Research publications

This paper gives an overview of the secondary sector in New Zealand and its educational reforms of the 1990s. 

This sets the context to describe links between educational research, policy, and practice during this time.  It is argued that much of the research over the past decade has been small-scale and short-term and while this has served the immediate policy agenda it has provided only fragmentary evidence to inform longer-term goals such as improving student performance. 

Have we neglected to communicate key ideas about how science is different from other types of knowledge building, and so unwittingly sustained a communication gap between 'science' and 'the public'?

This paper explores five broad principles for developing communication strategies that address the substance of science while still meeting the challenge of varying the tone of the message for six different sectors of the New Zealand public.

The New Zealand Council for Educational Research provides a Test Advisory Service to its clients.  The service provides information and advice on issues related to assessment to a range of test users from business, educational, health, vocational, and other settings.  Data about this group and their information needs have been gathered only in a fragmentary and ad hoc manner.  The present survey intended to obtain information about the practices and needs of test users in a systematic form.

This study is a two-year multi-method study of current classroom assessment practices in New Zealand schools.  The first phase has documented assessment practices at Years 5, 7, and 9 in the key areas of English and mathematics.  The second phase will expand on this information through case-studies that document "good assessment practice".