Principals and researchers agree that a declining love of reading and rising classroom disruption could be to blame for New Zealand's poor results in a major international test.
Our 15-year-olds' scores in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment are now lower than they were a decade ago by a factor equivalent to nearly a year's education.
Researchers say the long-term decline in reading, science and maths will take years to rectify.
RNZ education correspondent John Gerritsen has the story.
