set 2000: no. 1

The first edition of set: Research Information for Teachers for the new century marks a fresh beginning for NZCER’s long-established journal for teachers working in New Zealand schools. This is the first edition which concentrates almost solely on New Zealand issues for New Zealand teachers, and while future editions may involve an Australasian and wider focus, the major purpose will be to inform teaching and learning practices in New Zealand.

Kaupapa Māori principles have the power to transform the educational experience of Māori students in mainstream classrooms. For example, tino rangatiratanga requires both children and parents to be involved in school decision-making. Taonga tuku iho requires schools and teachers to create contexts where to be Māori is to be normal and where Māori cultural identities are valued, valid and legitimate – that is, where Māori children can be themselves.… Read more

In Britain, new national testing and assessment procedures have shown girls outperforming boys across most areas of the curriculum, though girls continue to underachieve in some key areas. Boys also present the majority of behavioural and learning problems, as they do in New Zealand. A wide range of forces is being brought to bear on these problems, both locally and nationally.

Interviews with nine families about the transition to school for their special needs children showed that parents faced rejection and a multitude of dilemmas over access to resources, specialist support, and the amount of time their child was able to have at school. Sue Wartmann offers a set of principles for successfully completing all four stages of the transition to school, in which early childhood teachers can play a significant role.

What approach might be helpful in identifying culturally appropriate means of catering for Māori learners with special needs? This article reports ongoing research to develop and trial a cultural audit process. Reprinted from Special Education, set special, 1999.

Research into primary teachers’ assessment and recording practices highlights three approaches to classroom assessment. These are analysed to show how they contribute to both formative and summative assessment. The findings suggest that accountability demands in self-managing schools, along with school policies, have directed teachers towards more summative practices at the expense of improving learning. Strategies for enhancing learning through revising school and classroom assessment… Read more

New NZCER Information Skills tests explore students’ understanding of the information skills involved in using libraries, parts of a book, and reference sources. They provide strong evidence that students are experiencing difficulty with sorting through the various dimensions of a search task in order to select the volume, page, or library section containing the required information. These tests can help teachers to identify which students need further help, and what kind of help they need… Read more

The requirement to report school entry assessment data to the Ministry of Education makes SEA a high stakes activity. But how well is it working? In this study, all teachers raised concerns such as timing, how to manage SEA tasks in the classroom, and how dependable the scoring is. Critical issues to emerge include consistency of standards, the crucial importance of context, and the undermining of teachers’ confidence in their own professional ability.

The National Education Monitoring Project has taken up the challenge of assessing what children can do in groups. Using tasks in science, language and technology, this NEMP study showed that while boys and girls both disliked being in a minority of one, overall, a shared goal united groups and reduced the significance of gender.

Analysing the pattern of incorrect answers to Assessment Resource Bank items is providing valuable diagnostic information. This can enable teachers to identify roadblocks to student understanding and learning, and develop appropriate strategies to remedy them. ARB data also enables a broad range of curriculum outcomes to be assessed.