This report presents the main findings from the NZCER national survey of primary and intermediate schools, conducted in July and August 2013. It reports on the views of principals, teachers, boards of trustees and parents. It covers many aspects of school experience, including school resources, school interactions with government agencies, the New Zealand Curriculum in schools, National Standards, student wellbeing, and use of technology.

A book chapter in The Piketty Phenomenon: New Zealand perspectives 

About the book:

Few books have had the global impact of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century. An overnight bestseller, Piketty’s assessment that inherited wealth will always grow faster, on average, than earned wealth has energised debate. Hailed as ‘bigger than Marx’ (The Economist) or dismissed as ‘medieval’ (Wall Street Journal), the book is widely ...

How can educational research could contribute to the development of a more future-oriented learning system? This article discusses an attempt to synthesise ideas from the “21st century learning” literature with current knowledge about practice issues and future possibilities for innovation in New Zealand education, in order to distil a set of principles for a more future-oriented system. We hope this synthesis might provide a platform for educators, researchers, policymakers, and ...

This article has been published in the journal Teachers and Teaching, Theory and Practice. It reports on the factors that continued to sustain the initial commitment of a group of 57 primary and secondary teachers who had been identified early in their careers as individuals showing “promise” and who were predicted to make a significant contribution to teaching.

By the end of their ninth year of teaching, the quality of ...

The key competencies are a potentially transformative feature of the New Zealand Curriculum. However, the way in which they have been understood and implemented in schools points to tensions and challenges that may prevent them from acting as agents of curriculum change. One recent researcher /practitioner partnership developed materials that show how a close interweaving of key competencies and traditional subject learning might transform the taught curriculum. Analysis of the ...

This recent working paper focuses on how Pākehā have become involved in Māori-determined and controlled educational research, and what issues inhibit and facilitate their work. You can find out more by watching the video clip, in which researcher Alex Hotere-Barnes talks to Sarah Boyd about  the project. 

The research offers critical insights that aim to counter 'Pākehā paralysis' by strengthening present and future research with Māori communities. For Māori ...

This paper analyses responses to questions about National Standards in NZCER's 2013 National Survey of Primary and Intermediate Schools. NZCER Chief Researcher Cathy Wylie presented the findings to the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) conference in Dunedin on Thursday 28 November 2013.

The paper discusses the intentions of the National Standards policy and then looks at the responses of principals, teachers, members of boards of trustees ...

NZCER has conducted national surveys of schools since 1989, drawing on the views of school principals, teachers, trustees and parents. Sampling methodology is used to draw a random sample of schools for the survey. Using the recent 2013 Primary and Intermediate School National Survey as an example, this paper gives details and some discussion around the methodology used. It explores the strengths and weaknesses of the methods used, as well as ...

This paper makes the case for deep and radical change to New Zealand's approach to science education. It discusses the implications of recent science education research and policy work, and argues New Zealand still has a long way to go to developing a future-oriented science education system.  It explores what needs to change and contains suggestions for some first steps. 

“Developing science education that is a better fit for the ...

Ko te pūrongo tuatahi tēnei mai i tētahi kōkiri rangahau kaupapa Māori 3-tau te roa (2012–2015) e tūhura nei me pēhea te tino tautoko i te tupuranga tonutanga o te whanaketanga reo Māori o te whānau, i a rātou e whakawhiti nei i te kōhanga reo, ki te kura kaupapa, ki te wharekura, ki tua atu hoki. Ko tōna whāinga he hora mōhiotanga whai take mō ngā whiringa akoranga ...