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Inclusive education has long been implemented in regular educational settings in many jurisdictions including New Zealand (NZ). Since many children with special educational needs (CSEN) are not identifiable in a family environment, to ensure all CSEN are supported in a timely manner, early identification should be an integral component of the inclusive curriculum. Adopting focused ethnography, this study investigated how CSEN were identified within the mandated national curriculum framework in a regular early childhood setting in NZ. The data analysis revealed: (1) A common belief about the importance of early identification was shared by the parents and teachers; (2) A three-step (noticing, assessing, referring, NAR) process of early identification was implemented; (3) The implementation of the NAR process was in compliance with the four principles of NZ's national curriculum framework. The implication of the early identification process was discussed.

This paper discusses the emergence of assessment for learning (AfL) across the globe with particular attention given to Western educational jurisdictions. Authors from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, and the USA explain the genesis of AfL, its evolution and impact on school systems, and discuss current trends in policy directions for AfL within their respective countries. The authors also discuss the implications of these various shifts and the ongoing tensions that exist between AfL and summative forms of assessment within national policy initiatives.

This paper describes the potential use of a mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) crossword puzzle system to promote interaction through learning activities in a large classroom environment. While personal response systems (PRS) have been used in the classroom environment to foster interaction, it is not an ideal tool with respect to cost and functionality. These limitations prompted the need for an alternative solution. An SMS crossword puzzle system was thus devised. The system consists of two parts: modem software to interface with mobile phones and a database application to generate puzzles, track users' input, and display an updated puzzle view. A pilot evaluation was conducted with three main objectives in mind. Firstly, the evaluation intended to determine the motivational potential of the puzzle by assessing the significance of the factors that comprise the constructs of learner motivation. Secondly, the evaluation intended to identify any differences in motivational factors between a first and a third year class. Finally, the evaluation intended to assess the potential of behavioral intention to use/play the SMS crossword puzzle in the future. The pilot evaluation also sought to identify areas for improvement and to prepare for future full scale evaluation of the SMS crossword puzzle system. The SMS crossword puzzle was used in two undergraduate information systems classes: a first year foundation course class and a third year elective course class. Each class had a separate puzzle to play with a different set of clues. In the subsequent evaluation, participants of Group 1 consist of 10 students from the first year class, and participants of Group 2 consist of 15 students from the third year class. The instrument used in the evaluation was a survey adopted from Keller's (1987) studies on motivation theory. Using a 5-point Likert scale, the items covered the motivation factors of attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction. A single item construct was used to assess the behavioral intention to use. The findings show that students from the first year class found the SMS crossword puzzle much more interesting (attention factor) than students from the third year class, while the third year class found the puzzle neither easy nor difficult to play (confidence factor). With regard to the other components of the motivational factors, no significant difference between the two groups was found. Overall the mean scores were significantly above the mean scale score (greater than 3). Both groups showed significant interest in playing the game in the future, signaling the possibility of adoption. The evaluation also identified SMS latency as being an issue in deploying SMS for near real-time interactive activities. However, the issue can be resolved with distributed architecture and collaboration with a telecom operator or by deploying normalizing strategies to overcome the bottleneck. Finally, the SMS crossword puzzle should be treated as part of a unified service of deploying SMS technology in an educational environment for services such as voting, quizzes, discussion forums, notification of due dates of assignments, examination results, and library services. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

Outlines the policy context of New Zealand early childhood program evaluation and quality. Presents ethnographic research findings on key elements of program quality in relation to New Zealand National Early Childhood Curriculum; findings provide basis for self-evaluation framework through use of Teaching Stories as a focus for reflection and appraisal. The process incorporates five curriculum-related questions from children's perspective. (Author/KB)