Educators want the Government to re-focus on supporting teachers with better resourcing, rather than "bumper sticker" statements, a teachers' representative says.
It comes after the Government on Wednesday announced standardised testing at primary schools will be compulsory from 2026.
But the teachers' union, NZEI Te Riu Rua, has said it won't improve achievement and could cause anxiety for those who struggle to learn.
NZEI president Mark Potter told AM on Thursday that national standards have already proved comparing students to those at other schools doesn't help learners at all.
Potter added that the Government's announcement, which focuses on how this new testing will show where an individual pupil is with their progress, implies teachers aren't already doing this.
In fact, he says, most schools already are.
"If most schools are using it we already have consistency so what is it to achieve?" he asked.
"We're not saying that we're against rolling it [standardised testing] out because it's already out. What we're saying is that this is not going to make the change that people are thinking it will."
Potter said there were other focuses the teaching community had been asking for for "a long, long time" which have not been addressed.
"What the teachers have been saying is what they do need is more resourcing, particularly around learning support, and that's what we're looking forward to hearing and we still aren't hearing any statements," he said.
"All we're getting is these bumper sticker type statements that we're going to get schools to do these things that they're already doing."
Potter also said standardised testing wasn't the only way to assess a child, but it can lead to anxiety for children.
However, later on AM, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the Government was introducing the tests because currently parents don't know if their child is doing well or not until they hit the first year of NCEA.
"We want to make sure that we're making all the interventions that we need to do," he said.
"This is really about having an assessment tool so that we actually know early and faster when children are off track and need extra support."
Luxon said half of the students heading into high school in New Zealand were not prepared and ready.
"We've got a goal to lift that to 80 percent. We know that we've got to teach the basics well, that means coming through from Year 3 to 8 in particular, and making sure that we've got our kids moving in the right direction."
