In 2005, the MOE and the NZQA began a pilot programme to trial the use of the latest generation of calculators which included Computer Algebraic Systems (CAS) capabilities.  The intent was to give quality professional development to effectively use CAS in the classrooms and to eventually allow the calculators in CAS-enabled NCEA assessments in the same way that graphics calculators are currently used.

NZCER evaluated an extension of the pilot ...

This report is the third in the Education Employment Linkages (EEL) Research Report series. It attempts to “map” or document some of the important dimensions of the various systems involved in young people’s transition from school.

We use the term “mapping” metaphorically, as a way of arranging sets of ideas and continuing to lay out a plan of research. Although our subject matter is of course not actually geographical, the ...

This paper draws on the insights gained from documenting the journeys undertaken by six Normal Schools as they integrated the new Key Competencies (KCs) framework from the draft revised curriculum into their teaching and learning programmes.

This paper discusses some of the challenges the schools faced. The issues explored include:

• creating a shared understanding of the KCs between staff and students
• creating space to foreground the KCs
• findings ways to ...

NZCER has made a submission to the Ministry of Education as part of the consultation on the introduction of national standards for literacy and numeracy. It follows an earlier position paper on national standards written in November.

The Zooming in on Learning in the Digital Age (ZILDA) research programme aims to 'zoom in' - or dig down deeper - into issues surrounding 'digital age learning'.

The goal of the first phase of the ZILDA research was to zoom in on the views and experiences of 'digital age learners'. We wanted to know:

• Could we engage a group of young New Zealanders in an exploration of what it ...

This paper discusses the ways in which school leaders and teachers became connected to each other via professional learning networks as they worked to implement The New Zealand Curriculum. It explores how those networks were shaped and reshaped over at least a three year period.

This paper was the basis of a talk given at the NZCER conference Connected and Contagious: Exploring learning organisation ideas in schools, held in ...

This paper grew out of work NZCER’s science education team did for the Prime Minister’s Science Advisor. That work, entitled Inspired by Science, was published as part of Looking Ahead: Science Education for the Twenty-First Century (Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee, 2011).

This report sets out to both inform NZCER’s ongoing work in the area and to contribute to a wider debate about how primary science ...

This report presents the findings of a research project conducted by NZCER in collaboration with Literacy Aotearoa. The research asked the question: “What are the impacts on whanau when parents/caregivers undertake programmes to develop their literacy and numeracy in English.”

The research was funded by the purchase agreement with the Ministry of Education.

Project page: He whānau mātau, he whānau ora (2010-2011)

NZCER Conference Proceedings August 2010

This book is the proceedings from the NZCER conference, Assessing Adult Learning: Literacy and Numeracy Competencies, held in Wellington in August 2010. The day was focused on assessment in literacy and numeracy, at individual, organisational, national and international levels. It also explored the role of the new national assessment tool for adult learners, which was made available earlier in 2010.

The day explored the impact ...

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 ...