Disparity in student achievement within and across secondary schools: an analysis of department results in English, maths and science in New Zealand

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Highfield
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Secondary Schools

scholarly journals Dealing with Student Errors in Whole-Class Discussions of Biology Lessons at German Secondary Schools

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena von Kotzebue ◽  
Christian Förtsch ◽  
Sonja Förtsch ◽  
Birgit J. Neuhaus
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Class Level ◽  
Biology Instruction ◽  
Student Errors ◽  
Cross Sectional Design ◽  
Positive Effect

AbstractDealing with student errors is a central feature of instructional quality. Teachers’ reactions to a student’s error and classmates’ errors can be crucial to the success of a lesson. A teacher should respond appropriately in terms of motivational and learning-related issues so that the error can become a learning opportunity for students. Currently, error situations have rarely been directly recorded and explored in empirical zstudies. This gap is the central focus of the current study in which we investigated errors in biology instruction within a cross-sectional design where biology lessons in German secondary schools were videotaped, teachers’ dealings with errors analyzed, and student achievement documented with pretests and posttests. The study found that constructively dealing with student errors had a significant positive effect on student achievement at the class level. Results confirmed the relevance of teachers’ appropriate dealing with student errors on learning in biology instruction.

scholarly journals Secondary Schools in the New Zealand Social Order, 1840-1903

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ian Andrew McLaren
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
North American ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Future Expectations ◽  
Seed Potatoes ◽  
The North ◽  
Additional Burden ◽  
Small Holding ◽  
Real Person

<p>The New Zealand pioneer, like the North American frontiersman, has become to many New Zealanders a romanticized symbol rather than a real person struggling to adapt to a strange and often frightening environment. 'As ye sow so shall ye reap' was for the pioneer farmer an injunction to be taken literally. After exhausting his resources in buying his small-holding the pioneer farmer 'would start on foot and alone...with a heavy swag of tools etc, on his back, to which, on passing the last older settler, would be added the additional burden of a kit of seed potatoes and some rations. With these he would camp down on his future lowly home and would work hard, for long hours on very scanty fare...to hurry in a patch of potatoes, and to make a pig-proof fence round it. He would then beat a retreat to the more settled districts, where he would seek employment until his little crop of potatoes was grown when he would return with a heavier load of rations...and this time he would be able to put in a larger crop and to build a whare, so that the next season he might have the joy of conveying his family to the scene of their future expectations. But it was hand work, and there were many privations to undergo for the first few years....'</p>

scholarly journals An Exploration of the Collaborative Practices within Learning Networks of New Zealand Schools

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebbecca Sweeney
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Cluster Structure ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Collaborative Practices ◽  
Effective Collaboration

<p>This thesis investigates the practices of participants in three “clusters” of New Zealand schools associated with the Extending High Standards Across Schools (EHSAS) project funded by the Ministry of Education from 2005 to 2009. The investigation addresses four questions: (i) What collaborative practices were used by the participants in the EHSAS clusters? (ii) Do the research participants perceive the collaborative practices that they used as making a difference to student achievement? (iii) What do the participants perceive as the benefits and limitations of collaborative practice? (iv) How consistent are participants’ perceptions with research findings in the field? The thesis begins by searching national and international research in order to define effective collaboration. It is argued that across certain relevant studies, the key purposes of collaboration are for teachers and students to learn and improve in order to reach the common goal set by the cluster. Associated practices can be used to build skills and knowledge in teachers, school leaders, and cluster members. Following this, a Grounded Theory approach was used to analyse and interpret data that emerged from the three clusters’ milestone reports and interviews with cluster members. The analysis found that the leaders of EHSAS clusters believed that shared leadership across principals is essential to cluster work, and that a hierarchical cluster structure is the best way to transmit knowledge from leaders to teachers. They also believed that if they shared resources, ideas, strengths and expertise with one another they would then have knowledge that would be useful to teachers wanting to change and improve their practices, and raise student achievement. Despite some of their beliefs being consistent with research literature on effective collaboration, according to the literature, many of the EHSAS leaders’ practices would not have enabled the learning and improvement that they espoused to be leading. The final chapter of this thesis identifies where EHSAS leaders’ beliefs and practices were inconsistent and what this means for future research and the implementation of similar projects aiming to promote collaboration across schools.</p>

Teacher coaching in New Zealand secondary schools: an exploratory study

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-85
Author(s):  
Paul Nathan Bennett
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Evaluation Strategies ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Teacher Coaching

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how teacher coaching is being implemented in New Zealand secondary schools. Design/methodology/approach A pragmatic mixed methods approach was identified as the most suitable. A dominant qualitative approach, using a sequential design, incorporating triangulation of methods and perspectives across time, provided an appropriate research design framework. Findings The findings indicate that teacher coaching is a popular professional development approach that has been enthusiastically implemented throughout New Zealand secondary schools. The four factors of purpose, evaluation, training and funding have been shown to be interrelated factors operating in New Zealand teacher coaching programmes. These factors are perceived to have an influence on teacher coaching programmes achieving their stated objectives. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is that it provides a snapshot of teacher coaching in New Zealand secondary schools, and the snapshot presented is constantly changing. A methodological limitation of the study related to the 28 per cent response rate of the questionnaire and the small sample size used for the interview phases. Practical implications This study encourages school leaders to consider if they have defined teacher coaching in the context of their programmes and articulated their objectives. They are persuaded to think about how they could design robust evaluation strategies and targeted training. Social implications The findings show the concept of teacher coaching is a social construct that is influenced not only by unique environmental contexts but also the individual perceptions of all those involved. Originality/value This study provides new knowledge in relation to how and why teacher coaching is being used and the factors that influence whether programme objectives are achieved.

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