Literature review of recent international research.

Recent research on class size and teacher-pupil ratios can inform policy and practice. Many studies on the impact of class size, and of teacher-student ratios, have concentrated on children's first years at school.

During the 1980s, the research investigated class size and:

• students' achievement and/or classroom behaviour;
• teachers' satisfaction and/or stress;
• classroom organisation;
• cost effectiveness;
• the unique features of small classes.

The research methods ...

This best evidence synthesis is derived from research that provides strong evidence of linkages to learning opportunities, experiences, and outcomes for children. 

An important focus of the work is professional development in support of educational practice that is inclusive of diverse children, families, and whänau.  Specific emphasis is on evidence related to learning opportunities and outcomes through the provision of professional development for Mäori children, Pasifika children and children, from ...

Technical report on a research study of the participants in the project, at aged 14, from late 2002 to late 2003.

This literature review examines the findings of international and New Zealand research on education systems which use the main elements of the voucher approach to education: parental choice, per-student funding formulae, and self-managing schools.

The voucher approach assumes that parental (consumer) choice and provider competition - that is, a market approach - will improve education and make it more efficient. The evidence does not support this assumption. Instead, it shows ...

Immersion education plays a distinct role in language and cultural revitalisation of Māori and other indigenous peoples.

This book summarises research findings on the benefits of immersion education for Māori, their whānau, and their communities.

This project in six early childhood education centres combined professional development with action research to support ways in which teachers, and parents and whänau worked together to enhance children’s learning and wellbeing. 

Where partnerships with parents developed, consciously formulated actions and strategies created a welcoming environment. Parents identified affective factors as the most important characteristic of a good early childhood education service.

Centres devised unique ways to integrate action between ...

This is a report of the first year of a study that is following a group of 57 “promising” primary and secondary teachers from their third to their seventh years of teaching, in order to understand more about their experiences in the early years of their careers.

Our sample comprises 20 males and 37 females; two thirds had worked in other occupations before becoming teachers.

Teacher educators, and principals or ...

Te Rerenga ā te Pīrere (The Flight of the Fledgling) is a longitudinal study of 111 kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori students. This project is perhaps one of the first in-depth research projects of children in kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori, their educational and social environments, and their learning. This is the report for the first year of the study.

Te Rerenga ā te Pīrere tracks the development ...

Te Hiringa i Te Mahara is a professional development programme for Mäori secondary teachers. The aim of this research was to evaluate the contribution of Te Hiringa i Te Mahara to the following four objectives:

1. Demonstrable reduction in workload-related stress experienced by Mäori secondary teachers who have participated in Te Hiringa i Te Mahara.
2. Positive changes in the way Mäori secondary teachers view themselves and their capabilities.
3. Building professional capability ...

This is the second major thematic report drawing on findings from our 2006 NZCER National Survey of Secondary Schools. It analysed the responses given by parents, trustees, teachers and principals, to questions in the survey related to the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).

The report found strong levels of support for NCEA among principals (89 percent) and teachers (60 percent). The views of parents towards NCEA were characterised by ...