Information and communication technology (ICT) has become an important tool for school systems as they seek to enhance education and make it more efficient. This has become all the more apparent and urgent with the COVID-19 pandemic. But what degree of access do students from different socio-economic backgrounds have to ICT-based quality…

New Zealand students in the middle and upper school achieve better results in reading than they do in writing. This claim is evident in national assessment data reporting on students' literacy achievement. Research findings also state that teachers report a lack of confidence when teaching writing. Drawing on the National Writing Project developed…

The introduction of computers, the Internet, and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into the school context has proved challenging for many schools and teachers. In meeting these challenges, professional development for teachers has been seen traditionally as a formal process conducted by an expert from outside the school.…

In February 2020, the Ministry of Education asked the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) to examine the curriculum-levelling construct that sits at the heart of "The New Zealand Curriculum" (Ministry of Education, 2007) (NZC). A key goal of the research was to investigate, whether-- and if so, how--the construct helps…

This document contains the fifth volume of the proceedings of the 30th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Conference presentations are centered around the theme "Mathematics at the Centre." This volume features 59 research reports by presenters with last names beginning between Sac and Zaz:…

This study used data from the Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning project, which involved data on the academic performance of more than 90,000 New Zealand students in six subjects (i.e. reading, writing and mathematics in two languages). Two sub-samples of this dataset were included for detailed re-analysis to test the general applicability…

Background and purpose: The present study reports on the findings of a study conducted in New Zealand using the actual and preferred forms of a classroom environment instrument, the Technology-Rich Outcomes-focussed Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI) and three affective outcome scales. Main aims of this study were to validate the instrument…

The range of affordances that a virtual environment offers can provide opportunities for more formal Professional Learning and Development (PLD) that has flexibility of choice, time and approach for educators. It was this potential that inspired the design of the Virtual Professional Learning and Development (VPLD) program that was instigated in…

This paper examines the assessment practices of teachers working with students with special educational needs in New Zealand primary and secondary regular and special schools. A national survey was used to identify current assessment practices used by teachers working with students designated, through a resourcing policy, as having high and very…