Evaluation Associates announces the release of a research paper titled School-led-learning at home: Voices of parents of Māori and Pasifika students. This paper reports on the results of a survey that sought the views of parents of Māori and Pasifika students on their
experiences of the first week of school-led learning at home due to COVID-19.
134 parents responded to the survey. These parents represented at least 105 primary and 79 secondary students from
throughout New Zealand in English and Māori medium settings. Their perspectives are shared in the hope that they might
help schools provide equitable programmes whilst the restrictions on attending school in-person remain. But, perhaps
even more importantly, the parent voices provide insights that could help refocus education in the longer term.
The intent is to seize the opportunity afforded by the current disruption, to work more closely with parents and whānau
to rethink how public education can best be provided to meet the needs and aspirations of all New Zealanders.
Within the paper are sets of questions that have been developed for reflection and planning that can be used by
teachers, kura/schools, and education decision makers. It is the belief of the company that these will support enhanced
design, delivery, and home-school partnership with Māori and Pasifika parents.
“Our hope is that by sharing the voices of parents of Pasifika and Māori children, this paper might be a small step on
the journey towards developing an education system that better meets the needs of all students”, said Dr Melanie
Riwai-Couch, the lead author of this research paper and Kaihautū Māori at Evaluation Associates.
About Evaluation Associates Ltd.
Evaluation Associates is an educational consultancy, providing specialised services to the education sector for more
than 20 years. Evaluation Associates is firmly committed to raising achievement of ākonga and reducing disparity.
We are evidence driven and support all involved in learning partnerships – learners, educators, whānau, and education
sector as a whole – to consistently and methodically review the impact our collective actions have on learning in
Aotearoa. We specialise in providing professional learning, leadership support, assessment services, and evaluation to
the education sector.
Website: www.evaluate.co.nz.