Aromatawai | A term that is often translated as assessment but which carries a much broader meaning in learning and teaching. It can be understood through its parts: aro, meaning to take notice of or pay attention to, and matawai, to examine closely. Together, these ideas emphasise a careful, attentive process that supports teaching, learning, and ākonga progress (Ministry of Education, 2023). |
Assessment capability | “The set of skills and understandings that teachers require to employ Assessment for Learning practices in ways that equip students to assess – and thereby to assume control of their own learning” (Smaill, 2020, p. 523). |
Assessment for learning | A process by which assessment information is used by teachers to adjust their teaching strategies, and by students to adjust their learning strategies. Also known as ‘formative assessment’. |
Computer-adaptive testing | An assessment in which items are selected from a pool to match the estimated achievement level of the ākonga. The estimate is updated after each response, allowing the assessment to adapt and become more precise as more items are completed. |
Confirmation bias | The tendency to seek, interpret, or give greater weight to information in ways that confirm existing beliefs, assumptions, or expectations. |
Criterion-referenced assessment | An assessment designed to measure what a person knows or can do in relation to clearly defined criteria for a specific competency or body of knowledge. It indicates an individual’s performance in relation to those criteria or expected levels of performance, rather than how they compare with others. |
Data literacy | The skills and knowledge needed to effectively understand, analyse, interpret, and use assessment data to inform teaching and learning (Mandinach & Gummer, 2016). |
Data sovereignty | A term that “relates to individuals, particular groups, and nations having ownership over and the ability to control their own data as they see fit. This encompasses fundamental rights regarding privacy, collection, storage, protection, ethics, and other issues connected to data and data infrastructure” (Royal Society Te Apārangi, 2023, p. 8). |
Equality in education | Providing all ākonga with the same resources and opportunities, regardless of their individual differences. |
Equity in education | Providing ākonga with fair learning opportunities, resources, and support based on their needs, so that socio-economic, personal, or other circumstances do not unfairly limit their opportunity to succeed. |
Norm-referenced assessment | An assessment (e.g., PAT Pāngarau) that has been designed to determine the position of an individual relative to others in a reference sample group, with respect to the skills, knowledge, and understanding being measured. |
Practice effect | “Improved test performance when a student takes the same [or a similar] test more than once—not due to learning or progress, but because of increased familiarity with the test format or content” (New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 2026). |
Reliability | “The consistency of the results we obtain from an assessment. This may mean: - Consistency across time—would the results have been the same [or similar] if the test or assessment had taken place on another day, or at another time?
- Consistency across tasks—would the result have been the same if other tasks had been chosen to assess the learning?
- Consistency across markers—would the results have been similar if another marker had scored the assessment?” (Darr, 2005a, p. 59).
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Scale score | A score calculated from a standardised assessment that uses a common achievement scale, such as PATs. Scale scores place ākonga achievement on a scale that spans year levels, making it possible to compare performance across testing occasions and monitor progress over time. |
Standard error of measurement | An estimate of the uncertainty around a reported score. It can be thought of as a “plus or minus” zone within which a student’s true score is expected to be about two-thirds of the time (Darr, 2025, p. 48). |
Standardised test | A type of test or assessment (e.g., PAT Pānui) in which the content, instructions, administration conditions, and scoring procedures are set in advance and used consistently. |
Stanine | Short for “standard nine”. A score from 1 to 9 that shows how a result compares with a nationally representative group, usually from the same year level and assessed at the same point in the year. A score of 1 indicates relatively low achievement, while a score of 9 indicates relatively high achievement. |
Streaming | “Practices whereby students are sorted into different classes or placed into in-class ability-based groups for sustained periods of time based on teacher perceptions of ability and assessment data” (Kōkirihia, n.d.) |
Tairongo | “A way of knowing [that] confirms and validates or informs the knowledge that kaiako and whānau may have accumulated about mokopuna.” Activated when you: - Whakamanahia te tairongo wairua—Trust your intuition
- Āta titiro—Examine closely
- Āta whakarongo—Listen carefully
- Aroā—Develop awareness
- Whakamātauhia—Test your knowing
- Tūhura—Expand your knowing. (Ministry of Education, n.d.-a)
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Te mana rauranga | “The inherent rights and interests that Māori have in relation to the collection, ownership, and application of Māori data” (Te Mana Raraunga, 2018, p. 1).
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Te whānau aro | A term that makes space for “several ways of paying attention to mokopuna learning … [and] some of the many facets that support an aromatawai approach. - Aro—Focus, interest
- Aroā—Awareness and perception
- Aroha—Consider with respect and integrity
- Arohaehae—Appraisal
- Aromātai—Evaluate
- Arorau—To consider widely and coherently
- Arotake—Review
- Aroturuki—Monitor
- Tauaromahi—Exemplars of levels/stage of work” (Ministry of Education, n.d.-b).
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Validity | “An evaluation of the quality of the interpretations and decisions that are made on the basis of an assessment result—that is, how well the inferences we make or actions we take on the basis of an assessment result can be justified” (Darr, 2005b, p. 55). |