New publications

Ken Cruickshank of the University of Sydney examines the experiences of four Arabic teenagers, their families and their community, focusing on the role of literacy in their daily lives and the differences between home and school. The author looks at the conflict between expectations and practices at school and in the home, arguing that problems are inevitable where class and cultural differences exist. Emerging themes include: how literacy practices in the community are undergoing rapid change due to global developments in technology; how the patterns of written and spoken language in English and Arabic in the home are linked with social practices in logical and coherent ways; and how many of the family practices that differ from school culture and language become marginalised.(Adapted from publisher's description.)

Ted Glynn is Foundation Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Waikato and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Mere Berryman currently manages the New .Zealand Ministry of Education (Group Special Education) Poutama Pounamu Maori Education Research and Development Centre. Their book, written with British academic Janice Wearmouth, proposes ways in which teachers and other adults can create responsive social contexts at school and at home to enable all children to participate fully in reading, writing and oral language activities in the classroom. It offers effective strategies for overcoming barriers to literacy learning, including reading tutoring that promotes comprehension and independence; writing partnerships that respond to children's messages; responsive feedback strategies; interactive contexts that promote student responsibility for learning; and community and school collaboration to develop authentic learning tasks. (Adapted from publisher's description.)

The Handbook covers issues, methods and theories in the converging worlds of literacy and technology at the pre-collegiate level. More than 50 international experts have combined their research and practical experience into 35 chapters. The handbook features more than 1,300 comprehensive references to existing literature and research on literacy and technology. It is organised by topic and indexed, with cross-referencing of subjects and information. (Adapted from publisher's description.)

This research considers how New Zealand schools are using the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) to offer greater flexibility for secondary students. The NQF provides a register of nationally recognised, consistent unit standards, achievement standards, certificates and diplomas, and is designed so learners' achievements can be recognised in a number of contexts. The report details information obtained from a national online survey completed by 183 schools in October 2005. It outlines the courses offered at different types of schools, what factors aid or restrict the flexibility of provision, and schools’ opinions of the flexibility of the NQF. Most schools found the NQF’s wider range of courses catered more effectively to students’ needs, allowed for more flexible course design, and provided students with greater opportunities for further study and employment. Some schools thought courses ‘had been broken down to too many and unintegrated assessment components’. Unit standards were seen as easier to achieve by some, and about half believed that unit standards suited ‘more practical’ students. On average, schools offered 77 courses to secondary students, with course numbers fluctuating according to the roll. Almost 80 per cent of schools offered NQF certificates other than the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) in order to increase opportunities to gain qualifications, meet senior secondary students’ needs and because credits achieved could contribute to NCEA. Private and high decile schools were less likely to offer non-NCEA NQF certificates. Almost all schools also offered additional non-NCEA courses, qualifications or programs, such as papers offered by the Correspondence School, the Young Enterprise Certificate and the Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR). Since the NCEA’s introduction in 2002, around 50 per cent of schools are offering more English, maths and science courses at levels 1, 2 and 3, with science receiving the most additions. Courses that assess multiple standards from within one learning area, such as science and human biology, and across multiple learning areas such as computing and visual arts, were offered at a third of schools. (Adapted from executive summary.)