NCEA A Beginners Guide
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NCEAA Beginners Guide
Chris Archer, National Facilitator - Secondary Music
Some material adapted from Kay Hawk’s keynote address given at the National Secondary SchoolsQualifications Conference at Massey University, 19/20 July 2004.
Our national schools’ qualification
Standards-based assessment
NCEA is:
Fully implemented
Not yet fully reviewed and revised
One part of the national assessment strategy
Little cohesion between Yrs 11 - 13
Why the Change to NCEA?
Dual assessment system
Ranked percentage marks did not describe full scope of student performance
Built in failure - norm referenced
Small pool of national assessors
Low levels of student engagement in assessment dialogue
Formal examinations place students in unfamiliar assessment environments
Why the Change to NCEA?
More detailed information needed by employers
National curriculum statements not reflected in examination prescriptions or qualifications
Need for flexible course design and delivery to meet needs of students
Recognise and value teachers’ professionalism - planning and assessing
Unit standards - perceived lack of credibility
Summary:
Need for a unified qualification systemfor secondary schools -
eliminate divide between examination awards and NQF qualifications
ensure both externally and internally assessed achievements are reported
Need to:
cater for increasing diversity of community/economy needs in terms of qualifications
ensure as many students as possible have access to credible, usable qualifications
What are the mechanics of NCEA?
Standards based assessment
Three levels
Achievement and Unit Standards
New exchange system - credits from internal and external assessment
80 credits per level gains certificate - 60 credits at level of certificate
Maximum 24 credits available per subject per level
Each student receives ROL in Jan
The Structure of a Standard
Subject Reference Music 1.1
Title Perform contrasting music as a featured soloist
Level 1 Credits 6 Assessment Internal
Subfield Music
Domain Making Music
Registration Date 7 Nov 2003
This achievement standard involves the performance of contrastingmusic by a featured soloist. The performer may be an unaccompaniedor accompanied soloist, or in a small group.
Achievement Criteria
Achievement Merit Excellence
Perform generally accurate contrasting music, demonstrating some technical skills, appropriate musicianship and presentation skills.
Perform fluent and mostly accurate contrasting music, demonstrating a range of technical skills, effective musicianship and presentation skills.
Confidently perform fluent and highly accurate contrasting music, demonstrating a secure technical skills, convincing musicianship and communication skills.
Explanatory Notes . . .
Quality Assurance . . .
Internal vs External
Internal Assessment
20% of internal standards in each subject area are externally moderated
Schools have internal moderation systems in place - quality assurance
A range of evidence can be gathered
Students can be re-assessed
Teachers create assessment activities or adapt MOE activities
Teachers as assessors
Internal vs External
External Assessment
Variety of assessment procedures - portfolio submissions - end of year written examinations
Assessed by external markers NB: L1 and 2 Vis Arts have external verification system
rigorous process in place for development of external exams
MOE vs NZQA
MOE responsible for:
The achievement standards
Teacher PD
Resource development
Standards review
NZQA responsible for:
Registration of standards on NQF
External assessment
External moderation
Quality assurance
Assessment of learning (summative)
and
Assessment practices underpinning NCEA:
Assessment for learning (formative)
Methods must be:
Assessment of Learning
Appropriate
Fair
Integrated with work or learning
Manageable
Is the process of seeking and
interpreting evidence for use by
learners and their teachers to
decide where they need to go and
how best to get there.
Assessment for Learning
Is assessment practice that sets
students up with the tools they
need to succeed rather than
trying to catch them out on what
they don’t know.
Assessment for Learning
Providing planning and assessment information early
Having clear learning outcomes
Making the relevance of these clear
Ensuring the assessment tasks are appropriate
Providing students with choices about content, context and how achievement is demonstrated
Assessment for Learning
Includes:
Having full and clear criteria students can understand
Using exemplars with the criteria
Teaching students to self-assess
Encouraging peer discussion (using criteria) but not evaluation
Assessment for Learning
Includes:
The invalid use of league tables to compare schools
Some issues are not new
The abuse by some schools of national systems and of students
Problems with some exam papers
e.g.
Some students will take two years to achieve Level One (School Certificate)
Curriculum experts to decide what standards and what constitutes them
NCEA has challenged:
Reference to the curriculum levels
What evidence schools need to keep
The PPTA Principals’ Council
SPANZ
Endorsement of NCEA:
The Universities
ATOL facilitators in secondary schools
ERO (onsite: N=25 schools; surveys: N=125 schools)
NZCER “Learning Curves” second report (2004)
Individual writers/journalists
Metro
Critics of NCEA:
North and South
Some boys’ schools
Some independent and high decile schools
Warwick Elley
totalitarianabysmal
Critics have strong feelings:
cut-throat backstabbing
smashedbizarre
brain deathdisaster
devastatedcounterfeit
nightmare
faddish theory
Inaccurate
Misleading
Some criticisms are:
Possible in theory but not a reality
Based on concepts of learning that have little support
Irrelevant to assessment
Apply to all types of assessment
We are over-assessing
Some schools are not using the flexibility this system allows
Problems that can be fixed:
The number of credits has been overemphasised
Parents and many contributing school teachers are not well informed
We need to know what employers really think
Some moderation issues
The perceived inequality of unit and achievement standards
Student achievement data are being used to inform decisions
An increase in confidence to make professional judgements
Observations in the field:
There is some shift towards a wider range of assessment tasks
Poor practice is being shown up
Students can see progress more easily
Some students are having achievement acknowledged for
the first time
There is more clarity about learning outcomes
Students are better informed about assessments and feel more ownership of the process
Observations in the field:
Formative assessment practices have increased
Programmes designed to meet student needs, interest and motivation
Consideration given to student pathways - learning for life!
Clearer learning outcomes for Yr 9 and 10 and focused planning
Observations in the field:
Effective networking and peer support
Dissemination of information is greatly improved
Brought secondary assessment practice closer to that of the contributing schools
NCEA (more than any other initiative) has:
Ensured all teachers are refreshed in their curriculum knowledge and assessment practice
Provided detailed data for each subject area to make informed teaching decisions
Resulted in more formative practice and less ‘testing’
Involved students activity in their own learning and assessment
NCEA (more than any other initiative) has:
Resulted in teachers working together more and in departments/ faculties being more organised
Forced schools to set up sound systems and monitor them
Provided for different student learning styles and needs
The NCEA is not:
internationally recognised and respected for its ability to equally recognise and value all learning, whether leading toward vocational or tertiary focused pathways or a combination of both.
now has a bi-culturally developed national qualifications system, where indigenous knowledge and skills, te reo Maori, &Maori learning contexts hold equal validity and value to all other learning and learning contexts. Many nations are understandablyenvious of such an outcome.
A nasty four letter word!
The NCEA is:
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