In this final issue of set for 2005 we are pleased to bring you an additional feature, “What’s New With the ARBs”. This will appear regularly. Along with “Assessment News”, readers will now have ongoing updates on current issues, new resources and research aimed at supporting classroom teachers design programmes ...

In an exploratory study that raises questions for the future teaching of problem solving, algebra, and context-based problems, Year 12 students were questioned about their thought processes while they attempted to solve selected word problems. Their responses challenged the researchers’ assumptions. Given the emphasis on problem solving in the curriculum ...

This article presents results from a national survey on the extent, nature, and effectiveness of planned approaches for identifying and providing for gifted and talented students. Recent national data on gifted education and policy development are combined with practical ideas for identifying and providing for those with mathematical promise.

Six parents of Year 4–6 students at a rural primary school were interviewed to explore their perspectives on the mathematics education of their children.

Instruction can help students develop a richer understanding of estimation and a wider range of strategies.

The students in this study started with a fairly limited understanding of estimation, often equating it with rounding. They quickly developed new skills and awareness of how estimation could enrich their mathematical skills.

Three significant shifts in the focus of educational leadership are considered in this article: from generic to educational leadership, from a focus on leadership style to practice, and from a heroic to a distributed perspective. These shifts mean that educational leadership occurs at many levels in the school and requires ...

Teaching technology to very young students is achievable and is a valuable addition to their work in the classroom. There are teacher strategies and techniques that enable students to work in a more flexible and independent manner, unconstrained by limited reading and writing skills. A clear teaching focus limited to ...

With a focus on dispositions and affordances, Sally Peters considers some of the dominant theoretical ideas about transition, including maturational readiness, “filling the gaps”, scaffolding the process, and looking at the big picture.

Beginning formal schooling is a time of change and challenge for children, families, and educators. This article focuses on one approach by the Starting School Research Project to engage first-year students as co-researchers in a study of what they think students new to school should know.

Based on a recent evaluation of environmental education in New Zealand schools, this article explores possibilities and challenges for involving secondary school students.