If National Standards are actually a tool to crush the NZEI/PPTA, why doesn't Minister Tolley just say so? And as I previously mentioned, teachers are heartily sick of social work and warden duty foisted on them.

The education wars are but one symptom of the privatised class…

Safari can’t open the page “feed://www.listener.co.nz/sm/rss/latestissue.rss”. The error is: “The feed could not be loaded because the content is not in a known feed format.” (PubSub:2)

Fixed now. Thanks for that.

I think Tolley will find that Year 11 students are mostly old enough that they don't need child care and can be left home alone...

I have the strike roster for our high school, and it only affects years 9 and 10. It actually works out very nicely for us…

Safari can’t open the page “feed://www.listener.co.nz/sm/rss/latestissue.rss”. The error is: “The feed could not be loaded because the content is not in a known feed format.” (PubSub:2)

Worked fine for me in google reader.

Hand lettered by elves, it were

currently looking for new job opportunities...

Come to think of it, some pupils are smarter than Minister Tolley thinks.

indeed...

Education Minister Anne Tolley said many of the parents having to find childcare would not have had the sort of pay increases teachers were seeking.

... I think Tolley will find that Year 11 students are…

And while we work on a clean feed you will find that Fiona's daily TV and Radio updates appear dailiy in here:

Ah, thanks.

Edit:

Safari can’t open the page “feed://www.listener.co.nz/sm/rss/latestissue.rss”. The error is: “The feed could not be loaded because the content is not in a known feed format.”…

I remember when the listener was massive, literally it was fucking huge, was it A3 ? It looked like a mat on your floor.Oh dear.

Oh, me too! It was like tabloid size?

..what about an RSS feed?

..the new year

And while we work on a clean feed you will find that Fiona's daily TV and Radio updates appear dailiy in here:
Latest Issue RSS

.. along with any other featured articles we put live that day.

Note though that once each…

Yep. The zealous willingness to promote uniformed gossip as public debate – for fun and profit!

I think the black Jacket with epaulets, Jodphurs
and Jackboots is tres stylish, and so close to
the horse's mouth....

Wait loss in the suburbs...

supermarket cues

now there is…

Personally I can't imagine choosing a partner whose political views were completely opposed to mine.

Oh, so drably utilitarian. You need to unleash your feelings! Go with your instincts! Let L'amore be your guide!

Anyway, when a man marries a woman, isn't it implicit that everythings going to be completely…

Personally I can't imagine choosing a partner whose political views were completely opposed to mine.

Hours of entertainment, it is.

Does this guideline also apply to Investigate magazine?

I don't mind people slagging off the Listener or Investigate or the Herald or anything else.

Slagging off one writer as shit because their husband works for a political party? Lets off all the other shit writers whose partner doesn't work in…

And as I previously mentioned, teachers are heartily sick of social work and warden duty foisted on them.

I've heard a few reports from teachers that their high school kids are not focused, maybe the hours are too long, maybe the morning start is too early? Secondary needs a complete…

the educational systems of other countries like the US

This excellent piece has some bearing on that. Eg:

Hanushek has released studies showing that teacher quality accounts for about 7.5–10 percent of student test score gains. Several other high-quality analyses echo this finding, and while estimates vary a bit, there…

if you wish to ascertain which schools may be under or over-performing in relation to the composition of their student population

(emphasis mine). Are the standards as proposed going to be moderated for the socio-economic status of students' families? I recall large-scale educational research from Christchurch some years back establishing…

If people don't like the Listener they could not buy and read it, or criticise the content, as compared to being rude about one of the writers.

Does this guideline also apply to Investigate magazine?

Now what will I read in from the listener in supermarket cues?

You could take your networked device of choice along and go to www.listener.co.nz while cu/queu-ing?

While I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment and have first-hand experience of same, based on her writings for over a decade, I doubt…

The education wars are but one symptom of the privatised class system malaise. One…

Most teachers know their students' progress all too well.

But knowing your students' progress and knowing it in relation to a standardised national mean are two different things. And asking that the schools gather that information and report it to their community (whether through the board, or directly) doesn't have…

They're also the ones who generally don't need standardised tests to show that they're doing well, rendering the whole exercise moot.

No one does. Most teachers know their students' progress all too well.

The new 'standards' are to rank teachers and schools, that's all. But the govt can hardly be…

Does the Listener have a full TV/Radio anywhere on it's site?

Also, see comments from Matt Sinnock above....

So these are the highlights of the week that were published in print form in the listener a week or so ago, published daily on-line?

Yes, they're the highlights that appear in the print mag, but I'm adding other stuff too – things that maybe weren't available when we went…

Does the Listener have a full TV/Radio anywhere on it's site?

That's a tricky one – apart from the fact that it would be a massive undertaking, the networks might not want us stealing their thunder. They want you to go to their website, after all.

or insisting that students salute the flag like Merv Wellington did.

I don't think we even had a flag at my primary school (or my college, come to that.) Except that time we did the Olympics and had to be different countries and made our own flags and I got…

That these silly 'standards' don't work for disabled students is merely a subset of them not working for anyone.

I'm not sure that they don't work for above average students. But they're not the ones who need help from the government.

I just know that twatcock is going to be word of the year...

Which would be questionable given that it's obviously pejorative to hermaphrodites, who are already severely marginalized by society. An indicator of the lexis users' ethical slutitude.

sanctimonious, moi?

That these silly 'standards' don't work for disabled students is merely a subset of them not working for anyone.

To clarify, they fail for the same underlying reason in both cases – by promoting a concept of "normal" that doesn't match reality.

Jane Clifton (who by any sane measure is astoundingly inept at taking pillow-dictation from Der McCullynator)

If you want to spin it that way. On the other hand, she does manage, this week, to compare Phil Goff to Adolph Hitler, so... *shrug*

In stark contrast with our world-leading and forward-looking curriculum, the whole sad approach is so resolutely old-fashioned that I'm surprised Tolley is not doling out stone tablets or insisting that students…

There's a good reason for this: in a competitive "league table" environment, those of us whose children have special needs that might drag down scores will not be welcome at many schools.

I think "even more unwelcome" is probably a better way of putting that. But I think even worse…

I just know that twatcock is going to be word of the year...

Cussing others causes clenching, mostly to them.

I just know that twatcock is…

(you could link a Black article criticising National Party ideals if you want to prove me wrong)

I'd have to give you a citation, but like Jane Clifton (who by any sane measure is astoundingly inept at taking pillow-dictation from Der McCullynator) why mess with man-tronising truthiness?

Hopefully they'll be able to manage it themselves

Hopefully we can indeed. Having recently taken on the job of looking after APN's magazines online presence, I feel rather like I'm nursing a neglected puppy back to health. RSS feeds of content as it becomes available online is high on my…

Just as an example, one has the Listeners copious education coverage, which is about wanting to build a sifting system…

And if it's anything to go by, APN doesn't even have, or need, the editorial interference of Rupert Murdoch or Conrad Black to sound like them.

Ah, yes... the infamous editorial interference of Rupert Murdoch. Oddly enough, our host (back when he was wearing his Media Watch hat) did a…

Not really that complicated.

Australian ministers have committed to publishing data about schools' financial resources, fees, charges and voluntary contributions and levels of capital expenditure. In some respects, it will do the job that the Education Review Office does here.

Precisely. I'm so thoroughly sick of the simplistic comparisons that ignore the critical differences…

assuming they are still together – I may be out of touch

I believe you are.

Black's an engaging feature writer.

DeepRed said: "And if it's anything to go by, APN doesn't even have the editorial interference of Rupert Murdoch or Conrad Black."

Tony O'Reilly heads APN. He has made his views clear in speeches.

Was it Murdoch or Robert Maxwell who said: "You don't need to tell an editor what…

Stephen Judd said: "It isn't sexism to bet that spouses influence each other more than randomly assorted couples, but common sense."

They may well do that. It would be understandable if they did. To what extent does Murray McCully influence Jane Clifton, for example (assuming they are still together -…

The painful revisting of a test driven education system,1970's style , flies in the face of what we now know about children.

In Japan it's called 'shiken jigoku'. And add 'gakushu juku' to the mix...

And if it's anything to go by, APN doesn't even have, or need, the editorial…

Craig R said: "try joining us in the 21st century where women are allowed to have jobs and opinions without a permission slip from their husbands."

While I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment and have first-hand experience of same, based on her writings for over a decade, I doubt Joanne…

If it was actually possible to pay money so that Joanne Black had to spend half an hour every week in the rain, I swear I would – I'd turn into a gift idea to my friends fact.

I'm sure there's an app for that.

She has great taste

Someone is angling for special cuddles

But then again, I'm old skool – I'm quite happy to pay for content to keep our writers and musicians in coffee money, even though my small contribution won't clothe or shelter them.

If it was actually possible to pay money so that Joanne Black had to spend half an…

Yes! This is very close to my 'babies are tiny stoned people' theory, upon which I have been expounding in Twitterland

My boy turned 5 last week and we (his fans) sang him "happy birthday" with a great cake, and the smile on his face while he waited to blow…

and back to Craig for the weather.

Taking the cue, I think you mean queue

At least I didn't spell it que.

But I doubt I'll ever forgive the awful column she wrote about the development of the new secondary schools' curriculum. She managed to find the website for the project, but apparently was so consumed with complaint she…

They are little hippies, untroubled by politics.

Yes! This is very close to my 'babies are tiny stoned people' theory, upon which I have been expounding in Twitterland.

It isn't sexism to bet that spouses influence each other more than randomly assorted couples, but common sense.

@Stephen: 'Common sense' is quite often neither. Don't know about you, but my partner doesn't give much weight to my views about his work, and I wouldn't be foolish enough to proffer…

[I removed some unnecessary abuse here — RB]

That's your call — how about the nasty abuse of Black as some brainless sock puppet of her "flunky" husband?

And I think it's actually very necessary to keep calling out the tiresome and sexist crap that keeps getting thrown at Black.…

ain't the English language daft?

Tis a kookoo coup

They learn incredibly well in natural, low pressure, empathetic hippy environments. They are little hippies, untroubled by politics. All they want is a swell time.

cues?

Taking the cue, I think you mean queue (ain't the English language daft?)

As a Listener subscriber, it continues to bother me that they stopped identifying who wrote the editorials.

Who do they think they are? The Economist?

Now what will I read in from the listener in supermarket cues?

[I removed some unnecessary abuse here — RB] try joining us in the 21st century where women are allowed to have jobs and opinions without a permission slip from their husbands.

It isn't sexism to bet that spouses influence each other more than randomly assorted couples, but common sense.

As a Listener subscriber, it continues to bother me that they stopped identifying who wrote the editorials.

Not me. I enjoy playing "Who wrote that?!" of a Saturday.

eg. ,

Hands up those who agree with this proposal...

"Joanne Black?"

... Not only should there be national standards in schools,…

man-tronising

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKOzSio5RZw

I also enjoy reading the guy who sounds like Russell Brown. Bill Ralston I think his name is.

Joanne Black's husband is a flunky on John Key's staff, so do the maths, as the saying goes.

[I removed some unnecessary abuse here — RB] try joining us in the 21st century where women are allowed to have jobs and opinions without a permission slip from their husbands.

More positively I'm pleased that the Listener has added more pages to their letters to the Editor. They are usually…

But while they read like just another corporate-media National party booster rag, I won't be buying.

Joanne Black's husband is a flunky on John Key's staff, so do the maths, as the saying goes.

My main gripe however since Pamela Stirling took over is that it's became a bland "lifestyle"…

Forget a permalink, what about an RSS feed? I feel a weekend hacking project coming on...

Hopefully they'll be able to manage it themselves :-)

I know you're talking about editorial content, but…