This year we have provided you with a wide range of evidence-based topics, across sectors and across many of the key areas that are of concern and relevance to educators. We like to think that, at times, we have surprised you, challenged you, and affirmed you in your practice. The ...

Investigating suspected underachievement in literacy in an intermediate school revealed that the levels of achievement in reading and writing were indeed a concern, especially the writing of Years 5–9 students. Teachers from the intermediate, seven primary schools, and one secondary school worked together to strengthen their curriculum understandings of students’ ...

How effective are secondary school students’ information-literacy skills in the tertiary environment? When the authors looked at the expectation Years 12–13 teachers have of their students’ information-literacy competence in their first tertiary year, and compared this with polytechnic lecturers’ experience of first-year students’ competence and the students’ own expectations of ...

With the threat of Avian Influenza, a new emphasis is needed on the provision of hand-hygiene facilities and food-safety education in schools. This timely article discusses the results of a survey of 175 randomly selected New Zealand early childhood education centres and primary, intermediate, and secondary schools.

Seeing a withdrawal programme for gifted students in mathematics from the perspectives of the students, parents, regular class teachers, and the specialist teacher gives insights about the social and academic needs of these students, their interests, and their future aspirations. The authors discuss issues and challenges for teachers, parental roles ...

How effective is school reporting, particularly for parents of international students? Schools spend considerable time and effort in reporting to parents, but little research has been conducted on reporting, or its ability to raise achievement. This article looks at how one high school reports on student achievement and how those ...

School improvement has been the dominant paradigm informing educational policy and practice for a generation. There is no doubt that it has had a significant impact on almost every aspect of educational life. School improvement represents a powerful hegemony that informs the development of policy at the national, local, and ...

Charles answers the following questions:

• If we pre- and post-test every unit, are we overtesting?
• How can we determine whether our students have progressed if we do not test every unit?
• Is it valid to test students soon after they have received instruction in something?
• Should parents know where their ...

This article offers a new look at students' comprehension of poetry.  Its findings will be of particular interest to English teachers and teachers working with students to extend their understanding of texts that have complex language features and use figurative language.

This issue of set comes at an exciting time in education as the draft national curriculum, incorporating the proposed key competencies, has just been released for public discussion.