Issue Five September 2008

(:description This month's edition brings you information on the latest published results from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, an OECD international review of tertiary education, a symposium on measuring research performance and Statistics New Zealand completes final release of its local area unit population projections. :)

(:description This month's edition bring you information on the latest published results from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, an OECD international review of tertiary education, a symposium on measuring research performance and Statistics New Zealand completes final release of its local area unit population projections. :)

For further information see the Statistics New Zealand website.

(:description This month's edition bring you information on the latest published results from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, an OECD international review of tertiary education, a symposium on measuring research performance and Statistics New Zealand completes its release of local area unit population projections. :)

Statistics New Zealand has released its final sets of 2006-base area unit population projections in Table Builder, including projections by five-year age group and sex, as part of the Making More Information Freely Available initiative. These area unit projections have been released progressively as they become available. Projections for all 1,870 area units in 73 territorial authorities are now available.

The following population projections for area units in 18 territorial authority (TA) areas were released in August and September: Auckland City, Manukau City, Papakura District, Waikato District, Rotorua District, Gisborne District, South Taranaki District, Wanganui District, Rangitikei District, Palmerston North City, Lower Hutt City, Wellington City, Tasman District, Buller District, Timaru District, Dunedin City, Southland District and Invercargill City.

Measuring research performance

On 18 September, the Institute of Policy Studies hosted a symposium on measuring research performance. The symposium provided an opportunity to consider some of the wider options for assessing the research performance of New Zealand’s tertiary education organisations, including a greater reliance on metrics of various kinds. The aim was not to come up with a different model for assessing research quality in 2012. Rather, the purpose was to explore and critically assess the policy proposals under discussion elsewhere, and consider whether any of these (and related options) might be applicable in the New Zealand context and hence worthy of further analysis and debate, including possible implementation post-2012.

Presentations from the symposium are available on the IPS website.

Also available on their website is a recent lecture by Professor Gary Hawke on “Aligning education with our contemporary society and economy”. It is listed under their Spring Lecture Series.

The report, and related background papers, can be accessed on the OECD website.

The final report, and related project papers, can be accessed on the OECD website.

The final report, and related project papers, can be accessed on the http://www.oecd.org/document/35/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_36021283_1_1_1_1,00.html OECD website.

Two further reports on the initial results from the Adult Literacy and Life-Skills Survey have been released. These complete the series of four initial reports. One of the new reports looks at New Zealanders’ skills in relation to gender and ethnicity and the other in relation to age. Both reports include information on changes since 1996.

These reports can be accessed on the Education Counts website.

(:description This month's edition bring you information on the latest published results from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, an OECD international review of tertiary education, a symposium on the Performance-Based Research Fund and increased availability of local census data. :)

ALL results for age, gender and ethnicity

Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society

Tertiary education policy is increasingly important on national agendas. The widespread recognition that tertiary education is a major driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy has made high quality tertiary education more important than ever. The imperative for countries is to raise higher-level employment skills, to sustain a globally competitive research base and to improve knowledge dissemination to the benefit of society.

Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society provides a thorough international investigation of tertiary education policy across its many facets – governance, funding, quality assurance, equity, research and innovation, academic career, links to the labour market and internationalisation. The report presents:

• an analysis of the trends and developments in tertiary education;
• a synthesis of research-based evidence on the impact of tertiary-education policies;
• innovative and successful policies and practices that countries have implemented; and
• tertiary-education policy options.

The report draws on the results of a major OECD review of tertiary education policy –- the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education — conducted over the 2004–08 period in collaboration with 24 countries around the world.

http://www.oecd.org/document/35/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_36021283_1_1_1_1,00.html

OECD thematic review of tertiary education

ALL results for age, gender and ethnicity

PBRF symposium

Further area unit population projections released

1. Further area unit population projections released On 29 August 2008 new 2006-base area unit population projections, including projections by five-year age group and sex, were released in Table Builder as part of the Making More Information Freely Available (MIFA) initiative. This is the fifth of a number of releases, as area unit projections are being released progressively as they become available.

The following population projections for area units in 13 territorial authority (TA) areas were released on 29 August: Auckland City, Papakura District, Waikato District, Gisborne District, South Taranaki District, Wanganui District, Palmerston North City, Wellington City, Tasman District, Buller District, Timaru District, Southland District and Invercargill City.

Projections for 1,633 area units in 68 territorial authorities are available so far.

After the area unit population projections for the remaining five TA areas (Manukau City, Rotorua District, Rangitikei District, Lower Hutt City and Dunedin City) are released on 12 September 2008, projections for all area units will be available. The reason for taking a progressive approach is to make as much data available as soon as possible, and thereby meet the needs of some customers earlier than we otherwise could.