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 ...

Findings from the NZCER National Survey of Secondary Schools 2009

This report draws on data from the three-yearly NZCER National Survey of Secondary Schools, with a particular focus on new data gathered in the 2009 survey round. We asked principals, teachers, trustees, and parents to respond to a set of statements about the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). The findings show support for the qualification has consolidated since 2006 ...

This report draws on data from the NZCER National Survey of Secondary Schools 2009. The final version of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) was released in late 2007 and the survey carried out in 2009 so the findings are a snapshot of the thinking and changes in practices that had occurred to that time. The report focuses mainly on secondary teachers and their views of curriculum change. It explores their ...

In this article, we draw on current research to argue that there is a need to think carefully about what community engagement might mean in a future-focused curriculum. This is important if schools are to lay the foundations now for tomorrow’s interactions with community.