Assessment Publications

This report presents an overview of New Zealanders’ skills in relation to educational and labour force characteristics and compares results from the 1996 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) with results from the 2006 ALL survey.

This report examines any changes in literacy and numeracy skill between the 1996 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) survey - results collected in New Zealand in 2006. It also compares the results from the New Zealand ALL survey with those from Australia, Canada and the USA.

This fact-sheet is a sequel to that entitled The Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey: Headline Results and Background.

This fact-sheet provides the first headline results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey together with some background information.

This poster is intended as an introduction to the ALL study. It seeks to explain the nature of the ALL study, its application, and how the ALL results will be presented. It contains none of the ALL results itself.

This publication is intended as an introduction to the ALL survey. It explains the nature of the ALL survey, its application and how the ALL survey results will be presented. It contains none of the ALL survey results.

The aim of this report is to present a descriptive summary of similarities and differences between the achievement in reading literacy of New Zealand Year 5 students in 2001 and that of their counterparts in 1990. Year 5 students' achievement is examined in both a national and international setting with reference to the home and classroom context in which reading activities occur.

PIRLS examines three aspects of reading literacy: processes of comprehension, purposes for reading, and reading literacy behaviours and attitudes of middle primary students. The lead research team at Boston College undertook a research study in order to report achievement for the processes of reading comprehension. This summary presents an overview of the findings from their work with a focus on the New Zealand results.

This review analyses the literature on the effects of curricula and assessment on pedagogical approaches and educational outcomes, i.e. student achievement. The review looks at whether there are differences between mandated or local curricula in terms of their impact on teaching practice and student learning. It also examines the effects of different assessment regimes including national or state-wide testing, on student learning. It focuses particularly on the role of formative assessment. International and New Zealand research are examined.

PISA 2003, the second cycle of a three-yearly survey of 15-year-olds in over 40 countries, concentrates on three key areas of knowledge and skills: reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy. This cycle concentrated on mathematical literacy.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, 2002-2003 (TIMSS-02/03) is the third cycle of this international study of mathematics and science achievement conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

This report focuses on reading literacy of low SES 15-year-old students. Using information from the PISA 2000 study, this report reviews educational outcomes and examines the factors associated with high achievement among low SES students.

This report first reviews educational outcomes for Māori 15-year-olds drawing on the PISA 2000 study, and then focuses on reading literacy and the factors associated with high achievement among Māori students. By highlighting the differences between high and low achievers within the Māori population, this report should assist in identifying some of the factors associated with success for Māori in education. More PISA documents can be accessed from the PISA publication home page.

This report focuses on reading literacy of Pasifika 15-year-old students. Using information from the PISA 2000 study, this report reviews educational outcomes and examines the factors associated with high achievement among Pasifika students.

School Entry Assessment (SEA) is an instrument designed to assess schools entrants' skills in early literacy, early numeracy, and oral language. It was first introduced in New Zealand schools in 1997. The primary purpose of SEA is to provide diagnostic data for teachers to use to improve student learning. The Australian Council for Educational Research was contracted by the Ministry of Education in 2001 to evaluate the technical and methodological aspects of SEA. The purpose of the evaluation was to provide information which would enhance the collation and analysis of SEA data. The results from this evaluation are contained in the following report.

This research was commissioned in response to a recommendation made in the report from the Working Party on Gifted Education and to inform the Ministry of Education's development of policy for the education of gifted and talented students. The purpose of the research was to determine how schools provide for these students and the efficacy of these approaches. This report highlights the main findings from the research.

This group of five studies reports on aspects of the AUSAD initiative in Mangere and Otara that is designed to improve the capacity of the schools to analyse, share and learn from their student achievement information.

Strengthening Education in Mangere and Otara (SEMO) is a Ministry of Education intervention designed to increase the capacity of the schools and communities of Mangere and Otara to offer high quality learning environments for children. This is the third and final evaluation report on the SEMO initiative. Three separate studies are considered in this report: School Governance, Reporting to Parents, and Perceptions of Pasifika Student Achievement.

This report is part of the National School Sampling Study, a Ministry of Education initiative to investigate how teachers work with the curriculum, 2002-2003. This is the final report in a series which investigates teachers' experiences in teaching from the New Zealand curriculum.

This document provides comprehensive national level information from New Zealand's participation in PIRLS in November 2001. As well as reporting achievement results for Year 5 students, it includes home, class, and school contextual information in both a national and international setting.

This document is a summary of the final results from New Zealand's participation in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the partial replication of the 1990-1991 IEA Reading Literacy Study (10-Year Trends Study). These studies involved Year 5 students and were administered in New Zealand in November 2001.

A summary sheet of New Zealand's Year 5 student achievement in the 2001 PIRLS assessment.

This project aims to obtain a broad picture of the achievement and other educational outcomes of representative samples of students in New Zealand schools at Years 4 and 8. Each year, over a four-year period, different areas related to the curriculum are assessed.

The Ministry of Education provides support to teachers and students of International Languages Education in years 7 and 8 through: - regional advisers of International Languages - International Languages Series (ILS) Curriculum Materials - the Second Language Learning Proposals Pool, years 7-10. This research looks at the extent to which this support meets the languages learning needs of teachers, students and schools. It also provides a literature review of effective delivery characteristics for international languages and recommends ways that Ministry support can be strengthened.

School Entry Assessment (SEA) is a tool designed to provide teachers with information about some of the knowledge and skills children have when they first begin school. SEA has been available for use in schools since 1997. In August 2001 a survey was undertaken to obtain an up-to-date picture of the extent to which new entrant teachers were using SEA, whether they were using the whole resource or only one or two of the three components, and whether they considered changes needed to be made to the SEA kit to improve its validity and usefulness. The report details the results from this survey.

This publication is a summary of The Sustainability of Professional Development in Literacy, Parts 1 and 2, research commissioned by the Ministry of Education and led by Dr Helen Timperley, University of Auckland. The research was part of a much larger project, Strengthening Education in Mangere and Otara (SEMO), which aimed to raise achievement significantly for students in these two communities.

Results from New Zealand's participation in the repeat of the Third International Mathematics & Science Study.

This review of research on effective science education is aimed at informing the broad area of "teaching and the dynamics of learning". The review covers the significant international and New Zealand research (including teacher research) on effective pedagogy and the links between student learning, curricula, pedagogy and assessment in science education across the compulsory sector.

This Review is based upon information retrieved from the world wide web about recently completed or on-going large-scale international research initiatives which are future-focused and specifically about teaching and learning. The Review has two parts - a report and an annotated bibliography. The report identifies, discusses and evaluates major themes and patterns to emerge from the material retrieved. It also discusses the state of the futures field in education, considers some key policy issues and suggests some areas for further research. The annotated bibliography contains 97 individual template entries organised by theme. The appendices provide a comprehensive listing of all major web-sites visited and the supplementary material reviewed. Indexes at the end organise the templates by major theme and by country or region.

The Overview focuses on information taken from the full report in areas where teachers and families can respond to students' different learning needs. It also captures what their principals said about the schools they attend.

The New Zealand context to the PISA 2000 study is the focus of this report, published in August 2002. The performance of sub-groups of 15-year-olds is examined with particular emphasis on boys and girls and different ethnic groupings. Factors associated with achievement including attitudes to learning, the school and family environment are examined in the report.

Published in December 2001, this report is a summary of the international results that focuses on the achievement of New Zealand students.

To achieve early success at school, a child needs to link what is being taught with past experiences and existing knowledge, understandings and skills. Teachers help children to make these links by learning about each child through observation and assessment, and by designing programmes that enable the child to use existing understandings and skills as they participate in the classroom programme.

This report is the first of the two-part series. The report was published in 2001 and describes trends in students' mathematics and science achievement between 1994 and 1998 in both international and national contexts. The report is divided into eight downloadable documents in PDF format available at the bottom of this page.

This report was published in 2001 and summarises a New Zealand study based on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study which involved mostly Year 5 students. Specifically, it provides comprehensive trend achievement information for Year 5 students in mathematics and science for two years - 1994 and 1998.

The material in this report is drawn directly from an earlier, much larger report, Explaining and Addressing Gender Differences in the Compulsory School Sector - a literature review, by Dr Adrienne Alton-Lee and Dr Angelique Praat. The aim of the earlier report, which was released in July 2000, was to: * review the available literature relating to identifying and explaining gender differences * describe strategies used to address gender differences * and report available evidence of the effectiveness of those strategies The present report presents selected research examples and ideas from the main report and provides practical insights into issues of gender for teachers in the classroom.

This report presents an overview of findings from TIMSS-98/99 (also known as TIMSS-R), a partial replication of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS-94/95).

This document provides preliminary feedback of trends in mathematics and science achievement between 1994 and 1998 in an international context.

Adult literacy is considered to be vital to the economic wellbeing of developed countries. The increasing complexity of our society and the need for a more flexible and highly-educated workforce mean that individuals need to be able to comprehend and apply information of varying difficulty from a range of sources to function effectively at work and in everyday life. Therefore, governments and international organisations are especially keen for some insight into any possible deficiencies in literacy and numeracy skills.