This group of five studies reports on aspects of the AUSAD initiative in Mangere and Otara that is designed to improve the capacity of the schools to analyse, share and learn from their student achievement information. The Mangere and Otara schools have a predominantly Pasifika school population. In Mangere the schools comprise 64.6% Pasifika students, 23.9% Māori, 7.1% Asian, 2.7% are European, and 1.6% other nationalities. In Otara, 71.5% of the students are Pasifika, 23.8% are Māori, 3.1% are Asian, and 1.3% are European. The studies have been designed to focus on different aspects of the initiative. The first three studies have a teaching and leadership focus and report on the following:
- The professional learning processes and resulting student achievement associated with analyzing achievement information;
- The classroom time involved in collecting some assessment data and the uses to which they are put;
- The impact of assessment information on teaching practice in writing.
The final two studies focus on the community and school interface and examine issues related to parents' and boards of trustees' relationships with the teaching professionals and include:
- Reporting to parents in Māori bilingual units;
- Governance understandings of their accountability role in relation to student achievement.