Schooling Publications

This Ministry of Education commissioned ERO report looks at a representative sample of Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) clusters and evaluates the effectiveness of their governance and management of the RTLB resource in their cluster.

RTLB work as itinerant teachers in clusters of schools. They support students with learning and behaviour difficulties and build teacher capability in working with diverse groups of students.

Education at a Glance 2009 is published against a backdrop of a worldwide global recession. This gives added prominence to the recurring themes of the growing demand for education and the expected strains on public funding.

This report forms the second part of a two year study on the practices of ESOL paraprofessionals working with ELL migrant students.

Report in full HTML available soon.

INSTEP was a research and development project aimed at improving the quality of inservice teacher education. The project, carried out by the Ministry of Education, set out to improve knowledge and understanding about effective inservice teacher education, develop greater consistency and coherence in the practice of inservice teacher educators (ISTEs) and trial approaches that would lead to improvements in their practice. This evaluation report offers insights into the way in which participating in INSTEP has contributed to bringing about shifts in knowledge, skills and expertise of ISTEs and identifies early indicators of change resulting from the project.

This report presents the findings from a research project carried out in 2008 on the educational histories and pathways of alternative education (A.E.) students in New Zealand.

This report encompasses the two final years of a four-year longitudinal investigation of the relationship between student achievement and motivation.

This Longitudinal Research on the NCEA and Student Motivation and Achievement reports the results of the final two years of a four year research project to investigate relationships between the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and how students think about their learning and achieve academically in secondary school. This is the summary report, the full report from which this summary report is derived will be available from mid-July.

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 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 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).

This is the home page for the Monitoring Teacher Supply publication series. See below for a general description of the publication or follow one of the links to view the publication for that year.

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 document reports on the first part of a two year study on the practices of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) paraprofessionals working with ELL (English Language Learner) migrant students in initial reading programmes.

Report in full HTML available soon.

This paper is a summary of a review of literature carried out in 2007 for the Ministry of Education by Dinham and Rowe of the Australian Council for Educational Research.

Their review, and the summary presented here, are components of a Ministry research programme focused on teaching and learning in the middle schooling years. Other projects within the programme include: a "Study of Students’ Transition from Primary to Secondary Schooling"; an investigation of the skills, knowledge and values that may be required by teachers to most effectively meet the needs of Years 7 to 10 students; and an in-depth analysis of ‘student engagement’ during the middle schooling years.

A good way of presenting differences between groups or changes over time in test scores or other measures is by ‘effect sizes’, which allow us to compare things happening in different classes, schools or subjects regardless of how they are measured. This booklet is designed to help school staff to understand and use effect sizes, and includes handy tips and warnings as well as useful tables to calculate effect size values from change scores on standardised tests.

This is the home page for the Competent Children, Competent Learners publication series.

The Competent Children, Competent Learners project is a longitudinal study undertaken by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) which focuses on a group of about 500 young people from the greater Wellington region. When the project began in 1993 its aim was to provide New Zealand policy makers and the early childhood education sector with a study which could show the concurrent, short-term, and long-term impact of early childhood education experience. As the project continued, the development of students' competence in mathematics, literacy and logical problem solving, and their competence in social and communication skills, has assumed more prominence, particularly in the project's ability to relate these to the home resources and experiences that students have, to trace the impact of different factors over time, and to compare the cumulative impact of differences in home and schools resources and experiences.

Seven phases of the project have now been completed - the first when the students were near age 5, the next when they were at age 6 and then at ages 8, 10, 12,14 and 16. A further phase is currently underway collecting data from the sample of young people at age 20.

This is the home page for the New Zealand Schools: Ngā Kura o Aotearoa publication series. See below for a general description of the publication or follow one of the links to view the publication for that year.

This brochure provides an outline of the study, a summary of some key findings and implications, and a brief description of the reports on the study, including a third report due later this year.

This is one of three reports on a study which followed a diverse group of New Zealand students as they made the transition from primary to secondary schooling, progressed through Year 9 and on in to Year 10.

This is one of three reports on a study which followed a diverse group of New Zealand students as they made the transition from primary to secondary schooling, progressed through Year 9 and on in to Year 10.

This is the final report on the findings of the CAS project.

This report describes the impact that the Ministry of Education’s professional development Assess to Learn Project has had on teachers, students and schools in New Zealand.

The purpose of this research project is to improve understanding of the key elements of successful home–school partnerships, and how these partnerships operate in different school settings. The project has two parts—a review of evidence, and an empirical research component. Both parts of the project are reported on here.

This page provides evaluations of the Information and Communication Technologies Professional Development (ICTPD) teacher professional development initiative. The ICTPD School Cluster programmes in New Zealand are aimed at increasing teachers’ ICT skills and pedagogical understandings of ICTs, at increasing the use of ICTs for professional and administrative tasks in schools, and at increasing the frequency and quality of the use of ICTs in schools to support effective classroom teaching and learning.

This study was designed to investigate the practices of nominated Māori and Pasifika Private Training Establishments (PTEs) in relation to teaching & learning, and programme design & development. It also investigated for what reasons the nominated Māori and Pasifika PTEs used the strategies they did to develop teaching and learning. It asked what cultural elements were interwoven into their practices, and finally, to what extent the practices of the nominated PTEs compared with those considered in the literature to be indicators of good practice.

This report explores the relationship between academic achievement at secondary school and first-year achievement in tertiary education. The analysis uses a measure known as 'expected percentile' and school qualification to explain the performance of school leavers in their first year in tertiary education.

This report provides a complement to the report Post-school choices, which explores the link between school achievement and choices around participation in tertiary education.

This report examines the association between academic achievement at secondary school and participation in the various types of tertiary education. This new research supports the government's goal of improving outcomes for young people.

It provides a complement to the report How does achievement at school affect achievement in tertiary education?, which explores the relationship between academic achievement at secondary school and first-year achievement in tertiary education.

Demand for people in the workplace with advanced skills is increasing. Having more people with advanced qualifications is one part of the solution. This report finds that the areas of study where there is high unmet demand for advanced qualifications include information technology, engineering, building and health.

This page provides access to Ministry of Education reports derived from NCEA results.

The purpose of this document is to report on recent trends in school leavers’ transition between school and tertiary education.

This is the home page for the annual State of Education in New Zealand publication series. This report presents a picture of New Zealand’s education system with indicators on participation, achievement, effective teaching, labour market outcomes and resourcing across the early childhood, schooling and tertiary sectors.

The focus of this report is on boys’ participation, engagement and achievement at different levels of education.

The purpose of this report is to build an understanding of how school leavers are transitioning into tertiary education. The report examines the transitions of 2004 school leavers into tertiary education by a variety of personal, schooling and tertiary education characteristics and seeks to show where differences exist.

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 report summarises the changes in schooling practice in a group of remote rural schools, with a combined roll of approximately 120 students constituting the Wairoa West Cluster, as the result of the short term appointment of a Schools’ Director.

This report evaluates the in-school facilitation component of two projects, Te Kauhua and Te Kotahitanga.

These reports outline trends in teacher numbers, teacher loss rates and reasons for teacher losses. They are produced annually by the Demographic & Statistical Analysis Unit to assist in the Ministry's monitoring of teacher supply and give an indication of the stability of the teacher workforce and the state of labour market.

This is the home page for the Annual Monitoring of Reading Recovery publication series.

As part of the continuing evaluation of the implementation of Reading Recovery, schools with Reading Recovery are asked to provide information for the Ministry of Education on an annual basis. This information is used to examine trends in the delivery of Reading Recovery and the progress of students, and to assist the Ministry in developing policies regarding literacy.

For data collection information, including collection forms, please go to the Reading Recovery Forms page.

Published quarterly, this series of reports gives an update of actual external migration statistics for children based on data provided by Statistics New Zealand. The reports comment on the emerging trends in migration and the potential impact on schools.

This summary reports the key findings about the associations between early childhood education experience and young people’s competency levels at age 16

Findings from the New Zealand Numeracy Development Projects in 2006 were released by Minister of Education Steve Maharey at St Brigid’s School in Wellington on Thursday 19 July 2007.

This report presents the research undertaken alongside the SNP in the second year of its implementation.

The Longitudinal Research on the Relationship between the NCEA and Student Motivation and Achievement was funded by a Ministry of Education research contract awarded to researchers at Victoria University.

These reports briefly summarise the results from the March and July school roll returns. They include statistics on the number of schools, changes in school enrolment of domestic and foreign fee-paying students, participation in Māori-medium and Pasifika-medium Education, Early Childhood attendance by Year one students, secondary school subject choices and changes in apparent retention rates in secondary schools.

This review was undertaken alongside the implementation of the Specialist Classroom Teacher scheme, in state and integrated secondary schools across NZ, in 2006. This is the Full Report page, the Summary Report page is found here.

This evaluation was carried out by the Education Review Office under contract to the Ministry of Education in 2004.

This is the home page for the Attendance and Absence in New Zealand Schools publication series. These reports document the surveys of state and state integrated schools designed to capture student attendance and absence over one week.

These reports provide analysis of stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions, expulsions, and early leaving exemptions for students enrolled in state or state-integrated schools.

This review was undertaken alongside the implementation of the Specialist Classroom Teacher scheme, in state and integrated secondary schools across NZ, in 2006. This is the Summary Report page, the Full Report page is found here.

The achievement patterns of candidates involved in Māori-medium education, and whether they differ from the general population, are of interest to many groups, including school communities and policy makers.

This is the homepage for the Te Kōtahitanga publication series. The project sought to investigate how to improve the educational achievement of Māori students in mainstream secondary school classrooms, by talking with Māori students and other participants in their education. It was from these narratives that the rest of the Te Kōtahitanga project developed.

An evaluative research report in 2007 on the impact of effective professional learning in curricular and co-curricular physical activity in primary schools.

The purpose of this report is to provide an outline of actual and projected trends in student enrolments both regionally and nationally.

The Flaxmere Project is about establishing and implementing processes through which the Flaxmere schools collectively engage with the community and caregivers of childre in order to improve the current and long term education outcomes for children. (MOE, 2001)

(Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) previously known as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.

The annual Secondary Qualifications Statistics publications provide access to secondary school qualifications dating back to 2001.

In 2005, the Ministry of Education funded four te reo Māori professional development (PD) pilot programmes for mainstream primary school teachers. These pilot programmes were run in different areas of the country by four different providers.

This report highlights some of the key findings from Professor May’s literature review that relate to Māori-medium education.

The Ministry of Education commissioned a consultation exercise with principals, education sector representatives and with students who have left school before turning 16 to identify the key barriers and incentives around student retention in New Zealand.

This is the home page for the Education Statistics of New Zealand publication series. These publications provide basic information on the education sector.

This is the home page for the Resource Teachers: Literacy Data Collection publication series. See below for a general description of the publication or follow one of the links to view the publication for that year.

The Publication "School/Cluster Based Secondary Qualifications Professional Development - Review of Secondary Schools' use of NCEA professional development resources, 2005-2006" reviews the Ministry of Education funded programme of professional development to support the implementation of Scholarship and NCEA for the period June 2005 to July 2006.

This research project investigated the relationship between New Zealand’s National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and student motivation to learn.

The overall purpose of this research was to collect a range of information about indicators of good practice and quality outcomes in alternative education programmes. The key areas the report addresses include the following: identification of the critical success factors/indicators of success in alternative education programmes; hallmarks of quality programmes and quality alternative education providers; and identification of what constitutes successful outcomes in alternative education programmes.

This report looks at where beginning teachers are teaching, their demographic profile, employment trends, qualifications of beginning teachers, and subjects taught by secondary beginning teachers.

This summary presents some of the main national level results from New Zealand ’s participation in the third cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 2002-2003. As well as providing countries with a snapshot of achievement in 2002-2003, participation in this cycle allowed countries, including New Zealand , to measure trends in achievement by comparing performance in 1994-1995 and 1998-1999 with 2002-2003.

The purpose of this report "Students at School in 2006" is to provide summary statistics on teacher numbers, funding, and actual and projected enrolments numbers. A regional breakdown of the estimated number of new entrant students starting school at the beginning of the school year is also provided.

A joint research project was undertaken by the New Zealand Teachers Council and the Ministry of Education inquiring into the status of teachers in New Zealand and implications for recruitment, retention and professionalism of teachers.

Ngā Taumatua was developed in 2002 as a 12 month professional development programme for resource teachers of Māori. A subsequent professional development programme called Ngā Taumatua Whakapakari was developed for Ngā Taumatua graduates and has been operating since 2005.

This research was jointly funded by the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. We particularly thank Geoff Gibbs and Steve Bargh for their interest, encouragement, and for including us in the professional development sessions.

Most of the Competent Children, Competent Learners study sample changed school when they went on to secondary level. This transition often involved some marked change in the characteristics of the school they attended—moving to a much larger school, or to a single-sex school. Friends were often lost in the process—but they were also gained. But secondary school offered students a wider range of experiences, rather than a totally new world.

This is the home page for the Initial Teacher Education publication series. See below for a general description of the publication or follow one of the links to view the publication.

Image of PublicationParent Mentoring Initiative Evaluation The Parent Mentoring Initiatives is the forming of relationships between parents and school that enables both parties to contribute more effectively to the education and achievement of students. The evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of Parent Mentoring programmes and to explore the effect they have on student achievement.

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.

The purpose of the PISCPL project is to encourage a closer relationship between Pacific Islands communities and schools and to improve and increase Pacific Islands student achievement across the curriculum. The Pacific Islands School Community Parent Liaison Project Case Study examines the relationship between schools and Pacific Island communities and student achievement in a cluster of four schools.

This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, as was the first round of Shifting Balances on which it builds.

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.

In September 2004 the Ministry of Education undertook a survey of all teachers in state and state integrated schools. The Ministry would like to thank teachers who participated in the 2004 Teacher Census. The information collected by the Teacher Census provides valuable input into planning and policy development of issues affecting the teaching profession.

This review, which is one of the literature reviews commissioned as part of the Strategic Research Initiative, examines the impact of family and community resources on student outcomes. It includes international and New Zealand research. In terms of family environment, the review examined various factors which are thought to impact on student outcomes. The review also looked at parental involvement in schools, the impact of genetic influences on student outcomes and the role of peer effects in schools and classrooms.

This analysis of trends in Māori in early childhood education and schools was commissioned for Hui Taumata 2005.

This review looks at different models, methods and best practice for intervening with refugee children in New Zealand schools. It examines the literature on refugee trauma, loss and grief and second language concerns, resilience, issues of migration, school and teacher effects, and conceptual and policy issues. It also discusses a range of best practices for refugee children within schools.

This research, carried out by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in 2004, looks at the hours worked, the kinds of work performed and the manageability of that work, for principals, middle managers and teachers in New Zealand secondary schools. This study was a recommendation of the Ministerial Taskforce on Secondary Teacher Remuneration which reported in 2003. The research was commissioned by the Ministry of Education.

This page provides evaluations of the Digital Opportunities Pilot Projects (2001-2003)

NZCER was contracted by the partners in Whaia te iti Kahurangi (Te Runanga o Ngati Porou and the Ministry of Education) to undertake a formative evaluation of the initiative. Whaia te iti Kahurangi (WTIK) is aimed at improving student achievement in Ngati Porou East Coast schools. The evaluation found that significant progress had been made.

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). The study was administered in New Zealand and other Southern Hemisphere countries in late 2002 and in Northern Hemisphere countries in early 2003. The study involved students equivalent to New Zealand’s Year 5 and Year 9 students from 25 and 46 countries respectively. This report presents some of the main results for New Zealand at the Year 9 level, placed in an international context.

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 presents findings of an evaluation of the nationwide Introductory Professional Development Programme for teacher aides/kaiāwhina working with students with special educational needs, funded by the Ministry of Education. The evaluation began in 2001, during the development of the programme, through to 2002 when the programme was implemented. The aim of the evaluation was to help provide a clearer picture of how the programme was delivered, what its impact was, and ways to improve this kind of professional development in the future.

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.

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 publication is a summary of the Evaluation of Te Putahitanga Matauranga. Te Putahitanga Matauranga (TPM) is an education improvement and development project aimed at raising Māori students' achievement in Te Taitokerau (the Far North). TPM encompasses 78 schools in the Far North from Cape Reinga to Towai. The full report is attached as a downloadable file.

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.

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 research report is a compilation of papers presented at the Language Acquisition Forum held in 2003. The papers were written and presented by educationalists who have had wide experience in both research and teaching in the field of language acquisition and bilingual development. The report will provide the Ministry of Education with possible strategies to support schools and teachers who offer bilingual and immersion education, and the children and whanau who participate in these programmes.

This research investigates the characteristics of student learning in the arts, and notes the implications for teachers of the arts. The report also identifies some indicators for teaching and learning beyond the arts.

This project concerns evaluations of three programmes - Cool Schools, Kiwi Can and Tū Tangata - supported in 2002 from the Innovations Funding Pool. The main purpose of the evaluation is around the sustainability, adaptability and the transferability between schools of the programmes selected, and the extent to which and how the programmes have variously brought about positive (academic, social and behavioural) change for students, particularly those at risk of poor educational achievement.

Te Kauhua is a professional development pilot project which provides schools with opportunities to address Māori student achievement in mainstream settings. The evaluation identified common transformative processes which resulted in sustained professional growth amongst teachers.

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.

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.

The primary purpose of this project is to analyse New Zealand research about initial teacher education, and present findings in the form of an annotated bibliography and a literature review of initial teacher education in New Zealand from 1993 to the present. It is intended that the findings will inform future policy and practice and identify key areas for further research.

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.

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.

These reports summarise information on the triennial boards of trustees elections, and mid-term elections. The reports focus on the election of parent representatives to school boards of trustees.

Based on a review of national and international research on bilingualism and bilingual/immersion education, this report explores effective approaches for bilingual education. While the focus was on Māori-medium education, the indicators of good practice can also be applied to other bilingual contexts in Aotearoa/New Zealand, such as Pasifika bilingual education.

This is the home page for the Survey of Overseas Teachers publication series. See below for a general description of the publication or follow one of the links to view the publication for that year.

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 small-scale project investigated changes in teaching and learning in 18 case study schools, nine in mathematics and nine in science, as the NCEA implementation beds in at Year 11.

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

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 research was commissioned to inform the review of the current ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) strategy. The report details the outcome of a review of the literature identifying good practice for teaching and learning in the compulsory school sector for Non-English Speaking Background Students (NESB) and describes the results from an investigation of the ways in which schools provide for and meet the language needs of their NESB students.

A small-scale qualitative study was undertaken in 20 secondary schools throughout New Zealand between June and September 2002 to identify any barriers which may exist to the recruitment and retention of beginning teachers, heads of departments (HoDs) and people returning to teaching after taking a break. In total, 20 principals, 19 coordinators of beginning teachers, 63 beginning teachers, 56 HoDs and 20 returning teachers were interviewed for the study

The purpose of this literature review is to examine theory and research that has addressed what constitutes effective pedagogy for the acquisition of a second language (L2) in a classroom context. In other words, the review seeks to answer the question: How can instruction best ensure successful language learning?

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international study that assess how well 15 year-old are prepared to meet the challenges of today’s society. PISA assesses three key areas of knowledge and skills: reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy.

This report contains a review of recent research literature concerning students' transition from primary to secondary schooling, with a focus on the New Zealand context. The report identifies both New Zealand and international literature and in particular discusses findings relating to the impact of transition upon student achievement and adjustment to secondary school.

Thinking Outside The Square provides information for schools wanting to introduce innovative and effective programmes for raising the educational achievement of at risk students. The publication draws on the findings of two research projects that evaluated the success of programmes funded from the Ministry of Education's innovations funding pool between 1999 and 2002.

Student Achievement in New Zealand information kit provides the education sector with information about student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics where the students have been assessed in English.

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.

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.

The report details the results of a study of New Zealand boarding schools. The purpose of the study was to obtain information that would inform decisions about what government regulations may be necessary in respect of the safety and well-being of students in school boarding accommodation. Several key groups in each school were surveyed for their views: principals; boarding house managers; and staff; school counsellors; parents and senior students.

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

The Māori Women's Welfare League undertakes a parent support & development programme: Whanau Toko i te Ora. This is an evaluation of the progress of whanau moving though the programme. It involves an overall account, based on the database held at the Māori Women's Welfare League; and includes the write up of 16 case study interviews.

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.

This research project delivered concentrated professional development in literacy instruction to groups of early childhood and new entrant teachers in decile one schools in Mangere and Otara. The outcome was a substantial lift in the reading and writing achievement of new entrants. Picking up the Pace was a component of the Early Childhood Primary Links via Literacy (ECPL) Project which was part of a much broader project, Strengthening Education in Mangere and Otara (SEMO), which aimed to raise achievement significantly among students in these two communities. The summary report is available as downloads above right and the full report as downloads at the bottom of this page.

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

The ageing teacher workforce and increased demands for secondary teachers, both domestically and internationally, mean that retention of beginning teachers is an important factor in effectively managing and maintaining teacher supply.

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.

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.

The Ministry of Education has undertaken a census of schools to establish details and specifications of the computers used for administrative purposes.

This is the full report of the first stage of a research programme on effective services for students with disabilities, commissioned by the Ministry of Education convened Advisory Reference Group for Students with Physical Disabilities. The report on the scoping project report covers integrated and effective service provision for children and young people with physical disabilities, and outlines a proposal for the next phase of the research.

This report discusses the findings of an evaluation of the Ministry of Education's Schools Support Project as it was between mid-1995 and late 2000. The two aspects addressed by the evaluation are Safety Net interventions and Schooling Improvement initiatives. It includes a review of recent international research literature relating to school improvement, and the findings from interviews with a range of representatives from schools, the education sector and the Ministry.

The Research Bulletin, No 12, June 2001 was first published in 2001 by the Research Division, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington, New Zealand. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. Copyright Ministry of Education.

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.

Te Toi Huarewa looks at effective teaching and learning strategies, and effective teaching materials for improving the reading and writing in te reo Māori of students aged five to nine in Māori-medium education. The main purpose of the project was to observe and collaboratively reflect upon the teaching and learning strategies used during literacy programmes by a range of year one to year five Māori-medium classroom teachers who were identified as effective.

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.

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.

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).

The Research Bulletin No 11, June 2000 was first published in 2000 by the Research Division, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington, New Zealand.

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

This review examines different components of a human resource strategy for education. These include teacher recruitment and pre-service training, hiring and induction, professional development, and standards and assessments for teachers and principals. The international literature was examined and key findings reported. The learning profession is put at the centre of the model developed by the researchers.

The AIMHI Project is a School Support initiative set up to raise the achievement of Māori and Pacific Island students in eight low decile secondary schools. The project began in 1996 and since that time major collective and individual school developments have been undertaken. Alongside this programme of development, there have been a number of research activities. In 1996, a baseline report identified the factors that influence achievement for these students. A mid-project report was prepared in 1998, evaluating the progress being made by the schools and the AIMHI group as a whole. In 1999 the researchers were commissioned to constructively critique actual teaching practice by identifying effective teaching and learning strategies used in the classrooms of teachers in the AIMHI schools.

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

The Research Bulletin, No 10, October 1999 was first published in 1999 by the Research Division, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington, New Zealand. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. Copyright Ministry of Education

The aim of this report is to present a summary of the performance of New Zealand students on each of the free-response items. Free-response mathematics and science items, along with the coding rubrics as in the international coding manual, and with summary statistics, are included in the report.

In 1996, the Careers Information and Guidance Policy package was introduced to allow secondary, area, and composite schools to directly purchase career guidance for their students, or professional development in career guidance for staff. A new National Administration Guideline (NAG) was also gazetted which formalised schools' responsibility to provide appropriate careers information and guidance to schools. At the same time, the University of Otago Consulting Group carried out a preliminary study to establish baseline information on schools' career information and guidance policies and practices. This project built on that baseline study - it identified changes in schools' policies and practices since 1996, and assisted in the evaluation and future development of the policy.

This report details the findings of a small-scale, exploratory study undertaken in November 1995 involving 14 schools in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. Fifty-four interviews were conducted in these schools to find out more about the types of programmes and support they had in place for their non-English-speaking background (NESB) students. The experiences described and the ideas put forward in the report provide other schools with examples of good practices on how to meet the needs of their NESB students. Author: Shelley Kennedy, Sharon Dewar Published: October 1997

This report documents the results from the truancy action survey carried out in 1996. The results of this survey show that schools are concerned about the problem of truancy, and are attempting to eliminate truant behaviour with the resources available when it is a problem in their school.

This is a summary by Anne Else of a report prepared for the Ministry of Education in May 1997 entitled Māori Participation & Performance in Education: A Literature Review and Research Programme. The original report was authored by Simon Chapple, Richard Jefferies, and Rita Walker.

Eight decile one schools with high ratios of Pacific Island students were selected to be part of a developmental project called AIMHI.

Please Note: The AIMHI school listings can be downloaded at the bottom of this webpage.

The rapidly increasing ethnic diversity and heterogeneity of the New Zealand school population has resulted in the need for schools to actively manage issues of race, culture, and ethnicity. The increasing complexity of educational settings which result can give rise to tensions which, if not addressed, threaten schools’ ability to successfully meet the needs of their communities.