Tuesday, February 16, 2010

NZ Education

I’m not going to enter into the standards debate..... However this data is something to be proud of

PISA 2006 (at age 15 - 57 countries)

Mathematics literacy:
New Zealand score unchanged from the 2003 and 2000 assessments
Five countries higher than NZ (Chinese Taipei, Finland, Hong Kong-China, Korea, Netherlands)
NZ indistinguishable from Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Australia (and others)
NZ well ahead of UK and USA
NZ had 14% at Level 1 proficiency or lower, compared to OECD average of 21%
Reading literacy:
New Zealand score unchanged from the 2003 and 2000 assessments
Three countries higher than NZ (Korea, Finland, Hong Kong-China)
NZ indistinguishable from Canada, Ireland (and others)
NZ ahead of Australia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, UK, Austria, Germany, France, Norway…
NZ had 15% at Level 1 proficiency or lower, similar to Australia at 13%, compared to OECD average of 20%
Scientific literacy:
New Zealand score unchanged from the 2003 and 2000 assessments
Two countries higher than NZ (Finland & Hong Kong-China)
NZ indistinguishable from Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Australia, Netherlands, Korea (and others)
NZ ahead of 46 countries, including UK and USA
NZ had 14% at Level 1 proficiency or lower, similar to Australia at 13%, compared to OECD average of 19%
TIMMS 2006 (for Year 5 students)
NZ mathematics score unchanged from 2002, improved from 1994
NZ science score decreased from 2002 but unchanged from 1994

PIRLS 2006
NZ reading literacy score unchanged from 2001 (no earlier comparison on same metric)
NEMP 1995 to 2008 (Years 4 and 8 in 15 curriculum areas)
Remarkable consistency in performance. No clear trends, with occasional fluctuations.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Blogging great for literacy..

I was really interested to read this article during the holidays.  Looking at how the students are taking to using our Ultranet page I am not surprised at the outcomes that they suggest.
Technology boosts literacy skills

By Zoe Kleinman

Technology reporter, BBC News



Children who blog, text or use social networking websites are more confident about their writing skills, according to the National Literacy Trust.



A survey of 3,001 children aged nine to 16 found that 24% had their own blog and 82% sent text messages at least once a month.



In addition 73% used instant messaging services to chat online with friends.



However, 77% still put real pen to paper to write notes in class or do their school homework.



Of the children who neither blogged nor used social network sites, 47% rated their writing as "good" or "very good", while 61% of the bloggers and 56% of the social networkers said the same.



"Our research suggests a strong correlation between kids using technology and wider patterns of reading and writing," Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, told BBC News.



"Engagement with online technology drives their enthusiasm for writing short stories, letters, song lyrics or diaries."



Mr Douglas dismissed criticisms about the informal writing styles often adopted in online chat and "text speak", both of which can lack grammar and dictionary-correct spelling.



“ The more forms of communications children use the stronger their core literary skills. ”

Jonathan Douglas, National Literacy Trust

"Does it damage literacy? Our research results are conclusive - the more forms of communications children use the stronger their core literary skills."



'Love and kisses'



He said that children needed to learn to distinguish between different writing styles but that in his opinion it was no different from learning when to end a letter "yours sincerely" or "yours faithfully" - and when "love and kisses" would be acceptable.



However not all teachers share the view that encouraging children to spend a lot of time online in the classroom has its advantages.



"Most primary school teachers are doubtful about hooking children up to computers - especially when they are young," said John Coe, general secretary of the National Association for Primary Education.



"They see enormous advantages in the relationship between teacher and child. Sometimes the computer is closer to the child than the teacher by the age of 13."



Mr Coe said he was in favour of using computers for research purposes in classrooms and that he agreed that all forms of communication helped young people to develop core literacy skills.



"Young people aged nine and upwards are texting like crazy - inside and outside the classroom," he said.



"It is a form of reading and writing. It might not be conventional but they are communicating, so there is a general gain."



He added that the NAPE was looking into ways in which this passion for texting might be incorporated into teaching methods.



Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/8392653.stm