Parents have little hard information to judge the merits of schools: most of it is anecdotal, some of it the outcome of personal research and observation, some on "results" - knowledge of examination successes and the like.
In a world as competitive as it has ever been, the more information parents have to make assessments of the best education available for their children, the better.
Teachers become very defensive about any schemes that might rank schools or compare them with one another, claiming - without much solid evidence - that this can cause serious damage to "quality teaching and learning"; hence, the great majority of members of the Primary Principals' Federation are either opposed to the new national standards or are worried results from associated tests will be used to create some form of public "league tables".
Primary school children will be evaluated from next year against Government-set standards for their progress in the "basics" - mathematics, reading and writing - for the so-called national standard assessment.
Many school principals have threatened to keep the results to themselves unless safeguards are introduced to prevent schools being compared with each other, something they regard as unfair, and a showdown with the Minister of Education, Anne Tolley, seems likely.
Perhaps principals should first look to their employment contracts and then ask themselves what public purpose would be served by such action.
Would withholding such information be beneficial, or harmful, to parents trying reach some conclusions about prospective schooling for their children? Given the impact zoning has on choices available to parents in many larger cities, the fuss over possible "league tables" seems especially contrived.
For parents with a child already in a particular school, any "league tables" confined to mathematics, reading and writing will surely simply be an added factor - and in most cases not a particularly significant one - to the assessment information schools provide directly and in the one-on-one interviews available with teachers.
Schools now routinely carry out tests to tell teachers how a child is performing among its peers but the information is not always or readily available to parents and the national standards data fulfills a National Party election promise to provide it.
Data which appears to rank schools might be interpreted by some parents as measuring one school's performance as better than another, but no intelligent parent would regard it as conclusive.
On the other hand, teachers might use the data as one measure of their own achievement in specific areas, and that cannot be bad.
And if, over time, it is found that teachers are at least partly motivated by "league tables" to teach to the national standard, is that such a bad thing, providing always that other parts of the curriculum are taught just as effectively?Let us not forget why national standards were sought in the first place: because the achievement by pupils in the basics of mathematics, reading and writing was considered by parents to be far too low for the demands of living - and especially working - in contemporary society.
Of course, a well-rounded education is as desirable today as it has always been, but the preparation for life that school education ought to provide needs still to ensure adequate preparation for employability, and parents are quite entitled to know that is is being provided, and provided well.
Principals and teachers who have been expressing so much concern over national standards need to ask themselves why our literacy and numeracy rates are so appalling - reportedly an estimated 43% of New Zealanders have difficulty with the literacy demands of their job and an estimated 51% of adult workers have low numeracy.
These are hardly "league tables" of which to be be proud.
Almost every area of society providing a service to customers has to meet certain expectations, and most professions are subject to various means, formal and informal, by which customers make their assessments.
Teachers and schools should get over their fear of public scrutiny and remember their job is to deliver the best possible service they can muster.
Threats or actual attempts to hinder the provision of relevant information to parents should not be acceded to by the Government.
