set 2011: no. 1

Recent attention to the idea of “student voice” provides an interesting framework for considering the articles in this edition of set: Research Information for Teachers as an overall collection. They cover a range of different issues, with a special focus on mathematics education. The potential to read a “voice” dimension into the collection raises some interesting possibilities for professional reflection.

When their funds of knowledge and experiences from home and the community are connected to their school learning, students' learning is supported. In this study teachers used "home learning books" to invite contributions from home into science teaching and learning in the classroom. The flow of knowledge between home and school engaged students and whānau and enriched the science learning.

The first year of teaching is a critical stage in a teacher's professional life. Many beginning teachers are employed in short-term positions, but we know very little about how employment status affects first-year teachers' feelings of self-confidence, or their attitudes towards their second year of teaching. This article explores these issues in relation to first-year primary teachers.

What supports students to develop their conceptual understanding? Taking part in focus groups helped the Years 9 and 10 Māori and Pasifika students in this study to focus on understanding the concepts underpinning social studies units, rather than the content. Discussions between students in the focus groups resulted in the students clarifying their understandings and gave formative information to the teacher to help plan next steps.

This study explored whether using process drama to teach social studies would engage Year 10 Pasifika boys at a secondary school in Auckland. The author describes how, while in role, students used their existing knowledge and experiences to explore and develop new knowledge, and how process drama addressed the goals of The New Zealand Curriculum through an integrated inquiry approach. The results show that the students' low expectations of themselves were raised when they… Read more

What does the term "student voice" mean to you? Does it mean listening to students' opinions? Involving students in decisions about their learning? Giving students equal say in decisions about school management and governance? This commentary analyses and critiques the ways we tend to think about young peoples' responsibilities, roles and rights to participate.

Fractions are important mathematically and in everyday life but are complicated and difficult to learn. Teachers therefore need to be able to work out what students understand about fractions and what is causing them problems. This article reports on a study where students were asked to answer a number of items involving fractions on number lines and measurement scales. The items provided a simple way to assess and interpret student understanding that teachers may find useful.

One of the most important goals for teaching statistics is to prepare students to deal with the statistical information that increasingly impacts on their everyday lives. Students need to be able to critically evaluate statistical information and data-based arguments. The findings of this collaborative research study of Year 9 students suggest that all students can and should be exposed to critical thinking in statistics, and identify some ways that teaching of statistical literacy might be… Read more

How can teachers support students' additive thinking? This article focuses on the study of a lesson designed to teach the equal additions strategy for subtraction, in which many teachers, despite having a strong commitment to promoting conceptual understanding, struggled with various aspects of the material and resorted to teaching procedurally. The authors conclude that teachers need to have a deeper, more connected understanding of addition and subtraction in order to develop their… Read more

From time to time the New Zealand Council for Educational Research is asked how test results can contribute to making an Overall Teacher Judgement (OTJ). This is an important and complex question and one that we continue to grapple with. In this Assessment News article I begin to explore what we need to consider when using test results to support and promote teachers' professional judgements.