New research shows few teachers support having minimum standards of achievement for primary school children.
The National Party has said it will introduce compulsory testing and national standards if it becomes the Government.
The study by the Council for Educational Research is part of a national survey of more than 2000 school trustees, teachers and parents.
More than half of principals were strongly opposed to standards, with only one in 10 in favour.
Teachers were also opposed, with only 13% supporting the idea.
Many others said their support would depend of what the standards were; how they were measured and how the information would be used.
Trustees were more in favour of standards.
Although parents were not asked specifically about standards, Radio New Zealand's education correspondent says three quarters of those surveyed wanted to know how their child compared with others of the same age.
