Bev Webber

In this final issue of set for 2005 we are pleased to bring you an additional feature, “What’s New With the ARBs”. This will appear regularly. Along with “Assessment News”, readers will now have ongoing updates on current issues, new resources and research aimed at supporting classroom teachers design programmes that maximise learning.

This first issue of set: Research Information for Teachers 2006 begins what will be a stimulating series for the year. We are fortunate to have writers who bring leading-edge research to our attention and so enable us to pass on to you evidence-based information on issues of emerging importance. Last year we brought you topical research on text bullying and later this year we will bring you so far unpublished research on a key health issue for schools—hand hygiene. Look for this in issue No.2, due out in the middle of the year.

This issue of set comes at an exciting time in education as the draft national curriculum, incorporating the proposed key competencies, has just been released for public discussion.

This year we have provided you with a wide range of evidence-based topics, across sectors and across many of the key areas that are of concern and relevance to educators. We like to think that, at times, we have surprised you, challenged you, and affirmed you in your practice. The “thinking pieces” in He Whakaaro Anō have been thought-provoking and asked searching questions: “Who should decide curriculum?”; “What’s wrong with school improvement?”; and, in this issue, “Does numeracy = mathematics?” Food for thought here for several staff discussions!

As we bring you this first issue of set for 2007, a number of key issues for education have already emerged and as the year goes on we will bring you both research and informed comment on these and other issues.

Set: Research Information for Teachers is constantly evolving as we bring you articles that address contemporary issues in education and touch on the areas that concern you. We are committed to making new research accessible to you. This commitment is shared by our authors who see set as one of their key means of making their findings available to teachers.

In this, the final of issue of set for 2007 we bring you a rich variety of articles that highlight both some key issues in education and the changing environment that we work in.

As this issue goes to press, the new national curriculum has recently been launched. To mark the significance of this we bring you an expanded “He Whakaaro Anō” section. There are three thought-provoking pieces that raise some possible implications for both students and teachers.

We are pleased to bring you the first issue of what we hope will be another source of stimulating research reading during 2008. Wherever there’s good research we’ll find it (with apologies to TVNZ) and bring it to you. Our aim is to keep at the leading edge of developments in education. In the final issue for 2007 we led the way with three commentaries on the new curriculum and we will keep this focus in 2008.

This issue brings you a diverse range of articles related to the new curriculum. We began this focus in issue No. 3 in 2007 with a number of commentaries. This time we can provide insights from emerging research on implementation.

This has been an excellent year for set: Research Information for Teachers. We have received positive feedback from our readers; researchers have provided us, often unsolicited, worthwhile and thought-provoking items for publication; and our reviewers have ensured that the usual high quality of articles has been maintained.