: 2005
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Chapter Graphic
Chapter Graphic
 PREFACE
HE KUPU WHAKATAKI 

In 2005, there were significant changes in the approach to the assessment of students in Mäori medium settings, so this report is substantially different to earlier NEMP reports on Mäori student achievement. The changes to note are:

• the 2005 assessments were carried out in Mäori medium schools only, whereas the earlier assessments included both Mäori medium schools and Mäori medium classes in mainstream schools.
• the 2005 assessment was carried out entirely in te reo Mäori, whereas some of the students were assessed partially in English in the earlier assessments.
• unlike its predecessors, this report focuses solely on the Mäori medium assessment results, without comparative data on the achievements of Mäori students learning in English medium schools.
• for the first time, the majority of the work required for national monitoring in Mäori medium schools was undertaken by He Kupenga Hao i te Reo, a group based in Palmerston North whose sole focus is on Mäori medium education, rather than by the NEMP team based at the University of Otago.

 THE PROJECT
TE KAUPAPA  

New Zealand’s National Education Monitoring Project commenced in 1995, with the task of assessing and reporting on the achievement of New Zealand primary school children in all areas of the school curriculum. In English medium, children are assessed at two class levels: year 4 (halfway through primary education) and year 8 (at the end of primary education). Only year 8 students are assessed in Mäori medium. Different curriculum areas and skills are assessed each year, over a four-year cycle. In 2005, the areas covered were Social Studies, Information Skills, and Mathematics.

The main goal of national monitoring is to provide detailed information about what children can do so that patterns of performance can be recognised, successes celebrated, and desirable changes to educational practices and resources identified and implemented.

Each year, small random samples of children are selected nationally, then assessed in their own schools by teachers specially seconded and trained for this work. Task instructions are given orally by teachers, through video presentations, on laptop computers, or in writing. Many of the assessment tasks involve the children in the use of equipment and supplies. Their responses are presented orally, by demonstration, in writing, in computer files, or through submission of other physical products. Many of the responses are recorded on videotape for subsequent analysis.


 THIS REPORT
TËNEI PÜRONGO 

This report focuses solely on year 8 Mäori medium students. Starting in 1999, assessments of students learning in Mäori immersion education programmes were added to the national monitoring programme, at the year 8 level only. In 2005, all schools were either Kura Kaupapa Mäori, Kura Mana Mäori, or full Mäori immersion schools. A small number of assessment tasks were developed from ideas put forward at a meeting of year 8 Mäori medium teachers, the balance of tasks were translated and adapted from English medium tasks. They were administered by teachers experienced in Mäori immersion settings. The results these students achieved are reported task by task.

  1 : KEY FEATURES
NGÄ ÄHUATANGA MATUA 

Chapter 1 explains key features of the National Education Monitoring Project that are relevant to this report.


  2 : ISSUES
NGÄ TAKE

 

Chapter 2 explains some of the issues surrounding the 2005 assessments in Mäori immersion education settings:

• the responses and attitudes of Mäori medium schools to national monitoring
• the suitability of tasks for Mäori medium monitoring
• the linguistic complexity of some tasks
• the academic language proficiency of some students
• the representivity of the 2005 student sample
• the central role played by the teacher administrators in ensuring the students are motivated and show the depth and breadth of their knowledge, understandings and skills
  3 : INFORMATION SKILLS
NGÄ PÜKENGA PÄRONGO 


 
Chapter 3 presents the results of the assessments of students’ information skills. Students possessing well developed information skills can perform three main tasks effectively: clarifying information needs, finding and gathering relevant information, and then analysing and using that information to meet the required purposes. A substantial proportion of the intellectual demands occur during the first and third of these tasks: finding and gathering information is clearly important, but its value is greatly dependent on the extent to which it can be validly interpreted and used to meet information needs.

This chapter reports on student achievement in 14 of the information skills tasks. Generally students performed well on tasks requiring them to extract information from a text, however were less successful in more cognitively demanding tasks requiring them to evaluate and synthesise information, connect information to wider issues and ideas, and express and justify opinions.
  4: SOCIAL STUDIES
NGÄ TIKANGA Ä-IWI 


 
Chapter 4 presents results of the assessments of students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in social studies. The stated aim of social studies education is to enable students to participate in a changing society as informed, confident and responsible citizens. To help achieve this outcome, students are expected to acquire knowledge that will inform and contribute towards their understandings about resposibilities, relationships, culture, heritage and management of the environment and resources. They are also expected to develop the skills needed to live and contribute as effective and worthy members of society.
Results from 13 of the tikanga ä-iwi tasks are presented in this report and again, students generally perfomed well in tasks requiring comprehension of a text, but less well in connecting ideas to wider issues, and in identifying and discussing a range of possible opinions or behaviours. Overall performance in tasks involving economics requires concentrated attention.

  5: MATHMATICS
TE PÄNGARAU  


Chapter 5 presents the results of the assessments of students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in mathematics. Conceptual understanding is a central goal of mathematics education. Mathematics education is very much concerned with such matters as students’ confidence, interest and inventiveness in working with a range of mathematical ideas. It aims to help students develop their capacity for exploring, applying and communicating their mathematical understandings with real-world contexts. While confidence and efficiency in basic knowledge of facts is important, a substantial focus is also placed on thinking, reasoning and problem-solving skills, requiring more open tasks that allow students to demonstrate their number sense, reason, make decisions and explain.


This chapter reports on the results of 35 of the pängarau tasks. Overall performance in tasks requiring the recall of basic number facts was good. However, students’ understanding of fractions and their ability to perform operations involving fractions was poor, as was an understanding of the effect of variability in problems involving chance, and the ability to recognise and use algebraic relationships between variables.

 6 : SURVEYS
NGÄ PÄTAITAI  

Chapter 6 reports the results of surveys of students about their curriculum preferences and perceptions of their achievement and potential in pükenga pärongo, tikanga ä-iwi and pängarau. Overall, students were positive about these aspects of the school curriculum as well as their ability and future learning in these areas.

 
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