Proposed charter school aims to teach 1.5 times faster than public system
Thursday, 6 June 2024
One of the first proposed charter schools aims to teach struggling students literacy and numeracy 1.5 times faster than public schools by copying a successful overseas model.
Mastery Schools New Zealand (MSNZ) will be co-headed by former Redcliffs principal Rose McInerney in Christchurch next year - if it gets government approval.
Budget 2024 allocated $153 million to establish 50 publicly funded, privately operated charter schools that don’t need to follow state regulations.
Although unions and parents have expressed concern over charter schools’ reintroduction, McInerney said the evidence across the ditch did not lie.
“Having seen what this is doing for kids, I can’t unsee it,” McInerney said.
Her proposed year 1 to 8 school would copy Mastery Schools Australia’s (MSA) model that helped disengaged students, before sending them back to mainstream educators.
Mastery Schools Australia was founded in 2021 by Michael Roberts, a former general manager of Learning Difficulties Australia, and grew from 20 students to 700.
Roberts said last year students on average progressed 1.5 years worth of reading, spelling and maths based on reputable assessments - due to the focused learning approach.
“What we do in our Australian model is all based on solid evidence, it’s not based on my opinion, or someone’s opinion, or the latest fad.”
The model differed from mainstream schools with longer hours and one teacher with three assistants per class of 25 to 30 students.
Children were taught to their capabilities in three, two-hour blocks of literacy, numeracy and other material, and could not move on until they mastered each skill.
McInerney said she was initially sceptical children could concentrate on maths for two hours, but now believed “there is no chance to disengage” with the explicit teaching strategy and high adult-to-student ratio.
She was aware of public criticism of charter schools, but believed the proposed school had proof of its success.
“There is a group of kids in New Zealand, and everywhere, that are suffering from some academic distress because they’re not getting their needs met.
“Kids are at the forefront of everything that we’re doing.”
However, teacher unions remained dubious.
Post Primary Teachers’ Association Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie said what Mastery School NZ (MSNZ) hoped to achieve could be done in the state system.
“If children and young people are struggling, the question should not be can we set up a charter school for them. Rather it should be - how can we make the school they are currently attending meet their needs.”
Charter schools were designed to “dismantle” public education as they didn’t need to teach to the curriculum or employ trained teachers and had little transparency, he said.
New Zealand Educational Institute president Mark Potter said there wasn’t sufficient information to comment on MSNZ yet, but $153m for charter schools could have funded 700 full-time teacher aides.
McInerney confirmed MSNZ would use the NZ curriculum, require similar donations to state schools, teachers would be fully registered, and aides would be in teacher training.
It would be able to spend more on teacher aides by spending less in other areas, thanks to more freedom over its finances under charter school regulations.
MSNZ was an opportunity to collaborate with mainstream schools to help struggling students, and was in no way a “them and us” situation, she said.
Another benefit was assistant teachers would earn and learn, finishing their tertiary education with years of experience, she said.
So far MSNZ had 40 expressions of interest, although McInerney was scouting locations in central Christchurch that could cater for up to 200 students.
Former Christchurch mayor Garry Moore is the chairperson of the board of directors, which includes leaders from MSA and former Literacy Connections staff.
The charter school would open next year pending a July application to the Ministry of Education.