Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa is pilot testing a te reo Māori dyslexia screening tool to better support students.
People with dyslexia, or tīpaopao, think differently and can find it more difficult to read, write or work with numbers.
"To give them a test in English, it just does them a disservice," tumuaki (principal) Pip Rimene told Q+A.
"I guess we're tired of waiting so we're just going to create it and do it ourselves now."
There's no public funding for a dyslexia diagnosis. Private assessments range from around $650 to well over $1000.
An estimated one in 10 New Zealanders have the condition, according to the Dyslexia Foundation, but this statistic is based on overseas research as there is no New Zealand data.
Rimene searched for a te reo Māori dyslexia screening tool after a tamaiti (child) was diagnosed with the learning difficulty.
"We looked around for a te reo Māori screening, we rang up Speld NZ but there was nothing available in te reo – even privately – nothing that we could find and that was going through resource teachers, all sorts of other avenues," she said.
Rimene said assessing students that learn in a Māori immersion environment in English does them a disservice and staff questioned whether results would be skewed.
"The whakaaro (thought) was that if a tamaiti was struggling to read in te reo and we only teach them in te reo 'til they get to Year 8 then they definitely weren't going to cope with a test that was in English."
She said culturally inappropriate screening is a wider problem.
"We get the public health nurse comes in and they do eye testing but it's with the English alphabet, so if we've got tamariki at a really young age that are still learning the Māori alphabet and they don't know the English alphabet, well then they're going to struggle to identify the letters which could be mistaken for not being able to read the letter," she said.
Rimene asked dyslexia consultant Mike Styles if he wanted to work with the kura on creating a tool appropriate for their students, based on an existing test for adults and teenagers.
"He was really keen so we've been really fortunate to work with him to be able to get this now to its testing phase and hopefully come up with some really solid baseline data that will help us going forward."
The assessment has already been trialled on 20 tamariki, with three students showing signs of dyslexia.
"I've sat with one tamaiti and did theirs and they struggled beyond belief with it – they couldn't cope. I think we stopped after the first one where they just read out what each letter was and the rest of their results too would indicate that they quite likely have dyslexia," Rimene said.
By early next year, Rimene aims to have tested most of the 70 students in Year 3 to Year 12 to build a baseline of achievement levels.
The analysis will show where students are sitting, including who needs extensions or further support with letter recognition, the blending of letters, or another literacy aspect. The screening doesn't take the place of a formal diagnosis which can be difficult for kura and whānau to access, but gives staff an indication.
Rimene said the tool wasn't developed for "the purpose of labelling our tamariki, but wanting to do it so we can better understand their learning needs".
"I've been in this kura 15 years and we've 'never' had a dyslexic student so you don't know what you don't know."
The tool is part of an increased focus for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa to adapt and adjust their teaching practice to align with individual students' strengths and challenges. This includes reviewing the classroom layout and timetable.
"Maramataka (Māori lunar calendar) that forms a big part... different phases our tamariki are going to be more 'wee wee, wah wah' so we have a slower day on those days."
'We probably would have just got left behind'
Eleven-year-old Zephyr-Hoani Karaitiana is the child that prompted Rimene's dyslexia work.
At nine years old, he was having outbursts in class, pushing his peers and trying to leave kura through the front gates, according to his mum Jessie Dean.
"He actually loves learning. It's just, I think, maybe 'cause no one understood why he was having so much outbursts," she said.
"He didn't even understand, I don't think."
This continued for a few months before a teacher shared an interesting observation.
"One of the teachers actually told me it was mainly during reading and writing... any other time he was fine," Dean said.
She sought outside tuition for Zephyr-Hoani, and Rimene suggested that a child psychologist do a learning assessment on him.
Rimene was told by the local child development service in 2022 that dyslexia assessments aren't funded, and wait times for cognitive assessments for disorders like autism were up to three years.
"We don't think any child's got three years to wait in an education system so as a kura, we paid for that assessment to take place ourselves and we got it done in a three-month timeframe," Rimene said.
The cost for the test was $1300. The cost of private assessments is acknowledged by educators as a barrier for some schools and whānau.
"I probably wouldn't have gone that far. Who knows?" Dean said.
"If it wasn't for the tautoko of the kura and the principal and his teachers, we probably would have just got left behind."
But the cost from her operating budget was well spent for Rimene.
"Anything that's gonna help us understand the needs of our tamariki... that's a bonus," she said.
Rimene said staff fine-tuning their teaching practice with Zephyr-Hoani and taking steps to support his interests has "seen a massive shift" in his behaviour and learning.
Zephyr-Hoani's mum Jessie Dean says his confidence in reading and writing has grown.
"I put that down to both the kaimahi (staff) here, the kaiako (teacher) and his English and maths tutoring," she said.
Dean said diagnosis interventions should be available in English and te reo Māori.
"I think our kids understand better in their own language.
"Although he's bilingual, I think delivering something like that in his own language where he's more comfortable in te reo Māori would be way more beneficial for both him and the ones doing the assessment 'cause you'll probably get more out of it from him – well, from kura kids."
In 2019, the Ministry of Education announced that creating screening tools with the aim being to produce these in English, te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language was one of its priorities, as laid out in the Learning Support Action Plan 2019-2025.
In a statement, the Education Ministry's deputy secretary of operations and integration, Sean Teddy, told Q+A the action plan "has always been subject to budget approvals".
"The provision of screening tools has not yet been funded," he said.
Teddy said the ministry will work with the new Government on their priorities. Education Minister Erica Stanford declined to be interviewed.
'Groundbreaking' development
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi tumuaki Hare Rua is welcoming the news Wairarapa is pilot testing a te reo Māori dyslexia tool.
Once the tool is fully developed, Rimene said she's willing to share it with other kura.
"I know tumuaki and kura throughout the motu, Kura ā Iwi, kura kaupapa Māori will be absolutely over the moon, to hear Wairarapa are taking the initiative," Rua told Q+A.
"The Ministry of Education, if you ask me, they need to run in there, sprint in there, and get behind that kura."
Rua said it's important people in kura lead the design of interventions as they know their students and their cultural background best.
"It's groundbreaking what Wairarapa are doing because they'll create that and they can strategise, 'OK, what's the best way to work with these tamariki?' It's huge for us."
Rua said Māori medium learning support from the Ministry of Education is limited. He said staff in kaitakawaenga (Māori learning advisor) roles are "amazing" but have limited time and resources.
"They come in, they're full of energy to give back knowing full well how under-resourced kura kaupapa are.
"They do everything they can to make things work. Even though it's not enough, it's never actually enough for our tamariki," he said.
There are 32 kaitakawaenga roles in the country, a ministry spokesperson said.
Rua said kura kaupapa are used to making do with what they've got.
"We've become really, really good at working out for ourselves what's the best way to go about things for what we have and what we're qualified to do, or what mātauranga we have in the different needs that tamariki show."
In 2021, the Education Review Office (ERO) found kura kaupapa deliver excellent outcomes for Māori learners even with "widespread lack of resourcing".
"Future work is clearly needed to ensure Māori-medium sites are supported, resourced and enabled to continue delivering a strong and effective education pathway for Māori learners," the ERO report stated.
While kaimahi (staff) do their best to cater to the wide range of learners at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi, some students' learning difficulties remain undiagnosed.
"We've also got tamariki who are strong, who's strong enough to create their own systems and strong enough to create their own strategies," Rua said.
"But there will be those that fall through the gaps. And it's tough. It's tough because one, we don't have the means to better ascertain whether the taimaiti (child) is at.
"And then two, if you don't fully understand and know where they're at, how do you put something together, a plan together? All you're doing is you're doing the best you can."
As part of Budget 2023, the then government announced $40 million would go towards creating a learning support coordination system that works for kura kaupapa.
The Ministry of Education is working alongside kura organisations Te Rūnanga Nui and Ngā Kura ā Iwi on the initiative.
Rua said kura kaupapa staff are welcoming the initiative and are relieved kura bodies are involved.
"We know that's not going to just be some ad hoc thing that is put together or straight translation or something else where they go, 'Here you go kura kaupapa Māori, now be quiet', you know? 'Go into the corner and be quiet because you're getting a bit noisy, while we're working out here.'
"They're gonna have the vested interest, the best interests of kura kaupapa Māori in mind when creating what they're going to be creating for the betterment of the learning of our tamariki, so there's hope."
A ministry spokesperson said it's too early for a date for completion of the project.
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