New Zealand's National Education Monitoring Project: Maori Student Achievement, 1995-1998.

The National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP) conducts annual surveys of the achievement of grade 4 and grade 8 students in the New Zealand education system. This paper compares the 1995-98 results for Maori and non-Maori students. Results in 15 curriculum areas are compared for Maori versus non-Maori students using the total sample and using a sample of Maori students who attended schools in which enrollment was 10-30 percent Maori. The restricted sample avoids the confounding influence of low socioeconomic status found in schools with high Maori enrollment. Overall, Maori students performed less well than their non-Maori counterparts in most curriculum areas, but there was considerable variation in comparative performance across the 15 curriculum areas, together with some substantial changes between grade 4 and grade 8. In addition, the results show that ethnicity and socioeconomic status are seriously confounded in the overall sample, since the relative achievement of Maori students is considerably higher in the restricted sample, with deficits in fewer curriculum areas. The patterns of achievement differences between girls and boys at both grade levels were very similar for Maori and non-Maori students. Suggested explanations for achievement differences between Maori and non-Maori students have included differences in innate abilities, preschool experiences, in-school experiences, and home and community support for learning. NEMP results provide support for all these explanations except innate abilities. (Contains 10 data tables.) (SV)