B.29[13f]

Education for Māori: Implementing Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success

Presented to the House of Representatives under section 20 of the Public Audit Act 2001

May 2013

ISBN 978-0-478-41023-5 (print)

ISBN 978-0-478-41024-2 (online)

Wāhinga kōrero

Ngā tapuwae o mua, mo muri

Kua pupū ake te āwangawanga mō te anga whakamua o te hunga rangatahi i runga i ngā āhuatanga o te wā, arā, ko ngā piki me ngā heke o te ao umanga, te rerekētanga o te āhua o ngā tamariki kei ngā kura me ō rātou hapori, hei kaupapa wānanga, hei kaupapa kōrerorero.

Ko ēnei ngā kaupapa e arahi ana i te pepa i tuhia e te Auditor-General mō te Whare Pāremata e kōrerohia pēnei ana, ka tū tonu he taero a Kupe tō ngā iwi taketake i runga i ō rātou ekenga i te ao mātauranga.

Heoi anō, he rawe te rongo o nga ākonga, me ngā titiro o tēnei tuhinga ki te kimi kōrero mō te tautoko o ngā hunga mātauranga kia taea ai te eke panuku, te eke tangaroa. Kāore e kore, he hononga te anga whakamua o Aotearoa ki te ekenga o ngā ākonga o nāianei.

Kua tuku mihi atu te Rōpu Ārahi ki te Kāwanatanga mō tōna rautaki-ā- motu, arā, ko Ka Hikitia me tōna kaupapa kia angitu ai ngā ākonga Māori i te ao mātauranga. Ko te wairua e rere nei o Ka Hikitia he mea nui ki te Tāhūhū o te Mātauranga, arā, kia angitu ā Māori ai a Ngāi Māori. E ai ki te Rōpu Ārahi kua hē te putanga mai o te rautaki me te whakamāramatanga o tēnei kaupapa ki ngā kaiako. Heoi anā, kua whakaae hoki ehara tēnei i te mea māmā nā te mea kāore te angitu i maringi noa mai i te marautanga, i ngā āhuatanga o te aro matawai rānei. Ko te mana tangata, te whanuitanga me te hāngai o ngā kaupapa ako ngā paearu o te angitu. Ki a mātou, ko ēnei ngā mea nui ki ia ākonga, ia ākonga kia tūwhera ai i te kūaha ki te ao mātauranga, ā, ā tōna wā māna anō tōna ake huarahi e para nā kua puawai tōna ahurea, tōna reo, tōna tuakiritanga, te ao pāngarau, te tuhinga me te pānuitanga, te whanaungatanga me te hikaka o te manawa.

E ai ki tēnei pūrongo, he mea nui te anga mātauranga. Ka arotake ia i a ia anō mō tāna mahi kātahi, kārua ka tīni. Ka whakatenatena mātou ki te kohi, ki te arotake hoki i ngā korero kia tika ai te huarahi ako me ōna āhuatanga katoa mō ngā ākonga Māori, arā o te ao mātauranga, o te whānaungatanga, o te auahatanga mai i ngā rangitūhāhā tae iho mai ki te papa whakatūwaewae.

Ko ngā whakaaro o ngā ākonga, ko te hononga hoki o te kāinga ki te kura he mea nui ki te Rōpu Ārahi. I te nuinga o te wā kua tūhāhā te tū o ngā ahuatanga nei. Ka tautohe mō te kore ekenga o te ākonga, nō te kāinga, nō te kura rānei te hē. I roto i te ao mātauranga huri noa i te ao whānui he nui ake te mana o ētahi iwi ki ētahi atu, ā, ka titaha whakararo i runga i te pēhitanga. Me patu a Ka Hikitia i ngā taero a Kupe i runga i te ataahua me te mōhiotanga o te whānau, heoi me karanga tuatahi atu te kura.

E ai ki a mātou e hāngai pū ana te whakataukī ki te kaupapa matua o tēnei pūrongo. Nei rā te whakamiha ki ngā ringa raupā o Te Mana Arotake.

Foreword

Ngā tapuwae o mua, mo muri

Footsteps of the past, to guide the future

Recent developments in the socio-educational landscape, the economic uncertainty of the times, the rapidly changing demographics of the school-aged populations, and the concerns expressed about the many social problems affecting young people have reignited the discussions over the roles schools are expected to play in preparing young people for productive futures.

These concerns were the drivers of the Auditor-General’s parliamentary paper (2012) in which we declared that research shows that people of indigenous cultures are more likely to experience the enduring effect of educational inequities.

This audit takes a more affirmative position by seeking to determine how well the education system currently supports Māori students to achieve their full potential so as to enable them to contribute to the future prosperity of New Zealand. The country’s future is linked to the achievements of today’s students.

The Māori Advisory and Reference Group (the Advisory Group) acknowledged that by introducing its national strategy for Māori education, Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success, in 2008, the Government recognised the need to improve the achievement outcomes for Māori students. The Ministry of Education noted that the overarching strategic intent of Ka Hikitia is “Māori enjoying educational success as Māori”.

The Advisory Group contends that there may have been flaws in terms of the rollout of Ka Hikitia and that describing Māori success to educators could have been more articulate and definitive. We conceded, however, that it is not a straightforward task because success (for Māori) is not derived from simply teaching students the content of a curriculum or satisfying the requirements of a national assessment unit. We saw success as “mana-tangata” or “person-making”, with the education system providing a more agentic role in this regard. In our view, such provision allows for and meets students’ individual needs, gives them access to learning, and ultimately works towards students’ taking control of their own learning because of growth in the areas of culture, language, identity, literacy, numeracy, relationships, and motivation.

A key observation that this report makes is that of the pivotal role of the education system itself. An effective education system will learn from its performance and use the information to make changes. We encourage the system to be earnest in the collection and analyses of data and to apply the information so as to make changes that will improve the likelihood of Māori enjoying success in its many forms – academic, social, creative – a range from astrophysics to kapahaka.

The Advisory Group valued student voices in terms of their being discerning consumers of education. We also placed considerable emphasis on the variable of linking the culture of home and school. Often these two entities are literally worlds apart. Blame for a lack of success often switches back and forth between the school and the family environment. The abiding constants of many education systems in the world – equality of opportunity and meritocracy – favour one sector of society over another. Ka Hikitia in its refreshed form, Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success, must be intent on breaking down these barriers by recognising the richness that whānau have to offer schools, and knowing that, in order to draw them in, schools must first reach out.

We believe that the whakataukī above is an encapsulation of the thrust of this report. We are grateful for the opportunity to make a contribution and commend those from the Office of the Auditor-General who are co-ordinating this work.

Mere Berryman
Lorraine Kerr
Angus Hikairo Macfarlane
Wally Penetito
Graham Hingangaroa Smith

Contents

Auditor-General’s overview

Our recommendations

Part 1 - Introduction

Our programme of audits on education for Māori

Our focus and rationale for the scope of this audit

How we did our audit

The structure of this report

Part 2 - Preparing Ka Hikitia

Sound educational research and reasoning

Effective consultation with, and backing from, Māori

Effective consultation with, and backing from, the education sector

Part 3 - Putting Ka Hikitia into effect

Communicating the high priority of Ka Hikitia

Practice did not meet expectations

Working through early difficulties

How the Ministry of Education works to improve Ka Hikitia in practice

Part 4 - Processes and practices that support Ka Hikitia

Promising co-ordination between agencies

Getting schools to engage and collaborate more

Using performance information

Stronger school leaders improve outcomes for Māori students

Part 5 - The effect of Ka Hikitia on teaching and what students achieve

Helping students to recognise the importance of succeeding as Māori

Ka Hikitia’s positive effect on teaching

Some successful teaching practices

Part 6 - Future of Ka Hikitia

Better leadership, governance, accountability, and practice

Intervening more coherently

More collaboration and sharing of ideas and good practice between schools

More direct communicating with and input from iwi and whānau

Analysing performance information better

Appendix - The survey questions we asked schools

Figures

1 - The overarching aim, focus activities, broad student outcomes, and critical drivers of Ka Hikitia

2 - Relationship between the proportion of the school roll who are Māori or New Zealand European and the cumulative Māori and New Zealand European student populations

3 - Number of schools and proportion of New Zealand European and Māori students

4 - Responses to our survey question about perceived changes for Māori learners, their whānau, and iwi

5 - Survey respondents’ perceptions of whether Ka Hikitia has led to a change in their school

6 - Perceived changes in teaching and teaching practice

7 - Survey responses to question about the perceived importance of Ka Hikitia

8 - How Māori students at one South Auckland primary school compare with the National Standards in reading, writing, and mathematics

Auditor-General’s overview

Māori educational success is important for New Zealand. By 2030, about one-third of our students – and, therefore, one-third of our future workforce − will be Māori. For Māori students to succeed and for our country’s prosperity, the education system must perform well for Māori. In 2012, I began a programme of performance audits, set out in my report, Education for Māori: Context for our proposed audit work until 2017, to answer the question:

How well does the education system currently support Māori students to achieve their full potential and contribute to the future prosperity of New Zealand?

This first performance audit looks at how effectively Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012 (Ka Hikitia) was introduced. Overall, I found reason to be optimistic that Ka Hikitia will increasingly enable Māori students to succeed. Ka Hikitia reflects the interests and priorities of Māori well, is based on sound educational research and reasoning, is widely valued throughout the education system, and has Māori backing. Ka Hikitia needs to be seen through to full implementation with sustained vigour, thorough planning, and effective resourcing through the current “refresh” phase and into the future.

The Ministry of Education (the Ministry) introduced Ka Hikitia slowly and unsteadily. Confused communication about who was intended to deliver Ka Hikitia, unclear roles and responsibilities in the Ministry, poor planning, poor programme and project management, and ineffective communication with schools have meant that action to put Ka Hikitia into effect was not given the intended priority. As a result, the Ministry’s introduction of Ka Hikitia has not been as effective as it could have been. There were hopes that Ka Hikitia would lead to the sort of transformational change that education experts, and particularly Māori education experts, have been awaiting for decades. Although there has been progress, this transformation has not yet happened.

Nevertheless, Ka Hikitia is helping to create the conditions for improved Māori student education success. It is clear that Ka Hikitia has contributed to schools sharpening their focus on improving outcomes for their Māori students. The schools my staff visited were carrying out a range of activities and programmes to lift Māori participation, engagement, and achievement using Ka Hikitia and other related tools and materials.

Although there has been only modest improvement overall in Māori students’ academic results since Ka Hikitia was launched, schools are increasingly recognising their responsibility to raise the achievement levels of their Māori students. As one principal noted to my team about improving commitment from the school and engaging with whānau and the community, “You have to take a long-term approach. We’re working gently and carefully.”

The main aim of Ka Hikitia in 2008 was “Māori enjoying education success as Māori”. Measuring “success as Māori” is important but not easy, and we found that many schools struggle to measure it. This and other challenges need to be confronted, such as better collaboration and sharing of ideas and good practice between schools, and more direct engagement and communication with, and stronger input from, whānau and iwi. I will be looking at how entities work together and with whānau and iwi, formally and informally, to support Māori students’ educational success in the next audit in our five-year audit programme.

My staff heard from many Māori students about their educational experience as Māori and having their identity, language, and culture valued at school. Most were very aware of the ways their schools and teachers supported them to succeed as Māori. One Year 10 student said: “If I am successful, that means my teachers have done a good job.” It is important to recognise Māori student voices as an important source of information about what works to help them to succeed. This feedback should inform successful practices and should remain a focus.

Since 2010, there has been increasing work throughout the education sector to put Ka Hikitia into effect. The Ministry is improving how Ka Hikitia works and is “refreshing” Ka Hikitia with a further five-year phase, Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success. This is an important opportunity to boost practice and results.

Education agencies are also increasing their efforts to work together to support Māori students’ educational success. The Education Review Office (ERO) provides leadership, direction, and standards to help to improve school performance for Māori students through national evaluation reports and school reviews. Within schools, my staff noted an increased awareness of the usefulness of performance information. The quality and use of performance information by all public education entities will be the focus of a future audit in my five-year programme.

I have made several recommendations to the Ministry, all education agencies, and schools to help to roll out the refreshed strategy more successfully. Ka Hikitia has more to offer and achieve in terms of improved Māori student education success, with spirited backing throughout the education system and by Māori.

I thank my Advisory Group for their expert input and support. I thank the Ministry of Education’s national and regional staff for their valuable help and co-operation. I also thank the representatives of other education sector agencies we contacted – the Education Review Office (ERO), the New Zealand Teachers Council, the Tertiary Education Commission, and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

For this audit, my Office engaged two audit team members on secondment from the Ministry and from ERO, which proved highly useful. I thank the Ministry and ERO for enabling this.

I particularly thank all the school principals, teachers, members of boards of trustees, whānau, and especially the students we talked with. My team were hugely impressed with the calibre of all the young people they met, and I wish them well.

Lyn Provost
Controller and Auditor-General

23 May 2013

Our recommendations

In our view, tangible improvements in the success of Māori students will require concerted and collaborative work to put Ka Hikitia into effect in the day-to-day work of the entire education system.

The Ministry of Education, as the lead agency in education, needs to take care not to rush or under-resource the push for Ka Hikitia. It is particularly important that the next “refreshed” phase of Ka Hikitia avoids repeating the mistakes made earlier.

Some of our recommendations are specifically for the Ministry of Education. Some are for the education agencies referred to in this report (the Ministry of Education, the Education Review Office, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, the Tertiary Education Commission, and the Teachers Council) and also Te Kura (the Correspondence School) and Careers New Zealand. Others are for all public entities involved in education, including schools.

We would expect to see progress on each recommendation by 2015, in the middle of our five-year audit programme.

Our recommendations for the Ministry of Education

1. We recommend that the Ministry of Education apply what it learned from the introduction of Ka Hikitia to ensure that the next phase of implementation is effective, including:

• thoughtful planning and engagement with those expected to deliver the next phase of Ka Hikitia, with adequate resourcing;

• clear leadership and management responsibilities for embedding Ka Hikitia into day-to-day business in the Ministry and throughout education agencies; and

• improved accountability and reporting mechanisms.

2. We recommend that the Ministry of Education identify and target resources to support the activities that have been the most effective in putting Ka Hikitia into effect.

Our recommendations for education agencies

3. We recommend that all education agencies better co-ordinate efforts to support improvements in schools, including:

• building understanding of, commitment to, and action on the aims of Ka Hikitia in schools; and

• schools setting up and sharing teaching practices that are effective in improving Māori students’ educational success.

4. We recommend that:

• the New Zealand Teachers Council use its approval mechanisms for initial teacher education qualifications and programmes and the Tertiary Education Commission use its purchasing of these qualifications and programmes to ensure that student teachers and newly qualified teachers have the right skills to engage effectively with Māori students; and

• the New Zealand Teachers Council use its influence and approval mechanisms to ensure that monitoring and appraisal processes for teacher registration lead to improved teaching practices and engagement with Māori students and their whānau.

Our recommendation for all public entities involved in education

5. We recommend that all public entities involved in the delivery of education engage and consult Māori students, in ways that are respectful and safe for the students, to ensure that the experiences and opinions of Māori students contribute to improving the education they receive.

Part 1

Introduction

1.1
In this Part, we explain:

• our five-year programme of performance audits focused on education for Māori;

• our focus and rationale for the scope of this first performance audit;

• how we did the performance audit; and

• the structure of this report.

Our programme of audits on education for Māori

1.2
This performance audit is the first in a programme of audits during the next four to five years considering the overarching question:

How well does the education system currently support Māori students to achieve their full potential and contribute to the future prosperity of New Zealand?

1.3
This question and the rationale for our work were outlined in our report, Education for Māori: Context for our proposed audit work until 2017 (the context report), published in August 2012.1 In the context report, we noted that:

New Zealand’s future prosperity is inextricably linked with the achievement of [Māori] students. In our view, it is important that the education system enables and supports all children, so they achieve as highly as they can. It is in the interests of all New Zealanders that young Māori thrive academically, socially, and culturally.

1.4
The context report also proposed several topics for the programme of performance audits, which we arrived at after discussion with a Māori Advisory and Reference Group (the Advisory Group). We said in the context report that our first topic would focus on the implementation and effect of Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success:The Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012 (Ka Hikitia).

Our focus and rationale for the scope of this audit

1.5
The audit question for this first audit is:

Ka Hikitia is the educational strategy for supporting young Māori to thrive academically, socially, and culturally for New Zealand’s future: Are there proper processes and practices in schools and other educational agencies to support that strategy?

Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success

1.6
The Government introduced Ka Hikitia in 2008, recognising the need to improve achievement outcomes for Māori students. The Ministry of Education (the Ministry) notes that the overarching strategic intent of Ka Hikitia is “Māori enjoying educational success as Māori”.²

1.7
Figure 1 shows Ka Hikitia’s overall aim, intended outcomes for students, and focus activities, underpinned by the three critical strategic drivers of participation, engagement, and achievement, as identified in the Ministry’s Statement of Intent 2008-2013.3

Figure 1
The overarching aim, focus activities, broad student outcomes, and critical drivers of Ka Hikitia

Note: Based on Ministry of Education (2008), Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012, pages 14-15.

1.8
Ka Hikitia has 19 goals in total, with 78 “actions” with relevant targets.⁴ Ka Hikitia states that “it takes an evidence-based, outcomes-focused, Māori potential approach”. Fundamental to achieving this is high-quality, culturally responsive teaching, based on the concept of ako:

The concept of ako describes a teaching and learning relationship, where the educator is also learning from the student and where educators’ practices are informed by the latest research and are both deliberate and reflective. Ako is grounded in the principle of reciprocity and also recognises that the learner and whānau cannot be separated.⁵

1.9
Reviewing the progress of Ka Hikitia, the Ministry’s interim evaluation report to Cabinet in 2011 noted that it had been put into effect more slowly than intended. The State Services Commission’s Performance Information Framework report in 2011 also noted that the Ministry needed to apply greater effort to ensure that the intended outcomes of Ka Hikitia were met.

1.10
Since we published our context report, further research from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012 shows that the disparity between Māori students’ achievement and that of other students has not reduced significantly during the last two decades.⁶ This indicates how difficult it has been to change the education system at a systemic level to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori students relative to other ethnic groups.

1.11
The Ministry noted in its 2012 Statement of Intent that it intended to “refresh” Ka Hikitia with revised targets for participation, retention, and achievement for Māori students.⁷ Cabinet agreed to this in February 2013.

Rationale for our audit scope

1.12
We limited our scope for this audit to the compulsory school sector (primary, intermediate, and secondary schools) and focused mainly on English-medium schools (which may also include Māori-medium units). We might include kura kaupapa Māori or other primarily Māori kaupapa educational institutions in the scope of future audits.

1.13
We based our selection on a geographic distribution of Māori students in schools, as well as other demographic factors such as rural/urban and socio-economic context, and by size and type of school (primary, secondary, area school, intermediate, integrated, and state). When choosing which schools to invite to take part, we were mindful of representing schools of different roll size and urban and rural profiles.⁸

1.14
Our rationale for focusing mainly on English-medium schools was that most Māori students attend school in an English-medium setting. Therefore, our audit focuses on where Ka Hikitia could have the biggest effect.

1.15
The Ministry says there were about 740,000 domestic students enrolled in New Zealand schools on 1 July 2012. Of these about 165,000 (22%) were Māori, most of whom (about 95%) were enrolled in English-medium schools.

1.16
Most Māori students attend schools where they form a small proportion of the total roll (see Figure 2). For example, about half of all Māori students are in schools where less than one-third of the school roll is Māori. In contrast, New Zealand European students are less than one-third of the school roll in about 4% of schools.

Figure 2
Relationship between the proportion of the school roll who are Māori or New Zealand European and the cumulative Māori and New Zealand European student populations

1.17
Māori students are less concentrated in large schools compared with the New Zealand European school population.⁹ The largest 419 schools account for 35% of the Māori student population, compared with half of New Zealand European students (see Figure 3). The largest 653 schools combined have half of all Māori students.

Figure 3
Number of schools and proportion of New Zealand European and Māori students

Average size of school in range (number of students) | Number of schools in range (largest to smallest) | Number of Māori students | Cumulative % Māori student population | Cumulative % New Zealand European student population
892 | 419 | 58,750 | 35 | 50
446 | 234 | 23,510 | 50 | 63
263 | 774 | 54,162 | 82 | 90
76 | 1096 | 29,183 | 100 | 100

Source: Ministry of Education, School Directory, available at www.minedu.govt.nz, as at 1 March 2012.

1.18
The distribution of Māori students in small schools and with comparatively few Māori students on the school roll affects how Ka Hikitia is put into practice. Many small schools with few Māori on the school rolls have to work to influence the performance of Māori students. Because only 30 (state and private) schools have no Māori students, nearly all schools need to increase the rate of success of their Māori students.

1.19
There are other social and geographic differences in the distribution of Māori students. For example, in 2012 slightly over 45% of Māori students were enrolled in decile 1-3 schools compared with about 19% of all New Zealand European students. This and other analyses may be helpful to agencies to target their efforts to support the Ka Hikitia strategy and for schools to identify the part they can play.

1.20
We did not include the early childhood education sector, beyond interviewing the senior manager in the Ministry responsible. We also did not interview representatives of tertiary institutions.

How we did our audit

1.21
We sampled 27 schools so that we could consider the schools’ perspectives on the effect of Ka Hikitia. We used the Ministry’s database of schools to obtain a representative sample of English-medium schools. We were particularly interested in the effect of Ka Hikitia on students, whānau (parents/caregivers and extended family), and their communities.¹⁰ We talked to students, teachers, senior managers, whānau, members of boards of trustees members, community members (including local iwi representatives), regional Ministry staff, and national Ministry staff. Some of the practices we learned about could be useful to other schools in similar situations, so we have included descriptions of those practices in this report.

1.22
We talked to reviewers and senior managers from the Education Review Office (ERO).¹¹ We gathered documentary evidence from many sources, including the ERO reports for the 27 schools in our sample. We also talked to iwi in three regions. We compared evidence from interviews and our observations with the ERO reports of those schools to assess our data.

1.23
We complemented our visits to schools with an online survey of 2387 schools, including Māori-medium schools, about how Ka Hikitia was put in practice. We received 633 responses from principals or their nominees, a response rate of 26.5%. The survey responses were consistent with our findings from the 27 schools.

1.24
We investigated how well the Ministry, as the lead agency for education, has led the rollout of Ka Hikitia, how other education agencies have responded and incorporated the aims of Ka Hikitia into their work, and how Ka Hikitia has become part of practice in schools.

1.25
We interviewed many officials in the national and regional offices of the Ministry, senior officials and review officers in ERO, and senior leaders and officials in the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), and the New Zealand Teachers Council (Teachers Council). We did not interview representatives of Careers New Zealand or Te Kura (the Correspondence School) during this audit. Collectively, we call these seven “all education agencies”.

1.26
We interviewed the Minister of Education, independent professional learning and development providers, researchers, and representatives of organisations interested in Māori education.

1.27
We also reviewed many of the major documents about Ka Hikitia’s introduction. These included the Ministry’s internal evaluation, a mid-term review of Ka Hikitia, various statements of intent, and many other documents about education for Māori. We reviewed the Ministry’s planning documents for the “refresh” of Ka Hikitia for the next phase, Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success 2013-2017.

1.28
ERO also provided us with information drawn from school reviews in Term Four of 2012 about schools’ reporting of their use of Ka Hikitia.

1.29
For this audit, we seconded two of our team from the Ministry of Education and from ERO. We ensured that suitable measures were in place to prevent potential conflicts of interest.

1.30
In this audit, two particular documents were useful in evaluating Ka Hikitia’s introduction and effect. These were How Policy Travels¹² and “System-wide improvement in education”.¹³

1.31
In 2009, Paul Goren gave the Ministry a challenging evaluation of how Ka Hikitia was put into effect. In particular, he warned that trying to change systems that involve changing people’s “hearts and minds” takes time and concerted, ongoing effort. One reason for our visiting a small sample of schools was to see how well the policy decisions have been followed through and if they resulted in actions and changes that benefit the people that they were intended to help – Māori students.

1.32
Professor Ben Levin of the University of Toronto is an important commentator on education policy and system change whose work has influenced the Ministry’s policy work in aiming to bring about large-scale change. We have compared the results of our audit with Levin’s assessment of what is required to produce systemic change.

The structure of this report

1.33
In Part 2, we discuss the research, consultation process, and support for Ka Hikitia before and at the time of its launch.

1.34
In Part 3, we discuss how Ka Hikitia was introduced and make two recommendations for the next phase.

1.35
In Part 4, we discuss the processes and practices that support Ka Hikitia and describe how these are enacted in some schools. We make two recommendations in Part 4.

1.36
In Part 5, we show the effect that Ka Hikitia has had on Māori student experiences, achievement, and outcomes, and on teaching.

1.37
In Part 6, we discuss the lessons so far and how to build on what has been achieved. We make one recommendation in Part 6.

1 The context report is available on our website.

2 Ministry of Education (2008), Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012, Wellington, page 11. The strategic intent has varied slightly since it was first launched in 2008. it is currently “Māori enjoying and achieving educational success as Māori”.

3 Ministry of Education (2008), Statement of Intent 2008-2013, Wellington, page 7.

4 As at March 2013. The number of goals, actions, and targets has varied slightly since Ka Hikitia was launched in 2008.

5 Ministry of Education (2008), Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012, Wellington, pages 19-20.

6 More information about the Programme for International Student Assessment is available on the Ministry’s Education Counts website, www.educationcounts.govt.nz.

7 Ministry of Education (2012), Statement of Intent 2012-2017, Wellington, page 16.

8 When we refer to schools in this report, we mean English-medium schools unless otherwise specified.

9 We note that the ethnicity of students might not be accurate because of limitations with student management system enrolment data.

10 We use “whānau” to refer to parents or caregivers and extended family for Māori students and other students.

11 ERO is the agency with the mandate for evaluating and reporting on the educational performance of individual schools.

12 Goren, P (2009), How Policy Travels: Making sense of Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success – the Māori Education Strategy, Fulbright New Zealand, Wellington.

13 Levin, B (2012), “System-wide improvement in education”, Education policy series 13, The International Academy of Education/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris/Brussels.

Part 2

Preparing Ka Hikitia

2.1
In this Part, we discuss how the Ministry prepared Ka Hikitia. We cover:

• the research and reasoning underpinning Ka Hikitia;

• consultation with, and backing from, Māori; and

• consultation with, and backing from, the education sector.

2.2
Ka Hikitia has the potential to transform the education system and realise the aim of “Māori students enjoying and achieving educational success as Māori”.

2.3
Ka Hikitia is based on sound educational research and reasoning about securing better achievements for indigenous students. There was effective consultation with Māori over several years to reflect Māori interests. There was also consultation with the wider education sector. Ka Hikitia is widely valued throughout the education system and has backing from Māori.

Sound educational research and reasoning

2.4
Ka Hikitia drew on Māori research and community views and experiences. We noted in our context report that Ka Hikitia appears soundly based and respected. In preparing its strategy, the Ministry drew on internationally recognised research evidence to identify issues with Māori students’ educational achievement and how to address those issues. This research included the Ministry’s Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis research,¹⁴ PISA reports, and other information indicating poor educational outcomes for Māori students. Research by Māori was also important in shaping Ka Hikitia.

2.5
Ka Hikitia identified that, to improve Māori students’ achievement, the education sector needed a widespread transformational shift in attitudes and practice. Now, many initiatives − some using Ka Hikitia − are increasing Māori participation, engagement, and achievement in education.

Effective consultation with, and backing from, Māori

2.6
A consultation process with Māori groups, Māori academics, and iwi over several years helped the Ministry to prepare Ka Hikitia. Support was particularly strong from iwi and whānau. This effective consultation built on strong previous engagement with Māori. Before 2008, the Ministry had been involved in a range of consultation with Māori, through the Hui Taumata Mātauranga series (2001-06).

2.7
Māori we interviewed told us that Ka Hikitia reflected their long-held aspirations for Māori education. Representatives of iwi organisations were well aware of Ka Hikitia. Evidence we gathered showed that iwi, as part of the consultation process, took the opportunity to initiate or strengthen their education plans and relationships and research and analysis, both with the Ministry and more widely with schools and education agencies.

Effective consultation with, and backing from, the education sector

2.8
The Ministry carried out an extensive consultation process in the Ministry and with other agencies, education groups, and community representatives (including young people) before finalising Ka Hikitia in 2008. An internal report of the consultation process stated that the process was positive and that support for the direction and content of Ka Hikitia was strong.

2.9
The report notes strong support for the prioritising of te reo Māori, and the importance of productive relationships for effective teaching and learning to benefit Māori. It also places importance on the role of whānau in education, resourcing Ka Hikitia, and ongoing research and development.

14 The Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis programme is the Ministry’s research programme that presents evidence about what works to improve education outcomes. See the Ministry’s Education Counts website, www.educationcounts.govt.nz.

Part 3

Putting Ka Hikitia into effect

3.1
In this Part, we discuss how the Ministry put Ka Hikitia into effect. We cover:

• the priority the Ministry gave to putting Ka Hikitia into practice;

• difficulties putting Ka Hikitia into practice;

• progress and aspects that have gone better recently; and

• improvements made and under way.

3.2
The Ministry’s introduction of Ka Hikitia has not been as effective as it could have been in translating Ka Hikitia into widespread and successful action. Confused communication and roles and responsibilities in the Ministry, inadequate planning and programme and project management, and ineffective communication with schools have stalled the effort and caused difficulties.

When I got to college I decided to not to go into the [Māori immersion] so I could prove myself in the Pākehā world. But being Māori is very important to me and I plan to be a lawyer and advocate for Māori.

Year 13 - Head boy

3.3
Some aspects of putting Ka Hikitia into effect have gone better, and the Ministry has made improvements along the way. The Ministry is “refreshing” Ka Hikitia with a further five-year phase, Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success 2013-2017. This is an important opportunity to improve effectiveness and results.

3.4
We make two recommendations in this Part.

Communicating the high priority of Ka Hikitia

The Ministry told staff clearly that Ka Hikitia was high priority

3.5
We heard and saw evidence of repeated communication in the Ministry about the strategic importance of Ka Hikitia. The then Secretary of Education (Chief Executive of the Ministry) was supportive of Ka Hikitia and set clear expectations for staff about Ka Hikitia’s priority.

3.6
When Ka Hikitia was published, the Ministry issued an accompanying document to staff outlining the evidence base for the strategy, Ka Hikitia – Key Evidence.¹⁵ The Ministry provided material to support the reasons for change and opportunities for learning. Messages in the main Ka Hikitia planning document, the Ministry’s statement of intent, and business planning documents raised awareness of Ka Hikitia and its importance among Ministry staff.

Practice did not meet expectations

Ka Hikitia has not been put into effect with the intended priority

Staff were unprepared and unclear about roles and responsibilities.

3.7
Changing attitudes and behaviours on a large scale takes time and careful and ongoing communication and support. In 2012, the Ministry’s evaluation of how Ka Hikitia was put into effect found that a strong and focused internal and external communications strategy for Ka Hikitia was not clearly evident.

3.8
Ministry staff whom we interviewed had mixed reactions to the introduction of Ka Hikitia. Most noted an over-optimistic assumption by the senior leadership team about the level of understanding and commitment among staff to Ka Hikitia. This was despite efforts by the senior leadership team to draw attention to the importance of Ka Hikitia.

3.9
In 2009, an independent review found that some Ministry staff questioned the value of Ka Hikitia.¹⁶ Other staff told us that Ka Hikitia challenged a belief by some in the Ministry that the education system was suitable for everyone.

3.10
Managers were expected to effectively communicate the reasons for the change in approach and provide incentives for embracing new practices in the context of opportunities to learn. This was an extremely important part of the logic of putting Ka Hikitia into effect. Giving recipients the responsibility to work out how to put Ka Hikitia into effect was thought to be important for them to gain a necessary depth of understanding of Ka Hikitia. However, the Ministry did not invest enough time and resources in ensuring that staff roles and responsibilities for Ka Hikitia were clearly understood.

3.11
We received feedback that showed that Ministry staff needed more support. Some staff struggled to understand how to put Ka Hikitia into effect. Some found it difficult to integrate key messages from Ka Hikitia with their day-to-day activities. We also found that the connections between Ka Hikitia and the Ministry’s various other strategies, including timing and priorities, were not clear to staff. This added to confusion.

3.12
Since Ka Hikitia was published, communication in the Ministry and other more directed changes, such as the introduction of the Tatai Pou cultural competencies, have had a cumulative positive effect on staff putting Ka Hikitia into effect.¹⁷ Several Ministry staff told us that they believe that there has been change in willingness and “buy-in” to putting Ka Hikitia into effect.

Planning and programme and project management was weak.

3.13
Accountability mechanisms within the Ministry for those responsible for putting Ka Hikitia into practice at different levels of the organisation were not strong enough. This meant that the Ministry’s planning for introducing Ka Hikitia was weak. Ka Hikitia was expected to be embedded into existing initiatives and activities. However, Ministry staff were unclear about how those initiatives and activities were connected with Ka Hikitia.

3.14
Although the Ministry provided guidelines for managers on how to embed Ka Hikitia into business plans, our review of several business plans for groups in the Ministry indicated there was variable understanding of how existing initiatives and activities were effectively connected to Ka Hikitia.

3.15
The State Services Commission’s Performance Information Framework report in 2011 noted the need for the Ministry to clarify roles and priorities when introducing new initiatives.¹⁸ This reflects comments made to us that the Ministry’s approach to putting new strategies into effect was often poorly planned.

3.16
Programme management of Ka Hikitia, together with other initiatives and activities, was poor. In the same year as Ka Hikitia was launched (2008), the Ministry began several other significant strategic initiatives and actions (including the New Zealand Curriculum, the Pasifika Education Plan, the National Student Index, and National Standards).

3.17
Despite clear messages that Ka Hikitia was the highest priority, having several initiatives and actions happening at the same time contributed to Ka Hikitia being put into effect slowly. There was not enough focus throughout the Ministry on Ka Hikitia, and it became lost in the complexity of many other strategies and actions.

3.18
Teams managed project responsibilities poorly. Staff at the Ministry told us that strategic initiatives and actions would often be “thrown over the fence” in the Ministry: there was little following through as they were transferred from one team or group to another to ensure that the recipients were equipped to work with them, and then did so. There was often no effective project management of, and office support for, initiatives.

3.19
Inadequate accountability controls and consequences needed to be strengthened so that teams in the Ministry were effective in, and accountable for, reporting on their obligations for putting Ka Hikitia into effect.

3.20
Staff performance management did not link effectively to Ka Hikitia. In 2012, the Ministry introduced Tatai Pou to measure staff performance and cultural competence. The Ministry introduced the Measurable Gains Framework (MGF) for staff to use to monitor the progress of project management against the implementation actions of Ka Hikitia. However, the Ministry did not resource this tool effectively, and staff did not have access to enough support to ensure that it was used effectively. In 2012, an internal audit review of the MGF led to revisions. It is too early for us to comment on how effective the revised MGF is.

Ineffective communication left schools unsure how to respond to Ka Hikitia.

3.21
In our view, the Ministry was not ready to introduce Ka Hikitia to schools and did not build on the good will and work schools were doing to help raise education outcomes for their Māori students. The effort to engage schools did not match the aspirations of Ka Hikitia or take into account how many schools there are. This resulted in a mixed response from schools, with varying degrees of action to put Ka Hikitia into effect.

3.22
Most school principals reported receiving the Ka Hikitia strategy in the mail. Only a modest number of school leaders reported hearing about Ka Hikitia first hand. The Ministry did not explain clearly to schools what response it expected. Guidance to schools in the Ka Hikitia documents was not clear. Schools did not understand the relationships between Ka Hikitia and other Ministry strategies and initiatives.

3.23
Schools have a high degree of autonomy, and high trust and understanding between the Ministry and schools is needed to make sure that initiatives are accepted and acted on. In our view, the way Ka Hikitia was initially distributed and introduced to schools did not have enough support and guidance, and might have undermined the relationship between schools and the Ministry.

3.24
ERO reporting and our audit evidence indicates that schools are becoming more aware of Ka Hikitia and better at incorporating it into planning and daily business, with promising results.

Working through early difficulties

3.25
Some difficulties have been worked through and some aspects that have improved.

Agencies responded well to Ka Hikitia but the Ministry could co-ordinate contributions better.

3.26
The Ministry’s communication with education agencies brought a positive response, with each agency identifying how it contributes to Ka Hikitia. Each agency that we visited showed us how it had responded to Ka Hikitia and how it was sustaining its efforts to improve Māori students’ success. Some agencies responded more slowly than others, but all of the agencies we talked with had strategies in line with Ka Hikitia. In our view, the Ministry and education agencies can strengthen how they work together on improving education outcomes for Māori students through better understanding each other’s respective contributions and better co-ordinating their resources.

Schools value the Ministry’s regional support.

3.27
The Ministry’s regional staff were carrying out a lot of work, including face-to-face work with principals, schools, and communities, to help schools to understand Ka Hikitia and to build school leaders’ capability to put Ka Hikitia into effect.

3.28
It was clear from our interviews with schools that the support of the Ministry’s regional staff to procure the right professional development and make best use of schools’ internal resources is highly valued. We heard that there is not enough support at a regional level to meet schools’ expectations and needs in regard to Ka Hikitia, particularly in semi-rural and rural areas.

3.29
We were told that regional office workload is strained for several reasons, such as the complexity of the work and the low ratio of staff to schools, and that turnover and promotion of those with Māori capability has led to a lack of capacity to meet demand. These factors have resulted in slower uptake of Ka Hikitia in some schools. In our view, it is important for the Ministry to build capacity in the regions to support important outreach initiatives. The Ministry’s current review of regional services and the regional allocation of professional learning and development to schools could provide opportunities for better engagement.

3.30
It is important to provide professional learning and development in a timely and equitable way. The Ministry is reviewing how it provides professional learning and development and has identified ways to improve. The review includes the professional learning and development provided to support Ka Hikitia, but is broader. We will continue to assess the Ministry’s monitoring of professional learning and development services in our future work.

The Ministry engaged positively with iwi and whānau and can build on this.

3.31
The Ministry’s work programme with iwi partners is an area of strength. The number of iwi education partnerships with the Ministry has increased from 13 when Ka Hikitia was launched to more than 60 in 2012. The Ministry has supported these partnerships with funding of $3.2 million for 2012/13.

3.32
Although the Ministry will need to continue to support the increasing number of partnerships, this shows a positive culture of engagement with iwi. This positive engagement helps ensure that Ministry initiatives and activities are culturally relevant to Māori. It will be important that the Ministry maintain these good relationships.

3.33
In our view, the Ministry should build on the positive engagement and continue to strengthen work with iwi and Māori. For example, we found that education sector agencies (such as ERO and NZQA) were working collaboratively with iwi. However, in our view, these agencies could work more collaboratively with each other and with wider education entities. This would result in reduced duplication of effort and confusion for iwi and therefore better quality engagement. A more co-ordinated and focused approach to engagement and partnership would also use the capacity of iwi better.

3.34
Iwi sharing knowledge and insight better would also help to make the work of education agencies more effective. A positive example we identified was a suggestion at a meeting with iwi representatives that ERO review teams could draw more on the expertise and knowledge of local iwi groups to share information about “Māori capability” in the schools being reviewed.

3.35
It is also important for the Ministry to honour agreements it has made with iwi. One iwi expressed concerns to us about the amount of bureaucracy involved and the Ministry not keeping to the terms of agreements. These are issues both the Ministry and iwi will need to monitor.

3.36
Whānau we interviewed, although not all familiar with the Ka Hikitia document, were mostly aware of the efforts that their school or community was making (or not) to enhance Māori students’ educational success. In our view, schools or clusters of schools need to continue to seek opportunities to work directly with whānau and iwi. Drawing on the expertise in identity, language, and culture of Māori and iwi in the community can only help more Māori students to “succeed as Māori”.

3.37
One way of doing this is to provide information to whānau and iwi to help them support their children. Although information on the outcomes of Ka Hikitia is available, this could be improved. In our view, some simplification would improve accessibility, together with better direct communication to help whānau and iwi focus on what they can do to support their children.

How the Ministry of Education works to improve Ka Hikitia in practice

The Ministry recognises that it did not introduce Ka Hikitia well and has acted to address problems.

3.38
A Ministry review of Ka Hikitia in 2010 (the mid-term review) took stock of how widely Ka Hikitia had been embedded into the Ministry’s day-to-day business. The main outcome of the review was the Ministry’s agreeing to a more vigorous approach to putting Ka Hikitia into effect, through:

• integrating Ka Hikitia into national flagship initiatives and programmes;

• improving coherence and co-ordination throughout schools;

• consolidating primary initiatives;

• productive education relationships with iwi; and

• co-ordinated action planning.¹⁹

Steps to strengthen management and accountability

3.39
In early 2009, the Ka Hikitia Implementation Unit and Programme of Action was set up to increase business and group accountability within the Ministry to put Ka Hikitia into effect. In July 2010, it became the Action and Accountability for Māori Education Strategy (AAMES) unit. AAMES, together with the introduction of the Tatai Pou competencies as part of staff performance management, has strengthened accountability for putting Ka Hikitia into effect.

3.40
In our view, it is important that the AAMES unit focus strategically on where the Ka Hikitia effort will be most effective, and be seen as a unit that helps progress rather than as a control.

3.41
From March 2011, the Ministry introduced a requirement that all future advice to Ministers about national flagship policies and programmes be linked to Ka Hikitia by including how the identity, language, and culture of Māori learners have been incorporated. By March 2011, a new process was put in place using a tool called the Group Māori/AAMES to monitor the Ministry’s progress in responding to this requirement.

3.42
The Ministry told us that changes in governance arrangements meant different performance monitoring replaced the use of this tool. In our view, it is important that the Ministry has robust mechanisms for monitoring the linkages between Ka Hikitia and the Ministry’s flagship policies. It is too early for us to assess how effective current monitoring arrangements are but we will consider this in our future audits.

3.43
We note that a new programme office that covers the whole of the Ministry has been set up, and it has the potential to strengthen how the Ministry manages programmes.²⁰

Improving cultural understanding and knowledge to put Ka Hikitia into effect successfully

3.44
Significant capability building towards cultural competency is required to enable the changes needed to put Ka Hikitia into effect. The Ministry is building this understanding and knowledge.

3.45
In our view, the Ministry’s staff will benefit from continued communication and practical support to improve the way they work with Māori. A recent Ministry survey of staff who completed an introductory workshop about Whakapūmautia, Papakōwhaitia, Tau Ana and Tatai Pou showed that only 41.7% and 48.6% respectively “strongly agree” or “agreed” that the training provided examples that they could relate to in their roles.²¹ This shows that the Ministry has work to do to improve training and practical support and guidance to staff.

3.46
Changes are taking place. Staff told us that Ka Hikitia has been an indirect influence on operational aspects of the Ministry’s business. Changes that can be traced to the influence of Ka Hikitia include iwi providing truancy services, setting up taskforces focused on improving systems for priority learners, expanding programmes that work for Māori students, and changes to contracts to expect more of providers in delivering results for Māori.

“Refreshing” Ka Hikitia

3.47
As noted earlier, the Ministry is “refreshing” Ka Hikitia with a further five-year phase, Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success 2013-2017, in early 2013. This is an important opportunity to boost effectiveness and results, and to avoid the problems experienced before. The problems included confused communication, unclear roles and responsibilities in the Ministry, poor planning, poor programme and project management, and ineffective communication with schools.

3.48
The Ministry needs to learn from, and avoid repeating, the implementation issues outlined in this report and in the Ministry’s evaluations of the introduction of Ka Hikitia. This means emphasising, throughout the Ministry, leadership that supports good programme and project-based reporting. It means prioritising Ka Hikitia among other initiatives, holding managers to account, providing practical support and guidance, and resourcing to ensure that those working on Ka Hikitia can focus on it.

3.49
In our view, the work programme for Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success 2013-2017 will need a strong focus on implementation, including sustained effective communication, effective cross-organisational leadership and management, and monitoring and support throughout the education sector.

Recommendation 1

We recommend that the Ministry of Education apply what it learned from the introduction of Ka Hikitia to ensure that the next phase of implementation is effective, including:

•thoughtful planning and engagement with those expected to deliver the next phase of Ka Hikitia, with adequate resourcing;

•clear leadership and management responsibilities for embedding Ka Hikitia into day-to-day business in the Ministry and throughout education agencies; and

•improved accountability and reporting mechanisms.

The Ministry should consider what activities work best and prioritise these.

3.50
In our view, the Ministry should also prioritise work and resources to target activities that best support Ka Hikitia being put into effect. The Ministry should identify which activities are working best and target resources to these. Activities and programmes to consider include professional learning and development to build Ministry and school capability, face-to-face support for schools, effective web-based guidance, continued application of the MGF, and data analysis of Māori students’ success to provide insight into what works.

Recommendation 2

We recommend that the Ministry of Education identify and target resources to support the activities that have been the most effective in putting Ka Hikitia into effect.

15 Ministry of Education (2008), Ka Hikitia – Key Evidence, Wellington, available at www.minedu.govt.nz.

16 Goren, P (2009), How Policy Travels: Making sense of Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success – the Māori Education Strategy, Fulbright New Zealand, Wellington.

17 Tatai Pou is the framework of Māori cultural competencies for Ministry staff and is embedded into the staff performance framework.

18 State Services Commission (2012), Performance Improvement Framework: Formal Review of the Ministry of Education (MOE), Wellington, pages 50-53.

19 The mid-term review is summarised within the Ka Hikitia section of the Ministry of Education website, www.minedu.govt.nz.

20 The Enterprise Portfolio Management Office (EPMO).

21 Ministry of Education (2011), Whakapūmautia, Papakōwhaitia, Tau Ana, (Grasp, Embrace, Realise), Wellington. Whakapūmautia, Papakōwhaitia, Tau Ana was introduced to the Ministry in 2008/09 as a framework for conducting excellent relationships between the Ministry and iwi.

Part 4

Processes and practices that support Ka Hikitia

4.1
In this Part, we discuss the processes and practices that we found supported putting Ka Hikitia into effect. We discuss:

• promising co-ordination between agencies;

• getting schools to engage and collaborate more;

• using performance information; and

• how stronger school leaders improve outcomes for Māori.

4.2
We provide examples of good practice to help stimulate further improvement.

4.3
We make two recommendations in this Part.

Promising co-ordination between agencies

ERO, NZQA, TEC, and the Teachers Council are using their mandate and focus to provide co-ordinated support for Ka Hikitia. The early signs are promising.

ERO’s differentiated approach an incentive to make school-wide changes

4.4
ERO’s differentiated approach to school reviews allows it to better target resources to work in schools where the need is greatest. This approach places schools and early childhood education providers on different review cycles, based on how well they perform against set criteria.²² ERO introduced a differentiated approach to make its reviews more effective and to maximise resources in response to falling numbers of review officers. Seventy per cent of schools are now on a three-year cycle, the same percentage as in 2009.

4.5
Linking the differentiation to Ka Hikitia and to expectations of Māori success has motivated schools effectively. Most schools want to go on to the four- to five-year cycle, and having to show progress for Māori students has prompted them to consider their efforts and attitudes more seriously than before.

4.6
ERO’s Paetawhiti review response to underperforming schools is an example of targeted use of resources. With Paetawhiti reviews, ERO can recommend external support or intervention to help schools to put in place actions to support the aims of Ka Hikitia. ERO then returns to the school periodically over one to two years.

4.7
ERO also produces national evaluation reports on different topics in education, using collated data from reviews of schools. As well as reports specifically focused on Māori students’ educational success, all national evaluations include questions specifically about Māori students’ success. The national evaluation reports provide information and recommendations for education agencies, schools, and other education providers to help make changes that will benefit Māori students.²³

4.8
ERO is providing leadership, direction, and standards to the sector to support improved school performance. ERO’s internal strategy, He Toa Takitini, guides this work. Ka Hikitia is cited by an experienced reviewer as “providing the foundation for building awareness and legitimisation of activity to improve Māori learner outcomes”. It was clear from our survey of schools that ERO’s differentiated review approach is a strong motivator for schools to improve outcomes for Māori students.

4.9
ERO told us that schools’ attitudes have improved markedly since it introduced the differentiated review process. Based on ERO’s findings and on our own findings from the schools we visited, we expect to see schools consider their performance for Māori students in a more focused way.

4.10
ERO’s more collaborative approach to reviewing schools has been effective in gaining schools’ trust in the review process. This approach involves discussing what should be evaluated, and how, with schools. We agree with ERO that, with greater trust in the process, schools are more likely to act on ERO’s suggestions about ways to improve conditions and practices to benefit Māori students.

4.11
In our view, it is important that ERO continue with its approach to school reviews as part of realising the aims of Ka Hikitia. This approach appears to be an effective way of motivating schools to consider their practices for Māori students. It also provides opportunities to encourage schools to self-review these practices. We encourage ERO to further strengthen its organisational capability to enhance this effectiveness.

Agencies’ strategies exert influence

4.12
Education agencies have prepared their own strategies for Māori success in line with Ka Hikitia. Many of the agencies have supported the Ministry on a range of activities and planning, and this work is reflected in their strategies.

4.13
NZQA, through the Te Rautaki Māori a te Mana Tohu Mātauranga o Aotearoa strategy, has planned how to direct resources to “contribute to Māori education success and … Ka Hikitia”.²⁴ NZQA absorbed the strategic intent and principles of Ka Hikitia into a goal of building a culturally competent organisation. In the strategy, NZQA has focused on two goals: accelerating Māori students’ success and advancing the use of mātauranga Māori. NZQA’s strategy reflects Ka Hikitia through promoting Māori input and partnership, such as the initiative to raise awareness among whānau about the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).

4.14
In 2009, TEC responded to Ka Hikitia through an internal document, He Rama ki Ara Poutama, which focuses on increasing Māori access, participation, and achievement in tertiary education. These are priorities in the Tertiary Education Strategy. TEC set up a work programme in response to the Ka Hikitia mid-term review. TEC has been involved in the refresh of Ka Hikitia and is now drafting a new framework, Tū Maia e te ākonga, in collaboration with a cross-sector working group.

4.15
Through investment, information, advice, and performance monitoring, TEC can influence aspects of the operations of tertiary institutions to benefit Māori students. TEC’s guidance for investment planning includes expectations and priorities such as achieving better transitions from school to tertiary education, improving outcomes for Māori students, and planning for improvement of academic teaching and assessment practice to actively contribute to better outcomes for Māori students. This influence can support culturally responsive pedagogy at tertiary level.²⁵

[Effective teachers] start a personal relationship with you … you can rely on them.

Year 10 Student

4.16
The quality of teachers is one of the most important factors in improving outcomes for Māori students. Teachers need to be trained well and assessed rigorously on their abilities to teach children from a Māori background. TEC and the Teachers Council can strongly influence the providers of teacher training to ensure that training is high quality and maintains and improves the quality of teaching practice. TEC can do this through guidance for planning and purchasing decisions to support Māori students’ achievement and culturally competent pedagogy. The Teachers Council can do this through the Graduating Teacher Standards and Registered Teacher Criteria, and approval of initial teacher education (ITE) qualifications and programmes.

4.17
The Graduating Teacher Standards and Registered Teacher Criteria are two potentially powerful mechanisms to ensure that teachers meet professional standards on entry into the profession and throughout their teaching career. The Teachers Council revised these to embed cultural competency and worked with the Ministry on the Tātaiako cultural competencies for schools.²⁶

4.18
The Ministry plans further work to improve how it appraises teachers and to tighten requirements for meeting the criteria, particularly teachers’ pedagogical practice and whether that practice will engage Māori students and allow them to succeed. In our view, this requirement has the potential to be a powerful and effective tool for motivating teachers to improve their teaching practice and for improving the quality of teaching in general.

4.19
Our recommendations support the work that the education sector agencies are doing to improve the quality of teaching and teacher training.

Recommendation 3

We recommend that all education agencies better co-ordinate efforts to support improvements in schools, including:

•building understanding of, commitment to, and action on the aims of Ka Hikitia in schools; and

•schools setting up and sharing teaching practices that are effective in improving Māori students’ educational success.

Recommendation 4

We recommend that:

•the New Zealand Teachers Council use its approval mechanisms for initial teacher education qualifications and programmes and the Tertiary Education Commission use its purchasing of these qualifications and programmes to ensure that student teachers and newly qualified teachers  have the right skills to engage effectively with Māori students; and

•the New Zealand Teachers Council use its influence and approval mechanisms to ensure that monitoring and appraisal processes for teacher registration lead to improved teaching practices and engagement with Māori students and their whānau.

Examples of strong engagement between schools and their communities

Outreach to whānau and school communities included three-way conferencing, talking to whānau at the school gate, ringing home with positive news, and visiting homes.

4.20
The “Key Evidence” booklet, issued as background to Ka Hikitia, stresses the importance of the relationships between teacher and student and between school and whānau and community.²⁷ This kind of engagement is valuable for all students and whānau, but particularly for Māori, who might have had negative experiences of school.

4.21
We saw examples of strong engagement between schools and their communities. These examples include introducing whānau-teacher-student conferences to ensure that school staff, students, and whānau work together for the student’s success. Some schools we visited stressed the importance of outreach to their Māori whānau in different ways, including:

• visiting whānau at home;

• telephoning whānau with reports of good progress;

• being present at school sports to connect with whānau in a more informal context than the “parent-teacher” interview;

• at the beginning or the end of the school day, being at the school gate to chat with whānau who might not be comfortable coming through the school gate; and

• providing academic counselling as a holistic approach to success for Māori students.

4.22
Schools we visited reported that all of these practices have resulted in improved engagement between the whānau and the school, and greater interest from whānau in their child’s learning. This is supported by our survey evidence (see Figure 4).

Figure 4
Responses to our survey question about perceived changes for Māori learners, their whānau, and iwi

Note: Scores are an average of the respondents’ answers. 1 is a marked change for the worse and 5 is a marked
improvement. Source: Survey results, question 10 (see Appendix).

4.23
We intend to explore the importance of the partnership between schools and their communities, including local iwi, in a future performance audit.

Getting schools to engage and collaborate more

Schools could use existing platforms more effectively for sharing practice and information. Better collaboration between schools, the Ministry, and other education agencies will need greater levels of trust.

4.24
We heard about examples of schools collaborating to improve outcomes for their Māori students, such as joint Matariki festivals, visits to other schools to view practice, and sharing ideas at school cluster hui and conferences. There were also examples of schools collaborating in Māori student mentor programmes with the secondary, primary school, or early childhood education centre that their students came from or went to. However, it was more common for schools to focus on their own activities, and representatives of principals’ groups we spoke with were reluctant to speak on behalf of other schools in their groups.

4.25
In our view, current structures and mechanisms could be used for greater engagement and collaboration between and within schools. These structures and mechanisms are under-used for sharing practices and experience to improve schools’ own performance for improving Māori student success. This is supported by researchers commenting on how the system supports collaboration.²⁸ Principals’ clusters and associations commonly do not share ideas about practices. We heard that this was particularly so for secondary principals because of the competitive nature of the school system.

4.26
The Minister of Education has introduced a sector forum on raising achievement, to provide advice that could provide a platform for openly discussing all concerns about how to improve outcomes. This requires respect and trust by all concerned, so that issues can be discussed openly and all points of view heard.

4.27
In our view, it is important that all public entities involved in the delivery of education – particularly the Ministry of Education and schools – build strong and trusting partnerships to support a combined approach to raising Māori students’ educational success. We encourage these entities to share quality data, ideas, and effective practices, to benefit working together to improve systems, frameworks and resources that support Māori education success. Importantly, we encourage these entities to consider how to engage more effectively and efficiently with Māori organisations, iwi, and whānau.

4.28
In the next audit in our five-year audit programme, we intend to focus on the effectiveness of partnerships and how entities work together to support Māori students’ educational success. The audit will focus on the partnerships and collaborative work between agencies, education providers, local iwi, Māori organisations and parents/whānau to ensure quality delivery of education and services to Māori students.²⁹

Using performance information

Some schools are using performance information to identify and address the needs of their Māori students.

4.29
Educators gather a range of performance information. This includes student assessment data, enrolment data, truancy data, teacher performance information, and system-level data (for example, benchmarking results against local or similar schools). Qualitative information is also valuable, such as teachers’ professional observations, student surveys to capture students’ views and experiences, and feedback from whānau.

4.30
We saw some good examples of a broad range of performance information being used and put on public display in some of the schools we visited. From the ERO reports, we have additional evidence indicating increasing quality of collection, analysis, and use of performance information.

4.31
One secondary school told us about the constant use of performance information. When we visited this large provincial school, we were shown how, as part of the Te Kotahitanga programme,³⁰ the school was challenging teachers to examine their beliefs about their teaching practice for Māori students by using individual achievement data of Māori students. The principal talked about the core expectation for data to form the basis of conversations between teachers and students. At the time we visited, school deans were identifying what needed to be done to help students – in particular, Māori students – “get across the line”.

4.32
ERO said about this school that:

... teachers are making good use of achievement data to plan for the different learning needs of students and now have a rich new source of information from Year 7 and 8 National Standards data.

4.33
ERO also identified that:

Student progress is monitored closely. Achievement information in Years 7 to 10 is well used by teachers to plan and track students’ individual progress ... [and] Pastoral care deans and Te Kotahitanga facilitators meet regularly to discuss student progress and engagement at each year level, and in individual classes.

4.34
In an area school with a high proportion of Māori students, we saw how some performance information was put on display to raise awareness and to spark discussion. When we visited, statistics about truancy were being broadcast on the television in the staffroom through the main administration computer.

4.35
When we visited a large, multi-ethnic secondary school in Auckland, staff told us how they had melded Ka Hikitia, Te Kotahitanga, the academic counselling programme created by the school,³¹ and a new format of meetings with whānau to provide the performance analysis, individual goal setting, and targets to meet higher-level aspirations. These meetings are well attended by the school’s Māori students, who told us that they appreciate this guidance.

4.36
ERO said of this school that:

Senior managers and teachers make good use of data driven internal and external review to reflect continuously on effectiveness and to improve practice.

4.37
The ERO report also identified that:

• the board and senior leaders are committed to analysing and using achievement data to improve teaching, learning, and achievement; and

• the school's Student Achievement Manager plays a major role in a sophisticated target-setting process.

Analysing and using performance information better

4.38
Schools need to use performance information significantly better. Our review of ERO’s reports for the 27 schools we visited or spoke with showed that most were using performance data, some better than others (only two caused concerns for us).

4.39
Common areas for improvement included using appropriate aggregations, identifying trends or patterns, setting targets, and, most importantly, teachers using performance data effectively to improve their practice. We saw some examples of good use of performance data to inform programming and teaching practice.

4.40
Most schools we visited collect good quality data. Our review showed that about a third of the schools had a high standard of analysis of Māori students’ achievement information, but another third had a low standard of analysis.

4.41
ERO’s reports of the schools we visited and our findings are consistent with the overall patterns discussed in ERO’s 2010 report, Promoting Success for Māori Students.³² Teachers are collecting data, but the evidence does not support that they are effectively linking the performance information back to changes in teaching that can help to improve results.

4.42
In our view, the quality of electronic student management systems and the capability of schools to use student management systems are variable. This affects the standard of analysis of student information. The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) submission to the Government on National Standards notes that student management systems need to:

• provide security and integrity of information;

• allow longitudinal analysis of student performance; and

• allow management of different pieces of assessment.

4.43
NZCER said that few schools have such systems.³³ Currently, student management systems are not mandatory and schools can join a hosted service. There is no special funding for student management systems. There is also no special funding to support schools to build capability to use student management systems effectively to support student achievement.

4.44
In our view, it is important that schools have student management systems that support appropriate data analysis that can lead to more successful outcomes for Māori students. (We discuss this further in paragraphs 6.18-6.21.) Also, it is vital that the Ministry and schools collect timely, reliable, and relevant information, then analyse and use that information to target resources at actions that effectively increase Māori students’ educational success. We will be focusing on the quality and use of data for this purpose in a future audit in our five-year audit programme.

Stronger school leaders improve outcomes for Māori students

Many school leaders told us they had made strong efforts to lead their staff in improvements to benefit Māori students.

4.45
As noted earlier, the relationship of Ka Hikitia to other initiatives and programmes was not clear to some schools. Since the initial launch of Ka Hikitia, the introduction of National Standards, the New Zealand Curriculum, and ERO’s differentiated model of evaluation have motivated school leaders to focus attention on the achievement of their Māori students.

4.46
School leaders we spoke to and most respondents to our survey had made strong efforts to lead their managers and staff to identify improvements that would benefit their Māori students. Some of these efforts were in response to the Ka Hikitia document. Other strong influences were participation in professional learning and development programmes, such as Te Kotahitanga, He Kākano, and others.³⁴

4.47
In some schools, the principal has driven the effort. In other schools, this has been a joint effort with the chairperson of the board of trustees and, in some schools, Māori parent representatives. In general, board chairpersons encourage changes to improve Māori student achievement and support the school’s senior managers to do this.

4.48
Some boards had a working knowledge of the intent and goals of Ka Hikitia and an understanding of how well their school was progressing to improve Māori student achievement. These boards were better at focusing school efforts and resources in the right places and at sharing good information with whānau and communities.

4.49
We saw a compelling example of successful joint leadership to ensure that Māori students’ needs are met. This central city primary school has an elected board of trustees and a board elected from Māori parent representatives. The two boards collaborate with each other and the principal and both have Māori representatives. A Māori parents’ association informs both boards. This shows a bicultural commitment to sharing responsibility for Māori student outcomes.

4.50
We encourage boards of trustees to consider how to gain better representation of Māori interests, through board structures and through better targeting of Māori whānau and community members for election as trustees.

4.51
With a programme to enhance how schools produce charters, the Ministry seeks to strengthen how schools use student data to set appropriate targets for priority learners, including Māori, and appropriate actions to achieve targets. In our view, this is an important way to improve schools.

Some board members need to understand their governance role better.

4.52
Boards of trustees varied in their understanding and support of raising awareness of Ka Hikitia and drawing attention to Māori student success. We talked with some trustees who were not fully aware of their governance role for Māori students, as stated in the National Administrative Guidelines and National Education Guidelines.

4.53
In our view, it is important that boards take a direct interest in how their school supports Māori students. Some boards may need training to improve their understanding of their governance role in this. The Ministry has recently published (in March 2013) guidance material for boards about effective governance to support Māori students’ educational success.³⁵

22 ERO reviews schools on cycles of one to two years, three years, or four to five years.

23 The national evaluation reports are available on ERO’s website, www.ero.govt.nz.

24 New Zealand Qualifications Authority (2012), Te Rautaki Māori a te Mana Tohu Mātauranga o Aotearoa, Wellington, page 5.

25 Pedagogy is teachers’ ideas and practices of teaching and learning.

26 Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners is a resource released in 2012 explaining the progression of the competencies teachers need to develop so they can help Māori learners achieve educationally as Māori. It is available on the Ministry’s website, www.minedu.govt.nz.

27 Ministry of Education, Ka Hikitia – Key Evidence, Wellington, available on the Ministry’s website, www.minedu.govt.nz.

28 Langley, J (ed) (2009), Tomorrow’s Schools 20 years on, Cognition Consulting, Auckland, pages 58-60 and 137; Wylie, C (2010), Vital connections: Why we need more than self-managing schools, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington, pages 126-127.

29 Our draft annual plan for 2013/2014 is available on our website.

30 Te Kotahitanga is a research and development programme that supports teachers and school leaders to improve Māori students’ learning and achievement. Many of the secondary schools we visited had taken part in Te Kotahitanga.

31 This programme was influential in developing the University of Auckland’s Starpath Programme. Information about the Starpath Project for Tertiary Participation and Success is available on the University of Auckland website, www.education.auckland.ac.nz.

32 Education Review Office (2010), Promoting Success for Māori Students: Schools’ Progress, Wellington, page 25.

33 New Zealand Council for Educational Research (2009), Submission on national standards, NZCER, Wellington,
page 4.

34 He Kākano is a professional learning and development programme for secondary school leaders (see www.hekakano.tki.org.nz).

35 Ministry of Education (2013), Effective governance - Supporting education success as Māori, Learning Media, Wellington.

Part 5

The effect of Ka Hikitia on teaching and what students achieve

5.1
In this Part, we discuss:

• the effect of Ka Hikitia on student outcomes and experiences;

• the effect that Ka Hikitia has had on teaching;

• useful examples of how Ka Hikitia has been effective in some of the schools we visited; and

• the effect of Ka Hikitia, assessed against the target measures of success.

5.2
Ka Hikitia has contributed to an improved awareness of Māori students’ educational success in the wider education sector. Many students we talked to affirmed their positive experience of schooling and their relationships with teachers. However, data measuring the effect of Ka Hikitia in terms of Māori students’ achievement shows that Ka Hikitia is only now starting to be integrated into schools’ planning and practice.

A motto in our classroom is “students be teachers, and teachers students (i.e. ako).”

Year 6 student

Helping students to recognise the importance of succeeding as Māori

Māori students recognise what good teachers do to support their educational success.

5.3
During this performance audit, we were impressed by students’ ability to discern what good teaching for them was, what they needed, their optimism for the future, knowledge of their learning progress, and how their teachers and their families could and should support them. The students we talked to were proud to be Māori, and almost all believed that Māori cultural needs were valued in school as an important part of their learning context.

5.4
Students told us:

The teachers know us. We can talk to the teachers. (Year 10 student)

Success means keeping the culture alive. (Year 8 student)

I was in kohanga reo and then went to mainstream at primary school and lost my Māori language. (Year 13 student)

Ka Hikitia’s positive effect on teaching

Ka Hikitia has contributed to increased commitment to improve Māori students’ success in education and teaching practices that recognise Māori identity, language, and culture.

5.5
The introduction of Ka Hikitia is linked to an improvement in how schools approach lifting Māori students’ outcomes. About three-quarters of respondents to our survey said that Ka Hikitia had led to a change in their schools (see Figure 5).

Figure 5
Survey respondents’ perceptions of whether Ka Hikitia has led to a change in their school

Note: Scores are an average of the respondents’ answers. 1 is a marked change for the worse and 5 is a marked improvement.
Source: Survey results, question 8 (see Appendix).

5.6
ERO identified in 2010 and again in 2012 that Ka Hikitia has contributed to leaders making changes in schools where Māori students’ achievement then improved. ERO noted that this improvement was “statistically significant” but also that it was not possible to directly attribute it to Ka Hikitia.³⁶ This is in line with our findings.

5.7
Changes in teachers’ awareness of the success of Māori students and knowledge about Māori students were reported through our survey. The main shifts that respondents perceived were in teachers’ awareness of Māori identity, language, and culture, the use of performance information to improve Māori students’ achievement, and teachers’ knowledge about their Māori students (see Figure 6).

Figure 6
Perceived changes in teaching and teaching practice

Note: Scores are an average of the respondents’ answers. 1 is a marked change for the worse and 5 is a marked improvement.
Source: Survey results, question 9 (see Appendix).

5.8
When we visited schools, we heard a strong commitment to improve results for Māori students. School leaders made frequent reference to the use of student performance information to improve planning, monitoring, and reporting.

5.9
The Ministry has a new process and a new procurement policy to manage professional learning and development.³⁷ Professional learning and development is now based on needs, rather than driven by demand. For professional learning and development to be delivered in 2011, the Expression of Interest process made it clear that, among other things, providers would need to consider how their professional learning and development work would reflect Māori interests, showing credibility, responsiveness, and working in ways that support close relationships with iwi and whānau.

5.10
Educators are supportive of the overall intentions of Ka Hikitia, and many consider it very important (see 5.10 Educators are supportive of the overall intentions of Ka Hikitia, and many consider it very important (see 5.10 Educators are supportive of the overall intentions of Ka Hikitia, and many consider it very important (see Figure 7). Many schools are taking action to improve Māori students’ achievement. Some of the actions were reflected in Ka Hikitia. The aims of Ka Hikitia are in line with school sector initiatives and helped to strengthen the mandate for schools to continue or further their own initiatives to improve Māori students’ achievement.). Many schools are taking action to improve Māori students’ achievement. Some of the actions were reflected in Ka Hikitia. The aims of Ka Hikitia are in line with school sector initiatives and helped to strengthen the mandate for schools to continue or further their own initiatives to improve Māori students’ achievement.). Many schools are taking action to improve Māori students’ achievement. Some of the actions were reflected in Ka Hikitia. The aims of Ka Hikitia are in line with school sector initiatives and helped to strengthen the mandate for schools to continue or further their own initiatives to improve Māori students’ achievement.

Figure 7
Survey responses to question about the perceived importance of Ka Hikitia

Source: Survey results, question 12 (see Appendix).

Some successful teaching practices

Ka Hikitia works indirectly and directly, and when there are few Māori students in a school.

5.11
We read or heard reports, from the school leaders and teachers in the schools we visited, ERO reports about those and other schools, and through our survey, about Ka Hikitia working in a variety of ways. In our view, Ka Hikitia:

• is more useful when applied with high-quality professional learning and development;

• can work in indirect ways (for example, through raising general awareness or through school leaders who run programmes and activities to support Māori student outcomes without overtly relating these to Ka Hikitia);

• has helped to identify that Māori student achievement is important; and

• is relevant even where there are few Māori students.

5.12
The descriptions in paragraphs 5.13-5.35 show why we have formed these views.

When paired with professional learning and development, Ka Hikitia changes teachers’ ideas about teaching practices.

5.13
The teachers at a South Auckland primary school had already been working with the community to improve Māori educational success. This helped the teachers to understand Ka Hikitia well and they felt it affirmed what they had already been doing. They felt that, although Ka Hikitia was not a high-profile document in the school, the school “lives and breathes” the goals of Ka Hikitia and had been doing so before Ka Hikitia. Because of this understanding, teachers found Ka Hikitia to be a user-friendly document and easy to read. Teachers were able to tell us about the goals of Ka Hikitia and the concept of ako.

5.14
The principal and staff praised the learning that was available through the Papakura Achievement Initiative (PAI) and related it to the strategic goals of Ka Hikitia. PAI is a Ministry-sponsored intervention to support Ka Hikitia through improving literacy, improving teaching and learning, building evaluative capability, strengthening pedagogy, embedding formative assessment practices, and improving the analysis of data.

5.15
ERO has reported that the participation of teachers from this South Auckland school in PAI “has increased professional growth, improved the quality of teaching, and developed the leadership skills of staff”.

5.16
At the school, Ka Hikitia and PAI have increased understanding about what the evidence says matters for improving Māori students’ educational success, beliefs in Māori potential, and efforts in the school to enact major goals to improve teaching and learning. The Ka Hikitia principle of Māori potential was evident in the teaching philosophy of every teacher we spoke with. Teachers reflected other aspects of Ka Hikitia, such as affirming the need to build on what students bring to school and who they are. Ka Hikitia gave recognition to the ideas Māori staff had about what is important for Māori students.

5.17
The South Auckland school has built on what it learned from PAI and Ka Hikitia. It has a strong commitment to providing a culturally responsive and congruent learning environment for Māori students. Teachers’ professional learning goals have included working through Tātaiako with a third party, focusing on improving te reo Māori as a staff, sharing good practice with each other as teachers (including going into each other’s classrooms), taking Ministry-led webinars on Ka Hikitia (which, for one staff member, catalysed a focus on improving relationships with Māori whānau). Māori staff felt that Ka Hikitia had improved the environment for things Māori and accurately reflected their aspirations for Māori achievement and valued outcomes for Māori students.

5.18
The results of the work the South Auckland school has done, especially the attention given to reading, are likely to have contributed to the results shown in Figure 8, which shows that more than 42% of Māori students at the school are achieving above the National Standard for reading. At present, the data is, at best, indicative. However, Figure 8 shows that, for this one school, although many Māori have done well, there is still a long way to go, with some Māori students below the standards and some well below.

Figure 8
How Māori students at one South Auckland primary school compare with the National Standards in reading, writing, and mathematics

Source: Ministry of Education, analysis of variance reporting for 2011.

Contributing indirectly

5.19
One primary school in a provincial city is doing well for Māori students, who make up one- third of the school enrolment. Eighty-one per cent of students are achieving at or above the National Standard for reading, and 79% are at or above the National Standards for reading, mathematics, and writing.

5.20
The school’s leaders said that this was because of a philosophy of early intervention, help from the Ministry regional office, reading recovery support, and linking performance data and performance management. The board of trustees said that, among other factors, the strong focus on the individual, the school culture of openness and inclusiveness, the commitment to consistent quality, staff teamwork, and high expectations of teachers and students, were helping to produce successful Māori students.

5.21
In its most recent report about this provincial city school, ERO said:

Relationships are positive and affirming between students and with teachers. A strong culture of respect and support for others is evident.

5.22
The ERO report also noted positive and trusting relationships with accessible and respected teachers and adults.

5.23
The eight students we spoke with were, overall, a positive and confident group who interacted respectfully with each other. They were thoughtful and articulate. Most of the group were used to hearing and using te reo Māori around the home and showed a positive attitude to themselves as Māori. The students displayed positive attitudes to a wide range of academic subjects, including reading, mathematics, art, science, and physical education, and many had an active interest in sport. There was high awareness of the value of tikanga and te reo Māori. Kapahaka is important to them. They are proud to be Māori in a supportive school environment. Students can readily identify explicitly Māori aspects of classroom programmes.

5.24
In this provincial city school, we see the success of Māori students as an indirect result of Ka Hikitia. The principal told us of several motivational influences to catalyse and drive change and greater focus on Māori achievement at this school. These included a presentation about Te Kotahitanga from the directors of the programme (Mere Berryman and Russell Bishop) and ERO reviews that prompted reflection about improvement. The school engaged strongly with whānau and community, using many techniques and approaches to strengthen relationships with whānau, and is open to having whānau in classrooms. The principal models the expected “outreach” behaviour by taking part in after-school duty at the school gate and talking to whānau. Teachers are expected to telephone students’ homes with positive comments and suggestions before raising any concerns. The way senior managers model commitment to Māori has nurtured teachers’ attitudes and capability. These practical ways of gaining whānau trust and engagement with children’s learning seem to have worked well for this school and for the results that Māori students attain.

5.25
The school staff we spoke with told us that the aims and aspiration of Ka Hikitia were correct but that the Ministry should be more forthright with the sector in focusing on Māori students’ educational success, as they were with National Standards.

5.26
The contributions of academics, a demand from whānau to focus on improvement, and a Māori teacher were all part of the mix that helped teachers to help Māori students to be successful. The principal told us: “You have to take a long-term approach. We’re working gently and carefully.”

Making Māori students’ success important

5.27
One high school in a small Northland town had made a thorough, comprehensive, and long-term effort to focus on and raise the success levels of Māori students through Te Kotahitanga. The principal told us: “Ka Hikitia provides the will but not the way.” Although she did not think Ka Hikitia was practical, she said that Ka Hikitia had provided legitimacy to the school’s focus on Māori students’ success.

5.28
The students we spoke with were well aware of the Te Kotahitanga programme and that it started some years ago. The students showed us, with pride, the performance information that was being used to track their progress. We saw this detailed information posted on the wall of a classroom. The students recounted their experiences at other schools where the teachers did not believe in them the way they felt believed in at this school and where the teaching standards were, as they put it, “slack”. The focus on performance seemed clear to them.

5.29
The students appreciated the high expectations teachers had of them and the effort to make subjects and activities interesting and appealing. One spoke of how the improvement in her grades, after transferring from another school, convinced her parents to send her sister to this new school.

5.30
The students echoed our own experience on entering this school when they told us that the school made them feel welcome. In the words of one student, “I like that an English school involves Māori things, even little things.” Although they suggested that some improvements could be made in the facilities for teaching te reo, all the students said that the school was doing well for Māori students.

Relevance to schools with few Māori students

5.31
A primary school in a well-off part of Auckland has few (only 6%) Māori students. The Māori students who attend this school do as well as the non-Māori students. However, the school has looked at the education it offers and how it can be improved to result in greater success for Māori students.

5.32
The principal showed strong and committed leadership, despite Ka Hikitia being challenging at first for the board of trustees and the school. Even though there are relatively few Māori students, the school has committed to putting Ka Hikitia into effect. The principal had a sense of the importance of understanding Māori and New Zealand history. The school had been involved in the Auckland Council conservation programme, Enviroschools, and was committed to kaitiakitanga (care for the environment).³⁸

5.33
The Ministry contracted a professional learning and development provider to introduce Ka Hikitia to the school. A challenge from teachers at the introductory meeting could have been handled better. However, the provider worked with the school’s senior leaders so that they could gain the staff’s acceptance of, and enthusiasm for, Ka Hikitia and the need to be responsive to Māori. The provider introduced the Ministry’s MGF to the school, which has adopted some MGF principles into its practices.

5.34
To achieve significant changes in this Auckland school, it was important to move slowly to ensure that Ka Hikitia would be sustainable. The school received strong support from Māori whānau in this journey. However, teachers’ views about the case for change vary.

5.35
The main guidance for teachers at this Auckland school comes through school leaders’ modelling commitment to culturally responsive pedagogy, from Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour³⁹, and through a professional learning and development programme and other support for teachers from the specialist teacher in te ao Māori. The principal participates in several formal and informal clusters for principals, but more sharing of professional practice would promote the value of the clusters.

Effect on the target measures of success

5.36
Despite gradual improvement, delaying and inadequately implementing Ka Hikitia has led to negligible progress since 2009.

5.37
In our view, the connections between the goals and targets in Ka Hikitia for the school sector are logical. Ka Hikitia contains 25 targets for measuring success. The targets reflect the main ideas of the goals: participation and achievement. There are an appropriate number of targets to measure performance. There are enough to be comprehensive, but not too many to overload understanding. They are also different enough, the goals are broad enough, and the targets specific enough that there is little danger of the targets becoming an end in themselves, displacing the goals.

5.38
For the 13 targets that are relevant to the school sector and that are reported on the Ministry’s Education Counts website, we observe that overall results are improving slowly.⁴⁰ The Ministry’s evaluation of Ka Hikitia in 2012 concluded that there were gains compared with the 2000-09 period and that all the measures show an improvement trend. However, overall, the Ministry assesses Ka Hikitia as having been “minimally effective to developing effectiveness” in terms of the targets for student outcomes.

5.39
We acknowledge that the Ministry has improved how it measures early childhood participation, school leaver achievement data, and truancy as new systems have provided better data (such as the electronic enrolment management system and increased prevalence of electronic attendance registers in schools). The improved measurement has led to revision of progress and targets. The Ministry has effectively communicated the targets and disclosed relevant information about them although there are minor problems with understanding the information resulting from the target revisions.

5.40
The performance of Ka Hikitia as measured by the Ministry is mixed. This might be the effect of delaying and inadequately putting Ka Hikitia into effect or it could be that Ka Hikitia must be in place longer for the measures to show change. We discussed how Ka Hikitia was introduced in detail in paragraphs 3.7-3.24.

36
Education Review Office (2010), Promoting Success for Māori Students: Schools’ Progress, Wellington, page 9. ERO included several questions about the use of Ka Hikitia (partly for the purposes of this audit) in reviews of schools in Term Four 2012.

37 The changes noted by the Ministry are to move from a partly contestable process for preferred providers to a fully contestable process, and from schools and kura making their own arrangements with providers to schools and kura working with regional Ministry staff to identify needs for professional learning and development.

38 To see more about Enviroschools, see www.enviroschools.org.nz.

39 Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour are experienced teachers trained to support the needs of students whose achievement in learning and behaviour is not being fully realised and to support their school and teacher.

40 See the Ministry’s Education Counts website, www.educationcounts.govt.nz.

Part 6

Future of Ka Hikitia

6.1
In our view, Ka Hikitia is a well-researched and well-regarded initiative that faltered at launch but is now recovering. In this Part, we discuss some of our expectations about the future and ongoing operation of Ka Hikitia.

6.2
Although we make specific recommendations earlier in the report, this Part outlines our views on what could improve the effect of Ka Hikitia. The Part also highlights the importance of collaboration and partnership, which is the subject of the next audit in our series about Māori education.

6.3
We discuss our expectations for:

• stronger leadership, governance, accountability, and practice in the Ministry;

• more coherent Ministry interventions and support;

• more collaboration and sharing of practice between schools and agencies;

• productive engagement between the Ministry and iwi;

• greater whānau engagement and input;

• better use of performance information, and

• better system-level data.

6.4
We make one recommendation in this Part.

Better leadership, governance, accountability, and practice

Strong leadership and accountability mechanisms are needed throughout the Ministry to ensure the ongoing implementation of Ka Hikitia into day-to-day business. Better planning is also needed to communicate and co-ordinate with schools and other education sector agencies.

6.5
The Ministry’s Statement of Intent 2012-2017 contains a clear and explicit emphasis on improving outcomes for Māori learners through “improvements to the system”.⁴¹ In our view, the Ministry will show better leadership of Ka Hikitia by more closely linking the importance of Ka Hikitia to daily business, making quicker decisions about how Ka Hikitia is integrated into the Ministry’s business, and estimating more realistically what it needs to do to put into effect strategies such as Ka Hikitia more effectively. Better accountability supports better leadership and governance. We expect to see:

• clear planning and reporting about how different work is helping to put Ka Hikitia into effect;

• clear accountabilities for carrying out actions associated with Ka Hikitia that have consequences if they are not carried out as planned; and strong procedures to manage risks, including early-warning systems that monitor the overall progress of putting Ka Hikitia into effect.

6.6
We expect to see evidence of good governance of Ka Hikitia, such as clearly defined and assigned leadership responsibilities and monitoring how well managers are integrating Ka Hikitia throughout the Ministry and delivering on their responsibilities.

6.7
Better implementation will require specific implementation and communication plans, more co-ordination with education agencies, and more practical guidance for schools.

Intervening more coherently

The Ministry, education agencies, and schools all bear responsibility for building effective working relationships that will support improvements in the educational outcomes for Māori students. The Ministry could help this by showing how outputs fit together.

6.8
In our view, improving the perceived coherence of Ministry outputs – strategies, policies, programmes, and other initiatives – could improve the relationship between schools and the Ministry. During and after our audit fieldwork, we were told that Government decisions and the way the Ministry has delivered some of them have left schools feeling aggrieved.

6.9
As the lead agency, the Ministry is responsible for building trust as the basis for fruitful discussion towards the common purpose of improving educational outcomes for Māori students. Principals and teachers are responsible for responding in kind and building effective working relationships towards this common purpose.

6.10
It would be helpful for the Ministry to map the connections between outputs to make it clear to schools how those outputs fit together. These outputs include programmes, papers, contact, people, and strategies. The Ministry could show schools how other work benefits Ka Hikitia. For example, guidance could be provided to show how National Standards information can be used to meet the aims of Ka Hikitia. This could add value to both initiatives and show how they work together – rather than at the expense of each other.

More collaboration and sharing of ideas and good practice between schools

Schools could seek opportunities for accessing and sharing resources, and sharing experience and practices that support Māori students’ educational success.

6.11
We encourage schools to seek further opportunities for collaboration and to share ideas and good practice to support their Māori students’ achievement. We also encourage schools to take advantage of useful resources available and to share their experience of working with these resources.

6.12
For 2013, we note that the Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) summary and exemplar information is being provided free to New Zealand teachers and schools by email request. By request, schools can also access the original research behind the BES reports. In our view, the Ministry provides easy access to the knowledge needed to improve Māori students’ achievement.

6.13
Since 1998, the Ministry has provided an online system called Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) – the online “knowledge basket”. Under TKI, there are several links, including the Te Mangōroa website, which provides resources and sharing of information to specifically support Māori student outcomes and Ka Hikitia.⁴² There is evidence of some sharing of information through the online postings and discussions. We encourage schools to use this website for discussion and as a portal for cross-agency information and resources to support Māori student outcomes.

6.14
The Virtual Learning Network service provided by the Ministry also facilitates finding, sharing, and using evidence. There is a specific discussion entitled “Māori enjoying educational success as Māori”. The network is promoted by the Ministry as an adjunct to the Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand, with additional features and benefits. The new “Network for Learning” broadband initiative may provide such a service, but the content has not yet been finalised.⁴³

6.15
As indicators of better collaboration and sharing of ideas, we would expect to see:

• improved use of the Te Mangōroa and the Virtual Learning Network (or whatever technology may replace the network); and

• the Ministry and the school sector working together to ensure that the online resources are appealing and relevant to New Zealand schools.

More direct communicating with and input from iwi and whānau

Crown-iwi partnerships provide a good basis for increasing and improved engagement between iwi, schools, and education agencies.

6.16
The Ministry has made good progress with developing partnerships (whakapūmautia) with iwi groups. These Crown-iwi partnerships provide an important opportunity to support iwi to prepare education plans that reflect iwi aspirations and goals, and to build their capacity and the capacity of education providers to achieve them.

6.17
With the introduction of the Ministry’s guidelines for conducting education relationships with iwi, Whakapūmautia, Papakōwhaitia, Tau Ana (Grasp, Embrace, Realise), we expect to see a deepening level of productive engagement between iwi, schools, and education agencies. Better engagement should lead to increased collaboration focused on collective efforts to improve education outcomes for Māori students.

Analysing performance information better

Performance information at every level in the education sector needs to be used well to make changes to benefit Māori educational success.

6.18
An effective education system will learn from performance and use that information to make changes. We expect to see an education system that collects, analyses, and shares data and information to increase Māori student success. Most of all, we expect to see data and information used regularly to change teaching practices.

6.19
We expect those who put into effect any strategy to use performance data to make decisions and guide change, as long as the data is reliable and fit for the purpose intended. It is encouraging that this message was included in Ka Hikitia and communicated to educators.

6.20
The evidence we collected shows that educators are using some performance information. Using performance information is part of other nationwide strategies, such as National Standards, that have been put into effect at the same time as Ka Hikitia. Our survey evidence indicates that Ka Hikitia has been an important influence as well.

6.21
Overall, schools have increased their use of performance information. However, further improvement is needed. Many schools, once they have analysed their data, do not use it to change their practices. In mathematics, for example, ERO estimates that only 9% of schools are effective at collecting, analysing, and using information, 57% are partially effective, and 31% are minimally effective. In our view, performance information extends beyond achievement data to include information about participation and completion.

Improving the quality of data

Useful data is available but not readily accessible and it could be used better.

6.22
The education sector: No actions associated with Ka Hikitia are aimed at improving data quality or data use by agencies. We would like to see the Ministry co-ordinate a plan that shows how each of all the education agencies can improve the quality and provision of data to support each other and schools and other education providers to achieve the goals of Ka Hikitia.⁴⁴ This is not the same as monitoring the effect of Ka Hikitia. However, it is about providing information that is related to achieving the goals of Ka Hikitia. For example, there is the potential for ERO to provide data about the effect of the Paetawhiti reviews on Māori students’ achievement.

6.23
The Ministry and education agencies: We would like to see more timely data available from the Ministry about Māori students’ participation, engagement, and achievement. We understand that schools have been reducing the error rates in data returns and that more returns are on time. We would like to see more longitudinal data analysis available to the education sector so that it can understand the progress of Māori students. Sometimes, cross-sectional or snap-shot views can be misleading.

6.24
Ministry: We support the Ministry’s using performance monitoring and publicly showing the progress of Ka Hikitia. We also support the Ministry’s using evaluation to work out whether the education system’s performance had improved after putting Ka Hikitia into effect. Evaluations and other types of research can provide a variety of quantitative and qualitative performance data that is as important as statistical reporting. We also acknowledge the ongoing development and use of the MGF in the evaluation. This use helps to demonstrate the confidence the Ministry has in the MGF and how to apply it. However, the MGF should have been completed and available to other agencies and schools much sooner, so they could make comparable assessments of how far Ka Hikitia had progressed.

6.25
Education sector and iwi/whānau: Much publicly available performance information is available from the Ministry, ERO, and NZQA. Some data has been provided to the Government’s open data portal.⁴⁵ Some links from the portal go to another referral page and searching must start again. We would like to see an index of the available performance information for Māori students from all education agencies that would show whānau and iwi what is available and the relationship between data sets.

6.26
Schools: An action in Ka Hikitia is related to providing schools with resources to increase their capability to analyse and use student attendance data to strengthen student engagement practices. The Ministry certifies student management systems that interface correctly with the Ministry’s National Student Index and the Electronic Single Data Return systems and that meet other technical requirements.

6.27
However, the Ministry considers that assessing usability and performance is outside the scope of the certification programme. We encourage the Ministry and ERO to find ways to evaluate the performance of certified student management systems so that schools can procure systems that support appropriate data analysis that can lead to more successful outcomes for Māori students.

Māori students are an important source of information.

6.28
Students: Māori students and their educational success are the focus of Ka Hikitia. As we heard in many of our interviews with students, success for many Māori students rests on the strength of the integration of their identity, language, and culture in their learning context. Students related, on the whole, positive experiences of this, but the data shows that not enough Māori students are sharing in this experience. It is important that the authentic voices of Māori students continue to be heard. In our view, the Ministry, schools, and other education agencies should gather this important source of information in a shared, systemic way, with regard to respect and care for the students, to inform system practices and improvement.

Recommendation 5

We recommend that all public entities involved in the delivery of education engage and consult Māori students, in ways that are respectful and safe for the students, to ensure that the experiences and opinions of Māori students contribute to improving the education they receive.

41 Ministry of Education, Statement of Intent 2012-2017, available at www.minedu.govt.nz.

42 The Te Mangōroa website is available at http://temangoroa.tki.org.nz.

43 See the “Education initiatives” section of the Ministry’s website, www.minedu.govt.nz.

44 This includes research institutions and other entities providing professional learning and development, Māori education organisations providing services to schools, and other government sector agencies offering education programmes in schools.

45 The data portal is available at https://data.govt.nz.

Appendix

The survey questions we asked schools

1. How did you first hear about Ka Hikitia − Managing for Success (Ka Hikitia)?

2. How familiar with Ka Hikitia are you now?

3. How useful to understanding the strategy were the following sources of information?

4. Did you respond to the strategy by seeking out and using professional learning and development or other resources?

5. Which specific resources or professional development did you seek out and use?

6. Did you respond in any of the following ways to Ka Hikitia?

7. If you used any of the support from the Ministry listed below to implement the Ka Hikitia strategy, please indicate how effective it was by using the rating scale. If you did not use a support, just indicate “Did not use”.

TKI websites, e.g. Te Mangōroa

Direct support from regional Ministry staff

Direct support from national office Ministry staff

New Zealand Curriculum – Te Marautanga o Aotearoa

Advice about how to implement the strategy or improve outcomes for Māori learners

Printed information about the strategy

Professional learning clusters, e.g. Virtual Learning Network

Advice about where to access information, tools, resources, or further support

Webinars about Ka Hikitia

Answers to specific questions about the strategy

Statistical information or advice about Māori learner outcomes

Research or evaluation evidence about Māori learner outcomes

None of these

8. Has Ka Hikitia led to changes in your school?

9. From the list below what has changed about teachers and teaching practice and in what way over the last four years?

10. From the list below what has changed about Māori learners and their parents, families, whānau and iwi and in what way over the last four years?

11. From the list below what other things have changed in your school and in what way over the last four years?

12. On the whole how important are Ka Hikitia and its aims?

13. What would sustain the strategy in action?

14. Are you aware of the consultation to ‘refresh’ the Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success strategy?

15. Do you have any other comments about the Ka Hikitia strategy?

Source: Ministry of Education directory of schools, as at 1 July 2012.