Comprehension – Teaching & Learning Research Initiative

Enhanced teaching and learning of comprehension in Years 5–8: Otara Schools

1. Introduction This study represents a systematic replication of a previous intervention which took place in schools in Mangere from 2003 to 2005. (McNaughton, MacDonald, Maituanai-Toloa, Lai, & Farry, 2006). The contexts and theoretical rationale are the same for the present study as those for the original Mangere study. We have repeated that historical and social context and theoretical framework here. In this first section, however, we briefly summarise the original study and also outline the form and the role of replication in the science represented here. Replication Our previous study In previous quasiexperimental research with a cluster of similar schools in Mangere in South Auckland we have shown that it

Enhanced teaching and learning of comprehension in Years 4-9 in Seven Mangere Schools

Executive Summary The schools of South Auckland which have high proportions of Māori and Pasifika students have long been described by researchers as sites for low achievement, particularly in literacy (e.g., Ramsay, Sneddon, Grenfell & Ford, 1981). However, recent evidence suggests that the disparities between Māori and Pasifika students and other students in reading accuracy have been reduced, and that there has been a substantial reduction in the proportions of students in the lowest bands of achievement. Despite this, the evidence also suggests that at Year 4 and Year 9, the disparities in reading comprehension have continued, if not increased (Crooks & Flockton, 2005). A research and development programme, conducted as