Te Aromatawai

The Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga is developing a Student Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting Tool (SMART) to provide clear and consistent information about how mokopuna are progressing in pānui, tuhituhi, and pāngarau from Years 3–10. Developing this tool involves more than creating assessment items. It requires exploring alternative ways of understanding and measuring progress grounded in kaupapa Māori perspectives and aligned with Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. The work must also be delivered within ambitious development timeframes while ensuring assessments are culturally grounded, valid, and suitable for national implementation.

Working alongside our partners Kia Ata Mai, Te Hua Kawariki, Boundream, Gray & Gray Associates, He Kupenga Hao i te Reo, Waikato University, and Auckland University, we are supporting the development of a culturally grounded model of aromatawai for national implementation.
The model will reflect key principles of aromatawai, including ako as the foundation for assessment, aromatawai that is authentic and ethical, and assessment approaches that support the development of a Māori mind, while recognising te reo Māori as a taonga that strengthens learning, identity, and confidence.
Our contribution focuses on designing and testing the assessment components that will underpin that national tool. This includes:

• Developing a nationally applicable model of aromatawai
• Designing assessment items in te reo Māori for pānui, tuhituhi, and pāngarau
• Creating year-level assessments for students from Years 3–10
• Partnering with kaiako and subject specialists to co-develop and trial items
• Analysing trial data to refine items for inclusion in the national tool.
  

The process will be iterative and evolving to ensure we are responsive to the needs of the sector. Working collaboratively means that the resulting assessments will be educationally robust, culturally meaningful, and valuable to kaiako, whānau, and mokopuna.

The project will contribute to the development of a national aromatawai tool that supports kura and bilingual education settings to better understand student learning and progress. By grounding the assessment framework in kaupapa Māori principles, the tool provides a culturally aligned approach to measuring progress while supporting kaiako to make informed teaching decisions.

The tool will support consistent, meaningful assessment across Māori-medium education settings nationwide.