Executive Summary

Introduction

In 2015, the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA) assessed student achievement at Year 4 and Year 8 in three areas of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) – English: listening; English: viewing and the arts. This report provides key findings from the English: viewing study.

Viewing in English

The English learning area within the NZC outlines achievement objectives that describe progression in viewing along with reading and listening as part of the 'making meaning of ideas or information they receive' strand. The objectives describe the knowledge and skills students should be able to demonstrate as they progress from one curriculum level to the next and become more effective oral, written and visual communicators.

Study features

NMSSA assessed achievement in English: viewing using a group-administered assessment called the Knowledge and Application of Viewing in English (KAVE) assessment. The KAVE assessment focused on the extent to which students could locate and recall, integrate and interpret, and critique and evaluate ideas and information from a range of visual texts. The texts used in the KAVE assessment were selected for their literary features and came from sources such as picture books and graphic novels. The ability of students to make sense of visual informational texts, such as diagrams, maps, photos and infographics was not directly assessed.

A nationally representative sample of about 2,200 students at each of Years 4 and 8 completed the assessment during the third term (July to September) of 2015. Performance on the KAVE assessment was reported on a single scale covering both year levels. The scale was aligned to the levels of the NZC through a curriculum alignment process that defined minimum scale scores (cut-scores) associated with achieving, on balance, the objectives outlined at curriculum levels 2, 3 and 4.

Other data related to teachers' and principals' views of teaching and learning in English: viewing were also collected via separate teacher and principal questionnaires.

Key findings

Overall achievement

At Year 4, 77 percent of students achieved above the minimum score on the KAVE scale associated with achieving curriculum level 2 objectives. At Year 8, 63 percent of students achieved above the minimum score on the KAVE scale associated with achieving curriculum level 4 objectives. The curriculum expectation at Year 4 is that students will have, on balance, achieved level 2 objectives by the end of the year. In Year 8, they will have, on balance, achieved level 4 objectives by the end of the school year.

Variation in achievement by student-level and school-level variables

Year 8 students scored, on average, 28 scale score units higher than Year 4 students. This difference is equivalent to an effect size of about 1.4 and indicates that New Zealand students make, on average, 7 scale score units of 'progress' per year between Year 4 and Year 8.

Girls scored higher, on average, than boys by 7 scale score units at Year 4 and 8 scale score units at Year 8.

Māori and Pasifika students, who were more likely than other students to attend low decile schools, scored lower, on average, than non-Māori and non-Pasifika students, respectively, at both Year 4 and Year 8. The differences ranged from 8 to 14 scale score units.

Students from high decile schools (deciles 8, 9 and 10) scored higher, on average, than those who attended low decile schools (deciles 1, 2 and 3) by 15 scale score units at Year 4 and 20 scale score units at Year 8.

Students with special education needs scored lower, on average, than students with no special education needs by 10 scale score units at Year 4 and 15 scale score units at Year 8.

Contextual findings

About 80 percent of students at each of Year 4 and Year 8 reported that they always spoke English at home. A regression analysis carried out by year level indicated that how often students spoke English at home was a statistically significant predictor of their scores on the KAVE assessment, with those who reported always speaking English at home having higher KAVE scores, on average, than those who reported that they hardly ever spoke English at home. This was true before and after decile band was taken into account.

About 65 percent of Year 4 students reported that they had attended one school since their fifth birthday. A similar percentage of Year 8 students reported attending either one or two schools (many Year 8 students will have attended a contributing primary followed by an intermediate or secondary school). At Year 4, having attended fewer schools was generally associated with higher KAVE scores. The pattern at Year 8 was less clear.

Principals were generally positive about the quality of teaching and learning programmes in English: viewing in their schools. Overall, in relation to English: viewing, they were less positive about provision of quality professional learning and development (PLD), collection and use of assessment data, and provision of information for parents on progress and achievement.

Generally, teachers were very confident about their preparedness to teach English: viewing. Most indicated that viewing was a regular component of their English programmes, and that they had a strong understanding of their students' strengths and weaknesses in English: viewing.

About 45 percent of teachers reported either that they had never had any PLD in English: viewing, or that the last time they had this PLD was more than six years ago.