National survey of secondary schools 2003

The National Survey of Secondary Schools, carried out in mid-2003, surveyed 95 principals from a range of school types and deciles, 744 teachers who taught a range of curriculum subjects in those schools, 180 school trustees and 503 parents of students in some of the schools

Each group responded to a comprehensive questionnaire, with items in common where relevant.

The survey reports on a wide range of topics related to school management and governance. These include:

• school finances and property maintenance
• staffing and workload issues
• school planning and policy procedures
• relationships with the wider school community.

Curriculum and assessment issues covered include:

• resourcing
• innovation
• ICT use
• the NCEA implementation
• advice and professional development.

Funding, teacher quality and staffing are the issues seen to be of overall greatest priority for the government to address and amongst the many findings there are a wide range of decile related differences.