NCEA… The Facts NZQA New Zealand Qualifications Authority Mana Tohu Matauranga O Aotearoa NCEA: The Facts 1.
2.
The development of NCEA 3.
How does NCEA’s standards-­‐based system challenge, motivate and reward students? 4.
Credits and the NCEA 5.
New Zealand Scholarship challenges and rewards Level 3 students 6.
NCEA provides flexibility so that the needs of all students can be met 7.
Internal and external assessment in NCEA 8.
Why are some achievement standards externally assessed, and some internally assessed 9.
Are there gender differences in achievement rates? 10.
How does NZQA make sure internal assessment is fair and consistent across the country? 11.
How well does NCEA prepare students for university study 12.
How are NCEA results recognized overseas? NCEA and education in New Zealand U ND
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The development of NCEA
Introduction
National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) were
introduced as New Zealand’s main secondary school qualifications
between 2002 and 2004.They grew out of a long-term intention to
establish standards for national qualifications and recognise a wider range
of skills and knowledge. A new set of qualifications was needed to reflect
the more flexible learning environments in our schools.
NCEA was designed to challenge all students, including the most able
and highly motivated. It was also designed to give schools the flexibility
to develop a range of programmes to suit the specific needs of their
students.
NCEA has been reviewed and refined since its initial implementation
in 2002. NCEA results now show a rich and accurate picture of a
students’ skills and knowledge.
Transparency
In NCEA, New Zealand has one of the most open and transparent
school qualifications systems in the world:
• Students, teachers, parents, employers and tertiary providers have
access to all NCEA assessment information.
• New Zealand is the only country in the world that returns all marked
examination papers to candidates. Candidates can review their
marked work and, if they wish, apply for a review or reconsideration
of their results.
• National statistics from internal and external assessments, including
qualifications completed and school by school comparisons, are
published annually on the NZQA website and analysed in an annual
report (view Annual Report on NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship
Data and Statistics (2010)).
• Reports on the quality of internal assessment at every school
are published on the NZQA website. These are called ‘Managing
National Assessment’ reports.
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The learning
experience
NCEA is hugely challenging for
students.To achieve Excellence is far
more demanding than a high mark was
in the previous exam system. But the
good thing is NCEA is utterly transparent
– everyone knows what you have to do to
get good grades.
Julia Davidson, Principal of Wellington Girls’ College
and Chair of New Zealand Principals’ Council
Less able students who would lack
motivation if they were only assessed in
a one off external exam, such as School
Certificate, are engaged with NCEA as
it provides opportunities to be assessed
throughout the year.
Principal, Lincoln High School
The NCEA has been designed as
a unique New Zealand Qualification
System which meets well the diverse
learning needs of students.
It is academically robust, internationally
recognised and equips students for
tertiary study and the world of work.
Patrick Walsh, President of the Secondary Principals’
Association of New Zealand (SPANZ)
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Transparency CONT.
• The standards that teachers and examination
markers use to assess student work are
publicly available on the NZQA website
(search NCEA standards). Additional material
is published for each achievement standard to
help everyone understand the standards and
the levels of student performance required
to meet them.
• For internally assessed standards, examples
of student work that meet the standards,
for all grades along with commentary from
moderators are available on the NZQA
website. Pre-approved assessment tasks are
also available online.
• For externally assessed standards,
examination papers, marking schedules and
samples of marked examination scripts from
previous years are available on the NZQA
website.
(View NCEA subject resource page to access all internal
and external resources for each subject).
Comments from the sector
One of the more exciting developments in New Zealand has been the introduction of the NCEA.
This method, despite its many hiccups in implementation, is fundamentally sound and a model for
many other countries.
Notwithstanding all the details, the major reform related to identifying many standards within a
subject, asking students and teachers to make or choose a mix of internal and external assessments,
grading on a criterion or standards-based scoring rubric, and accumulating successes over a variety
of experiences during the last three years of high school.
This is contrary to the former method which was studying for the last years, and then having a one-shot
on one-day at one-examination and accumulating results across subjects (with or without “scaling”).
Professor John Hattie, 2009, The Black Box of Tertiary Assessment: An Impending Revolution, University of Auckland.
Learners are entitled to know in advance what they have to achieve to gain a qualification.
That is absolutely basic, but that’s not how it works in traditional course-based qualifications systems that
produce a single mark or grade. In a standards based system, learners can see exactly what they have to
do to succeed. The transparency of NCEA is central to its positive impact on teaching and learning.
Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke. Senior Fellow, New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.
Formerly Head of the School of Government and Professor of Economic History, Victoria University of Wellington.
One of the major features of the implementation of the new (NCEA) system has been the
transparency in the results, such that many of the problems of comparability, measurement,
equivalence, and especially performance of sub-groups of students are well-known and debated.
While this has led to the use of this transparency to criticise the new system, it has also led to healthy
debates about social equity, and there is no doubt that the problem will not go away by ignoring the
problem (as was so often the case in less transparent systems).
Shulruf, Hattie & Tumen, 2009 New Zealand’s standard-based assessment for secondary schools (NCEA): Implications for
policy makers. University of Auckland.
It’s a chance for a young person to show their competency in whatever they are competent at.
Business New Zealand Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly, Dominion Post, 17 January 2011.
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NCEA
NCEA and education in New Zealand
Introduction
The New Zealand education system is acknowledged internationally as
a high performing system. The New Zealand Curriculum is recognised
overseas as a broad and enabling framework - and the NCEA is
recognised as a flexible qualification designed to acknowledge diverse
student achievement across a wide range of contexts and for a wide
range of purposes.
The New Zealand Curriculum
The New Zealand Curriculum focuses on learning by inquiry, critical
thinking, problem solving and processing information. Rote learning
is no longer sufficient. School leavers should be able to transfer and
adapt their knowledge and skills in international settings.
International benchmarking tells us that the New Zealand Curriculum
and our approaches to teaching, learning and educational assessment
are working:
Of the 65 countries and economies participating in the 2009
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA),
New Zealand’s 15-year-old students were ranked fourth out of 34
OECD countries on the overall reading scale. New Zealand also
performed well above average on mathematics and science scales
(view 2009 PISA results).
In 2006, 77% of adults (between 25 and 64) had secondary or
tertiary qualifications, well above the OECD average of 67%.
The New Zealand
education system and NCEA
• NCEA is integrated with New Zealand’s education system.
The NCEA achievement standards assess learning goals derived
from the New Zealand Curriculum, while unit standards provide
a link with technical and vocational training.
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Comments
from the sector
We need to remember
that NCEA grew out of a
determination to encourage
and provide life-long learning for
all.The old examination-based
system was focused on selecting
the elite for entry to university.
But education is really about
equipping people for life-long
learning – encouraging them to
continue learning beyond the
programmes they are in now.
One of the important qualities
of NCEA is that it gives schools
the flexibility to do that for all
students. A focus on life-long
learning is just as important for
young people who are heading
for an academic career as it is
for those who will transition more
directly into the workplace.
Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke Senior Fellow,
New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.
Formerly Head of the School of Government and
Professor of Economic History,Victoria University
of Wellington.
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The New Zealand education
system and NCEA CONT.
• Both Achievement and Unit standards can contribute to NCEA.
• The New Zealand Curriculum and NCEA are key elements of
New Zealand’s student-centred education system. They equip
schools to provide for the diverse needs of learners and enable
all students to gain qualifications that prepare them for a full range
of learning pathways and employment beyond school.
• Achievement objectives take curriculum objectives and express
them as standards that can be formally assessed.
• Unit standards are developed by national experts mainly in
vocational areas. Most of them are connected with polytechnics
or government-recognised industry training organisations (ITOs).
From 2014 there will be no unit standards based on the
New Zealand Curriculum.
• The NCEA system enables students to prepare for the full range
of academic or vocational pathways. They can start to specialise
while they are at school, or they can keep their options open.
• NCEA assessments require students to process information and
demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving. In particular,
internal assessment for NCEA encourages learning by inquiry.
• The Curriculum connection gives NCEA a built-in alignment
with the education students receive before they enter senior
secondary school (Years 11-13). There is a progression across
the year levels in all subjects.
Comments
from the sector
Since national standards
for secondary school pupils
were introduced in 2002,
the system has been a work
in progress. Flaws related to
internal-assessment marking
inconsistencies, the potential
for smaller, lower-decile schools
in particular to skew results
and the lack of incentive for
the brightest students to push
themselves have all been
addressed. Understanding among
parents and employers of how
the National Certificate of
Educational Achievement works
has also, naturally, increased over
the past decade.
Nelson Mail editorial, 18 January 2011
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How does NCEA’s standards-based system
challenge, motivate and reward students?
Introduction
NCEA is a standards-based system. Assessment standards describe
what students have to achieve to gain credits.
Separate standards are used to assess different areas of knowledge
and skills so students get a separate result for each aspect of each
subject. Their results describe their strengths and weaknesses
in detail.
For example, in 2011 there are sixteen achievement standards in
Level 1 Mathematics (view Level 1 Mathematics standards).
This includes algebra, geometry, measurement, number, probability
statistics and trigonometry. A student who, for example, is a high
achiever in algebra and statistics but just average in trigonometry
will get results that reflect that mix.
Each student leaves school with a unique Record of Achievement
- a full profile of their achievements, and potentially an important
part of their Curriculum Vitae.
Standards-based
grading system
In achievement standards students can gain one of four grades
– Not Achieved, Achievement, Achievement with Merit and
Achievement with Excellence (Merit and Excellence grades are not
available for most unit standards.)
Each achievement standard describes what students have to do to
receive Achievement, Merit or Excellence. The standard, or the level of
work required, is demonstrated in materials provided by NZQA, so all
students, parents and teachers can see what is required to succeed in
NCEA assessments.
Merit and Excellence require a significant step up from what is needed
for an Achievement grade.
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The learning
experience
Right across the academic
spectrum we find standards
to be more motivating, more
rewarding and capable of
producing more achievement
than School Certificate, Sixth
Form Certificate or Bursary did.
We do find ourselves teaching
less content partly because
there is more assessment but
mainly because we are teaching
with more precision and we
are teaching skills to a greater
depth and to a greater degree
of usefulness than before. NCEA
has encouraged the development
of a more significant and more
explicit metacognitive approach
to teaching.The greater range of
content material means that we
can and do tailor courses more
closely to student need.
This in combination with the
above two factors means more
focussed challenges for students
and thus better motivation.
John Grant, Principal, Kaipara College
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Standards-based grading system CONT.
The following is an achievement standard for Level 2 Biology that
involves describing biological concepts and processes that relate to
genetic variation and change. Criteria for each grade are given below:
• For Achievement – Describe biological concepts and processes that
relate to genetic variation and change.
• For Achievement with Merit – Explain biological concepts and
processes that relate to genetic variation and change.
• For Achievement with Excellence – Discuss biological concepts and
processes that relate to genetic variation and change.
The achievement standard further defines the terms used to indicate
the level of work required:
• Describe requires the student to define, give characteristics of,
or an account of.
• Explain requires the student to provide a reason as to how or
why something occurs.
• Discuss requires the student to show understanding by linking
biological ideas. It may involve justifying, relating, evaluating,
comparing and contrasting, or analysing.
(View achievement standard on NZQA website)
Only those students who meet the criteria for Merit or Excellence
Level get those grades. Therefore proportions gaining Merit and
Excellence grades change a little from year to year. In 2010:
• Fewer than a quarter of all results were Merit grades (23.24%).
• About one in seven were Excellence grades (13.8%).
This sets NCEA apart from qualifications systems that use a
predetermined distribution of grades – where a limited number of high
grades is allocated to candidates who do better than the rest, regardless
of the standard of their work. In these systems, grades carry little
information about the actual skills and knowledge achieved by students.
Certificate endorsement
Certificate endorsements were introduced in 2007 to encourage
students to achieve as many Merit and Excellence results as they can.
Certificate endorsements can be gained at Levels 1, 2 and 3. There are
two grades of endorsement:
NCEA with Excellence – a completed NCEA qualification that includes
50 credits at Excellence level.
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Comments
from the sector
In a standards-based system
the credit you get for your
effort depends on your ability
to demonstrate what you can
achieve. It’s not about attendance
or what else you do around the
school or how you get on with the
teacher. The national standards
and the moderation system
mean results reflect at least
similar minimum levels of ability,
regardless of which school you
go to.
Professor Jeff Smith, University of Otago
Formerly Associate Dean of the Graduate School of
Education, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
(Parents) were positive about
their understanding that the
NCEA offered individual students
opportunity to demonstrate their
own strengths rather than being
marked in comparison to other
students.
The research confirmed that
students at all levels value gaining
Merit and Excellence grades.
Students who are generally more
motivated at school do strive for
Merit and Excellence grades.
Meyer,Weir, McClure,Walkey, McKenzie, 2009.
Motivation and Achievement at Secondary School.
The relationship between NCEA design and student
motivation and achievement Three-Year Follow-Up.
Victoria University of Wellington
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Certificate Endorsement CONT.
NCEA with Merit - a completed NCEA qualification that includes 50
credits at Merit or better (can be a mix of Merit and Excellence).
A certificate endorsement appears in a student’s Record of Achievement
and School Results Summary, and indicates overall commitment and
success, generally across a full school year or more. There is no ‘cap’
on the number of students who can get Excellence or Merit certificate
endorsements, so the proportion of students who gain endorsements
can change over the years.
In 2007 and 2008 the percentage of certificates gaining endorsements
was roughly stable. In 2009, there was a slight increase in the
percentage of students gaining endorsed certificates:
Merit endorsements
(2009)
Excellence endorsements
(2009)
Level 1
23%
6%
Level 2
17%
5%
Level 3
21%
5%
In 2010, the picture changed significantly. A higher percentage of
students at all levels gained endorsements, especially at Levels 1 and 2:
Merit endorsements
(2010)
Excellence endorsements
(2010)
Level 1
29%
9%
Level 2
20%
7%
Level 3
23%
6%
It appears that schools are making the most of the incentive offered by
certificate endorsements, and students see them as worth striving for.
Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington interviewed
students and parents after certificate endorsements had been in place
for a year:
Both students and parents were overwhelmingly supportive of the
introduction of the certificate endorsements for Merit and Excellence…
regardless of gender, school decile, or ethnicity.
(Students) stressed that whereas previously there was less incentive
to continue working past the 80 credits needed for each level, the
endorsements motivated them to continue trying for credits towards
an endorsement.
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Comments
from the sector
We find that the students who
go on and get the Excellences,
and with the system where
you can now have Excellence
Endorsed Certificates, there’s a
major, major push from those
students to really optimise their
learning. And when we then
follow those students who get
Excellence in the NCEA into
the university system they still
do the very best in their tertiary
qualifications.
Professor John Hattie, University of Auckland
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Certificate Endorsement CONT.
Students felt that employers had an understanding of the NCEA and
also valued the endorsements, so that having an endorsement for Merit or
Excellence would enhance one’s employment credentials as well and may
make the difference between getting or not getting a particular job.
Some students had already gained certificate endorsements.
Of those attaining NCEA Level 1 with Merit, 80% had said the
endorsements mattered to them mostly or definitely, and of those attaining
endorsement with Excellence an overwhelming 98% said they mattered
either mostly or definitely.
Meyer, Weir, McClure, Walkey, McKenzie. 2009. Motivation and Achievement at Secondary School.
The relationship between NCEA design and student motivation and achievement: A Three-Year
Follow-Up. Victoria University of Wellington.
Course endorsement
Course endorsement was introduced in 2011 to recognise
exceptional achievement in an individual course.
To gain a course endorsement:
• Students must gain 14 or more credits at Merit and/or Excellence
within a school course.
• There must be a mix of internally and externally assessed credits
– at least 3 credits from each (except in Physical Education,
Religious Studies and Level 3 Visual Arts where there is no external
assessment).
Course endorsements will be shown on students’ Record of
Achievement and School Results Summary, and will indicate
consistently high levels of performance in a particular area of learning.
Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington interviewed
students and parents when course endorsements were about to be
introduced:
Students supported the development of subject (course) endorsements,
feeling that this would be highly motivating to both those who otherwise
would not get the overall Certificate with an endorsement as well as those
who could strive for Excellence in gaining subject endorsements as well as
the certificate endorsement.
Meyer, Weir, McClure, Walkey & McKenzie. 2009. Motivation and Achievement at Secondary
School. The relationship between NCEA design and student motivation and achievement:
A Three-Year Follow-Up. Victoria University of Wellington.
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The learning
experience
What should be much more
vigorously communicated is
that an NCEA endorsement
at Excellence at level 3 is
significantly more exclusive than
a presentation of grade As at A
level, for example.
Our highest achieving students
are able to demonstrate their
capabilities in NCEA more clearly
than in other systems. If you are
a top NCEA achiever, you are a
top calibre student on the world
stage without question.
Simon Leese, Headmaster, Christ’s College
The more able students value
the challenge [of certificate
endorsement].Working to achieve
a Certificate endorsement is one
of the goals many of the more
able students set themselves
through the year.
John Grant, Principal, Kaipara College
Students are becoming
increasingly aware of the
importance of certificate
endorsement especially at Year
12 and 13. For example, a Year
12 student can obtain Level 2
Excellence Endorsement that can
lead to university scholarships.
Principal Nominee, Lincoln High School
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Comments from the sector
The introduction of course endorsement has encouraged some schools
to create innovative courses to enhance student learning.
Alfriston College, Manurewa, has developed combined subject courses.These
include courses such as ‘People, Places and Events’, a combination of Level 1
History, Geography and Social Studies and ‘Environmental Sustainability’ which
is an integrated course operating as a combined Level 2 and 3 subject.
Deputy Principal, Steve Saville says the school has intentionally named the
courses to reflect what is actually being taught.These courses help students
make links between and within their subjects and they are relevant to their world.
Mr Saville expects course endorsement to enhance the school’s non-traditional
educational features. He says the new endorsement will encourage their Merit
and Excellence student group to raise their own expectations of achievement.
NZQA QA News December 2010 Issue 70
Tertiary Institutions and
employers use NCEA results
Tertiary institutions and employers find the detailed results useful in
selecting school leavers for tertiary programmes and jobs.
Universities use NCEA’s detailed results to help them select applicants
for restricted degree programmes. Some courses might require a Merit
or Excellence result in a specific achievement standard. Some universities
have also developed ways to rank students on the basis of their NCEA
results. Soon universities will be able to look at course endorsements in
relevant subject areas.
At Auckland University, a minimum of 18 credits in each of Mathematics
with Calculus and Physics is needed for entry to Bachelor of Engineering
(Honours) at University of Auckland. Students are then selected on the
basis of their rank score generated from NCEA results.
Employers use the Record of Achievement to see whether an applicant has
the mix of skills and knowledge needed for a role. They also get some idea
of how persistent and committed the applicant was at school.
The learning
experience
The certificate and course
endorsements have been an
important development for
NCEA as they become significant
motivators for more able
students. Often the more able
students thrive on being able to
set themselves goals to achieve
and the endorsements provide an
important target to strive for.
Michael Williams, Principal, Pakuranga College
I am amazed by how many
students in my Year 13 class are
aiming for course endorsement.
They are really focussed. I am
very impressed.
Year 13 teacher, Lincoln High School
With the introduction of
course endorsement, students
have become more focussed on
studying harder in greater depth
to achieve high quality results.
This is leading to higher levels of
attainment for many students.
Principal Nominee, Hamilton Girls High Schooll
Comments from the sector
Researchers at the University of Auckland studied the performance of
first-year university students.The study found that if NCEA candidates aspire
to succeed in university, they could be better off aiming at higher achievement
(Merit and Excellence grades) even if that meant gaining fewer credits.
Shulruf, Hattie and Tumen. 2008. The predictability
of enrolment and first-year university results from
secondary school performance: the New Zealand
National Certificate of Educational Achievement.
Victoria University of Wellington
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Credits and the NCEA
Introduction
The learning
experience
Credits are the currency of the NCEA
qualification. Generally speaking one credit
represents ten hours of learning and
assessment. This includes teaching time,
homework and assessment time.
Increasingly due to rank score
systems at universities, year 13
students are very focused on
their top 80 credits. I see this as
a good thing as it’s shifting the
focus towards quality rather than
quantity.
Students need a total of 80 credits for each
NCEA qualification:
• NCEA Level 1 – 80 credits at any Level,
including credits in literacy and numeracy.
• NCEA Level 2 – 60 credits at Level 2 or
above, plus 20 credits from Level 1 or above.
Richard Dykes, Associate Principal,
Pakuranga College
How many credits
do students achieve?
Now that NCEA has been in place for some
years we have evidence about how many
credits students gain and their attitudes to
completing NCEA qualifications.
The chart below shows the distribution of
credits gained during 2010 by year 11, 12 and
13 students.
In 2010:
• More than half of all students completed
at least 80 credits.
• The median number of credits gained was 82.
• About 9.5% of students gaining between 80
and 90 credits.
• One third of students gained at least 100 credits.
Percentage of senior secondary school students (Years 11-13)
• NCEA Level 3 – 60 credits at Level 3 or
above, plus 20 credits from Level 2 or above.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120 130 140 150
160
Number of credits gained in 2010
Note – Students do not have to complete NCEA qualifications within a single school year they can accumulate credits towards qualifications over any number of years. A typical course
generates between 18 and 24 credits – so over five subjects, a typical student could aim for up
to 120 credits. But schools can and do run courses that assess standards totalling as few as 12
credits, with others assessing 30 credits or more.
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Are there “easy” credits?
The alignments of achievement standards to the new New Zealand
curriculum has meant that all achievement standards are linked to the
correct curriculum benchmark.
In 2009, the Ministry of Education published findings from the
Competent Children Competent Learners project. A longitudinal
study was undertaken by the New Zealand Council for Educational
Research (NZCER).
Researchers found little evidence to suggest students were making
minimal effort with NCEA:
Only a handful of students — 2 percent — said they chose a subject
because it would yield easy NCEA credits. Similarly, only 5 percent said they
chose a subject because it would be easy.
We found little evidence that students were taking the easy route to
NCEA by doing the minimum amount of work necessary. In fact, the more
academically inclined students gained far more than the 80 credits they
need to achieve NCEA Level 1, with many gaining 138 credits or more.
Nor was there any evidence that students were opting for unit standards
over achievement standards.
Parents who were happy with the new system saw it as a good way to
chart progress and accumulate credits across the year. They also said it
gave students more chance to succeed, and helped improve their work and
study habits.”
Note – The writers acknowledge this research had a higher proportion of young people from
high-income families and lower portions of Maori and Pasifika students, and students from low
decile schools, compared to the national average. Full report can be accessed on the Education
Counts website.
Students regularly compare their results with each other and compete
on both the number of credits, number of Excellence grades and a grade
point average. Course and career advice is given to ensure students are
doing the right subjects at the right level. Motivation in NCEA does have to
be more intrinsic and this does require a more subtle approach by teachers
than by simply using fear of failure. Teachers are working with students to
encourage them to set their own personal goals.
David Hodge, Principal, Rangitoto College. Open letter to parents, 2011
The learning
experience
Students (and their teachers
and parents) need to focus
on quality, not quantity.They
should be aiming at Excellence
and Merit grades, not just
accumulating more and more
credits. Otherwise, there’s a
danger of over-assessing.
The 80 credit milestone isn’t
an issue in our school. In fact, it
can be quite the opposite – we
actively discourage students from
just going for more and more
credits.We want them to look
at the quality of their results, the
Excellence and Merit grades.
Students do get quite strategic,
especially in year 13 but they are
looking at the full picture of their
results and what they want to do
with them beyond school, not just
numbers of credits.
Julia Davidson, Principal of Wellington Girls’ College
and Chair of New Zealand Secondary Principals’
Council
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New Zealand Scholarship challenges
and rewards Level 3 students
Introduction
New Zealand Scholarship is designed to challenge, motivate and
reward the most able students – assessments are demanding, even
for the top students in each subject. Candidates are expected to
demonstrate high-level critical thinking and the ability to generalise,
and to apply knowledge, skills and understanding to complex situations.
For most subjects, assessment is by a three-hour written examination at
the end of the school year. In some subjects students submit recorded
performances or portfolios for assessment by external assessors.
The number of Level 3 students entering for Scholarship examinations
has been rising, particularly over the last three years. There were
nearly 18,000 subject entries in 2009 and nearly 19,000 in 2010.
Scholarship is competitive –
there are a limited number
of awards available
Approximately 3% of students studying each subject get Scholarships,
and about 0.3% receive Outstanding Scholarships. (Percentages are
based on the number of students entering at least 14 credits at Level 3.)
Comments
from the sector
The Scholarship examination
encourages our best and
brightest to go above and
beyond what they need to do
in high school. They study very
hard at a very high level. So as
our young people approach the
end of their schooling we have
a system that very effectively
enhances the intellectual
capital of New Zealand. It does
a brilliant job for the whole
country.
Professor Jeff Smith, University of Otago
Formerly Associate Dean of the Graduate
School of Education, Rutgers University,
New Jersey, USA
• The top five to ten candidates in the country receive Premier
Awards. To be considered for a Premier Award, candidates must
achieve at least three subject Scholarships at Outstanding Level.
The number of awards is limited to the top students who meet
this criterion.
• The next 40 to 60 candidates receive Outstanding Scholar Awards.
To be considered for this award, candidates must achieve at least
three subject Scholarships, including some at Outstanding level.
As well as the prestige attached to winning a Scholarship award, there
are financial incentives – from $2,000 to $10,000 per year to support
further study. All awards are received for up to three years, but only
as long as candidates maintain a ‘B’ grade average in tertiary study at
a New Zealand university.
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Scholarship is competitive – there are a
limited number of awards available CONT.
Most Scholarship candidates are Year 13 students who are also
studying towards NCEA Level 3. Students select the subjects they
want to enter – most enter one, two or three subjects.
In recent years, more students have been reaching the minimum level
for Premier Awards – a sign that levels of performance are increasing
among top students, and the very best students often enter in four or
five subjects. In 2009, all students who received Premier Awards gained
at least four Scholarship subjects at Outstanding level, or a total of five
Scholarships with three at Outstanding level.
Comments
from the sector
The actual performance of
the best Scholarship students
each year is just staggering.
Their work is extraordinarily
impressive – their creative
problem-solving is of the very
highest order. And many of
these students come from
schools where we know
there are small numbers of
Scholarship candidates and few
teachers with the expertise to
work at this level. One of the
great successes of Scholarship
is that it motivates students
to reach such high levels of
cognitive thinking – and it has
helped teachers to respond
to the demands of highly able
students.
Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke. Senior Fellow,
New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.
Formerly Head of the School of Government
and Professor of Economic History,
Victoria University of Wellington.
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NCEA provides flexibility so that the
needs of all students can be met
Introduction
Schools can use the flexibility of NCEA to engage and motivate all
students. Together, the achievement standards and unit standards used
by schools cover all curriculum subjects as well as many vocational
areas – but as they are all separate standards, they can be used in any
combination.
Schools are finding many ways to use the flexibility of NCEA.
Of course, a lot depends on a school’s resources, the number
of students it has and how flexible it can make its timetable.
• Schools can offer whole ‘subjects’ in the traditional way – or they
can develop courses to suit the needs of their students. In either
case they can select relevant standards for assessing their courses.
• Schools can vary the amount of content covered by a course, and
adjust the assessment load accordingly. There are no centrally
prescribed constraints.
• At each level in each curriculum subject, a course will be assessed
using a mix of standards that total between 18 to 24 credits – but
schools can and do run courses that cover any number of credits.
• Completion of an NCEA qualification is not constrained by a
one-year timeframe. More able students can complete an NCEA
qualification in less than a year, while other students may need more
than a year to obtain a qualification.
Multi-leveling
More able students can be assessed against higher level standards.
In English, for example, the teacher could set a writing task and assess
students against Level 1, or 2 standards, depending on their ability.
More able students who work at a faster pace can earn credits at
higher levels. In mathematics, for example, students can complete their
study (and internal assessments) for Level 1 standards, and then make
a start on some Level 2 standards.
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Comments
from the sector
Kaitaia College has introduced
two different approaches – one has
grouped standards across subject
areas; the other uses an historical
context to assess students against
standards from several subject areas.
For example, if Apartheid is being
studied in History there are standards
available in Social Studies, Information
Management and English that could
be assessed as a “bundle.”
Head of History and Year 11
Dean, Michael Withiel says the
courses emerged when he identified
some overlap with assessment in
different subjects. Mr Withiel says
the combined courses are making
a very big impact on the students.
“All together, these factors will make
a very big difference to the success
that students will want to achieve
and will dovetail to give impetus to
aspire to higher attainment. This will
give students more chance of gaining
entrance to the tertiary courses of
their choice.
NZQA QA News December 2010 Issue 70
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Multi-leveling CONT.
There is no need for students to study at the same level in each of
their subjects. A student who is very good at mathematics but not
so good at English could be in courses that offer Level 2 credits in
mathematics and Level 1 credits in English.
Many schools also provide opportunities for able students to complete
university papers alongside their NCEA assessments while still at school.
Breadth and style of learning
Exploring new subjects can help students make connections between
disciplines – this can be especially beneficial for highly able students.
Learning skills in different contexts can stimulate learning, and breadth
of learning can open pathways beyond school.
Students who work quickly and successfully in history, for example,
could extend their studies to aspects of art history or classical studies
and earn credits in those areas.
Schools can be even more innovative. They can integrate content
across subjects – for example, film with literature, history with
geography. They can teach and assess some skills in relevant contexts
– writing in the context of history, or statistics in economics, or some
aspects of mathematics in technology.
In 2007, the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER)
asked 194 schools about course innovation in the senior secondary
curriculum. 94% gave examples of some sort of innovation.
For example, using achievement standards from different levels in the
same subject, or mixing standards across traditional subject boundaries.
• 67% used achievement standards from the same learning area but
from different NCEA levels within courses. Examples covered every
curriculum learning area.
• 11% mixed achievement standards from different learning areas for
assessment within courses.
• 75% of schools ran at least one course assessed by standards (some
including unit standards) from more than one level, most commonly
English and Level 1 and 2 mathematics.
The NZCER report stressed that innovative course design is
important for students at all ability levels:
It is important not to assume that such course innovation is only
for “less able” students. This snapshot provides evidence that the
needs of high achievers are also being catered for in many instances of
course innovation…
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Comments
from the sector
Our family absolutely loved the
NCEA approach.The workload in
regular classes wasn’t unreasonable
and our son was challenged
appropriately. He likes to show up
as being smart so he had to work
hard - but his results really do reflect
his actual achievements, not a whole
lot of other factors.The whole NCEA
experience prepared my son for what
came next in a way that a foreign
examination would not have done.
I’m a big proponent of NCEA - it
makes happier adults.
Jonny Newbre, mother of Alex Hayashi left Rangitoto College in 2007 and, later accepted
at University of California, Berkeley
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Breadth and style of learning CONT.
Designing context-rich courses often means a degree of curriculum
integration because the real world does not conform neatly to historical
subject divisions. For example, a course called “Writing for Publication”…
models the integration of achievement standards from different learning
areas to combine aspects of traditional subjects that logically come together
in a highly relevant context with strong links to real-world settings.
Course innovation in the senior secondary curriculum: A snapshot taken in July 2007.
Rose Hipkins, New Zealand Council for Educational Research
The learning experience
NCEA enables our more able students to multi-level, which allows them to be challenged at a higher level in
subjects that they have significant ability in. One of the benefits of students being able to multi-level is that by the
end of year 13 they can have studied seven or eight subjects to Level 3 and in some cases to Scholarship level.
Recently one student was able to achieve outstanding Level 3 results in two subjects, plus gain two Scholarships in
year 12, and then in year 13 was very successful in five more subjects and gained six further Scholarships.
Michael Williams, Principal, Pakuranga College
There could well be no two kids doing the same thing at any time throughout a year. It’s much closer to that
concept of individualised learning.
Tony Guilliland, Principal, Westland High School
I got to know that Bridget was a singer when she was in the school production… and then she and Tessa
approached me and talked about doing maybe some of the performance parts of Level 1 Music in year 10.
Instead of having the whole of year 11 music she can just do the bits of it that fit in with her timetable – and she
can do the other parts next year when she does Music as a subject.
Keri Spence, Music teacher, Westland High School
Girls at Diocesan are predominantly entered into the NCEA and most make a conscious decision to enter
for that based on the wide subject choice, the ability to multi-level across their senior years, even combining with
University papers in year 13, and the mix of the internal and external assessments.
Margaret van Meeuwen, Assistant Principal, Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland
When I was in form three I found classes really boring and not interesting at all… I was quite naughty back
then… I was put in a higher level class and I was allowed to discuss deeper concepts that I’d always wanted to
discuss when I was at a younger age.When I was in form 5 (year 11) I actually did subjects at three levels. And I
also did a Scholarship for Stats.
Joe Tsai, former Pakuranga College student
Otahuhu College is totally committed to NCEA because of its flexibility which enables students to build
qualifications over more than one year. Credits gained can be carried forward and added to which is far better
than in the past where failure just meant more of the same. This has been reflected in a significant rise in our
retention levels in the senior school where now about 90% of our students are now staying until the end of year 13.
Gil Laurenson, Principal Otahuhu College
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Internal and external assessment in NCEA
Introduction
The mix of internal and external assessment varies across subjects and
NCEA Levels, so the mix of assessment varies for each student.
It depends on the courses the school offers and the subjects the
student chooses to study.
For example at Level 3:
• Student A studies mainly mathematics and sciences – about one
third of credits are likely to be internally assessed, and two thirds
by external examinations.
• Student B studies mainly English and the social sciences (geography,
history, economics) – typically about half of the credits will be
internally assessed, and half by external examinations.
• Student C studies mainly the arts – about 60% of credits are likely
to be internally assessed, and 40% externally assessed.
Almost all schools use a mix of achievement standards (some
internally assessed, others externally assessed) and unit standards
(all internally assessed). Students being assessed through a mix
of achievement standards and unit standards will have a higher
proportion of internal assessment than those assessed using
achievement standards alone.
Comments
from the sector
In recent years we have been
asking more of our teachers – they
have been asked to make more
judgements than before. Compared
with the ‘90s and the one-off
examination system, there’s been
an immense change in the need to
explain to students what is required
of them. Most teachers have
welcomed that shift.
Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke
Senior Fellow, New Zealand Institute of Economic
Research. Formerly Head of the School of
Government and Professor of Economic History,
Victoria University of Wellington
Impact of standards alignment
Achievement standards and unit standards are being reviewed.
The review will affect Level 1 in 2011, Level 2 in 2012, and Level 3 in 2013.
Some of the changes will impact on the mix of internal and external
assessment.
• Achievement standards only will be used to assess curriculum linked
knowledge and skills.
• Unit standards will cover other skills and knowledge.
• Unit standards derived from the New Zealand Curriculum will
be phased out, starting in 2011, and replaced with Achievement
standards which are internally assessed.
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Impact of standards alignment CONT.
• In each subject there will be a maximum of three externally
assessed standards. This will change the ratio of internally and
externally assessed standards that are available in some subjects.
There will be an examination for each externally assessed standard.
Three externally assessed standards will be examined in a three hour
examination. This will give students sufficient time to complete the
examination and ensure assessment is reliable.
Previously, in some subjects up to six standards were assessed in a
three hour examination. This often resulted in students running out
of time and leaving out important parts of the examination.
The learning
experience
NCEA provides flexibility with
course structure to allow for students’
needs and strengths. NCEA also
enables authentic assessment of skills
that can’t be assessed in external
exams only i.e. practical experiments
and speeches.
Head of Department, Lincoln High School
Mix of internal and
external assessment
Across the country in recent years, there has been an almost equal
mix of internal and external assessment for achievement standards.
This is an average across the country – the mix for any one student
will be different.
In 2010:
• 48.5% of results from achievement standards were from external
assessments (out of 1,514,355 results).
The mix of internal and external
assessment means students become
skilled time managers leading up
to an assessment deadline and
juggling a mix of assessments, as
well as being able to perform under
the pressures of an end of year
examination.
Margaret van Meeuwen, Assistant Principal,
Diocesan School for Girls
• 51.5% of results from achievement standards were from internal
assessments (out of 1,606,804 results).
• There were also 1,801,193 results for unit standards, all internally
assessed.
• There was more external assessment at Level 3 than at other levels.
Details are provided in NZQA’s Annual Report on NCEA and
Scholarship. The Report analyses internal and external results
by variables including gender, ethnicity and school decile.
Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington interviewed
students and parents between 2006 and 2008 and explored how
parents and students felt about the mix of internal and external
assessment:
Parents thought the system enhanced self-esteem and liked the fact
that there were different assessments (internal and external), particularly
the fact that internal assessment allowed them opportunity to monitor their
children’s progress for those students who would otherwise not stay on task.
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Mix of internal and external assessment CONT.
Students, parents and teachers are particularly positive about the mix of
internal and external assessment. Internal assessment has provided students
with the ability to spread their effort and workload across the entire school
year, as well as providing better preparation for the future in comparison to
a single assessment period following a year of study.
Meyer, L. H., Weir, K. F., McClure, J., Walkey, F., McKenzie, L. 2009. Motivation and Achievement
at Secondary School. The relationship between NCEA design and student motivation and
achievement: A Three-Year Follow-Up. Victoria University of Wellington.
The learning experience
At the general level, not all students cope with the pressures of external examinations.The major
benefit of internal assessment is assessment when students are ready, used in conjunction with a
judicious approach to resubmission and reassessment.There are many aspects of learning that simply
cannot be assessed adequately by external examination. Many of these could, of course, be externally
assessed by having outsiders in to look at performance, examine things being produced or to watch
demonstrations.
This approach carries considerable cost and disruption to programmes without adding a significant
increase in confidence in the accuracy of the assessment.We are happy to have our internal
assessment moderated and find it reassuring and useful.We expect our staff to reach a 90%
agreement rate.Working to maintain this is not only an appropriate element of accountability but is
setting high levels of professional expectation while it ensures regular and effective external review of
our work.
John Grant, Principal, Kaipara College
I liked the internal assessment side of NCEA. I like to have time to put some thought into my
work and it also helped with university. NCEA helped a lot with time management – I’m doing
Environmental Sciences so there are lots of labs and tutorials. At one stage I had 24 university
assignments due over 12 weeks, so NCEA prepared me well for all of that.
Jamie Rodriguez left Diocesan School for Girls in 2009
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Why are some achievement standards externally
assessed, and some internally assessed?
Introduction
Subject and assessment experts decide the most appropriate way to
assess the knowledge and skills in the various achievement standards.
Comments
from the sector
A number of factors are considered:
• With internal assessment schools can assess the actual skills
and knowledge described in a standard. They can make sure the
assessment situation itself does not interfere too much with the
validity of the assessment (as in the English writing example below).
• Often internal assessment is the only valid way to assess particular
skills and knowledge – for example, where students are required
to create a sculpture, make a speech, perform a dance, carry out a
historical investigation, or conduct a science experiment.
• Internal assessment provides an authentic way to assess – schools
can assess a full range of skills in fairly realistic situations (as in the
statistics example below).
• Internal assessment provides a fair way to assess students – schools
can make sure everyone has the opportunity to show what they
can achieve. Students work in familiar surroundings and usually
have ample time to show what they can achieve. Teachers are
given guidance by NZQA (by providing assessment schedules and
examples of student work) to help them design and conduct the
assessment.
Of course, internal assessment that is truly valid and authentic can
be time-consuming. This is just one of the reasons there is external
assessment in NCEA. Other advantages in having some external
assessment in NCEA include:
• External assessment ensures we get a nationally consistent snapshot
of student achievement in a subject – everyone does the same task
at the same time under very similar conditions. This also provides
one basis for checking the consistency of internal assessment.
• Students can show their ability to work under pressure and recall
important concepts and facts.
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Standards based assessment
places the emphasis on student
outcomes – what people need to
learn in order to move on.That’s
really what the huge transformation
in education since the late 1980s has
been all about.Teachers and learners
now know in advance what students
need to learn, and their results
describe what they have learned.
It’s quite fundamental. It’s recognising
what people can actually do, what
they know and their cognitive abilities.
Learning is not about setting a test
and seeing whether people pass
or not.This change in thinking has
impacted on all education and
training – secondary schooling,
industry training, polytechnic
programmes and throughout our
universities.
Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke
Senior Fellow, New Zealand Institute of Economic
Research. Formerly Head of the School of
Government and Professor of Economic History,
Victoria University of Wellington
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Internal and external
assessment in summary:
A learning
perspective
• Internal assessment is flexible. Schools can design fair, valid and
authentic assessment tasks that suit actual teaching programmes.
Assessment takes place closer to teaching and learning, and schools
can take into account other activities in the school when deciding
when to assess. Internal assessment also provides the sort of
assessment students will face in tertiary study.
One of the key strengths of NCEA
has always been the ability to use the
appropriate assessment method for
a particular skill or piece of learning.
A simple example is in English where
the ability to deliver a speech is an
important skill that students learn.
In exam based systems you can
assess students’ ability to write
a speech, you can even assess
knowledge of the characteristics of a
good speech, but you can’t assess the
ability to deliver a speech. Likewise
in practical subjects, like the sciences,
you need to have an internal aspect
of the assessment to assess the
critical practical skills that have
been taught.
• External assessment examinations are held on fixed dates at the end
of the year, and students work within a given time frame. Results
from external assessments provide a consistent snapshot of student
achievement nationally and allow students to show how well they
can work under pressure to recall important concepts and facts.
External assessment results also provide NZQA with a measure of
student ability that is used to monitor the quality of each school’s
internal assessment processes and judgements.
Is it harder to get Merit and
Excellence grades in external
assessment than in internal
assessment?
Michael Williams, Principal, Pakuranaga College
Regardless of whether an achievement standard is assessed internally
or externally, the criteria for Achievement with Merit and Achievement
with Excellence are set down in the standard. Examination questions
and internal assessment activities must be designed so that
Achievement, Merit and Excellence grades are available for all students.
Only those students who meet the criteria for Merit or Excellence get
those grades. There is no predetermined distribution of grades.
The table below shows distribution of internal and external results
nationally in 2010.
Not
Achieved
Achievement
Merit
Excellence
Externally assessed
Achievement
Standards
29%
41%
22%
8%
Internally assessed
Achievement
Standards
20%
38%
25%
17%
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Figures aggregate results across all levels and
are rounded to whole numbers. Results for
unit standards not included. Internal results
as reported by schools, external results for
candidates who sat examinations or submitted
work for assessment. The numbers of results
from external and internal assessments were
about the same: 49.5% assessed externally
and 51.5% internally. The differences for
Achievement and Merit are statistically
significant but not large.
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Is it harder to get Merit and Excellence
grades in external assessment than in
internal assessment? CONT.
The difference in the result profiles from internal and external
assessment is largely because of the different assessment
conditions.
• External examinations are almost all held on fixed dates at the end
of the year. Students have limited time to show what they know and
can do in a pressured and stressful environment.
• For internal assessment, schools can design or adapt assessment
tasks to suit their teaching programmes. Assessment takes place
closer in time to the teaching and learning itself, and schools can
take into account other activities in the school in deciding when
to assess. Students work in familiar surroundings and usually have
more time to show what they can achieve.
Internal and external assessment are both important and are used as
appropriate in NCEA.
Internal assessment –
some examples:
• A Level 2 mathematics standard requires students to “simulate
probability situations and apply the normal distribution”
– so students need to design a simulation method, carry it out and
then analyse the data. Being given data to analyse in an examination
would not assess all the skills and knowledge described in the
standard, so internal assessment is needed. (View this standard on
the NZQA website).
• A Level 2 writing standard in English requires “drafting, reworking,
and presenting writing” – so students must show they can
work through each of these stages. This takes time – a one-off
examination would not provide valid assessment of the standard.
(View this standard on the NZQA website).
In both of these examples, a well-designed internal assessment task
will be fair, valid and authentic. All students will have the opportunity
to demonstrate all of the skills and knowledge described in the
standard. Students can be assessed a situation that is similar to what
they would face in the real world.
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A learning
perspective
We think that the achievement
expectations for Merit and Excellence
are pitched correctly.We regard
the expectations for Excellence as
correctly requiring a demanding level
of accomplishment in a standard.
The level of difficulty, the standard
expected for the grade, is the same
across internally and externally
assessed standards.There are more
Merit and Excellence grades awarded
in internal assessment because
the conditions of assessment are
different. External assessment is
generally a once only, at a specific
date, assessment. Internally assessed
standards can offer the chance for
resubmission and reassessment.
John Grant, Principal, Kaipara College
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External assessment –
some examples:
• A Level 3 accounting standard requires students to “process
financial information for partnerships and companies”.
The examination paper provides relevant information about an
invented partnership and company. Students have to use this
information to answer questions about concepts like goodwill and
prepare a range of accounting records. (View this standard on the
NZQA website).
• A Level 3 history standard requires students to “analyse and
evaluate evidence in historical sources”. The examination paper
includes a resource booklet, and students have to use evidence from
the resources provided along with their own knowledge to explain
historical ideas. (View this standard on the NZQA website).
In both of these examples, students are given a set amount of time
to process a set of information, drawing on their own knowledge of
underlying principles. This is a fair assessment because students are all
given the same initial resources and similar examination conditions.
It is valid in that it does test what the standard requires: the ability
to process, analyse and evaluate.
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Are there gender differences in achievement rates?
Introduction
In New Zealand, as in most countries, girls perform better than boys
in national school qualifications. NCEA results at each level reflect genderrelated differences that run right through schooling in New Zealand.
Gender differences in favour of girls existed long before NCEA was
introduced in 2002. There were similar patterns in School Certificate
and Bursary results. For example, in School Certificate girls earned
greater percentages of passing grades across all subjects than boys.
Gender differences in reading tend to decrease during secondary
schooling. Gender differences are also smaller for high achieving students.
• Overall, girls perform better than boys in NCEA. Girls generally
outperform boys both in external and internal assessment and at all
three Levels of NCEA, and in University Entrance. Girls attain more
Merit and Excellence certificate endorsement at all levels, although
the gap narrows at higher NCEA levels.
A learning
experience
The NCEA system is world class
- other countries would do well to
emulate it.Well qualified candidates
are welcomed across the world.The
unique strength of the system is
its inclusivity; in a boys’ school such
as mine, every individual is on the
same programme - and can explore
it to the limit of his capability and
determination.
Simon Leese, Headmaster, Christ’s College
• This trend is also consistent with international data: New Zealand
takes part in the Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA). Girls had higher reading levels than boys in all 57 countries
that took part in PISA – the difference in New Zealand was very
close to the difference across all OECD countries.
• The situation is similar in the United Kingdom: “Recent GCSE
(General Certificate of Secondary Education) results show girls
doing better than boys in nearly all subjects. Even in a traditionally
male area like resistant materials, girls have overtaken the boys at
GCSE. Now, it is only in mathematics and science that boys achieve
broadly as well as girls.” Boys’ achievement in secondary schools
• Girls and boys perform almost equally in New Zealand Scholarship.
In recent years girls have performed slightly better than boys in
gaining Scholarship awards, but girls and boys performed roughly
equally at Scholarship level in the 2010 assessments. At the
Outstanding Scholarship level, boys tend to outperform girls very
slightly, though the performance gap in favour of boys was larger in
2010 than in previous years.
For further details, see Annual Report on NCEA and New Zealand
Scholarship Data and Statistics (2010), currently available on the NZQA
website.
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Does internal
assessment favour girls?
In 2011, NZQA has completed a study of the relative performance
of boys and girls in internal and external assessments. The study
found that:
• Both boys and girls perform better in internal assessments than
in external assessments.
• With a few exceptions, girls perform better than boys regardless
of the assessment method.
• Boys and girls show about the same difference in performance
between internal and external assessment.
In summary, there is no evidence to support the claim that internal
assessment systematically favours girls relative to boys at any level
of NCEA.
A report on this research will be published later in 2011.
There is a common belief that internal assessment favours girls
relative to boys, but to date no statistical analysis has been published
that supports this view.
People who believe that boys do better in examinations than in
internal assessment often base their views on what they see as the
‘nature’ of boys. It is claimed that boys enjoy the challenge of an
end-of-year examination and internal assessment impinges on their
activities outside the classroom.
But others point to the ‘nature’ of boys as a reason for offering them
more, rather than less, internal assessment:
NCEA’s internal assessment (is) better suited to the immediate nature
of boys. They do a piece of work, it gets assessed, they get some credits and
they’re not waiting until the end of the year to get some qualifications.
Their goals are much more immediate than girls. They don’t look past the
current teacher to a career.
A learning
experience
Our current Level 1 gender gap,
which some still consider news, was
well established by 1993. All that’s
been changed since then is the
method of reporting.
NCEA made little difference,
especially to top grades. Individual
subject pass rates across the two
systems of School Certificate
and NCEA also show remarkable
consistency.
Why then was NCEA believed to
have increased the gender gap?
Because School Certificate did not
have an overall pass rate, and NCEA
does, apples were compared with
lemons.The reported jump was from
a 5-6 point School Certificate gap
(taken from all individual subject
passes) to a 10 point NCEA gap
(taken from overall level completion
passes). Level completion is harder
than passing one subject, girls work
more consistently across subjects,
and enter more papers, so the level
completion gap will be greater than
the subject completion gender gap.
Dr Paul Baker Rector of Waitaki Boys’
High School
Nelson College headmaster Gary O’Shea quoted in Nelson Mail January 2011
Comments from the sector
Comments in a United Kingdom report suggest that boys should be well suited to internal assessment.
Boys in particular responded well to carefully structured work in lessons.Their responses were strongest when the work
had clear objectives, when it was set in real-life contexts, and when it involved well-focused short-term tasks on which there
was quick feedback.They also reacted very favourably when the work had an element of fun and competition.
Boys’ achievement in secondary schools, Office for Standards in Education, 2003
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How does NZQA make sure internal assessment
is fair and consistent across the country?
Introduction
New Zealand is an optimum size to achieve nationally consistent
internal assessment. We are large enough to have a complete system
and a very sound pool of expertise – but we are small enough for all
teachers in a subject to be in touch with the national system. We have
a professional community of understanding about NCEA standards
and processes.
Compared with teachers in many other countries, New Zealand
teachers are assessment experts. A large proportion of teachers have
had experience in setting and marking examinations, in writing national
standards, and as moderators or as members of moderation clusters.
An important part of the quality assurance system for NCEA is called
external moderation – making sure teachers are making consistent
internal assessment decisions across the country. The aim is to equip
teachers to make accurate and consistent judgements, by providing
feedback and professional development.
How are teachers’
assessment decisions checked
for national consistency?
NZQA uses a number of methods to monitor the consistency and
accuracy of internal assessment:
• NZQA employs over 34 full-time equivalent moderators and 235
part-time moderators. Most moderators are current or recent
teachers and all are assessment experts in particular subjects.
• Moderators run best practice workshops, develop resources
to guide schools and speak to meetings of subject associations.
Moderators also check each school’s assessment tasks and
activities, and the judgements schools are making when they
assess student work.
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Comments
from the sector
All teachers are part of the
moderation system. It’s a process
of being explicit about what we
expect from students. It helps us –
teachers, students, parents, the whole
community – to better define what
we want students to learn in our
schools.
Professor Jeff Smith, University of Otago.
Formerly Associate Dean of the Graduate School
of Education, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
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How are teachers assessment decisions
checked for national consistency? CONT.
Moderators currently check a sample of about 10% of each school’s
internally assessed work. This is ample to show whether or not
teacher judgements are consistent across the country.
• NZQA calculates agreement rates – measures of the extent to
which moderators and teachers agree on whether samples of
student work meet the standards (explained in more detail below).
• Each school receives a report on the quality of its internal
assessment. These are called Managing National Assessment
reports and they are published on the NZQA website. Moderation
reports are quite specific. For example, for a particular achievement
standard a school could be making entirely accurate decisions about
Achievement and Merit, but getting it wrong in awarding Excellence.
• NZQA compares each school’s results from internally-assessed and
externally-assessed standards in each subject. Internal and external
achievement rates differ nationally and it is expected that each
school will broadly reflect national patterns. If a school’s internal
results are greatly different from what is expected on the basis of
their external results (and if the teacher-moderator agreement rates
are poor) NZQA works with the school to improve its internal
assessment processes.
• As an ultimate sanction, NZQA can withdraw a school’s right to
assess for national qualifications; this is most likely to apply to particular
subjects within a school. In that case, provisions would be made for
students to be assessed through another school’s quality systems.
Moderation is a
professional interaction
Moderators run assessment workshops for teachers in individual
subjects, all around the country. In 2010, 173 workshops were
held with 2180 attendees. In 2011, moderators will run assessment
workshops for teachers in 27 subjects at 28 centres across the
country.
Moderators work hard to provide teachers with “clarification
statements” where there appears to be some difficulty or confusion
about some aspect of the required standard.
Schools can ask for clarification or appeal a moderator’s decision.
In 2009 and 2010, fewer than one in 1,000 moderator judgements
were successfully appealed.
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Moderation is a professional interaction CONT.
In many regions, schools voluntarily form clusters to enable teachers
to compare notes with others teaching their subject. This is especially
valuable where there are only one or two teachers of a particular
subject in a school. In addition to enhancing NCEA assessment,
clusters provide professional development for teachers.
Agreement rates
For each achievement standard, students receive a set number of
credits if their work reaches the Achievement level. If they exceed
the Achievement level, they can gain Merit or Excellence grades. So in
effect, teachers make two decisions when they assess student work:
• Does the work meet the level described for Achievement? Should
the student gain credits for that standard?
• Has the student done well enough to get a grade beyond
Achievement? If so, will it be Merit or Excellence?
NZQA calculates two agreement rates – how well moderators and
teachers agree on awarding credit for the standard, and how well they
agree on the specific grade for that standard.
• Agreement rates for awarding credit are always higher than
agreement rates for grades, as statistically, fewer decisions are
involved in deciding on credit.
• In many standards there’s a fine distinction between the grades of
Achievement and Merit, and between Merit and Excellence.
In 2010, 97% of assessment materials were deemed to be suitable,
either unmodified or with only minor modification. This high figure
reflects the fact that most schools now use downloaded assessment
materials that have been pre-approved.
Across all standards at all levels, moderators agreed with 91% of
teachers’ assessment judgements in awarding credit. This was up from
83% in 2009, and was higher than in any previous year.
2010 moderator/teacher agreement rates across all subjects:
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Across all
Levels
Agreement
on credit
94%
93%
91%
91%
Agreement
on grades
86%
85%
82%
84%
Agreement rates for individual subjects can
be found in the Annual Report on NCEA and
New Zealand Scholarship Data and Statistics
(2010) available on the NZQA website.
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How well does NCEA prepare
students for university study?
Introduction
Universities had significant input into the design of the NCEA,
and they are fully involved in the system’s ongoing review and
development. NZQA’s Technical Overview Group Assessment
Committee includes university experts in assessment. In 2011 the
Committee consists of Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke (Chair),
Professor Terry Crooks, Emeritus Professor Cedric Hall, Honorary
Professor John Hattie, Professor Jim Smith and Associate Professor
Alison Gilmore.
The most formal benchmark is University Entrance. The Education Act
1989 requires NZQA to consult with the Council of each university
and the Universities New Zealand Committee (NZVCC) in setting the
standard for entrance to university.
University Entrance
University Entrance is the minimum standard students need to reach
to apply for entry to university courses. Universities have additional
requirements for entry to many degree programmes. They will specify
NCEA courses that students should complete and, for some degrees,
NCEA results are used to generate entry scores.
For some degree programmes, students need NCEA results that are
well in advance of University Entrance. Universities publish these entry
requirements in advance. For example:
• Entry to Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at University of
Auckland in 2011 requires a minimum of 18 credits in each of
Mathematics with Calculus and Physics. Students are selected on
the basis of their rank score generated from NCEA results. Also
recommended: Chemistry, Biology and language-rich subjects
(Classics, English, Geography, History, History of Art, Te Reo Maori,
Te Reo Rangatira).
CONTINUED OVER PAGE
Comments
from the sector
Long ago, the single final university
examination (with or without “terms”)
disappeared. It is perhaps not
surprising, therefore, that the NCEA
rather than the single final high
school examination is immeasurably
superior at predicting the results of
first year.
Professor John Hattie, University of Auckland
The Black Box of Tertiary Assessment:
An Impending Revolution
At both university and polytechnic,
students with University Entrance
have higher performance, in terms
of five-year qualification completion
rates, than those who don’t have
University Entrance.
Engler, R., & Smyth, R., 2011, Doing a Bachelor’s
Degree: Comparing University Entrance and NCEA
Levels. Ministry of Education
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Preparation for university
The first group of students to leave school with Level 3 NCEA results
started tertiary study from 2005 and many have now completed
university degrees. In recent years researchers have been studying
how achievement in NCEA predicts performance at university and
polytechnic.
In 2010, the Ministry of Education published results from three studies
looking at the performance of first-year students at university who
had completed NCEA Level 3 and/or University Entrance.
• NCEA performance was a stronger predictor of first-year university
performance than University Entrance.
• Students with higher levels of success in NCEA were more likely to
go on to bachelors-level study.
• Males and females with comparable NCEA scores are equally likely
to go to university, and their likelihood of university success is
similar.
• For students with above-average academic success at school, other
factors make almost no difference to their tertiary performance
(e.g. gender, ethnicity, secondary school attended, university course,
direct transition to university or following a year off).
• Not all higher-achieving school students perform equally well
at university – and some with lower school achievement outperformed students with higher school achievement.
Engler, R. (2010) Academic performance of first-year bachelors students at university.
Ministry of Education
In 2011, the Ministry of Education also looked at the tertiary progress
of students leaving school with University Entrance:
• Students with NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance do better than
those with University Entrance alone.
• Students with University Entrance alone do better than those with
lower levels of NCEA achievement.
• Of all school leavers with NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance:
• 82% of students commenced bachelors degrees.
• Only 9% were not involved in further study.
Engler, R., & Smyth, R. (2011) Doing a Bachelor’s Degree: Comparing University Entrance and
NCEA Levels. Ministry of Education
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Comments
from the sector
NCEA assessment is consistent
with much of what we see in
assessment at university. Most
university assessment is not a simple
‘multi-choice’ approach and it’s not all
exams – there’s a lot of essay work,
problem solving and so on. Kids who
do well in NCEA have shown they
can process information and develop
ideas. NCEA is a performancebased approach, using authentic,
contextualised assessment. So is
university assessment.
Professor Jeff Smith, University of Otago. Formerly
Associate Dean of Graduate School of Education,
Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.
The learning
experience
The style of assessment at
university now closely resembles that
of NCEA. Students are working on
major assessments throughout the
year with some courses having final
examinations and some being fully
internally assessed. Little wonder the
Auckland University research found
that NCEA was the best predictor of
success at university.
Michael Williams, Principal, Pakuranga College
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How well do NCEA students
perform at university?
University of Auckland researchers have shown that students who do
well in NCEA also do well at university:
What we looked at was the relationship between the success in the
NCEA and the success at the first year university. Typically we expect a
relationship in my number system of about 0.3 on a scale of zero to one.
The NCEA is more like 0.5 or 0.6, which says it’s a dramatically better
predictor. Students who do well in the NCEA also do well in university.
…(At university) we expect students now to work quite hard all
throughout the whole year, staying in a lot more control of their learning
– so what we’re doing in the NCEA is mimicking what happens both in
the workplace and in the university. It teaches them to listen to feedback.
It teaches them to actually seek the feedback about what they can and
can’t do. It teaches them to know what their strengths are and know what
their gaps are – and to go about finding ways to fill those gaps, either by
themselves, with their peers or with their teachers.Which is exactly what the
university demands of our students.
Professor John Hattie
The researchers compared the performance of students during their
first year at university who gained university entrance through NCEA
and Cambridge International examination systems. It was found that
NCEA is almost five times more effective in predicting first-year
performance at university.
• The outcome predictability of first-year university results from the
NCEA is up to five times stronger than all of the other secondary
school assessment systems in New Zealand and worldwide.
This outstanding predictive power suggests that the NCEA can
provide high quality information for tertiary education admission
purposes.
• This pattern of lower correlation between secondary school
performance on norm-based examination and university success has
long been documented, with little progress made in improving the
relationships.
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The learning
experience
Graduates of Diocesan School for
Girls have remarked that NCEA prepares
them well for tertiary study, particularly
in research, essay writing and problem
solving. Because NCEA is standards
based they are well used to recognizing
the hierarchy of a question or an
assignment and can respond in a way
that shows their higher level thinking.
Margaret van Meeuwen,
Assistant Principal, Diocesan School for Girls
We have had positive feedback
from our former students at University
that they have felt well prepared for
University study. Aspects that they have
commented on include: a. Learning the
skills of self management of their own
learning. b. Meeting deadlines.
c. The emphasis on literacy skills and
thinking skills. d. The mix of internal and
external assessment means that they
have had experience with managing
deadlines, workflow and different types
of assessment.They feel better able to
manage a University workload.
John Grant, Principal, Kaipara College
When I got to university I found I had
already covered a lot of the content. In
Geography, for example I didn’t need to
go on a field trip because I had done that
work within NCEA. And I knew about
geographical information systems because
we used them at school – some university
students hadn’t even heard of them.
Jamie Rodriguez left Diocesan School
for Girls in 2009
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How well do NCEA students
perform at university? CONT.
• The higher correlation between the NCEA and university success
may be due to the similarities in the assessment and the subsequent
wash-back on the teaching systems. Both require ongoing
assessments involving a variety of tasks (projects, essays, portfolios)
throughout the year, together with a final examination.
Researchers suggested that students who aspire to succeed in
university could benefit by aiming for more Merit and Excellence
grades, even if that meant gaining fewer credits.
(Note: Since this study was conducted, course and certificate endorsements have been
introduced – both require numbers of Merit and Excellence grades).
Shulruf, Hattie and Tumen. 2008. The predictability of enrolment and first-year university results
from secondary school performance: the New Zealand National Certificate of Educational
Achievement. Victoria University of Wellington
The learning experience
Having assessment throughout the year for NCEA reflects the way university is run better
than an end of year exam – we have essays, tests and semester exams during the year. NCEA did
prepare us better in terms of a consistent level of assessments.
Through the Merit and Excellence questions, NCEA required a level of thinking beyond knowledge
recall. There was lots of knowledge recall in the first year of my university programme. High school
required a lot more thinking and there was more inspiring teaching.
Some people say NCEA lacks stratification – that the three grades don’t separate students as
well as a percentage mark. But that’s wrong. You do 30 to 40 standards in a year so putting those
results together gives an accurate picture of each student’s abilities. You get more discrimination
than a percentage score. Exam scores give a false sense of accuracy – the difference between 91%
and 93% is not greatly significant compared with the mix of three NCEA grades over a whole year’s
work. And they now have a way to generate grade point averages so that helps as well.
The fact is that after the first year of university it didn’t particularly matter what school
qualifications you did.
Andrew MacDonald, Medical Student, Auckland University
[Andrew MacDonald left Rangitoto College in 2006 and is now studying medicine at the University of Auckland.
Andrew was a Premier Scholar in New Zealand Scholarship and top scholar in Science. At the University of Auckland
he won the Eric Hector Goodfellow Memorial Prize as the top pre-clinical student and the Leukemia and Blood
Foundation prize for the highest grades in immunology, haematology and microbiology. Andrew has had research
published by Oxford University Press and presented at conferences on his immunological research.]
The transition from school to uni was very smooth. Under NCEA you’re working hard all through
the year… you’re always aware of the assessments you’ve got at the moment… you’ve got a plan
and you know there’s more coming, and so you’re always looking forward.Which is quite similar to
uni where everything’s mapped out for you and you know when your assessments are…
Olivia Burt, University of Auckland student, formerly Pakuranga College
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How are NCEA results recognised overseas?
Introduction
New Zealand’s education system is world-leading as recognised by the
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).
A number of international agreements ensure NCEA results are
understood and accepted overseas.
NZQA is part of the National Academic Recognition Information
Centres (NARIC) network. NARIC is consulted by tertiary providers
and deals with academic recognition of diplomas and periods of study
in the member states of the European Union, the European Economic
Area, and Central and Eastern Europe.
NCEA results are used to calculate the International Tertiary
Admission Ranking System (ITARS). This ensures a unified approach
when New Zealand school leavers apply for entry to foreign
universities.
Equivalency arrangements
NZQA has equivalency arrangements with many countries. Including:
Australia
• NCEA Level 3 is recognised as broadly equivalent to Senior
Secondary Certificates of Education.
• NCEA Level 3 results are used in the Australian Tertiary Admission
Rank for entrance to all Australian universities.
• When an application is received from a New Zealand school leaver,
the Australian Tertiary Admission Centres contact NZQA directly.
Results are sent from early January each year.
Britain
• NCEA Level 3 is recognised as broadly equivalent to General
Certificate of Education (GCE) A-Level.
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Comments
from the sector
If you look good here, you can
look good in the United States, but
you need to be able to make your
case.You need to understand that
Merit and Excellence results are not
A and B grades in American terms –
in effect they are both A grades.
You need to be able to show how
high you come in national rankings
and there are ways to do that. NZQA
can help and of course Scholarship
results are brilliant for this purpose
– you can easily prove you are in the
top few percent in New Zealand.
Professor Jeff Smith, University of Otago
Formerly Associate Dean of Graduate School of
Education, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
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Equivalency arrangements CONT.
• NCEA is listed in the International Qualifications for Entry to
Higher Education published annually by the Universities and
Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). This reference guide is used
by UK tertiary providers to evaluate school leaving qualifications.
It is also used by other countries as an authoritative guide.
Germany
• Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the German states
have recommended that German universities accept NCEA results.
• German entry requirements are similar to New Zealand’s but
require results in at least five subjects.
Europe
• NARIC recognises that University Entrance and NCEA Level 3
(with Merits/Excellences in subjects to be studied at higher
education institutions) is comparable to those with the overall
GCE Advanced standard.
Thailand
• Students completing high school qualifications outside Thailand need
a Matthayom 6 equivalence certificate, issued by Thailand’s Bureau of
Educational Testing (BET).
• NZQA and BET have agreed on equivalence criteria for NCEA
(largely based on NCEA Level 2).
India
• The Association of Indian Universities recognises NCEA Level 3 as
equivalent to its university entrance requirement.
New Zealand’s international connections have been reinforced in
recent years.
• In 2008 NZQA joined the network established by UNESCO and
the Council of Europe to improve the international recognition of
qualifications.
• NZQA is now New Zealand’s National Education Information
Centre, providing information and advice on the New Zealand
education system, secondary and tertiary qualifications, and
recognition of overseas qualifications.
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The learning
experience
Almost 100% of our students
enter tertiary education, many are
awarded national scholarships and
many are accepted for competitive
courses such as law and health
sciences. A growing number are
travelling overseas to university and
have no trouble gaining entry. NCEA
is an excellent qualification and offers
a seamless transition to tertiary
education.
Margaret van Meeuwen, Assistant Principal,
Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland
Students from St Cuthbert’s
College have been accepted at
leading international universities such
as Yale, Duke, Brown, the University
of Edinburgh and the University
of Melbourne. Larissa Eruera
(Y12) has won a full scholarship to
Arizona University. Sarah Henderson
to Pennsylvania State University.
Abigail Guthrie to the University of
Mississippi.
“Girls leaving St Cuthbert’s College
in 2010 were accepted at Aston
University, Birmingham; King’s
College London; University of
Melbourne; Rhode Island School
of Design, Providence; University of
Sydney; Griffith University, Brisbane;
Maharishi University of Management,
Iowa; New York Film Academy;
and Mount Holyoke College,
Massachusetts.
Website of St Cuthbert’s College
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The learning experience
It’s a complete nonsense to say that our national qualifications system does not give school leavers
access to overseas universities.The reality is that a combination of Level 3 NCEA and Scholarship is
getting students into top universities.
We have a steady stream of boys going straight from year 13 to top universities around the world,
and many go overseas after an undergraduate degree in New Zealand.
• Louis Bollard (year 13 in 2004) went direct to Harvard and later delivered the graduation
address for his year.
• Tom McCarthy (2004) went direct to Melbourne University.
• Peter Clark (2005) went to Victoria University of Wellington and in 2010 received
a Woolf Fisher Scholarship for post-graduate study at Oxford.
• James Dawson (2006) and Thang Tran (2009) went direct to the Australian National University.
• Alex Ross (2007) received the Doug Myer Scholarship and entered Cambridge.
• Sebastian Wilkins (2007) and Jacob Diggle (2008) went direct to Oxford.
• Victor Torghitescu (2008) went direct to Sydney University.
• Hunter Douglas (2008) was a Robertson Scholar and gained entry to Duke University
in the United States.
Roger Moses, Headmaster, Wellington College
I chose to stay at Dio for a number of reasons, but probably the most relevant is that I felt NCEA
actually provided more intellectual stimulation… the NCEA excellence type questions are a lot more
interesting and thought-provoking…
I have found NCEA to be perfectly adequate preparation for university. I’m reading physics and
philosophy at Oxford, so my peers all sat the A Levels, and I certainly haven’t found that I struggle in
comparison with them. In fact, I think that if anything the NCEA Excellence questions, and particularly
the further extension provided by scholarship, have made me better prepared than some of the others
in terms of dealing with more challenging sorts of questions.
Emily Adlam left Diocesan School for Girls in 2008. Emily made the conscious decision to stay
on at Diocesan for year 13 because she felt the NCEA would challenge her. She is studying
Physics and Philosophy at Oxford.
Phway Aye (Head Girl 2010) has accepted a scholarship to Princeton University, New Jersey.
She is studying Law and Political Science and travels to USA in August.
Sophie Zang spoke to students about making the transition from Palmerston North Girls’ High
School to Auckland University; of applying for and being offered a full fee scholarship to both Columbia,
New York, and MIT, Boston. Sophie went on to study at Columbia.
Website of Palmerston North Girls’ High School, June 2011
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The learning experience
I’ve been to the University of Auckland in the past semester, but tomorrow I’m flying all the way to
America to study at UC Berkeley in California. I’ll be studying Chemistry and Physics… that’s always
been my ambition.
Joe Tsai, former Pakuranga College student
In 2007 Phillippa Draper was awarded the Dickinson College (Pennsylvania) scholarship and has
been majoring in Political Science and minoring in Chemistry and Chinese. She spent the second half of
2010 furthering her Chinese studies at Peking University in Beijing.
Website of Papanui High School, June 2011
Two former Columba College pupils have won prestigious high-paying scholarships which have lured
them to study at Australia National University in Canberra this year.
Miss Atkinson-Barclay has won an Australian National Undergraduate scholarship worth more than
$NZ16,000 each year, for up to five years of study. … The 2010 Columba College proxime accessit
won the scholarship after receiving NCEA Level 3 endorsed with excellence last year.When staff at
Australia National University translated her NCEA results into the Australian format, she was placed in
the top bracket of applicants with 99.95 points out of a possible 99.95.
Miss Ooi’s Australian National Undergraduate scholarship is worth about $NZ8,500 each year, for
up to four years of study at Australia National University in Canberra. She too received NCEA Level 3
endorsed with excellence and her marks translated to 99.7 points out of the possible 99.95. She plans
to study a Bachelor of Science majoring in immunology and microbiology, with the possible addition of
computer science, statistics or chemistry. Eventually, she hopes to go into post-graduate medicine.
Otago Daily Times, 11 February 2011
When our son started at university in California, professors would ask ‘Why do you know this
so well?’ He found he was way ahead in many things. Much of what he was doing he’d already
covered in NCEA Level 2.
Our son did exceptionally well in the standardised admission test in the US, despite not doing the
concentrated preparation American kids now go through. He is smart but not a genius – he did that
well simply on the basis of what he had learned through NCEA at Rangitito College.
NCEA prepared our son very well for assessments in US universities.They don’t have one-off end-ofyear exams – the NCEA assessments that happen during the year better reflect what
happens there.
Jonny Newbre, mother of Alex Hayashi – left Rangitoto College in 2007 and, later accepted at
University of California, Berkeley