Reducing Differential Educational Attainment: Have We Really Tried?

Abstract

At any one time, approximately 15% of New Zealand's self- managing schools are receiving extra assistance from the Ministry of Education under the National School Support policy. The purpose of the policy is to build the capacity of schools and local communities to meet national ad ministrative and educational guidelines, without the need for further central intervention. The intensity, length and type of assistance offered is tailored to the needs of the local school or school cluster. One of the initiatives taken under the National School Support Policy provides a range of assistance to the schools and communities of Mangere and Otara (Annan, 1999). These predominantly Maori and Pacific communities are culturally rich but economically poor, and some of the local schools have struggled to retain the confidence of parents in the face of negative reviews and fierce competition for enrolments (Education Review Office, 1996). Viviane Robinson is co-leader of a team of researchers who won the contract to conduct a process evaluation of this initiativel known as 'Strengthening Education in Mangere and Otara (SEMO)' (Timperley, Robinson, and Bullard, 1999) In the following, she steps back from the details of the project to reflect more widely on some of the themes that have dominated debate about educational attainment in New Zealand in recent years.

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