Students in Tai Tokerau, Hawke’s Bay/Tairawhiti and Bay of Plenty/Waiariki face the greatest socio-economic barriers to achievement among the new Stock Index (EQI)to be introduced next year.
While schools are now aware of their individual stock scores, they are still anxiously waiting until September to see how much stock funding they will receive under the new system. Most, however, will see funding increased.
The index used 37 socioeconomic factors — ranging from parental education level and benefit history to Oranga Tamariki reports and student transience — to calculate an index between 344 and 569 for each school.
This number, generated using anonymized data, represents the barriers students face in achieving educational achievement, and provides more targeted equity funding to those facing the greatest barriers.
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Figures from the Ministry of Education show that Tai Tokerau, Hawke’s Bay/Tairawhiti and Bay of Plenty/Waiariki have the highest average deprivation rates, with 506, 491 and 489 respectively.
KEVIN STENT/Things
Schools have received their Equity Index numbers, but will not know how much funding their schools will receive until September. Pictured: Tiffany Yap, 10, and her fellow sixth-grade students at Queen Margaret’s College, Wellington.
Regions below the national average of 463 are Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast (456), Otago/Southland and Wellington (450), while Auckland and Canterbury/Chatham Islands are the lowest at 444.
Pat Newman, president of the Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association and principal of Whangarei’s Horo Horo School – a decile 2 school under the current system – said he was not surprised by the region’s results in the data. His school’s index number was well into the 500s.
“In the 20 years I’ve been here, we’ve said this is the case for schools in Te Tai Tokerau. That we serve great communities, but they have very little socio-economics and resources and things like that.
“We need help.”
annette lambly/Stuff
Pat Newman, president of the Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association, says schools in the region “support large communities” but need resources to help their students. (File photo)
Several clients spoken by stuff were reluctant to release their figures publicly, but the Ministry of Education has confirmed they will be published in August. A request for numbers for schools in the Wellington area was rejected by the agency.
New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Liam Rutherford, president of Te Riu Roa, said it is difficult for school principals to contextualize their grades without knowing how their funding would be affected.
The principal of Tawa College in Wellington, Andrew Savage, agreed. “We’re just trying to get our heads around the impact.”
The index replaces the outgoing and, demonstrably outdated decile financing model was roundly criticized for stigmatizing schools at the lower end of the scale and incorrectly used as a measure of school quality.
Newman hoped the new system would not be used in the same way.
“I hope people don’t start saying ‘just because you have a high number, there’s something wrong with your school’.
“I think parents should start looking at schools, visiting them during playtime and at lunchtime before making decisions about whether schools are good or bad — not on an equality or decile basis.”
The decile system was also seen as a blunt instrument, helping to fund cliffs where schools would see large drops between decile steps, while also affecting enrollment rates, property values, and teacher recruitment.
Index funding was much more sophisticated in allocating funding than its predecessor, which relied on Census data, meaning schools could wait years for demographic shifts in their area to be reflected in their level of equity funding.
Ministry of Education Hautū (leader) Operations and Integration Sean Teddy warned against drawing comparisons between decile rankings and numbers below the index.
DELIVERED
Department of Education hautū (leader) operations and integration Sean Teddy says the index values of schools will be released publicly next month.
“They use different formulas, including different variables and years of data, and the way we apply the EQI will also be different…unlike deciles, schools and kura are not evenly divided into bands and the funding they receive is also very otherwise to the decile financing,’ Teddy said.
Receive the stock index $293 million in operational and $8 million in equity financing in this year’s budget, with an additional $75 million in additional funding, meaning most schools should see their funding increase next year.
Average stock index by region
North, 506.
Hawke’s Bay/Tairawhiti, 491
Bay of Plenty/Waiariki, 489
Taranaki/Whanganui/Manawatū, 479
Waikato, 476
Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast, 456
Otago/Southland, Wellington, 450
Auckland, Canterbury/Chatham Islands, 444