NZCER was asked by the NZ Principals' Federation (NZPF) to provide quality assurance on Murray Neighbour's analysis of the NZPF's national survey of all primary and intermediate schools, undertaken in November 2001.  The aim of this survey was to establish New Zealand figures for student transience levels, in the light of growing sector concern about the relationship between student transience and achievement, and the impact of student transience for schools ...

Aspirations of Whānau in Māori Medium Secondary Schools

The purpose of this small project was to find out how and why some whānau made the decision to continue on from kura kaupapa to wharekura (from Year 8 to Year 9). The research also looked at some of the issues that challenged the commitment of many whānau to follow this pathway. As parents, teachers, and researchers involved in Māori medium education ...

This report provides background material on the key competencies proposed for the New Zealand school curriculum.  These are:

• Thinking
• Using language, symbols, and texts
• Managing self
• Relating to others
• Participating and contributing

Each of the five sections begins with the current definition of the relevant competency, as included in the draft curriculum document, released in 2006.

The discussion that follows outlines links to the essential skills of the current curriculum framework (Ministry of ...

*Ako is a Māori Language term for both teaching and learning

This paper reports findings from the Teachers of Promise (ToP) project currently underway in New Zealand that seeks to understand the development of teachers as learners and contributors to the profession. We explore the learning opportunities of a group of 57 “teachers of promise” from their third year of teaching. These teachers were identified by initial teacher educators and ...

The National Survey of Secondary Schools, carried out in mid-2003, surveyed 95 principals from a range of school types and deciles, 744 teachers who taught a range of curriculum subjects in those schools, 180 school trustees and 503 parents of students in some of the schools

Each group responded to a comprehensive questionnaire, with items in common where relevant.

The survey reports on a wide range of topics related to ...

What do parents and teachers hear, share, do, and need when engaging in literacy partnerships?

Messages about Reading focuses on the strategies three schools adopted to strengthen their literacy partnerships with the parents in their communities and identifies some principles of effective partnerships. It reports on interviews with 54 New Entrant, Year 2, and Year 4 students, their parents, teachers, and school literacy leaders.

The study describes the approaches ...

The Museum Education Association of New Zealand (MEANZ) and the National Services Te Paerangi (NSTP) set up a pilot mentoring programme for museum educators in New Zealand. The overall goals for the programme were to:

• facilitate professional relationships between museum educators who are in need of information and assistance and those who can offer knowledge and support
• build the capacity of the museum education sector by capturing and sharing the ...

This project examines relationships between research and teaching by studying educators' (mainly teachers) access to, and use of, research and theory. The study focuses on identifying barriers to educators' use of educational theory and research findings.

The report utilises data collected in 1999 from observations at professional development courses, interviews with the providers of these courses, and questionnaires for educators who were the course participants. It also utilises data collected ...

Statistics show that Māori are over-represented in all negative indicators of special educational needs.

Mātauranga motuhake is based on qualitative research that followed a kaupapa Māori process to present a uniquely Māori perspective on special education. The research shows the whānau as the main pillar supporting children with special educational needs. The examples given in the report show how some schools and services are able to offer successful support within ...

How well Māori children do at school is strongly linked with how well parents and children relate to school staff.

Māori parents want their children to have a better education than they had, and have a strong wish to be involved in their child's schooling, concludes Māori parents and education.

But Māori parents need more guidance on how best to support their children's education at home, and how to ...