Key findings

School characteristics

• Principals reported that New Zealand Year 5 students spent an average of 148 hours a year doing mathematics in 2006/07, 6 hours more than in 2002/03. Considerably less time was spent on science instruction than mathematics. New Zealand Year 5 students spent only 45 hours a year, on average, doing science, which was 21 hours less than in 2002/03.
• On average, New Zealand teachers reported that they spent more of their mathematics instruction time on number compared to many other participating countries. It is worth noting that number was the only mathematics domain in which New Zealand scored significantly lower than the international TIMSS average score. However, number was the weakest domain for all English-speaking countries – perhaps reflecting the complexity of the English words for numbers.
• New Zealand students spent relatively less time on physical science compared with life science or earth science. Physical science was the area in which our students performed least well.
• Average school size has increased over time. Differences in mathematics and science achievement scores by school size are not significant.
• Students in high-decile band schools did significantly better in mathematics and science than those in medium-decile band schools, who performed significantly better than students in low-decile band schools. The pattern of higher achievement among schools in higher decile bands has been consistent over time.
• Students who attended schools with higher proportions of students from affluent backgrounds did better in mathematics and science, on average, than those who attended schools with higher proportions of students from economically disadvantaged homes. Similarly, students attending schools with a predominance of English speakers had higher mathematics and science achievement, on average, than students in schools where English was not the first language among more than half of students attending those schools.

School management

• Principals in New Zealand spent, on average, close to half their time on administrative duties, which was one of the highest proportions reported among participating countries.
• Principals of larger schools spent more time on administrative duties compared to their counterparts in smaller schools, while principals of small schools spent more time teaching than their counterparts in larger schools.
• Parental involvement in schools was actively encouraged by all schools at the Year 5 level.

School resources

• Principals were asked to consider a list of resources and indicate whether a lack of each resource had an impact on instruction. In general, a lack of science-oriented resources was more of a problem than mathematics-oriented resources, although the principals of nearly half of the students indicated that lack mathematics-oriented resources in their school impacted negatively on instruction. In particular, the resource most commonly perceived by New Zealand principals as having a negative impact on instructional capability was a lack of science laboratory equipment and materials.

School climate

• Most students perceived their school as a good place to be, with nearly all students (97%) agreeing that ‘teachers at my school want students to do their best’.
• Teachers generally gave positive responses to questions about school climate for learning. However, there were some aspects which teachers were not so positive about - in particular, students’ desire to do well and parental support for learning.
• Principals were also positive about their school climate and tended to be most positive about teacher’s behaviours.
• Compared to students in other countries, relatively high proportions of New Zealand students reported experiencing negative behaviours in the month prior to testing. While reported incidences of theft have decreased since previous cycles of TIMSS, the perceived levels of being left out of activities by other students has increased.
• Teachers were very positive about the safety of their schools, with most of them agreeing with statements on safety of the school environment.
• Achievement was higher among students whose schools were rated as having a positive or safe environment. Students whose schools were rated less positively tended to have lower achievement.