The Competent Children Competent Learners study has tracked around 500 children in the Wellington region from just before they started school, to age 20.
The latest findings are based on how these young people got on with NCEA and include:
- More than half those with low performance at age 8 went on to gain NCEA Level 2 or Level 3. That means that children’s support from teachers and parents, the learning opportunities they had in and out of school and their interactions with teachers, parents and peers, enabled them to make real progress.
- Those who gained NCEA Level 2 did not necessarily have higher levels of mathematics, reading, writing or logical problem solving at age 14 than those whose highest qualification was NCEA Level 1, or who did not gain any qualification. But they did have higher levels of perseverance, communication, social skills, curiosity and self-management.
- The period from age 10 to age 14 appears to be a time when it is particularly important for teachers and parents to watch for signs that children are turning away from school and learning. This applies as much to high performers at school as low performers. It was clear how deeply memories of school at this time can colour later attitudes to learning.
Read more about the report here
Listen to Dr Cathy Wylie talking about Perseverance, curiosity key to NCEA success on National Radio here
And to an earlier interview here
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