How you assess partly depends on your notion of what writing is for. But the accuracy of the assessment depends on clearly distinguishing different characteristics, from planning to sensitivity.

Western Australia is introducing a programme called Managing Student Behaviour, with inservice courses included. Questionnaires revealed levels of moral judgement before and after. Do they matter?

Creativity in poetry can be measured, and reliably. But encouraging creative poetry is a subtle business easily upset by asking the wrong questions, making inappropriate demands, setting the wrong atmosphere.

Australian and New Zealand research on poetry teaching is very scarce. Robin McConnell extends it by asking poets as well as teachers for their comments, and winds up with many clear bits of advice.

Should my child repeat the year? Many an anxious parent asks the teacher this question. This Australian study looks at the effects of repeating. Against popular opinion, the long term effects are nil, and the child is a year behind his or her peers.

If people approve of us, then we approve of ourselves – our self-esteem grows. From the British equivalent of set we reprint this research on the ability of young children to rank themselves for academic ability. Reprinted from Topic, Spring 1990 (Issue 3), item 1.

What makes one student successful in his or her first year of university study, and another struggle or fail? First year students were followed, questioned, and the results point to things both the students and their secondary schools can do.

As part of a larger study of the junior school, video recordings were made of new entrants busily adjusting to school learning. Here are fascinating insights into learning, interaction, and classroom climate.

Mainstreaming brings new demands and requires new criteria for creating (and judging) quality education. Research reveals good practice.

What are the best ways of preventing and coping with injuries to small children? Parents, trained teachers, and supervisors of early childhood centres were questioned. This research was carried out for the N.Z. Accident Compensation Corporation.