Misuse of decile ratings clue to downside of league tables
Tuesday 19 June 2012, 5:50PM
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A Massey University researcher says the government’s desire to ensure parents have sound, educationally relevant information about their children’s achievement and progress is commendable but the Prime Minister seriously underestimates the challenge this presents.
Massey University Professor of Teacher Education John O’Neill says, ironically, the harm that could arise from publicising National Standards league tables is reflected in concerns by the schooling sector that some parents are using decile ratings to choose a school.
The Dominion Post reported the Prime Minister has signalled support for a form of league tables for primary and intermediate schools, which rank schools’ performances. But Professor O’Neill says the sector catchphrase “not national and not standard” is entirely accurate. “These standards have not been developed and trialled according to internationally recognised and accepted protocols of good assessment and therefore cannot be relied upon to provide good information to parents.”
He says the same is true of decile ranking. Ministry of Education figures show the number of Pakeha attending decile 1, 2 and 3 schools had halved since 2000, but Professor O’Neill says decile ratings are a measure of deprivation in a school’s community, nothing else. “They have absolutely no educational value for parents.”
The rating is based on good quality information and is used by the ministry to allocate limited operational funding more equitably across all schools. “The objective is to partially compensate for children’s life circumstances. This is a very good, socially just objective,” he says.
The ministry explicitly states that decile ratings are not school rankings, yet it has absolutely no power to stop people using them as if they were. “More worryingly, it has no power to limit the educational harm their misuse causes as communities become increasingly segregated on the basis of wealth and ethnicity. The solution: don’t publish decile rating information,” Professor O’Neill says.
This should give the Government serious pause for thought when it comes to National Standards league tables, he says. “Unlike a decile rating, the standard a child is reported to have achieved is based on a diverse mix of subjective and objective information. Just like the misuse of decile ratings, the publication of National Standards information in league table form will very likely distort the behaviour of all concerned and lead to unanticipated, harmful consequences for children.
“This is not a good thing. It may also make things even worse for children who begin their lives in considerable deprivation. This is unjust. The solution is don’t publish National Standards information in a way that encourages parents to compare teachers and schools,” Professor O’Neill says.