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The summer learning effect has been identified as a major barrier in creating equitable outcomes in the United States, especially in reading and mathematics. Less is known about the effect in other education systems and subject domains. This research draws on a large sample (N = 4390) to examine the summer learning effect in the comparatively under-researched domain of writing in New Zealand. Results indicate a considerable loss among students despite the relatively short summer break. The drop is substantially larger than the overall summer drop found previously across subjects, and for reading and mathematics specifically. Students from minority ethnic groups showed the greatest drops. Although indigenous students progressed at an equivalent rate than their European peers, the summer drop meant that the gap evident at the beginning of the academic year had widened by the beginning of the next year. At the school level, lower-income schools, which were over-represented by ethnic minority students, were also associated with a greater summer drop even after accounting for ethnicity. The growing inequities created by the effect underscore the importance of addressing this issue. Our findings point to the significance of supporting students' literacy developments in and outside of school. They call for greater policy attention that would see an examination of the financial and educational resourcing to support schools and families, but also of the access and resourcing of communities in regard to education, libraries and community services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general inductive analysis was applied to 98 submissions made to a recent review of New Zealand’s tertiary education system, primarily to enable those interested to engage with multiple viewpoints about this highly complex educational system. The analysis yielded three substantial themes that reoccur throughout the submissions and that may warrant further research. The three themes relate to: competition, incorporating willingness and ability to compete at different levels in the sector; trust, incorporating expectations of being trusted to provide high-quality educational support for all learners as well as, to varying degrees, an expectation that the broad outcomes of this high-quality educational support should be trusted, rather than measured, by all stakeholders; and the purpose of the educational endeavour being considered and whether or not different parts of the sector do, or should, emphasise different purposes. The analysis yielded a model or theory about the underlying structure of the experiences illustrated by the 98 submissions that may assist those interested in tertiary education to address the new models of tertiary education being considered by the review. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The powerful learning that occurs outdoors has been well documented in this journal, as has an array of barriers teachers typically face in providing outdoor learning experiences. This paper draws on findings from a collaborative, practice-based research project examining the reconceptualisation of outdoor education in two Year 4 classes in a primary school in Aotearoa New Zealand. Teachers note four factors to be integral to supporting the transformation of curriculum and pedagogical practice. The first two,(Re)establishing what we stand foranda willingness to let go of control,underscore the importance of teachers’ ongoing critical analysis of their philosophies and of the impact adopting inquiry approaches had on establishing and sustaining pedagogical change. The third,local places matterpoints to the significance of the innovation itself of adopting place-responsive approaches to sustaining change. The final factor,a climate of support, examines the key roles that senior teachers, colleagues, and students’ families have in supporting teachers’ endeavours to transform practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on a qualitative evaluation of the postgraduate courses offered by distance in one university department. The types and amount of support provided to students was evaluated and compared with Simpson's (2008a) Proactive Motivational Support model (PaMS). While students were largely satisfied with the support they received during their studies, their perceptions of the levels and effectiveness of that support varied. They also perceived a variation in the levels of support between individual courses. A number of areas where support could be improved were identified, including those that met the characteristics of the PaMS model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some of the results from a 2-year, qualitative study entitledGrowing up kāpo Māori: Identity, whānau, and cultural well being. It explores the educational experiences of 10 Māori (indigenous people of Aotearoa, New Zealand), who are kāpo (blind/vision impaired) of various ages up to the age of 80, and their whānau (family). In this research, four common themes emerged, including (1) visibility and invisibility, (2) cultural location and dislocation, (3) cultural consonance and dissonance, and (4) transformation and change. These themes are discussed in this paper in relation to the participants' educational experiences. Overall, schools had difficulty providing both culturally appropriate education and educational support for the participants' vision impairment. Inclusive education options for kāpo Māori tamariki/rangatahi and their whānau were limited. However, the participants articulated aspirations for education in their own communities, with their whānau that would value them as Māori who happen to also be kāpo. In order to realise these aspirations, the participants and their whānau moved not only between educational settings but also towns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Developed nations providing aid and educational support for less wealthy countries, have frequently imposed their own ideas and practices in a top-down manner. A recent collaborative aid project between the New Zealand and Solomon Islands Governments, has been more equitable by developing the project as a "Partnership". As a New Zealander involved with this project, I found participation in the Partnership activities to be rewarding and enlightening. The metaphor of a "hybrid mat" is used to weave together narratives from my pre-Partnership life and career events with narratives from my partnership experiences. Clandinin and Connelly's renowned concept of "stories" is utilised throughout to illustrate how perceptions of events can vary from person to person. "Cover" stories (the "official" narrative of events for outsiders); "secret" stories (narratives available only to insiders); and "re-storying" (placing a story within a context/place and negotiating the meanings of the story) are concepts used to illustrate the complexity and multiple explanations and understandings that come from narratives. It is through "re-storying" the combined "cover" and "secret" stories that a third space of understanding is revealed. This article traces the process and product of understanding and re-storying a particular "hybrid mat" for the writer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging from the United Kingdom during the last decade, academic literacies research has been instrumental in the growth of academic writing support in English-medium tertiary institutions. Such support has been offered to students in a variety of formats, including remedial courses in study centres, discrete papers in undergraduate degrees, or more recently embedded within mainstream content papers. However, while academic literacies research has raised awareness of the important relationship between subject content and the specific writing requirements of students, the underlying stance of the early academic literacies scholars - that student writing should be conceptualised at the level of epistemology and identity - is still absent from the majority of these courses. This is perhaps the result of a relative lack of research which exemplifies academic literacies as course design. Using the context of a New Zealand art theoretical certificate level paper, this article attempts to remobilise the central principles of academic literacies research by discussing how an academic literacies approach might be implemented in practice. The overarching purpose of this article is to encourage others to consider developing similar courses in their own discipline areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses information obtained by questionnaire from doctoral students in mathematics and mathematics education in New Zealand universities. The topics covered include their financial support, what motivated them to pursue a doctorate, how they negotiated their choice of topic and supervisor, the level of satisfaction they are experiencing from their studies, and their career expectations. The findings suggest that the graduate research experience could be improved for many students by simple measures such as the departments providing comprehensive information on the study/research process, research facilities and departmental procedures; monitoring the level of funding for scholarships; and fostering graduate student networks both within and across disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The clinical onset of borderline personality disorder (BPD) usually occurs in young people (aged 12-25 years) and commonly leads to difficulty achieving and maintaining vocational (education and/or employment) engagement. While current psychosocial interventions lead to improvements in psychopathology, they have little effect upon functioning. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a client-driven model that assists individuals with severe mental illness to engage with education and/or employment appropriate to their personal goals, and that provides ongoing support to maintain this engagement. The objective of the INdividual Vocational and Educational Support Trial (INVEST) is to evaluate the effectiveness of adding IPS to an evidence-based early intervention programme for BPD, with the aim of improving vocational outcomes.Methods/design: INVEST is a single-blind, parallel-groups, randomised controlled trial (RCT). The randomisation is stratified by gender and age and uses random permuted blocks. The interventions are 39 weeks of either IPS, or 'usual vocational services' (UVS). Participants will comprise 108 help-seeking young people (aged 15-25 years) with three or more DSM-5 BPD features and a desire to study or work, recruited from the Helping Young People Early (HYPE) early intervention programme for BPD at Orygen, in Melbourne, Australia. All participants will receive the HYPE intervention. After baseline assessment, staff who are blind to the intervention group allocation will conduct assessments at 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks. At the 52-week primary endpoint, the primary outcome is the number of days in mainstream education/employment since baseline. Secondary outcomes include the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, quality of life, and BPD severity.Discussion: Current treatments for BPD have little impact on vocational outcomes and enduring functional impairment is prevalent among this patient group. IPS is a targeted functional intervention, which has proven effective in improving vocational outcomes for adults and young people with psychotic disorders. This trial will investigate whether IPS is effective for improving vocational (employment and educational) outcomes among young people with subthreshold or full-syndrome BPD.Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ID: ACTRN12619001220156 . 13 September 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]