A Study of Mathematics Achievement in a Kura Kaupapa Maori

Abstract

Instruction in Maori has once again become a viable educational option for children in Aotearoa/New Zealand since the establishment of the first kura kaupapa Maori in 1985. The number of Maori immersion schools has now increased to twenty-eight. This study considers the effect of instruction in Maori on the mathematics proficiency of Standard Four children in a kura kaupapa Maori. A comparison is made between a group of children who were instructed in Maori and a group of children from a neighbouring school who were instructed in English. A mathematics test based on the curriculum used in both schools was designed and administered to both groups. Two parallel forms of the test were developed with one in Maori and the other in English. The children at the kura kaupapa Maori were tested in Maori and in English, a language in which they had not been taught mathematics. The results from the mathematics tests showed that the children at the kura kaupapa Maori outperformed their English-instructed peers in both versions of the test. The Standard Progressive Matrices was administered at the two schools in order to test the non-verbal mental ability of both groups. These results showed that the children at the kura kaupapa Maori scored less well than the children at the comparison school. The analysis of the results from the mathematics tests and the test of non-verbal mental ability would suggest that the mathematics programme at the kura kaupapa Maori was particularly effective in catering to the needs of lower ability children. At the same time, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the children from the kura kaupapa Maori were at no disadvantage through being instructed in Maori, while developing competency in two languages. Their ability to transfer linguistic skills from Maori to English was also apparent. Other data were gathered from a questionnaire to the families of both groups of children, from school records and from interviews with teachers, parents and pupils at the kura kaupapa Maori. This information was used to supplement the results of the tests in order to understand the inguistic influences to which the Maori-instructed children were exposed. The children at the kura kaupapa Maori benefited from greater exposure to the Maori language outside school and they tended to come from family backgrounds that fully supported the essential ethos of the school.