2014/15 NCEA Workload Advisory Group
Recommendations and the NZQA and Ministry
of Education Response
_____________________________________________________________________
August 2015
NCEA Workload Advisory Group Recommendations
NCEA Workload Advisory Group Meetings
Recommendation 1: That an NCEA Workload Advisory Group is convened each year
and feedback is gathered from the sector as part of the process.
Recommendation 2: That NZQA asks each year what workload associated with
digitalisation looks like and how it is changing, and a sector group is set up to monitor
progress.
Support for Teachers
Recommendation 3: That extended annotated exemplars are developed which
overview the teaching of a particular curriculum area and the assessment of standards
in this area, including what to look for when assessing and where judgements lie.
Recommendation 4: That the Ministry develop and publish structural, holistic,
curriculum-based teaching guides.
Recommendation 5: That NZQA and the Ministry work closely with Pond to ensure
that information on Pond is appropriate and up-to-date; and that NZQA and the
Ministry facilitate the development of a co-ordinated approach in Pond which
encourages teachers to share assessment materials and engage in discussion.
Recommendation 6: That research on the number of credits offered in a course and
the impact on student achievement is commissioned by NZQA and the Ministry, and
that the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand is involved and takes
leadership by encouraging development of 18 credit courses.
Recommendation 7: That NZQA develop good practice examples of course
development demonstrating what contributes to the success of a course, including
assessment and number of credits. It should ensure that the examples are relatable
and achievable in a range of different contexts.
Recommendation 8: That opportunities for regional cluster meetings of teachers and
Principal’s Nominees to collaborate with NZQA and the Ministry around teaching and
assessment practices are actively supported.
Recommendation 9: That student focus groups are established and coordinated by
Principal’s Nominees to gather information about student workload, and that this
information is fed back to NZQA and the Ministry.
Page 2 of 10
Assessment Management
Recommendation 10: That NZQA and schools identify how they can reduce workload
associated with assessment management.
Principal’s Nominee’s Workload
Recommendation 11: That the role of the Principal’s Nominee position is transparent,
with clear guidelines and expectations, and that the Ministry investigate funding the
Principal’s Nominee/NZQA liaison role by giving a base rate and then by “tag funding”
based on the number of students.
Cross-organisation Advice
Recommendation 12: That NZQA and the Ministry actively support subject
associations and that there is closer collaboration around the provision of teaching and
learning guidelines and good assessment practice.
Moderation
Recommendation 13: That there is targeted moderation, focusing on gathering more
moderation from new teachers, new standards, and teachers with marking judgement
issues.
Recommendation 14: That a buddy system is established across New Zealand,
pairing teachers with poor marking judgements to teachers who moderate well in a
subject.
Pathways
Recommendation 15: That the Ministry showcase the schools who have
implemented and maintained pathway programmes well, and how they are managing
both student and teacher workload.
Page 3 of 10
NZQA and Ministry of Education response to the NCEA
Workload Advisory Group Recommendations
NCEA Workload Advisory Group Meetings
Recommendation 1: That an NCEA Workload Advisory Group is convened each year
and feedback is gathered from the sector as part of the process.
Recommendation 2: That NZQA asks each year what workload associated with
digitalisation looks like and how it is changing, and a sector group is set up to monitor
progress.
Responsibility: NZQA and Ministry
NZQA and Ministry response
Next steps:
NZQA and the Ministry will convene annual NCEA Workload Advisory Group
meetings. The Secondary Qualifications Advisory Group (SQAG) will determine the
composition and methodology of the group, and will determine how to gather ongoing
feedback from the sector. This process will also involve seeking feedback from
teachers on the workload associated with digitalisation.
Page 4 of 10
Support for Teachers
Recommendation 3: That extended annotated exemplars are developed which
overview the teaching of a particular curriculum area and the assessment of standards
in this area, including what to look for when assessing and where judgements lie.
Recommendation 4: That the Ministry develop and publish structural, holistic,
curriculum-based teaching guides.
Recommendation 5: That NZQA and the Ministry work closely with Pond to ensure
that information on Pond is appropriate and up-to-date; and that NZQA and the
Ministry facilitate the development of a co-ordinated approach in Pond which
encourages teachers to share assessment materials and engage in discussion.
Recommendation 6: That research on the number of credits offered in a course and
the impact on student achievement is commissioned by NZQA and the Ministry, and
that the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand is involved and takes
leadership by encouraging development of 18 credit courses.
Recommendation 7: That NZQA develop good practice examples of course
development demonstrating what contributes to the success of a course, including
assessment and number of credits. It should ensure that the examples are relatable
and achievable in a range of different contexts.
Recommendation 8: That opportunities for regional cluster meetings of teachers and
Principal’s Nominees to collaborate with NZQA and the Ministry around teaching and
assessment practices are actively supported.
Recommendation 9: That student focus groups are established and coordinated by
Principal’s Nominees to gather information about student workload, and that this
information is fed back to NZQA and the Ministry.
Responsibility: NZQA and Ministry
NZQA and Ministry response
Ongoing work:
NZQA has developed a number of resources to assist teachers to assess and make
judgements, including assessment schedules, assessment reports, and annotated
exemplars of student work. Best Practice Workshops also give an overview of, and
where to look for, examples of good internal assessment judgements. NZQA will
continue to develop resources and to increase teacher awareness of them.
The Ministry’s senior secondary teaching and learning guides give an overview of the
teaching of a particular subject and have been designed to help teachers create quality
teaching and learning programmes. The Ministry will continue to develop these guides
and adapt them to better meet teachers’ needs. The Ministry will include a review of
exemplars as a part of the Review and Maintenance Programme (RAMP).
Page 5 of 10
The Ministry will develop guidance, in collaboration with the sector, that provides
structural and holistic guidance for NCEA and the New Zealand Curriculum and Te
Marautanga o Aotearoa, including vocational pathways and demonstrates integrated
learning through a range of resources and professional learning and development.
Next steps:
Pond
The Ministry and NZQA will support schools to have a community of shared
professional practice. NZQA and the Ministry are working closely with Pond to
encourage teachers to share assessment materials and engage in assessment
practice discussions on Pond. NZQA will consider the role that the Secondary
Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SPANZ), the Secondary Principals Council
(SPC), and subject associations are playing in facilitating mentoring, pre assessment
task moderation, and empowering.
Both agencies will support Network for Learning (N4L) to visit schools and attend
conferences to enhance the opportunity for Pond to provide for teachers.
Pond has been developed as a central place for teachers to find all resources relevant
to a subject and an achievement standard. NZQA and the Ministry are working to
ensure that the information on their websites is appropriate and up-to-date.
The Ministry is currently undertaking user-research about what teachers need and how
they use materials so that an online strategy is developed that will meet teacher needs
now and into the future. The recommendations from this advisory group will shape
the research questions. More information on the strategy development will be shared
later in 2015.
Professional Learning and Development (PLD)
Groups of schools arrange regional days when needed. NZQA and the Ministry are
enthusiastic to participate when invited. NZQA and the Ministry will actively support
subject associations’ plans for regionally based meetings.
NZQA and the Ministry will investigate the development of further PLD and resources
which involve designing courses, creating assessment tasks and the development of
the criteria as to what is required for each grade. NZQA is in the process of developing
the Transforming Assessment Practice Programme (TAP) and will pilot TAP from June
to November 2015. TAP is an ongoing, online workshop that will support teachers to
modify contexts of assessment tasks to suit their specific learners, and to collect
evidence to assess students. The key feature of TAP is participant discussion and
collaborative activities. TAP enables participants to share examples of good
assessment practice.
The PLD Advisory Group report and related decisions, when taken, will impact this
recommendation.
Page 6 of 10
Course design and credits
NZQA and the Ministry will collaborate with SPANZ and PPTA to generate
conversation in schools about course structures and ongoing course design.
Student workload
Individual schools and communities of schools are encouraged to work with their
students to better understand student workload. NZQA and the Ministry will work with
SPANZ and SPC to further consider mechanisms (such as establishing student focus
groups) to better understand the workload of students at a national level, and the
impact on students of course development.
Assessment Management
Recommendation 10: That NZQA and schools identify how they can reduce workload
associated with assessment management.
Responsibility: NZQA
NZQA response
Next steps:
NZQA will encourage schools to examine their review processes and assessment
practices to identify how they can reduce the workload associated with assessment
management for their teachers and encourage schools to share their findings. NZQA
will continue to allocate and extend time to sharing best practices through Principal’s
Nominees’ seminars.
Page 7 of 10
Principal’s Nominee’s workload
Recommendation 11: That the role of the Principal’s Nominee position is transparent,
with clear guidelines and expectations, and that the Ministry investigate funding the
Principal’s Nominee/NZQA liaison role by giving a base rate and then by “tag funding”
based on the number of students.
Responsibility: NZQA and Ministry
NZQA and Ministry response
Ongoing work:
The role of the Principal’s Nominee is described in the NZQA Rules. Schools manage
the Principal’s Nominee role according to what is appropriate for their school. Many
schools split the Principal’s Nominee role in two: data/data processing and
assessment management, which makes it easier to manage. NZQA pays schools an
administration fee of approximately $6.00 per student in order to ensure timely and
accurate management of candidate data, the collection and submission of candidate
fees and the smooth conduct of examinations for the benefit of the candidates. Schools
may use this payment to fund the Principal’s Nominee role should they wish.
Next steps:
NZQA and the Ministry will discuss the role of the Principal’s Nominee with SPANZ
and SPC, and discuss succession planning, supporting workload and what NZQA and
the Ministry may be able to do to support the management of the Principal’s Nominee
role. NZQA will consider the further development of resources for Principal’s
Nominees, and contact the Teachers Refresher Course Committee (TRCC) to suggest
they consider offering Principal’s Nominee training on the TRCC programme. NZQA
will also consider developing an online course for Principal’s Nominees.
Cross-organisation advice
Recommendation 12: That NZQA and the Ministry actively support subject
associations and that there is closer collaboration around the provision of teaching and
learning guidelines and good assessment practice.
Responsibility: NZQA and Ministry
NZQA and Ministry response
Next steps:
NZQA and the Ministry will discuss how to work closer with subject associations. The
Ministry and NZQA will consider how best to support subject associations. This may
include payment of grants and/or teacher release. The initial step will be to formally
survey subject associations about a range of options and activities, including resource
development and workload issues.
Page 8 of 10
Moderation
Recommendation 13: That there is targeted moderation, focusing on gathering more
moderation from new teachers, new standards, and teachers with marking judgement
issues.
Recommendation 14: That a buddy system is established across New Zealand,
pairing teachers with poor marking judgements to teachers who moderate well in a
subject.
Responsibility: NZQA
NZQA response
Ongoing work:
NZQA currently practices targeted moderation, and moderates some schools more
and some schools less, according to their past performance.
NZQA is responsible for moderating standards, and is unable to identify teachers to
enable a buddy system. Pairing teachers is the responsibility of Head of Departments
and specialist subject teachers in schools. NZQA encourages schools to register their
teachers who need support with making assessment judgements with the Best
Practice Workshop for their subject. Schools can also arrange mentoring at their own
discretion.
Pathways
Recommendation 15: That the Ministry showcase the schools who have
implemented and maintained pathway programmes well, and how they are managing
both student and teacher workload.
Responsibility: Ministry
Ministry response
Next steps:
The Ministry’s Vocational Pathways website will showcase schools who have
implemented and maintained pathway programmes successfully.
Page 9 of 10
Appendix 1: 2014/15 NCEA Workload Advisory Group
members
Members of the 2014/15 NCEA Workload Advisory Group
Graeme Bridge
HoD Arts
Aquinas College
Helen Cairney
Curriculum leader of
Mathematics
Te Kura
Tim Cameron
HoD Social Studies
Napier Boys’ High School
Kate Gainsford
Principal
Aotea College
Jim Gemmell
Deputy Principal and
Principal’s nominee
Western Heights High School
Lara Hearn-Rollo
Principal’s nominee
Queen’s High School
Alan Liddle
Principal
Te Puke High School
Gerard MacManus
Teacher
Hobsonville Point School
Brenda McNaughton
HoD Maths
Otahuhu College
Kathryn Morgan
Deputy Principal
Darfield High School
David Oliver
Deputy Principal
Pakuranga College
Jane Priestley
HoD Maths
Christchurch Girls’ High School
Mark Rangi
Associate Principal and
Principal’s nominee
Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae
Ross Redpath
Principal’s nominee
Inglewood High School
Louise Sheeran
Principal’s nominee
Piopio College
Louise Towers
Principal’s nominee
John Paul II High School
Daniel Wise
Deputy Principal and
Principal’s nominee
Kerikeri High School
Sue Wood
English Faculty leader
Glendowie College
NZQA: Richard Thornton, Tom Robson, Sue Chalmers, Brent Logan, Ian Munro,
Victoria Skye
Ministry of Education: Pauline Barnes
Page 10 of 10