In 2007, the New Zealand Ministry of Education formally recognized the condition of dyslexia for the first time and has subsequently developed a working definition of the condition. The aim of this article is to draw on contemporary theory and research on reading development, reading difficulties, and reading intervention to describe what the…

Factors associated with arithmetic-and-reading disability and specific arithmetic disability were investigated in over 850 representative New Zealand children. Reverse patterns of strengths and weaknesses with regard to verbal and nonverbal skills for these two types of arithmetic disability were found for boys but not for girls. (Author/DB)

A study investigated whether higher prevalence of reading disabilities among boys is related to gender bias in the prediction of reading from IQ. Data from 1,139 New Zealand children (collected during ages 5-13) indicate a significant intercept bias. Boys' predicted reading scores were systematically overestimated, thereby inflating IQ-reading…

Analyses of data obtained from 779 New Zealand children showed that family adversity and preschool-age intelligence quotient predicted problem behavior during the first year at school, but reading scores accounted for a larger proportion of the variance in later behavior problem scores than did school-age intelligence quotients. (Author/JDD)

This article discusses reasons for rejection of the learning disability category in New Zealand and describes the general education and special education systems in New Zealand. It is suggested that the needs of such students may potentially be met by new policies for "high incidence" special needs. Teacher training needs are also…