Pupils’ Writing Skills Lacking

By NICHOLS, Lane

THE writing is on the wall for schoolchildren — a report says nearly 60 per cent of teachers do not teach writing effectively in all the areas they should.

The Education Review Office findings follow a report last year warning that writing levels for nearly half the country’s secondary school pupils were at the expected level of primary school children.

The primary teachers’ union, the NZEI, says the latest report shows improvements are needed to ensure all pupils receive a good grounding in core subjects. It wants more on-the-job teacher training to lift performance.

ERO’s latest national evaluation report — on the quality of teaching writing to pupils in years four and eight — surveyed teachers at 159 state schools last year. It found that most children enjoyed writing.

English is one of seven essential learning areas in the curriculum, with writing one of its key strands. Writing lets pupils develop knowledge and skills to communicate thoughts and ideas through text and language, the report says.

Effective writing programmes should enable young people to write “confidently, clearly and appropriately” in a range of styles.

However, just 41 per cent of surveyed teachers were effective across all six areas highlighted in the report. The rest were effective in some areas or needed significant improvements.

Areas included how well learning programmes reflected the curriculum, the teacher’s subject knowledge and ability to provide adequate writing programmes, their assessment of pupils and ability to motivate classes.

Teachers who had undergone recent professional development training in writing were more likely to teach it effectively.

The report makes nine recommendations for improvements. They include using computer technology resources when teaching writing, and more teacher training.

Educational Institute president Irene Cooper said the findings showed consistent on-the-job training was essential.

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