Curriculum Publications

This final report provides an overview of the findings from the Curriculum Implementation Exploratory Studies (CIES) project.

The Quality Teaching Research and Development Programme (QTR&D) was a bold and ambitious pilot development and research project. It was designed as an exploratory programme to understand more about quality teaching for Māori and Pasifika students, within designated contexts (literacy, numeracy, social studies and science) and across different language settings (English, Māori and Samoan bilingual).

The focus of this summary is on the Māori Medium which involved a university team, two school based hubs (settings) of teachers with in-service teacher educator support and a provider to support on-line communication and materials development.

The Quality Teaching Research and Development Project (QTR&D) was funded by the Ministry of Education. The exploratory project was developed collaboratively between the ministry, university academics, research facilitators, schools, teachers, students and their communities.

The focus of this summary is the Samoan bilingual hub. This QTR&D hub was set up to improve the quality of teaching and learning (pedagogy and student outcomes) in Samoan bilingual school settings. The project outcomes will inform policy, and future research and development work with teachers in schools.

This report provides an evaluation of the home-school partnership: literacy programme carried out in 2006–7 by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) for the Ministry of Education (MOE).

This publication home page provides access to the New Zealand Ministry of Education Best Evidence Synthesis Iterations (BES publications).

This literature review and synthesis aims at developing a knowledge base to inform the Ministry of Education on how to develop, implement, and maintain online communities of practice (CoPs), and how communication technologies can be used to support them. Author: Kwok Wing Lai, Keryn Pratt, Megan Anderson & Julie Stigter Published: 2006

The Second Language Learning Funding Pool was set up in 1998 (with funding commencing in 1999). Its general aim was to help schools develop effective and sustainable second language learning programmes for students in years 7-10 in accordance with the Government’s policy of encouraging schools to provide instruction in an additional language in these years.

This report outlines the findings of 23 case studies. The case studies were carried out to extend and enrich the findings of the survey studies in the research project Curriculum Stocktake: National School Sampling Study, which has been ongoing since 2001.

This research identifies effective teacher practice for integrating commercially-produced readymade learning materials into classrooms to meet student learning needs. The research focused on practice with respect to literacy packages but the findings have resonance for other curriculum areas. The project investigated how low decile schools integrated five selected reading packages into their classroom reading programmes over two years, and identified effective practice around identifying and diagnosing student needs, selecting appropriate packages based on these needs, implementing the package and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Sustainability was also considered.

This research, presented in four volumes, looked at current practice in environmental education in New Zealand schools using a range of methods. Volume. 1 provides the key findings from each of the research components

This evaluation reviewed the effectiveness of Secondary Schools Arts Coordinators Project. It looked at the effectiveness of the project in meeting its objectives and was designed to be able to inform the Project in future years. The Secondary Schools Arts Coordinators Project was designed to support 'The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum' by assisting schools to provide additional enriching learning opportunities to students across the four Arts disciplines. Through the Project, schools are able to employ an Arts Coordinator to coordinate these opportunities, to ease the responsibilities of specialist secondary school arts teachers.

From 2003, the 'Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum' is mandatory and schools are required to offer all four disciplines (dance, drama, music, and the visual arts) to Year 1-8 students and at least two of the four disciplines to Year 9 and 10 students. In the two years leading up to its implementation, professional development in the Arts has been offered to schools in a variety of ways, including an Arts component as part of a larger national contract for Pacific teachers. This report describes the results from a (limited) evaluation of the effectiveness of this component of the professional development in assisting Pacific teachers translate the Arts curriculum document into classroom practice.

The Literacy Leadership initiative was established in 2000 as part of the Ministry of Education's Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. The Enhancement Programme comprised professional development and support from a facilitator for principals and leading teachers of literacy to review their current literacy practices, and plan, implement and review a classroom initiative related to a goal for literacy improvement. This evaluation looked at evidence for student achievement in literacy as a result of the programme; necessary conditions for programme success; and school-based structures and processes supporting sustainable literacy improvement.

This reports on an evaluation of how the professional development, offered on a national basis to schools over a two-year period commencing 2001, supported the initial implementation of 'Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum'. This included a survey of participants on their views of the issues they and their schools faced in implementing the curriculum and how they considered the professional development assisted them in addressing these issues. Author: Fiona Beals, Rosemary Hipkins, Marie Cameron, Susan Watson Published: June 2003

Arts Professional Development Online' commenced nationally during 2001 to support the implementation of 'Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum', targeted specifically at rural and isolated schools. This report details the outcome of an evaluation of this professional development that was carried out late 2002.

This is the second of three National School Sampling Study reports. This initiative to investigate how teachers work with the curriculum began in 2001 and continued into 2003, as part of the Ministry of Education's Curriculum Stocktake. This report details teachers' experiences in teaching from the New Zealand national curriculum documents: English; Languages (Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Samoan); Science; and Social Studies.

This report is part of the New Zealand Ministry of Education research project Curriculum Stocktake: National School Sampling Study. The major content of this report is the administration and results of three questionnaires designed to investigate teachers' experiences in teaching from the New Zealand national curriculum documents; the drawing up of a 10% sample of New Zealand primary and secondary schools; and the summarisation of the results from the responses. The three questionnaires were first, a general questionnaire about curriculum; second, one on the mathematics curriculum documents; and third, one on the technology curriculum documents

As part of the New Zealand Curriculum Stocktake, the New Zealand Ministry of Education commissioned the Australian Council of Educational Research to prepare a commentary on the New Zealand National Curriculum. Sue Ferguson conducted the project as a commissioned consultant to ACER.

The aim of the Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR) programme is to enable schools to facilitate smooth transition and access from schooling to assists student transition to further education or employment. This evaluation of STAR was undertaken to provide sound information on the operation of STAR in schools and gather the views of key stakeholders (students, teachers, tertiary providers and industry/employers) on how successfully STAR achieves its aims. It also identified and collected data on outcome measures that could help assess how successfully STAR is meeting its objectives.

The following documents comprise the published reports from the National School Sampling Study, a Ministry of Education initiative to investigate how teachers work with the curriculum, 2001-2003, undertaken to inform the Curriculum Stocktake. The reports detail teachers’ experiences in teaching from the New Zealand national curriculum documents: General curriculum, mathematics, and technology (2001); English, languages (Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Samoan), science, and social studies (2002); General curriculum; health and physical education, and the arts (2003).

This is a report from the Ministry of Education to the Minister and Associate Minister of Education. IT IS NOT A STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT POLICY. A Curriculum Stocktake project paper was considered by Cabinet early in 2003. The curriculum stocktake report analyses the recent New Zealand curriculum reform experience in terms of: * the appropriateness of the New Zealand curriculum and te marautanga o Aotearoa in the current educational, social and economic climate * the purposes of these curricula * the quality of these curricula in contributing to improved student outcomes, meeting the expectations of a range of stakeholders and against comparable international curricula. Published: September 2002

This study is part of the project "An Investigation of Language-Related and Cognitive-Motivational Factors in Beginning Literacy Achievement". Data were collected from students during 1996 and 1997, and compared with the performances of students from the same schools involved in an earlier longitudinal study that ran from 1993 to 1995. Author: William Tunmer, James Chapman and Jane Prochnow Published: June 2002

Based on an examination of data gathered in a longitudinal study that ran from 1993 to 1995, the specific aims of the project were: to investigate the role of language and motivational factors in beginning literacy development, with particular emphasis on determining the specific language-related factors at school entry that place some children at risk for failure; to work with new entrants teachers to adapt, deve

This reports on an evaluation of how the professional development, offered on a national basis to schools over a two-year period commencing 2001, supported the initial implementation of 'Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum'. This included a survey of participants on their views of the issues they and their schools faced in implementing the curriculum and how they considered the professional development assisted them in addressing these issues.

Since 1999, the Ministry of Education has provided funding for clusters of schools to develop three year ICT professional development programmes for their teachers. 23 clusters were initially approved in 1999. This evaluation of the initial clusters between 1999 and 2001 focused on:

• assessing the ingredients for successful cluster models of ICT teacher professional development;
• the effects of the professional development on classroom teaching and student learning;
• wider school effects of the professional development such as planning and administration.

Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) is a web site giving teachers and principals access to teaching, education information, and communication with colleagues. This evaluation of TKI looked at the effectiveness of the site in meeting the needs of teachers and principals in terms of its key functions of providing with: * quality teaching and learning resources, * information on educational issues and developments, * opportunities for interaction with colleges in public or private areas of the site around common interest areas.

In February 2001, draft national curriculum guidelines for French were released for discussion and comment. To provide information on how well the draft guidelines assist and support teachers in the planning and delivery of effective French language programmes, a survey of schools which offered French in 2000 was undertaken. The main aim of the research was to obtain feedback from schools on the draft guidelines "French in the New Zealand Curriculum" to contribute to the writing of the final document. This report outlines the key findings of this research.

In February 2001, draft national curriculum guidelines for German were released for discussion and comment. To provide information on how well the draft guidelines assist and support teachers in the planning and delivery of effective German language programmes, a survey of schools which offered German in 2000 was undertaken. The main aim of the research was to obtain feedback from schools on the draft guidelines "German in the New Zealand Curriculum" to contribute to the writing of the final document. This report outlines the key findings of this research.

This study was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ). It was commissioned in response to several issues, including recent student drownings on school trips, media coverage about the cost of school pools, and changes to the physical education curriculum. The study looked at: * Year 6 teachers' perceptions about the level of swimming and water safety skills students have attained by Year 6 * the range of Year 6 teachers' knowledge in relation to swimming instruction * school arrangements to deliver the swimming component of the curriculum.

This review was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to explain gender differences in compulsory education during the period 1989-1999. It has a particular focus on primary, Māori and Pacific students, and disparities by gender in participation, achievement and social outcomes. The review explores assessment patterns for each of the seven curriculum areas and considers available research in the light of these patterns. Over 450 studies are reviewed