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2015 No 1, February

Tēnā koutou 

Thank you for reading our latest update. There is an array of upcoming events and new research and publications to tell you about in this newsletter. We've also added a special section that includes assessment updates from our Education Adviser. We hope this information will be useful to you in your work. 

Noho ora mai rā

The NZCER Team

Events and consultation workshops

Two more dates in Wellington and Auckland have been added to the first round of consultations on the development of a National Strategy for Māori Achievement for adult literacy and numeracy.  All those interested in Māori development are urged to register to attend.

The Wellington consultation will take place on 6 March from 10-1pm at Wharewaka Functions Centre.

The Auckland consultation will take place on 10 March from 10-1pm at  Te Noho Kotahitanga marae at the UNITEC campus.

Registrations for the Kei Tua hui, co-hosted by NZCER and Te Wānanga o Raukawa, close on Friday 13 March.

The hui will offer unparalleled opportunities to listen, meet and talk with people who understand the unique challenges and questions Māori face today.

Over two days, participants and speakers will discuss diverse viewpoints on rangatiratanga and mātauranga – knowledge and power – in workshops, and kōrero about how we can work together to contribute to Māori well-being. This hui will encourage participants to expand their thinking  and will challenge them to apply this thinking to their mahi and day to day life. Participants will leave feeling challenged, stimulated and inspired.

The hui will be of interest to community leaders, educators, students, activists, academics and policy-makers.

Research news

TRLI funding round opens

The 2015 funding round for the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) opens on Monday 2 March. Expression of Interest (EOIs) are due by Thursday 7 May 2015. The fund is open to proposals from all sectors of education and training including early childhood, school, and the post school sector.

Everything you need to know about submitting an EOI will be on the TLRI website from Monday.

The Beeby fellowship for 2014-2015 has been awarded to Jesse Pirini. Mr Pirini,  Ngati Tūwharetoa, Whakatohea, wants to help schools, community groups and iwi offer tutoring to students who need it. He will use the grant to create a resource to help communities develop and sustain their own tutoring programmes.

The Beeby fellowship is a joint initiative between NZCER  and the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO and is worth $30,000.

The 2014 Margaret M Blackwell Travel Fellowship has been awarded to Sarah Moore, a hospital play specialist at Starship Children's Hospital. She will use the grant to investigate the application of a method known as Snoezelen to support hospitalised children and their families manage transitions between home and hospital, within the hospital, and from hospital to home.

The fellowship, worth $16,000, enables early childhood education practitioners to travel to study a particular topic. 

NZCER at Taipei

New Zealand was the guest of honour at this year's Taiwan International Book Exhibition. NZCER Press Manager, Senior Editor and General Manager Products and Services  attended the exhibition to display NZCER Press publications and the new online assessment platform.

New books

Mathematics and statistics in the middle years: Evidence and practice

A new book edited by Robin Averill celebrates mathematics and statistics education in Aotearoa New Zealand. The chapters in this book showcase some of our most exciting practice and research, and they are excellent examples of the work happening in New Zealand schools and teacher education.  
Who are Māori children with special education needs? Why would working with them be any different to working with other children with special education needs? Why is this a highly important job—he mahi whakahirahira? This new book provides essential information for those striving to provide culturally responsive, effective education for Māori children.

A new up-to-date resource has been published with the aim of improving the literacy of dyslexic students. In putting the book and DVD together, the authors aim to de-mystify dyslexia and show that there are many practical things classroom teachers can do about it. 
This book provides a powerful critique of two decades of educational reform in New Zealand, from an educator who was deeply involved in New Zealand's education sector.

Bali Haque analyses four major reforms since 1989: Tomorrow’s Schools, the NCEA, the revised New Zealand Curriculum and National Standards. His book explores the role of the Ministry of Education, the PPTA, and secondary school principals, and asks some fundamental questions about how we define and measure school and teacher quality and the extent to which schools and teachers can be expected to overcome socioeconomic disadvantage in homes. It examines how well ERO makes decisions about school quality, how useful our decile system is, and the extent to which NCEA results provide any useful measure of school quality.

Assessment updates from Cathie Johnson, Education Adviser

It’s Term 1 and your teachers are getting to know their learners – what they can do and what they need to learn, ensuring relevant  teaching to meet specific needs. Standardised tools like PATs have a useful role in a purposeful assessment programme. NZCER Assessment Services offers you tools, PD and resources for you to be able to use your school data to help support learning.

Online testing

All of our standardised assessments can now be sat online with results immediately available through your subscription to NZCER Marking. As of February 20th, over 28,000 NZ children had sat their assessments online. Just last week we had more than 2500 children sitting at the same time – the capacity is huge!

Spell-Write

We all remember this timeless tool as either teachers or students, and later this term it will be launched as a digital resource. New features such as student accounts, the Treasure Box, and functions that allow teachers to track progress over time support learners to develop independent spelling skills, and teachers to identify learning needs.

Upcoming workshops and webinars

How purposeful are you in your use of standardised assessments? When did you last review your assessment practices to see if they are really achieving the results you expected? Join one of these practical, hands-on workshops or webinars that offer both challenges and support. We will use NZ research to see what works to improve learning. Examine your practice and share ideas and solutions with other schools. All workshops and webinars listed below can also be run in your school or across clusters of schools.

Contact Cathie

Contact Cathie about her services by emailing education.adviser@nzcer.org.nz or calling her on 04 802 1386.