction and infrastructure, primary industries, social and community services, and service industries.
Eight trades academies were operational by April 2011 with 13 more to open in 2012. The partnerships between schools, tertiary institutions, industry training organisations and employers, enable students to earn NCEA credits or a tertiary qualification while gaining practical skills.
Nineteen service academies have also been established with another eight to be added. These give a military-focused programme to young people at risk of disengaging from education, while allowing them to work towards NCEA qualifications.
By 2014 12,500 places will be available for 16 and 17 year olds in trades academies, service academies and the wider Youth Guarantee.
A Positive Behaviour for Learning Action Plan is to be rolled-out over a three year period. The initiative will improve classroom management by 7,000 teachers and train staff from 400 schools in how to promote positive behaviour and lift student engagement. Students with complex and challenging behaviours are being supported with changes to the Resource Teachers Learning and Behaviour service along with the introduction of some new services.
In the tertiary sector actions are focused on improving value for money. Five percent of the Student Achievement Component of TEOs’ funding is now based on performance in: successful course completion; completion of qualifications; student progression to higher level study; and students retained in study. Growing the export and wider economic contribution of international education is also a priority and a new Crown Agency, Education New Zealand, has been established.
Improving Māori performance is being addressed with leadership, language, training programmes and support initiatives across all the education sectors. Te Kotahitangi, a research and professional development programme, supports teachers in secondary schools to improve the learning and achievement of Māori students. At the end of 2009 there were 49 schools with 3,000 teachers and 17,000 students involved. Improvements to systems and structures for Māori language schools are also being introduced. Budget 2011 provided $20 million of new funding for Māori education.
The Institute’s discussion paper, More ladders, fewer snakes: Two proposals to reduce youth disadvantage, presents more details about the importance of retaining student engagement and the value that e-learning can contribute to this. It also identifies that the school-to-work transition is not working well in New Zealand. Many young people are leaving school and not finding their way into permanent work successfully. Four initiatives to improve the transition are set out: building stronger vocational pipelines from an earlier age; matching future workforce needs with education and training; strengthening connections between employers and educational institutions; providing better career guidance, transition support and active career planning (see http://www.nzinstitute.org/index.php/social/paper/more_ladders_fewer_snakes_two_proposals_to_reduce_youth_disadvantage/).
School performance for those aged 15 along with high tertiary completion rates would justify an A. However, too many students are not completing secondary school; and Māori and Pacific peoples remain seriously disadvantaged, resulting in a grade of B.
The target of 531 is calculated by assuming that combined mean PISA scores for European and Asian students remain at 2009 levels but Māori and Pacific peoples have half the disadvantage they have today relative to European students. By improving Māori and Pacific peoples’ average performance in reading, mathematics and science to 512 and 496 respectively, the overall combined average score would be lifted to 531.
The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a two hour examination administered every three years to 15 year old students. 500,000 students from 63 countries (34 OECD countries) were assessed in 2009, with a total of 4,653 from 163 schools throughout New Zealand.
Two alternative standardised tests could have been used for this measure, such as the aforementioned TIMSS or the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). PISA was chosen as it tests older students, assesses more OECD countries, and its measurement is more relevant to the level of preparedness for the workplace.
Figure 1: OECD (2009). PISA 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do: Student Performance in Reading, Mathematics and Science (Volume I), retrieved 17 January 2011 from http://www.oecd.org/document/61/0,3746,en_32252351_32235731_46567613_1_1_1_1,00.html.
Figure 2: Education Counts (2000, 2003, 2006, 2009). Data Collections – Programme for International Student Assessment, retrieved 28 February 2011 from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2543.
Figure 3: OECD (2008). OECD Employment Outlook: Chapter 1. Off to a Good Start? Youth Labour Market Transitions in OECD Countries, Figure 1.7 retrieved 21 June 2011 from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/oecd-employment-outlook-2008_empl_outlook-2008-en.
Figure 4: OECD (2011). Education at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators – Indicator A1, To what level have adults studied? Data retrieved 6 October 2011 from p.40 at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/47/48630299.pdf.
Explanatory note in relation to 2015 target: As detailed data is not available, the target score does not take into account the PISA performance of other ethnicities. It assumes the PISA sample of 15 year old students in 2015 is divided as follows: European (60%), Asian (9%), Māori (21%) and Pacific peoples (10%). These proportions are based on the 2006 Census usually resident ethnic population by age group for 10-14 year olds.
Further information links for educational achievement
The Ministry of Education’s Statement of Intent 2011/12-2016/17 and 2010-2015 available at http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/PublicationsAndResources/StatementOfIntent.aspx.
New Zealand Qualifications Authority (2011, May) Annual Report on NCEA & New Zealand Scholarship Data & Statistics (2010) http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/about-us/news/release-of-annual-report-on-ncea-and-new-zealand-scholarship-data-and-statistics-2010/.
OECD (2011) Education at a Glance 2011: OECD indicators available at http://www.oecd.org/document/2/0,3746,en_2649_39263238_48634114_1_1_1_1,00.html.
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