National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement Report 10.2: Dance 2015 – Key Findings

In 2015, the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA) assessed student achievement at Year 4 and Year 8 in three areas of the New Zealand Curriculum1 (NZC) – the arts, English: listening and English: viewing. This report presents the key findings for dance as one of the four disciplines described in the arts learning area. As well as reporting students’ achievement in and attitudes towards dance, this report provides teachers’ and principals’ perspectives on teaching and learning within dance. The report accompanies five other reports2 that present results and technical information related to
the NMSSA study of the arts. For an overview of findings in the arts learning area, including comparisons of findings across the arts disciplines, readers are directed towards the report, The Arts 2015 – Key Findings.
Unlike music and visual arts, dance was not monitored previously by the National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP). This is the first time that student achievement in the discipline of dance at Year 4 and Year 8 has been assessed at a national level in New Zealand schools. The findings of the report represent an important baseline to build on.