A Report on New Zealand Student Engagement 2001

Executive Summary

This is the fourth report on the system of suspensions and stand-downs in New Zealand schools that was put in place in July 1999. This report is also the second report for a full school year, the first being for 2000.

Suspensions and stand-downs are part of a broad range of ways in which student behaviour is managed. A stand-down or suspension may represent one of a number of interventions for an individual student. These statistics, therefore, tell only part of the story of how schools successfully manage student behaviour for the vast majority of students.

Since reporting under the current rules began, several initiatives to address disparities have been introduced. Several of these are described later in this report. The impact these initiatives are having on stand-down and suspension statistics is now becoming evident.

A key finding of this report is that while stand-down cases have increased by 220, suspension cases have decreased by 306 compared to 2000. This is a notable reversal of the trend to date. Clearly, changes in how schools manage student behaviour have an impact.

Indications are that in areas of New Zealand where the Ministry of Education is providing support for specific programmes there is a levelling-off or reduction in the number of suspension cases. Schools in the Gisborne region have, for example, reduced the number of suspension cases from 10 per 1,000 in 2000 to 5 per 1,000 in 2001. Similarly Gisborne schools have reduced stand-down cases from 31 per 1,000 to 24 per 1,000. Northland, Canterbury and Nelson schools also reduced suspensions significantly.

While this is a positive trend, the challenge is for it to be maintained over time.

Related Pages on Education Counts

Other reports can be found on the Student Engagement index page.

The Student Engagement data collection page provides links to data, publications and indicators based on that collection.