The Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool was developed for the TEC by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER), who led a consortium involving NZCER, the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER), and Fronde. The development process drew on the collective curriculum and assessment expertise of NZCER, ACER, and TEC, and the ICT expertise of Fronde.

The Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool is an online adaptive tool primarily designed to provide robust and reliable information on the reading, writing, numeracy and vocabulary skills of adults. This information informs the development of learning interventions that match learners’ needs and strengthen their literacy and numeracy skills. The Assessment Tool also allows learners to track their progress over time and enable educators and organisations to report on the progress made by groups or cohorts of learners. See https://assess.literacyandnumeracyforadults.com/

Since the release of the tool in 2010, NZCER has led several further developments. The Assessment Tool now offers the following options in addition to the default ‘adult’ reading and numeracy
assessments:

• Youth options for reading and numeracy
• Starting Points: Reading and Starting Points: Listening Vocabulary for learners working at foundational stages of reading or who are beginning learners of English
• Te Ata Hāpara, a reading option in English for Māori learners.

In summary, the Tool provides:

• reading, writing, numeracy, and vocabulary assessments linked to the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy and Numeracy
• hundreds of assessment questions, using New Zealand contexts
• adaptive assessments (where the computer alters the difficulty of questions in response to the
• learner’s answer) and non-adaptive assessments (online and printed)
• reports for learners, educators, organisations and the TEC
• a reliable infrastructure built and tested to IT industry standards.

Access the tool here:  https://assess.literacyandnumeracyforadults.com/

This project aims to deepen understanding about the key factors and school actions that influence students’ wellbeing, and particularly, the wellbeing of Māori students. 

This study is important as we know that learners who have lower levels of wellbeing have poorer health and education outcomes. When learners feel they belong and are happy at school, and they are cared about and their identity is valued, they are likely to be better able to learn and grow.

Our previous study, Making a difference to student wellbeing, showed that Māori students report lower levels of wellbeing than other students, even after controlling for influencing factors. This raises questions about the equity and effectiveness of school processes and practices.

Methodology and methods
This research uses strengths-based kaupapa Māori and qualitative approaches.  Wellbeing@School student survey data was used to select six primary schools where we were likely to see examples of effective practices. The students at these schools reported higher than average levels of wellbeing and teacher relationships, and lower levels of aggressive behaviour.

We visited each of the six schools to talk to a mix of people including school leaders, students, teachers, whānau, Board of Trustees members, community members, and school SENCO, RTLB, or social workers.

We held interviews and focus groups and asked questions about how the school:

• promoted students’ wellbeing, identity, and sense of belonging
• addressed any actions that are detrimental to students’ wellbeing such as racism, bias, or bullying behaviour.

Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko, the National Digital Readiness Programme is funded by the Ministry of Education. The aim of the programme is to support teachers, kaiako, school leaders and tumuaki to feel supported, confident and well equipped to implement the new Digital Technologies (DT) and Hangarau Matihiko (HM) content through the provision of online and face to face resources, learning opportunities and support for teachers and school leaders in English-Medium and Māori-medium settings.

NZCER is the evaluation partner for the Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko programme. 

See https://kiatakatu.ac.nz/

The National Beginning Teacher (NBT) induction grant aims to lift employment of new graduates from initial teacher education from 80% to 90% by supporting schools to employ a beginning teacher (BT) in shortage locations and shortage subjects. The support is in the form of an induction grant of $10,000 for schools that employ a BT for 12 months or more.  NZCER has been contracted by the Ministry of Education to evaluate this initiative. The purpose of the evaluation is to understand how the initiative operated in its first year (2019), and what difference it made to employment of BTs.

Project team: Rachel Bolstad, Sophie Watson, Jo MacDonald, Keita Durie 

This project began in 2019. It addresses questions about what changes or adaptations our education system may need to make in the immediate and short-to-medium term future, in response to climate change. The research methods have included surveys, interviews, case studies, literature reviews, and analysis of policy. 

In 2019 we asked principals and teachers questions about climate change and sustainability questions in the 2019 NZCER National Survey of primary and intermediate schools.

In 2020 we surveyed teachers and leaders from a sample of secondary and composite schools about whole-school and classroom climate and sustainability practices.

In October 2020 we published a report of key themes from key informant interviews including youth perspectives, Māori perspectives, Pacific New Zealander perspectives, system/policy/academic perspectives, and educator perspectives. 

In 2022-2023 we carried out qualitative case studies of climate and sustainability education practices across six school and classroom contexts.

In 2024 we again asked principals and teachers questions about climate change and sustainability questions in the 2024 NZCER National Survey of primary and intermediate schools, findings to be released in 2025.

Media and blogs

Rachel Bolstad has written two articles for NZ Principal Magazine:

• "Tackling climate change through empowered learning" September 2024, volume39, number 3, pp. 16-22 Read here
•  "Climate change - what can schools do?" March 2020, volume 35, number 1, pp. 24-28. Read here. 

Check the NZCER blog for our posts and this opinion piece for Education International on Harnessing education's power for positive climate action.

Rachel was interviewed on RNZ Nine to Noon, discussing how to support young people with climate anxiety through engaging and acting in response to climate change.

Do you want to receive email updates from this project?

Subscribe to receive occasional email updates here.

Please note that the TSP Survey is available through NZCER Assist from Term 2, 2023.

The Teaching and School Practices Survey Tool (TSP) is a free online survey tool that provides New Zealand's first national picture of teaching and school practices, and principal leadership in English-medium schools.

The TSP is an example of research being put in to practice. The items in the tool come out of robust research on effective teaching and school practices and effective principal leadership. 

The tool is designed for schools and Kāhui Ako to inquire into their teaching, school, and principal leadership practices. It was launched in 2017 and is available for use in Terms 2 and 3 of the school year.  

NZCER holds the data from the tool and uses it to create an annual report. The first of these  was published in March 2018. The reports and the summaries are available below.

The tool was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to provide:

• school-level data that can be used by schools and Kāhui Ako in review and planning to improve teaching and leadership capability, and
• national data that can be used for evaluating the impact of policy, initially the introduction of Kāhui Ako and changes to professional learning and development.

The survey was developed with the active support of an Advisory Group. The Advisory Group had representatives from NZEI, NZPF, NZAIMS, PPTA, SPANZ and NZSTA, working collaboratively with ERO, the Education Council, the Ministry of Education, and researchers and professional development providers. It was trialled with a representative cross-section of schools.

For more information about the tool or to register, visit www.tspsurveys.org.nz

Competencies in NZC was an MOE funded project with both retrospective and prospective components. The team has documented the provenance of the key competencies in The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and summarised how understandings about them have developed over time. These developments are compared with those taking place in other nations with similar curriculum intentions and with models of competencies developed in more recent OECD work. The team used a collaborative process to explore the ideas.

Exploring the health of te reo in Māori homes and communities

Te Wāhanga has completed research on the health of te reo Māori in homes and communities. Te Ahu o te Reo explored how whānau in nine communities were working towards re-establishing te reo Māori as a secure, living language and a normal means of communication in daily life.

The findings from Te Ahu o te Reo will inform funding and delivery of programmes to help ensure the best results for te reo Māori. A set of recommendations will inform action by national and local government, and in the education and broadcasting sectors.

Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, who commissioned the research, will work with Te Mātāwai to address the recommendations.

We produced reports that present the findings from each of the nine communities in depth. The reports highlight challenges and opportunities that whānau experienced as they pursued their goals and aspirations in maintaining, revitalising and normalising te reo Māori in each community.

Te Ahu o te Reo is about te reo Māori in the 21^st century. It builds on the seminal Māori language survey carried out in the 1970s by Richard and Nena Benton, which showed that the Māori language was in a perilous state across Aotearoa. Eight of the communities that took part in that survey were involved in Te Ahu o te Reo. Read a summary of the methodology.

The project’s name references the past and the future  

Dr Patu Hohepa named this research project ‘Te Ahu o te Reo’.  The meaning of the name is two-fold, and references both past and future. Te Ahu o te Reo is linked to the whakataukī, ‘Ko te reo te tūāhu o te mana Māori’. This whakataukī likens te reo Māori to a tūāhu or altar because of its important role in maintaining our culture, our marae, mana Māori, our tikanga and our identity. It refers to the idea of having a significant place for te reo Māori. At the same time Te Ahu o te Reo encourages us to look ahead to the future and to move forward to revitalise our language. The name reflects the dynamic nature of language, and retains a connection to the original whakataukī. It is about where we have come from, where we are now, and where we want to be in regard to te reo Māori.

The report was prepared for Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori

NZCER has been contracted by Sport New Zealand to provide evaluation services for Play.sport during 2016-2022.

What is Play.sport?

Play.sport aims to build a sustainable system that ensures all young people in a community have access to quality, fun and challenging physical activity, physical education, and sport experiences that help them to be active, engaged, learning, and succeeding.

Play.sport is a long term, multi-faceted approach led by Sport New Zealand in partnership with schools, Regional Sports Trusts, sporting organisations and providers, community groups, and government agencies.

Participating schools have access to initial support and professional learning for 3 years.

Play.sport is being trialled in four communities in two phases. Phase 1 started in 2016 with two communities: Upper Hutt and Waitakere. Phase 1 involves around 45 primary, intermediate, and secondary schools.

Phase 2 started in 2019 and involves two new communities (Southland and Waikato) and around 40 schools. The Southland initiative is called Made to Move, and the Waikato initiative is called Taakaro-ora – Active wellbeing.

About the NZCER evaluation

The NZCER evaluation has two main aims:

1) Short-term: providing information to assist in building Play.sport (a process focus)

2) Longer-term: documenting the main outcomes and changes to practice that occur for schools, students, and communities (an outcomes focus)

For more information contact sally.boyd@nzcer.org.nz

More information about Play.sport

Open the link for more information about Play.sport 

To hear more about the role physical activity and sport can play in education, listen to a podcast from the Teaching Council. Play.sport is one of the initiatives discussed in 'What is the role of sport in education?'

Read some of the findings and stories from the evaluation of Play.sport at: 

Supporting schools | Sport New Zealand - Ihi Aotearoa (sportnz.org.nz)

Read the evaluation report from the first year (2016) below.

What is Curriculum for the Future?

Curriculum for the Future is a set of three resources designed to stimulate open-ended conversations about learning and curriculum today and into the future. The resources can be used separately or together, and in any order.

• Part 1 is a workshop resource.
• Part 2 is a live action role play game.
• Part 3 is a digital game for iPad  or tablet.

Who are these resources for?

The Curriculum for the Future resources are for anyone who wants to think about the purposes of schooling, and what young people should learn now and in the future. This includes:

• Teachers and school leaders
• Professional learning facilitators
• Pre-service student teachers
• Boards of Trustees
• Parents
• Educational policymakers
• Students (recommended for students 12+)

All of the Curriculum for the Future resources are intended to open up thinking and conversation around some of the deeper ideas that dwell beneath the surface of our everyday thinking about curriculum, learning, and teaching. They are best used in contexts where people have time and space to talk about the ideas, thoughts, and feelings that come up while they are playing the games or doing the thinking exercises.

The resources are designed with a lighthearted touch. Stepping away from the business of today and trying to imagine the future can feel a bit like being asked to stare at a blank canvas and talk about what you can see. The blank canvas of the future can be a little unnerving, but it also gives us a surface on which to project our current assumptions, beliefs, implicit and tacit knowledge, values, hopes and fears. As you work through the Curriculum for the Future resources you'll see that thinking about a curriculum for the future is virtually impossible without thinking about the curriculum - and school - as we already know it. This helps us to open up many important questions about schooling, teaching, and curriculum that we don't always have time or space think about in our day-to-day lives. Where you take those conversations next is up to you!

We have blogs about more games for learning here.