Mary Chamberlain (Chair)

Mary is a Director of Evaluation Associates, a member of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority board, and a respected education consultant. Ms Chamberlain has led the development of key educational initiatives within the Ministry of Education, for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and throughout the sector. Her leadership during the development of The New Zealand Curriculum, as well as National Standards for literacy and mathematics, positions Ms Chamberlain to provide critical insights into the development of a new approach to curriculum, progress, and achievement.

Charles Darr

Charles is a senior researcher and manager of the Assessment, Design, and Reporting team at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. Mr Darr led the project team that developed the Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool and the psychometric programme that supported the development of the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT). His content knowledge will help inform the development of a robust progress approach. Mr Darr is also on the NCEA Ministerial Advisory Group.

Laura Hawksworth

Laura is the Principal of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tōku Māpihi Maurea. She is a leading tumuaki in Māori-medium education and has successfully lead Tōku Māphi Maurea for a significant period of time. Ms Hawksworth contributed to the development of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and is a lead practitioner in the use of Te Waharoa Ararau (the Māori-medium equivalent of the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT)) and, in particular, in pāngaru (mathematics).

Professor Margie Hohepa

Until recently, Margie was the Associate Dean, Māori of the Faculty of Education at the University of Waikato, where she still supervises Masters and Doctoral students. She is also involved in consultancy work in Māori education. Professor Hohepa has taught in primary school and kōhanga reo settings. Recent research projects have focused on Māori-medium initial teacher education and on kōhanga-kura transitions. Professor Hohepa is also on the Early Learning Ministerial Advisory Group. Her iwi affiliations are Te Māhurehure of Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu, and Te Ātiawa.

Sonia Johnston

Sonia is the Principal of Roscommon School and is an Executive member of the Graduate Diploma in Teaching English in Schools to Speakers of Other Languages programme at Auckland University, President of Manurewa Principals’ Association, and an active member of the New Zealand Pasifika Principals’ Association (NZPPA). Ms Johnston has also presented on the topics of Pacific People's education and bilingual education. 

Rangimarie Mahuta

Rangimarie is a longstanding lead practitioner at Te Wharekura O Rakaumanga School. In her kura, she leads work in understanding progress and achievement across the kura from years 1–13. Ms Mahuta has contributed to the development of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and NCEA qualification design, development and implementation; and is highly respected by her community and her colleagues within the Māori-medium sector. Because of this, Ms Mahuta is often asked to consider how our education system should be more considerate of local knowledge and stories, and how these should be incorporated into school and local curriculum development and implementation.

Sarah Martin

Sarah is the Foundation Principal of Stonefields School in Auckland. Ms Martin has taught in several schools and held various senior leadership positions. Her facilitation work includes the Numeracy Project and curriculum exemplar development. Ms Martin’s practice focuses on the integration of inquiry learning, e-learning, future school environments, competencies, and teacher effectiveness.

Hineihaea Murphy

Hineihaea is a Director of Haemata Limited and has been involved in, and led, the development of several national Māori-medium curriculum and assessment initiatives. Her understandings and experience come from having worked in a range of roles with kaiako and tumuaki in both Māori-medium and English-medium settings from primary through to senior secondary. Ms Murphy affiliates to Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Apa and Ngāi Tahu. 

Liam Rutherford

Liam is a teacher at Ross Intermediate School. He has been involved with a number of projects including the introduction of 1:1 devices. Mr Rutherford has an interest in Internet-based classrooms, personalising learning, student activism, and real-life learning. He is an active member of the Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko (Curriculum) Change and Enablement working group and the National Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko curriculum implementation professional learning and development allocation panel. Mr Rutherford is Vice President of NZEI Te Riu Roa.

Associate Professor Claire Sinnema

Claire is an Associate Professor at The Faculty of Education and Social Work at The University of Auckland. She has carried out multiple national evaluations, including of the implementation of New Zealand’s National Curriculum (2010), and of the Teacher-Led Innovation Fund (2017). Associate Professor Sinnema has served on numerous reference, advisory and expert groups for national education bodies and has carried out research and development related to education initiatives in New Zealand, South Australia, Wales, Croatia, and Norway.

Distinguished Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith

Graham is a renowned Māori educationalist. He is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori at Massey University. His iwi are Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kai Tahu, and Ngāti Porou. Professor Smith has been the CEO and Vice Chancellor of Te Whare Wānanga O Awanuiārangi: Indigenous University.

Professor Jeff Smith

Jeff is Professor and Associate Dean (Research) in the College of Education at the University of Otago. For 29 years, he was on the faculty of Rutgers University, serving as professor and chair of the Department of Educational Psychology. Professor Smith has written or edited eight books on educational assessment and statistics, the psychology of aesthetics, and educational psychology. He has published more than 70 research articles and reviews in the field of education, also founding and co-editing a journal, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

Diane Whyte

Diane is the Principal of Fairhaven (Specialist) School in Hawke’s Bay, an educationally inclusive school that caters to ākonga from a range of cultural backgrounds and with diverse needs. Ms Whyte is the Central Region Representative and Treasurer of the Special Education Principals’ Association NZ (SEPANZ) and has previously been the Principal of Maitai Special School in Nelson.