The Gender-Ethnic Divide: Mathematics and English Progress of Pakeha, Māori, and Pasifika Students.

This paper presents data on the progress of Pakeha, Māori, and Pasifika students in English and mathematics in 82 New Zealand secondary schools (Years 9 to 11). To assess progress, a baseline assessment was administered to 13,000+ Year 9 students in 2002. These data were later compared to the students' 2004 National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results. In English, Pakeha girls in the middle and upper achievement quartiles are making the greatest progress: Māori boys the least. In the lowest quartile, Pasifika girls are making the greatest progress. In mathematics, the picture is more complex, with Pakeha boys and girls slightly in front in the top three achievement quartiles. In the bottom quartile, all ethnic groups make similar degrees of progress. The research data suggests that Māori and Pasifika boys make slower progress in New Zealand secondary schools than their female counterparts (in all except the lowest ability category), however further research is needed to account for contextual factors not included in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]