Teaching effectiveness – Teaching & Learning Research Initiative

Zooming out and zooming in on student data: Developing teacher data literacy to enhance teaching and learning

Introduction While teachers and schools have access to an increasing range of data, a challenge is using these data to support student learning outcomes. Over the past decade, expectations for teacher use of data as a basis for instructional decision making have increased (Pierce & Chick, 2011; Schildkamp & Poortman, 2015). Teacher assessment literacy, data-based/data-informed decision making, and data literacy have emerged as focuses for policy and professional development. Despite this, and increasing policy and commercial interest in evidence-based practice, international research consistently reports that many educators do not make effective use of the student data they collect (Kippers et al., 2018; Mandinach et al., 2015). Within New Zealand, the Education

Pathways to the Past: Effective Pedagogies for Māori and Pasifika Students in the Historical Disciplines

Summary Current research into, and definitions of, historical literacy do not adequately acknowledge the cultural backgrounds of indigenous learners across the historical disciplines and levels. Nor do they recognise the vital role of historical literacy in empowering indigenous students. In talanoa (conversations) with Māori and Pasifika students and teachers of a range of ethnicities from across the historical disciplines, we asked: How can we inspire indigenous students to feel at home in the historical disciplines, do well in them, and make them their own? The students and teachers saw historical literacy as predominantly textual in nature, and critical historical literacy as often culturally alien to Māori and Pasifika students. They revealed

Generating positive outcomes by Year 5 to 8 priority learners in writing: An inquiry into effective teacher practice

1. Writing: The issue to be addressed Writing is a demanding, multidimensional process that is, cognitively and socially, highly complex. Success in writing is vital to success in education and in the workforce (Graham, Capizzi, Harris, Hebert, & Morphy, 2014). Writing is increasingly used to demonstrate learning through schooling and has the potential to contribute toward understanding and learning in the content areas (Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004). Beyond school, it is an integral part of students’ everyday lives as they participate in the world of texting, blogging, and social networking. In the workplace, it is a threshold skill for hiring and promotion amongst many workers. New Zealand-based data on success

Sustainability of effective teaching and school practices: Developing a model for sustaining and extending literacy achievement. A summary

The focus of this TLRI project was on sustaining gains in reading comprehension made through TLRIfunded interventions in two clusters of schools in South Auckland. The aim was to develop a model for sustaining effective teaching and school practices so that student achievement continued to improve once the interventions ended. This involved identifying and explaining the conditions that enabled schools to continue improving achievement; explaining how the conditions interrelated; and how these relationships resulted in differing patterns of achievement after the intervention. Research questions Can two clusters decile 1 schools with mainly Māori and Pasifika students sustain student achievement gains one year after their participation in TLRI reading comprehension interventions? Sustainability

Effective teaching in different cultural contexts: A comparative analysis of language, culture, and pedagogy

1. Introduction Whaia te iti kahuranhi Strive for the things in life that are important to you This research project was developed as a part of the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) tender process that is managed by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER). The project began with a collaborative team of Māori, Pasifika and Pākehā researchers, brought together with the intention of working across four different school contexts that included kura kaupapa Māori, schools in which Pasifika and Māori were culturally in the foreground and mainstream[1] sites. Unanticipated changes to the composition of the research team occurred during project implementation and had a significant impact—these are detailed