A new tool is being used in New Zealand schools to help track how students are getting on in reading, writing, and maths. It is called the SMART progress monitoring tool, and it is part of a bigger set of changes to the way schools report to parents about their children’s learning.
Under the new system, parents of students in Years 0 to 10 will receive clearer reports about their child’s progress. Each report will include one of five progress markers, an explanation of why that marker was chosen, and advice on how parents can help their child with the next steps in their learning.
The twice-yearly progress check-ins, supported by the SMART tool, are aimed at students in Years 3 to 8.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the changes were a direct response to expert advice. Both the Education Review Office (ERO) and the New Zealand Assessment Institute had been calling for better assessment practices and higher-quality reporting for some time. “For too long, New Zealand has lacked consistent, reliable information on how students are progressing in the basics,” Stanford said.
The goal of the changes is to make sure parents have the information they need to support their children, and that schools and the Government can step in early when a student needs extra help.
