Abstract:
The tracking and monitoring of student achievement data is one process that school leaders use to close the achievement gap. In New Zealand the inequalities in student achievement are present across all socio-economic, ethnic and regional subgroups. Because Māori students are disproportionately represented in the lower achievement bands, the acceleration of their achievement is a national focus. This research sought to find how tracking and monitoring practices were used in three New Zealand secondary schools that had proven and sustained effectiveness in accelerating Māori student achievement. The study had two phases, a purposive sampling phase and a profiling phase. The first phase involved sampling all New Zealand secondary schools to identify schools in which patterns of achievement for Māori students had improved over three years. The setting for the second phase was three low to mid-decile secondary schools in the Auckland and Northland regions that emerged from phase 1. Interviews from senior and middle leaders were conducted and school documents and a questionnaire were collected from each school. The evidence was analysed to identify common themes within the data. The study found that tracking and monitoring practices were variable between and within the three schools. There was also a great deal of commonality in the tracking and monitoring practices employed in the three schools, which likely contributed to them being particularly effective for Māori learners. This study also found several common inhibitors to effective tracking and monitoring practices within the three schools.
