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 ...

The focus of this report is on the implementation of the Ministry of Health's Fruit in Schools (FiS) initiative.  FiS has two main parts: 

1. Students in low-decile schools are given a free piece of fruit a day.
2. Schools are encouraged to use a Health Promoting Schools approach to address four health priority areas: healthy eating; physical activity; sun protection; and smokefree.

The first phase of FiS began in late 2005 ...

This report summarises the findings from the first year of the Healthy Futures evaluation of the Ministry of Health’s Fruit in Schools (FiS) initiative. This report draws together the perspectives of key stakeholders to inform policy and practice, and contribute to the ongoing development of FiS.

How do New Zealand schools make substantial changes?  Why do schools feel the need to change?  Do they change simply in reaction to outside pressure, or as a result of their own values?  Does change become an everyday practice or does it need heroic effort?  What kind of change is sustainable over time?  How important are government provision and accountability frameworks?

A significant research report, Sustaining School Improvement: Ten primary ...

How do New Zealand schools make substantial changes?  Why do schools feel the need to change?  Do they change simply in reaction to outside pressure, or as a result of their own values?  Does change become an everyday practice or does it need heroic effort?  What kind of change is sustainable over time?  How important are government provision and accountability frameworks?

A significant research report, Sustaining School Improvement: Ten primary ...

New Zealand is facing a crisis concerning the recruitment and retention of school principals, as a significant number of “baby-boomer” principals retire over the next five years. Already there are problems recruiting principals, particularly in small rural, low-decile, full primary schools where the principal is a teaching principal.

This report summarises the present situation regarding principal recruitment and succession planning, by drawing together existing literature and collecting together unpublished new ...

The purpose of this research project is to improve understanding of the key elements of successful home–school partnerships, and how these partnerships operate in different school settings. The project has two parts—a review of evidence, and an empirical research component. 

In 2008–09 the Ministry of Education contracted the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) to undertake research about students’ experiences of learning in virtual classrooms. Virtual classrooms were established to enable secondary schools in New Zealand (particularly those in rural and remote areas, and small schools) to overcome issues of distance and resourcing which might otherwise limit the breadth and quality of the curriculum offered to their students. In ...

This report looks at the impact of student mobility on both students and schools. It is part of a wider project on the effects of mobility on communities.

This is the second phase of the study and backs up the preliminary findings, released in late 2005, which found no statistically significant differences between the students who moved frequently and those who were less mobile. The researchers argue that student mobility ...

This report for the New Zealand Principals’ Federation focuses on stress among New Zealand principals in state and state-integrated schools, and the factors associated with it. It uses their mid–2005 Principals’ Hauora-Wellbeing electronic survey. The response rate for the survey was 61 percent of all New Zealand principals in these schools (n=1,523). Responses were representative of the national profile of schools in terms of socioeconomic decile and location. Primary principals ...