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Issue Four August 2008

 

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This issue of the Tertiary Analysis Newsletter provides advance notice of the OECD’s annual report on education, updates you on the Pasifika Education Plan, provides details of a recent OECD thematic review of adult education for literacy, language and numeracy and a link to useful information on key groups in the labour market.

Education at a Glance 2008

The OECD will release its annual international report on education on 10 Sept 2008, 9pm (New Zealand time). The Ministry has put considerable effort into the development and production of data for this year’s report and it will include some significant new developments. We will send out a special edition of this newsletter, with a link to a summary of the New Zealand results, which will also be available on the Education Counts website.

The full report will be available on the OECD website.

Pasifika Education Plan: Monitoring Report 2007

This report is the second in an annual series that brings together information from the early childhood, compulsory and tertiary education sectors to assess improvements in Pasifika education. The report forecasts the likelihood of achieving the targets set in the Pasifika Education Plan.

The report shows that in tertiary education:

• Pasifika participation shows the greatest rate of increase of all ethnic groups at 22 percent since 2001. The forecast position is for 4.3 percent participation at degree level or above, slightly below the target of 5 percent.
• The five-year retention rate is increasing at all qualification levels from 42 percent to 45 percent and is likely to be exceeded with a forecast position of 48 percent by 2010.
• The forecast position on the five-year completion rate for students who begin bachelors degree-level study in 2006 is at 32 percent; however, with more effort and the recent changes in the tertiary sector, it is expected that shifts will be made towards achieving the target currently set at 38 percent.
• The proportion of Pasifika undertaking Modern Apprenticeships has increased, while the proportions of Māori and European/Pākehā have decreased.

The monitoring report can be found on the Education Counts website.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills — an OECD thematic review

Adults with low skills in language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) are numerous in many OECD countries. They can include early school leavers, older learners who have not used their skills over time, immigrant and refugee learners, or individuals with disabilities. The consequences of these low foundation skills span the economic, health and social well-being of individuals, families and communities. Investment in this sector of adult education is therefore crucial. But what is known about whether and how programmes are meeting the needs of diverse learners?

This study looks specifically inside the programmes for adult language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) learners, with a focus on formative assessment –- referring to the frequent assessment of learner understanding and progress to identify needs and shape teaching and learning. Drawing upon evidence gathered in country reports, exemplary case studies and international literature reviews, it examines the impact and implementation of different teaching, learning and assessment practices for adult LLN learners; the way innovative programmes address the very diverse needs and goals of this population; and the policies that support or hinder effective practice.

This study can be found on the OECD website. The page includes a link the New Zealand country report for this project.

Labour Market Factsheets

The Department of Labour has published a set of factsheets designed to give quick facts about key interest groups in the New Zealand Labour Market. There are factsheets on five groups — Māori, Pacific Peoples, Females, Youth and Older Workers.

The factsheets provide a statistical overview focusing on the last year. They include information on indicators such as labour force participation, employment and unemployment. More in depth analysis of labour market outcomes for each of these groups is available in the Department of Labour’s series of annual reports.

The factsheets can be viewed on the Department of Labour website.

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