This paper grew out of work NZCER’s science education team did for the Prime Minister’s Science Advisor. That work, entitled Inspired by Science, was published as part of Looking Ahead: Science Education for the Twenty-First Century (Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee, 2011).

This report sets out to both inform NZCER’s ongoing work in the area and to contribute to a wider debate about how primary science ...

This report presents the findings of a research project conducted by NZCER in collaboration with Literacy Aotearoa. The research asked the question: “What are the impacts on whanau when parents/caregivers undertake programmes to develop their literacy and numeracy in English.”

The research was funded by the purchase agreement with the Ministry of Education.

Project page: He whānau mātau, he whānau ora (2010-2011)

NZCER Conference Proceedings August 2010

This book is the proceedings from the NZCER conference, Assessing Adult Learning: Literacy and Numeracy Competencies, held in Wellington in August 2010. The day was focused on assessment in literacy and numeracy, at individual, organisational, national and international levels. It also explored the role of the new national assessment tool for adult learners, which was made available earlier in 2010.

The day explored the impact ...

This survey was conducted in schools in July 2010 in a random sample of 350 schools. It includes the views of principals, teachers, boards of trustees and parents on a range of issues. This report provides a snapshot of the overall patterns.

The survey included questions about the implementation of National Standards and this report includes those findings.

The report was first issued in October 2010. We then became aware ...

The role that key competencies will play in a curriculum depends on how they are interpreted. Drawing on the New Zealand experience, this paper outlines two possible implementation pathways. The “skills” pathway could lead to modest improvements in teaching and learning. It is, however, unlikely to achieve longer-term goals such as strengthening citizenship, enhancing creativity and fostering lifelong learning. Such goals have future-focused and dispositional components. The “participatory” pathway could ...

This paper was commissioned by the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor in conjunction with the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology to encourage debate on how better to engage students with science, with a particular focus on the role of schools. The focus of this paper is the current provision of science education. It discusses a range of purposes for science education and ...

This paper, written by a group of NZCER researchers, considers why many students who are making normal progress according to their results in NZCER’s Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) in mathematics, would fail to meet the new National Standard in mathematics.

This Update article illustrates what we are seeing in schools when they are successfully implementing The New Zealand Curriculum. It is one of a number of resources being provided by the Ministry of Education to support English-medium schools with implementation.

Recently Miles Barker asked what might ‘lifelong science learning’ actually look like? This article adds to that conversation, with a specific focus on the possibility of using science in the media as a source of teaching and learning materials.

Download the full text of the article: Should students learn to ‘read’ science writing from the media?[2MB PDF]

The full journal article published in: New Zealand Science Teacher, 124, 4-6 ...

In 2010 the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) commissioned the Nielson Company to conduct a repeat of two previous surveys of public attitudes to science. Rosemary Hipkins was asked to provide a commentary on the findings. She wrote an article for New Zealand Science Review.

Article: Public attitudes to science: rethinking outreach activities [ PDF]

Project: For more about the MoRST project go to: Public attitudes to science ...