NZCER background paper on national standards for literacy and numeracy

This background paper was written to provide some background about national standards. It was completed in late 2008, at a time when the incoming National Government had said it would introduce national standards in literacy and numeracy in New Zealand schools. A number of NZCER researchers contributed to the thinking in this paper. It sets out the principles NZCER believes are key to any discussion of national standards. It then goes on to explore questions such as how national standards could be developed, whether the development would be good use of the education dollar and how they might fit in with the curriculum.