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Everyone is familiar with the term ‘monopoly’. It gets used a lot, often inappropriately. Read more
Dr Michael Johnson talked to the Wallace Chapman, Ali Jones and Simon Pound on RNZ's The Panel about the educational reasoning behind focusing on English phonics for beginning readers. He explained that teaching consistent spelling-to-sound mappings first, before introducing irregular words including te reo Māori terms, helps young children build reading confidence through mastering fundamental phonetic rules. Read more
Last week a new educational controversy broke in the media. Headlines accused Education Minister Erica Stanford of ‘banning’ Māori words from primary school reading books. Read more
‘Every five years or so, I crunch the numbers on college grades across the US and report what I’ve found,’ writes Stuart Rojstaczer modestly on his website. What Rojstaczer, a former professor, has found is that grades are going up, and have been going up for quite some time. Read more
On Monday morning, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced that the NCEA assessment and qualification system will be replaced. In 2028, a foundational award in literacy and numeracy will replace NCEA Level 1. Read more
Ever since its progressive implementation between 2002 and 2004, NCEA has been under nearly constant revision. Its first major crisis came in 2005. Read more
Wellington (Monday, 4 August 2025) – The New Zealand Initiative welcomes the Government’s announcement to replace NCEA with a more rigorous qualification system, marking a crucial turning point for New Zealand education. The proposed reforms – including compulsory English and Mathematics at Year 11, structured subject requirements and clearer A-E grading – directly address the fundamental flaws The New Zealand Initiative has identified through years of research. Read more
On his show on Newstalk ZB, John MacDonald discussed the New Zealand Qualifications Authority's report on NCEA's limitations in preparing students for career pathways, specifically highlighting the system's over-emphasis on university education. He referenced Dr Michael Johnston's research that 44% of school leavers aren't enrolled in tertiary education and only 6% end up in work-based training. Read more
Dr Michael Johnston talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about the controversial treaty clause in education legislation. Dr Johnston defended Education Minister Erica Stanford's approach, arguing that her retention of the treaty clause is a tactical political move while prioritising educational achievement, and suggesting that removing the clause would unnecessarily create additional conflict in the education sector. Read more
John MacDonald discussed Dr Michael Johnston's report on Newstalk ZB, revisiting The New Zealand Initiative's research on modern learning environments. Dr Johnston's report, originally published in 2022, exposed the Ministry of Education's practice of mandating large open-plan classrooms without conducting proper evaluations of their educational effectiveness. Read more