DECILE RATINGS OF SCHOOLS
ARTICLE BY DOUG MCLEAN – WHAKATANE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
I recently read about a couple who, when they moved from Wellington to Auckland,
looked for a school with a high decile rating under the mistaken belief that this is how
schools are rated on performance. The decile rating is intended to determine how
much additional public funding a school needs – not as a predictor of student
achievement.
“Deciles are a way in which the Ministry of Education allocates funding to schools.
A decile is a 10% grouping, there are ten deciles and around 10% of schools are in
each decile. A school’s decile rating indicates the extent to which it draws its
students from low socio-economic communities. Decile 1 schools are the 10% of
schools with the highest proportion of students from low socio-economic
communities, whereas decile 10 schools are the 10% of schools with the lowest
proportion of these students.
The lower a school’s decile rating, the more funding it gets. The increased funding
given to lower decile schools is to provide additional resources to support their
students’ learning needs. A decile does not indicate the overall socio-economic mix
of the students attending a school or measure the standard of education delivered at a
school.” (Ministry of Education Website)
At Whakatane Intermediate we have a decile rating of 4. At the last review of decile
ratings we were rated as a 5 but I had this reviewed and fortunately our 4 status was
reinstated. Why I say, fortunately, is because we receive more funding per student
than we would have received as a decile 5.
Our school catchment area is very large hence we have students from very diverse
socio-economic backgrounds. I feel that this is healthy because our intake of students
reflects our Eastern Bay community. Recently the Education Review removed decile
ratings from all future school review reports. According to E.R.O. a school’s decile
rating tells us nothing about the quality of education at a school.
“With my E.R.O. hat on, I can reveal that there are high decile schools in New
Zealand that are sadly under performing. Similarly, there are low decile schools that
are outstanding.” (Dr Graham Stoop – Chief Executive and Chief Review Officer of
the Education Review Office).
Apparently all decile ratings will be reviewed next year and related changes to the
decile funding will be applied in 2015. I believe the changes will be based on the
2013 census. Decile rating figures are arrived at by examining five criteria:Household income, occupation, household crowding, educational qualifications and
welfare benefit levels. Property prices are not a factor in the decile ranking
calculation.
My four children attended low decile secondary schools (but high performing) and
were certainly not disadvantaged in their journey through university and now in the
workplace. In fact, I feel that they were advantaged because they mostly had teachers
who were effective, had high standards and took an interest in them. The decile rating
of the school was irrelevant. Good schools, wherever they are, can provide high
quality education and motivated successful students!