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This research examined the leadership practices of rural primary school principals in the Otago province of New Zealand. Principals of large rural schools (with a role of 150 and above) and small rural schools (with a role of 60 or below) served as participants in an investigation to learn what about their practice creates and maintains effective rural schools. The goals were to investigate the interrelationships of principal, curriculum, and community and to examine principals' practices in relationship to effective leadership in their schools. A mixed methods approach comprised a survey designed for the study completed by rural principals (n = 63), followed by observations over 3 days and then interviews with 6 principals. Key findings were that leadership practices varied across contexts of large rural and small rural schools; having a local curriculum was critical; and, communication and involvement with parents and the community were essential. The survey had good psychometric qualities; validation through future research use is needed. Results are discussed in terms of factors to consider for effective leadership in rural schools.

The New Zealand school curriculum was last revised in 2007, at which time a new emphasis was placed on culture in language teaching. The practice of intercultural language teaching is implicit in the curriculum document and explicit in the curriculum guide, which features a set of principles for intercultural communicative language teaching (iCLT). This article presents a study on the extent to which New Zealand language teachers' beliefs and practices are aligned with intercultural language teaching (ILT). A questionnaire administered to New Zealand language teachers included a number of items used in a seminal seven-nation comparative study conducted by Lies Sercu and her colleagues, as well as other items developed from relevant literature. Expanding on previous studies' use of item-by-item analyses, multi-item scales to measure alignment of New Zealand teacher's beliefs and practices with ILT were developed, which yielded good internal reliabilities. The findings revealed an apparent mismatch between beliefs and practices, with teachers being favourably disposed towards ILT but not practising the approach in their classrooms. Interpretation of the data using concepts from teacher cognition research suggested that the differences represented tensions between teachers' abstract, theoretical beliefs and their concrete, practical beliefs. We argue that supporting teachers' applied knowledge of developing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) will allow them to recognize that those beliefs need not be discordant.

This research examined preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs immediately prior to and after the final practicum for an undergraduate three-year primary education teaching program. The primary purpose of the study was to explore the effect of the capstone practicum experience on the students' teacher self-efficacy beliefs. A secondary objective was to compare the utility of two established measures of teacher self-efficacy. A cohort of preservice teachers from New Zealand (N = 75) completed the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy (long form) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the English version of the Norwegian Teacher Self Efficacy Scale (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007), before and after their final practicum placements. Results indicated that the participants' self-efficacy beliefs increased from pre to post. Further, the NTSES and the TSES were both found to be useful measures for assessing preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, with the NTSES providing more differentiated evaluation. These results are discussed in the context of how capstone practicum experiences can enhance preservice teachers' teacher self-efficacy beliefs.

We argue that the future of creativity research should focus on the dual goals of the development of individuals with great creative genius as well as the enhancement of creative activity in society in general. To achieve these goals, we need basic research that will help us better understand the fundamental nature of creativity. We describe an approach to creativity that emphasizes novelty over utility.

Grading refers to the symbols assigned to individual pieces of student work or to composite measures of student performance on report cards. This review of over 100 years of research on grading considers five types of studies: (a) early studies of the reliability of grades, (b) quantitative studies of the composition of K-12 report card grades, (c) survey and interview studies of teachers' perceptions of grades, (d) studies of standards-based grading, and (e) grading in higher education. Early 20th-century studies generally condemned teachers' grades as unreliable. More recent studies of the relationships of grades to tested achievement and survey studies of teachers' grading practices and beliefs suggest that grades assess a multidimensional construct containing both cognitive and noncognitive factors reflecting what teachers value in student work. Implications for future research and for grading practices are discussed.

Both physical and relational aggression are characterised by the intent to harm another. Physical aggression includes direct behaviours such as hitting or kicking; relational aggression involves behaviours designed to damage relationships, such as excluding others, spreading rumours, and delivering threats and verbal abuse. This study extended research conducted in New Zealand (Page & Smith, 2012) to explore perceptions of Physical Aggression (PA) and Relational Aggression (RA) of Year 7 to 13 boys and girls (n = 443) and their teachers (n = 8) in the Cook Islands. It also investigated teachers' strategies used to manage aggression. Using a mixed-methods approach, results indicated that there was no gender difference in the perpetration of PA. Girls, however, were more likely to perpetrate and be targets of RA than were boys, but were more likely than boys to act in prosocial ways. Boys were more likely to be targets of PA. PA and RA were highly correlated for both genders. Finally, teachers' perceptions of RA and PA behaviours corresponded with those of the students, but their perceptions of effective strategies differed from those of the students. The findings are discussed in terms of developing strategies for building healthy relationships within Cook Islands' schools.

This study compared perceptions of teacher efficacy beliefs and concerns about teaching in pre-service teacher cohorts from New Zealand, Malaysia, and England. Participants were primary pre-service teachers from Malaysia (n = 53), New Zealand (n = 100), and England (n = 119), who completed the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy (long form) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the Concerns About Teaching Scale (Smith, Corkery, Buckley & Calvert, 2012) at the beginning of the second year of their teaching programs. Eight focus groups (n = 4 to 8 each) were conducted to further explore the issues. Results indicated that both culture and context are important in regard to pre-service teachers' concerns about teaching and their teacher efficacy beliefs. Differences by nation were most evident in the comparatively low efficacy beliefs reported by the Malaysian pre-service teachers, who also expressed concerns about teaching class sizes of 50 primary students, having subject-based rather than class-based contact with students, and dealing with high parental expectations of student success. Results are discussed in terms of practical applications when preparing pre-service teachers from the cultural contexts represented by the participants.

Using data from New Zealand's National Education Monitoring Project, a light sampling, low stakes performance based national school assessment program, reading self-efficacy, reading enjoyment, and reading achievement were examined in samples of 8 and 12 year old children. Sample sizes were n = 480 for each group. While reading achievement increased substantially in going from age 8 to age 12, reading enjoyment and reading self-efficacy declined. Girls outperformed boys in reading achievement and showed higher levels of reading enjoyment; differences in self-efficacy by gender were minimal. Results are discussed in terms of previous research and implications for instructional practice. (Contains 2 figures and 6 tables.)

This study used mixed methods to compare perceptions of relational aggression (RA) of adolescent girls (n = 282) and their teachers (n = 15) in New Zealand, and to explore strategies for teachers to effectively manage RA in the classroom. Results indicated that younger adolescent girls view physical aggression as more acceptable than older girls, and that the girls were more likely to view others as engaging in RA, rather than themselves. Teachers' perceptions of RA behaviours overlapped with those of the girls' but perceptions of effective strategies varied. The results led to the development of a model that identifies three types of relationally aggressive adolescent girls. Results are discussed in terms of applying the model and developing strategies for building healthy relationships. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Kahneman and Tversky's (1979, 2000; Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) work in decision-making was applied to student preferences for grading practices. Undergraduate psychology students (n = 240) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 framing conditions related to how a university course might be graded: a 100 point system, a percentage system, and an open point system of assessment. The assignments in each condition were the same, and the relative weights assigned to each were the same. The only difference was in the approach to how many total points were involved and how the final grades were calculated. Thus, the same performance would yield the same final grade in each condition. Participants reviewed the grading system they were assigned to and then were asked to rate a series of possible assessments to be used in the course with regard to their motivation, confidence, effort, accuracy of assessment, and how well the student might do using those assessments. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance indicated that the framing conditions significantly affected motivation, confidence, and effort, but not the perception of how well the student would do in the course or whether the grading system provides an accurate assessment of performance. Results are discussed in terms of application to college grading, the relationship to framing effect theory, and the potential for decision theory to inform assessment practice. (Contains 4 figures and 2 tables.)

The benefits of multisensory instruction for teaching mathematics to students in resource rooms were explored. Participants were third and fourth graders (n = 12) in 3 resource rooms for replacement mathematics in a middle-class school district in New Jersey. The students received weekly instruction for several months, using manipulatives and word problem solving strategies with their on-going math replacement instruction. Error analyses were conducted on an ongoing basis with immediate corrective feedback given. Pre-post results indicated support for the hypothesis that performance increases through the use of multisensory materials and strategies. In particular, increases were observed in the use of base ten blocks, strategies for problem solving, and an overall improvement in calculation performance. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of consistent use of manipulatives and strategies in the resource classes. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Every year, New Zealand assesses students' learning progress through the National Educational Monitoring Project (NEMP). NEMP is a national, formative evaluation effort that provides New Zealand educators with an accurate picture of students' education progress at Year 4 and Year 8, which are roughly comparable to grades 3 and 7 in the United States. Unlike the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or various statewide assessment programs in the United States, NEMP covers nearly all areas of the New Zealand curriculum on a four-year, rotating cycle. Assessment tasks involve one-to-one interviews, stations, teams, and independent work. Results are reported only at the national level and are disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. No individual student or school scores are provided. By focusing primarily on formative aspects, the NEMP emphasizes the value of assessments for learning.

A comparison of the reading performance of 30 second-graders with learning disabilities and 30 controls found all but three of 10 subtests of the Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery produced significant differences between groups. The three subtests that did not reach significance were Oral Vocabulary, Listening Comprehension, and Memory for Sentences. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This study followed a cohort of preservice teachers (n = 85) in a I-year secondary school program in New Zealand to examine their concerns about teaching in terms of what they are, how they are related to teaching efficacy, and how they are affected by practicum experiences. Before beginning the program and after each of two practica, participants completed the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (short form) and the Concerns About Teaching Scale. Focus groups (n = 8 each) were conducted after each survey administration. Results indicated that the participants' concerns about teaching became differentiated over time and with classroom experience; their sense of efficacy increased. Results are discussed in terms of practical implications for teacher education taking into consideration the relationships among teaching concerns, practicum experiences, views of teaching, and policy changes in New Zealand. Keywords preservice education, preservice teachers' concerns, student teaching, secondary teacher education, When the first author of this article was about to enter a classroom for the first time, her concerns were in order: What am I going to wear? Will the [...]

The relations between consequence of test scores and motivation, anxiety, and test performance were studied with 112 persons in four undergraduate educational psychology courses. Students were given two versions of an hourly course examination that varied in consequence, with one counting for part of their grade and the other not counting. Each student completed the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory prior to taking the examination. Afterwards students completed a measure of test anxiety and test motivation specific to the examination they had just taken. Significant main effects were found for consequence of test with scores for test anxiety, test performance, and test motivation. Also, the subscales showed a consistent pattern of relations with test performance and test anxiety across the two conditions, but not for test motivation for which few relations were found under the condition with no consequence.

This study extends previous research on the expectancy construct of the expectancy-value theory of motivation developed by Pintrich. In addition to value and expectancy for success, it is proposed that people take into account how much effort is required to complete a task. A 2 x 2 x 2 analysis of variance design was used to investigate the relationship of Difficulty, Consequence, and Required Effort on the willingness of participants to complete a task. The dependent variable was the score obtained from completing statistical problems that varied in difficulty and effort required to complete. 128 students at a public university were participants. Analysis showed significant main effects and an interaction for difficulty and required effort, but no main effect for consequence. Results are discussed in terms of creating optimal motivation for classroom tasks and for both classroom and standardized examinations. Implications for students in subject pools are also discussed.