NO MORE Home Education ERO REVIEWS!!!

Echoing then Minister of Education Dr Lockwood Smith in 1994, that he could not justify the expense of regular reviews on such a low-risk group as home educators, Chief Review Officer Graham Stoop wrote in February this year that reviews of home educators are not efficient or effective. Posted on the ERO website is the following: “From 1 July 2009 ERO will carry out reviews only when requested by the Secretary for Education, or in other particular circumstances.”

This is in line with the present central government’s drive to cut bureaucratic costs. Minister in charge of the ERO, Anne Tolley, said in February: “I have asked ERO to identify schools that are performing consistently well and, accordingly, from March 1, these schools will be exempt from the current three-yearly ERO reviews and will instead be reviewed every four to five years.”

In December 2008, the Finance Minister advised Cabinet to do a line-byline review of expenditure. Home Education reviews were found to account for $283,000 out of a total budget of $28,675,000 or 0.987% (less than 1%). Graham Stoop wrote: “This programme is considered to be low risk to the education priorities of the Government. In 2007/08 ERO completed 644 homeschooling reviews from a total of 6,169 homeschooled students [at an average cost of $439.44 per review]. ERO could not provide assurance that the terms of exemption were being met in only 35 of the 644 reviews [a 5.4% “failure” rate]. This has been the pattern over many years.”

About 35 reviews a year will continue to be made, reviews initiated by the MoE as a result of concerns brought to the Ministry’s notice about particular home educating families. It was felt by home educators in discussions with the ERO back in the years from 1994 to 1999 when no regular reviews were being held, that the bad eggs rose to the top and became very obvious to everyone. Consequently, more exemptions were revoked during that time, with fewer reviews being held, than in the years prior to 1994.
A senior member of the ERO, with with every race, every ethnic background and every level of citizen. It is best to have this experience when one is equipped to discern the difference between ability and pretense, morality and stupidity, propinquity and friendship. And when one can defend what one knows and believes. It is, after all,  crucial to understand and respect differences, but first one must establish one’s own identity. Education is slow; socialization is quick.  (From the foreward of Otto Scott’s Great Christian Revolution: How Christianity Transformed the World. The Reformer Library. Windsor, New York 1995) much experience in dealing with home education reviews, wrote the
following in an email dated 30 July:

The reality is home schooling has been found to be low risk. Several things stand out in my mind relating to home schooling and they are:

• home schooling families have support from other homeschoolers and access to people through support networks and
• through the Internet;
• home schooling families are no longer isolated unless they choose to be;
• there is easy access to a considerable range of resources;
• the skills of home schooling parents are well used;• home schooling is being seen more as a viable educational option;
• ICT is a powerful communication and information gathering tool and home schooling families use this tool;
• people liked the affirmation that home schooling reviews affirmed good practice; and
• despite initial concerns the feedback

ERO has received relating to the home school review process is mostly positive. This person also felt that home  education reviews would not be reinstated for quite some time.

Conjecture will not be slow among home eduators in relation to “what will the MoE do now? Will they make it more difficult to get an exemption?” There is no particular reason to believe this, apart from the obvious fact that National has the same totalitarian tendencies as does Labour…they only tend to move a bit slower. This coalition with the ACT Party, however, does changethings a bit.

Heather Roy of the ACT Party is an Associate Minister of Education… home education fits perfectly into their philosophy of freedom of choice for parents in education and freedom of self determination in how to order one’s family affairs.

Back in 1995, the MoE instituted, for one year only, voluntary written reviews wherein home educators wrote to the MoE about how their home education enterprise was doing. The MoE said they really enjoyed reading the reviews as it was the only feedback they ever got from home educators after issuing the exemptions, the ERO being the ones to contact home educators after that. But the MoE also caught a lot of flak as a result of requesting these reviews, being accused of going outside their statutory powers in asking for such reviews and of trying to get home educators to  incriminate themselves, etc.

What we home educators need to remember just now is that the current coalition government with ACT MPs holding Ministerial portfolios means we have friends in Parliament and an officially friendly MoE philosophy for the time being. This is a time to raise the flag of accomplishments, achievements,  discoveries, the joys, benefits and satisfactions of

the home education option to the population at largeand to the MPs in particular.

From TEACH Bulletin

No 130 July 2009

To see the rest of the articles in the July 2009 TEACH Bulletin:

http://hef.org.nz/teach-bulletin/

or

http://hef.org.nz/category/teach-bulletin/

July TEACH Bulletin 2009

NO MORE Reviews!!! Page 1

The Excellence of Home Education Page 1

Inter-Party Working Group – for increasing parental and student choice in education Page 2

Sweden Page 3

United Kingdom Page 4

NCEA Grades Dubious Page 5

A Bit of Political Advice to Home Educators page 5

MoE/ERO Reviews

Some-one asked on hefnetnz http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hefnetnz/ and Trademe Message Board http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=29810245&threadid=29810245

“Is it TRUE that the MoE have decided to review every home schooled child in the next 12 months?”

Here is Craig’s answer:

Gidday all,

I think you can relax about this. Back in 1997/8 it was found that
neither the MoE nor the ERO actually had the legal authority to conduct
reviews of home educators. The Education Legislation Amendment Act (No.
2) closed up that loophole by adding sections 328A through 328D to the
main Act plus a couple other bits and pieces. So now it appears that the
ERO (not the MoE) has the power to order either general or specific
Reviews. The MoE buys a certain number of Reviews from the ERO each
year, about 600 or so, I believe. That’s just under 10% of the home
educated children out there.

For all of the approximately 6,500 home educated children to be reviewed
in the next 12 months would be a massively expensive logistical exercise
in terms of money, time and personnel. It won’t happen. They have to
give each of you one month notice (don’t ever accept less than this),
and then some of you will sadly inform them that the date they suggested
is totally out of the question for this or that reason.

It wouldn’t hurt to, at this time, check out what the Education Act
actually says in this regard. You can go to:

http://www.legislation.govt.nz

and click on “Acts” search and then type in “education act” under “quick
search title”, then click the first item in the list, “Education Act
1989″ and read through Sections 323 through 328D. It doesn’t hurt to
have a squizz at the enrollment, attendance and exemption bits in
Sections 20 through 35A and the bit about truancy officers in Section
31. It is all very instructive.

I cannot find anywhere in the Education Act or any of its Amendments
that any school is required to teach anything in particular. Section
35A(1)c requires private schools (not state schools) to inculcate the
sentiments of patriotism and loyalty, but I cannot find that state
schools are required to do any more than be open and provide teaching of
a secular character…that is, it doesn’t appear to me that schools are
required by law to teach reading, writing, arithmetic or anything else.
And a read through Sections 60 through 64 does not convince me that even
state schools are required by law to follow the national curriculum
guidelines, which themselves don’t seem to require much of anything
either, except sexuality education all across primary and secondary
years.

Regards,

Craig Smith
Moderator, Hefnetnz

National Director, Home Education Foundation

ERO - Review

Preparing for an ERO Review
(in an unschooling kind of way)

By Craig and Barbara Smith

When the ERO comes, they generally don’t look closely at what you have
written down. Such journals and notes as you may have are mostly
useful as a reminder for you to talk about what you have done. So
remember, if keeping a daily journal and/or extensive notes of what
you do during your day is not your style, if it is a burden to you, if
it is a stress to you, if you feel it is taking time away from the
time you could be spending with your children or your precious spare
time, then don’t do it.

The ERO are just as happy to look at photos of events and things that
you have been doing. So get the camera out on a regular basis and
click away.

Then absolutely forget about the ERO until you hear from them. When
you do hear from them, they will suggest a date something like a month
away. Decide that it is too soon and write telling them that the date
they suggested really isn’t convenient. Then propose two other dates
that are convenient for you and make sure these dates are two or so
months down the track. This gives you plenty of time to prepare for
the review. Once the date is settled, and you are perfectly happy with
the date…..the date selection is ultimately up to you, not up to
them……then start planning for the review. Please note: we are not
trying to get out of having a review; we are scheduling it to our best
advantage. This is only sensible.

Do nothing with the sole aim of pleasing the ERO; this does not
advance your objectives in raising/training/educating your children.
Keep to your convictions. If you are worrying about an upcoming ERO
review, then you may begin, even unconsciously, to do things simply
because you think it would please them, straying away from your unique
programme to one you think they’d like to see. Resist this temptation.
You will be able to speak convincingly about your own programme, but
you will not be able to speak convincingly about a programme you
followed because you thought it was the PC (politically correct) thing
to do.

The time to begin thinking about what you have been doing is once the
ERO contacts you. Then I would get out a huge piece of paper and write
in all the subjects you can think of - way more than the schools do.
As unschoolers, this is the one concession we’ll make to “eduspeak”
(more on this later). Here are the lists from the national curriculum
guidelines:
The seven essential learning areas:
Language & Languages
Technology
Health and Physical Well Being
Mathematics
Social Studies
Science
The Arts

The eight essential skills:
Communication Skills
Problem Solving Skills
Numeracy Skills
Physical Skills
Information Skills
Work and Study Skills
Self-Management and Competitive Skills
Social and Co-operative Skills

Then I would add in a whole bunch of other topics and subjects using
words which make sense to me. For example, what is Social Studies (in
the list above) anyway? I don’t know. So I’ll write down “History”
and “Geography” because they make sense to me, even though they may be
covered in the above subject of Social Studies (though I doubt it):

English
Geography
History
Music
Art
Horticulture
Home Economics (sewing, cooking)
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, French etc
Politics
Note Taking
Book Reports
Letter Writing
Essay Writing
Grammar
Drama
Medicine
Debating
Reasoning
Logic
Research
Creative Writing
Handwriting
Spelling
Calligraphy
Worldviews
Psychology
Bible
Critical Thinking
Farming
Industry
Sport
Dancing
Culture
Nature

Swimming
Memory Work, etc

That is just a quick list I thought up on the spot. With more
imagination I could come up with more and hopefully some even better
topics. You can probably come up with some really good ones.

Then you think through on every encounter you have had and everything
you have done or read in your home education endeavours over the past
year or two (since your last ERO review, or since you started home
educating) and write it down under the appropriate topic. Most things
will go under a number of topics - that is the nature of home
education and especially unschooling. So think of books you have read
to the children; books your children have read; visitors to your home;
homes you have visited and the uniqueness of these encounters; the
things you have talked about and done; the field trips you have been
on, officially and unofficially; the fun things you have done as a
family, with others or on your own. I hope you are getting the picture
here. Just think of everything that has happened and slot it under
several of the above topics.

For example: A trip to the beach goes under: Science, PE, Mathematics
(you stopped for an ice-cream on the way and worked out the cost and
change), The Arts, Health and Physical Well Being, Communication
skills, Self Management (putting on togs, washing off later) and
Competitive skills (foot racing, ball games on beach, best sand
castle) and some others depending on what you did, who you talked to,
etc.

Reading a book about David Livingstone would go under: History,
geography, science, missions, exploration, courage, loyalty, Home
economics, farming, technology, languages, world views, cultures,
medicine, slavery, etc.

Playing the board game “Risk” would go under: geography, maths,
strategy, history, languages, communication, problem solving,
politics, worldviews, etc., and under more things depending on the
discussions you have while playing.

Having a guest around could go under many topics depending on the
guest and what their interests are where they have travelled, etc.

This sheet of paper is a mind map. Have it hanging on a wall with easy
access from the moment you hear of your ERO review, and write in
events under the topics as they come to mind, as they will, at odd
times throughout the day.

Now when the ERO come to visit (and preferably that will be in a hall,
library or some such place and not your home) do not show them this
mind map until the very end. All this preparation will arm you with
lots to talk about with the ERO. But talk to them in unschooling terms
not eduspeak. Why? Because this is the language you, as an unschooler,
are familiar with. Again, resist the temptation to do things because
you think that is what they want to hear and see. Remember the wording
from the Exemption Application says you are not required to follow the
National Curriculum Guidelines, but that they want to hear about “what
you intend to cover” and “your curriculum vision”. The key is that you
have a vision and are able to clearly articulate this to the ERO,
whatever it may be.

Explain to them all the wonderful things your children have been
learning. You don’t have to show them heaps of things. It is not
learning outcomes that they are reviewing but how your children have
been “taught as regularly and as well as in a registered school.” So
be very clear on your philosophy and how to explain it to the ERO. If
necessary write some quotes or phrases that you want to get across to
the ERO on paper to prompt you when talking to the ERO. The review
should mostly consist of you talking with the ERO and not the ERO
talking to your children.

When we had our last review, we prepared a huge mind map in just the
way described above. When the Reviewer arrived for our review (in a
church hall), I straight away told him that Jeremiah at 10 1/2 was not
reading, writing or doing any formal maths. Further, I said I had not
started to do these things when we knew this ERO review was coming up.
Yes, Jeremiah knew how to read; it’s just that he found it such a
laborious task that he wasn’t doing it, nor were we forcing him. He
knew how to draw the letters and string them phonetically into words,
but since that too was nearly impossible for him to do for more than
60 seconds at a stretch, we were not insisting that he do any. And
yes, he was doing arithmetical work in practical ways all the time,
but pencil and paper activities with him were out of the question. We
then talked about our philosophy, our assessment of Jeremiah’s
capabilities and developmental delays and why he wasn’t doing these
things and how we planned to tackle them in the future and what we
were doing to sort of compensate in the meantime….and we passed the
review with flying colours. The Reviewer’s (correct) evaluation of our
situation was that we had the matter in hand and were working with
Jeremiah’s personal and unique characteristics to maximize his
potential. (By the way, today at age 13, Jeremiah is an avid reader of
normal print-sized chapter books, staying up late at nights to finish
off the next chapter! His handwriting is looking better than average,
he is happy to write thank-you letters to relations and remonstrances
to politicians and requests for information to companies, making
expert use of computer spell-checkers and email.)

We are in a pioneering time still in some areas of home education.
Training the MOE and ERO on unschooling is one of these areas. This
may always be a pioneering area because the MOE and ERO officers keep
changing, necessitating that we train up the new batch. Although
awkward, the main time for doing this training is when applying for an
exemption or during a live ERO Review.

Always check to make sure that they find your home educating “as
regular and as well as in a registered school” before they leave. Ask
that before you show your mind map so you can pull it out as extra,
compelling evidence in a form of “eduspeak” the reviewer may be more
personally comfortable with. (Of course, if the review is already
going really well, you may not have to show the mind map at all.) This
mind map and the preparation it represents plus all your other
preparation for the Review should ensure it goes really well. 95% of
reviews are really positive experiences for all concerned. Again, the
key is being prepared, knowing what you’re about and explaining and
demonstrating this during a review in such a way that you simply drip
with confidence, competence and enthusiasm.

1st edition appeared on RUA in 2005

Reprinted and revised in:
Keystone Magazine
May 2005
P O Box 9064
Palmerston North
Phone: (06) 357-4399
Fax: (06) 357-4389
http://www.hef.org.nz

ERO Reviews

Many of you will be having ERO reviews this year. Here are a couple of booklets written by NZ authors to help you through:

1. Preparing for an ERO Review

by Craig Smith

Preparing for an ERO Review

order here:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=2366144

2. Giving Support at ERO Reviews

by Lennie Harrison

Lennie has been involved in her local Support Group on the committee and running workshops for several years.

Cost is $5 + postage.
Phone: 03 314 3720
Email: jandl@e3.net.nz
Kinross, RD3 Amberley

Also be sure to check out this link:

hef.org.nz/category/ero-review/