There is considerable international debate about how best to reshape national curricula in the face of rapid societal and environmental changes. The OECD is actively exploring this question through its Future of Education and Skills 2030 initiative. Their aim is to ‘help education systems determine the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values students needed to thrive in and shape their future.’

Here in New Zealand, our government recently announced a refresh ...

A free te reo Māori resource deck for schools

Developed for the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA), Aronuitia te reo is a deck of cards designed to prompt professional conversations about improving the teaching and learning of te reo Māori. It is intended to assist teachers and/or schools who are early in their reo Māori learning journeys. 

Aronuitia te reo was developed with the support of, and ...

The Highest Needs Review was undertaken by the Ministry of Education from 2021-2022. Its purpose is to ensure that children and young people with the highest needs for learning support achieve their full potential through positive education outcomes and that they receive the right support, when they need it, and for as long as they need it. 

NZCER was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to analyse stakeholder submissions to this Review ...

Tūturu "has changed the focus from punitive to pastoral"

Tūturu is an initiative for secondary schools, managed by Te Tūāpapa Tarukino o Aotearoa / the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Tūturu aims to keep students engaged and learning at school and prepare them for a world where alcohol and other drugs exist. Tūturu assists schools to:

• Make a philosophical shift away from a behaviour management approach, towards a support and wellbeing ...

Science education has an important role to play in supporting our young people to meet the complex challenges of the modern age. Students need a curriculum that can prepare them to work collaboratively, competently and confidently to address the wicked "glocal" problems of our time. 

Rangatahi themselves recognise this - those involved in drafting the Youth Vision statement for the curriculum refresh have asked for a curriculum that will support ...

This report summarises a three-phase programme of work commissioned by Ministry of Education in 2019. At the time, the MOE had identified four PLD priority areas: cultural capability; assessment for learning; local curriculum design; and digital fluency. They commissioned NZCER to identify “high impact” practices that were seen as central to PLD provision to schools. 

Drawing on a range of research, we began by identifying specific aspects of teacher capability that ...

This paper was commissioned to explore curriculum levelling in the Science and Mathematics and Statistics learning areas of The New Zealand Curriculum to support decisions about the need for greater curriculum clarity, especially around progression. 

It was co-authored by Rose Hipkins MZNM of NZCER and Linda Bonne (now at Te Herenga Waka), at the request of the Ministry of Education. 

English-medium schools have the potential to play an important role in revitalising te reo Māori. Te Wāhanga—New Zealand Council for Educational Research has produced this findings report to support English-medium primary schools to grow te reo Māori, and strengthen their reo Māori teaching and learning programmes. 

Within our findings report we identify:  

• Key issues for English-medium primary schools to consider when developing a strategic approach to Māori language teaching ...

The Teaching, School, and Principal Leadership Practices Survey (TSP) was developed to give schools robust data about key practices that research has shown are worth paying attention to because of their direct and indirect effects on student learning. Drawing the data together from all participants schools in any given year creates a sound aggregate picture of teaching, school, and leadership practices, showing the strengths and needs in our schools overall. 

This ...

It is timely to take stock of the wellbeing of educational research in Aotearoa New Zealand. The major Education Work Programme 2021 includes a Research, Evaluation and Development Strategy. Te Ara Paerangi—Future Pathways Green Paper has launched a major review of the design of public funding for research institutions and for research taking place in tertiary and other education institutions. This paper canvasses the recent history and current landscape of educational ...