Will the Minister pause the discontinuation of e-asTTle until SMART has been independently reviewed and shown to be stable, valid, fair, reliable, and useful for teachers, parents, and whānau; if not, why not?

Answer

I am advised by the Ministry of Education that there is no change to the plan to discontinue e-asTTle as previously indicated. e-asTTle is outdated, end-of-life technology that is not aligned to the updated New Zealand Curriculum. Pausing the discontinuation is not an option because the previous Labour Government did not invest in e-asTTle for 6 years sufficiently to make it able to be used. The Student Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting Tool (SMART) is a long-term investment and will continue to be improved. So far, overall sentiment from participating schools has been positive. In 2027, Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) will continue to be an option for twice-yearly assessment.