The New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) is not happy with the approach taken by school unions against the implementation of national standards in schools.
When students go back to school next month, teachers will be required to assess them against benchmarks in reading, writing and maths and report to parents.
However, the primary teachers' union, New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), and the New Zealand Principals Federation (NZPF) have expressed concerns about the approach, fearing it will lead to tables which compare the success rates of different schools and will have a bad impact on students who are behind in their learning.
The Government has ruled out a request to trial the system before implementing it.
NZSTA president Lorraine Kerr said the unions had put forward a variety of arguments against the standards.
This approach had not strengthened their case with the school community, boards of trustees and others, she said.
"I have every sympathy for those many parents/caregivers, who see nothing wrong with the idea that they should know how their children are doing in key areas, including literacy/numeracy, from wondering what the fuss is actually about." Ms Kerr wanted to see the issue resolved quickly.
"We need to get on with the job of ensuring that all students in NZ schools, without exception, receive a high quality education, and that parents/caregivers have the ability to track progress of their children through regular high quality reporting."
