Critical literacy is a critical thinking tool that encourages readers to question the construction and production of texts. This article discusses the findings from a collaborative research project that examined the use of critical literacy strategies in guided reading. Specifically, the authors discuss the strategies of: direct teaching of metalanguage ...

In recent years, the cries for teachers to have high expectations for all their students have been heard far and wide—yet, research in the expectancy area carried out at the whole class level has been sparse. This article reports findings from a study aimed to address this gap in the ...

The implication that teachers with high expectations will improve student achievement has an appealing logic. However, whether or not the instructional practices and beliefs of teachers having high expectations would differ from those whose expectations were low has not previously been explored. High and low expectation teachers identified in a ...

This article describes how a teacher in a high school classroom facilitated her students' acquisition and use of the specialist language of mathematics. Using ideas from second language acquisition, the teacher's strategies for language development are grouped into four stages. This paper suggests that for students to become fluent producers ...

Measurement scales allow raw test scores to be converted to locations on an equal-interval scale.   This article outlines how these work, how they are numbered and how they relate to national norms.

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 ...