Data shows students with extra learning needs at some of Tauranga's low decile schools are missing out on exam assitance. Photo / File
Data shows students with extra learning needs at some of Tauranga's low decile schools are missing out on exam assitance. Photo / File
Students at some Tauranga schools are getting someone else to read and write their exams for them - but students needing help at poorer schools are missing out.
Gaps between deciles and individual schools in special assessment conditions for NCEA are raising questions about whether the system is fair.
National data provided by the NZ Qualifications Authority under the Official Information Act showed students with special assessment conditions (SACs) increase in line with parents' wealth from just 3 per cent of NCEA students in the poorest (decile 1) schools to 10 per cent in the richest schools (decile 10).
Two schools, decile 9 Bethlehem College and decile 6 Papamoa College had special assessments for more than 10 per cent of their NCEA students last year.
Bethlehem College had 57 students with SACs - 11 per cent of all NCEA students and Papamoa College had 56 students with SACs, which was 14 per cent of all students sitting exams.
At the other end of the scale, decile 3 Te Wharekura o Mauao received no help at all last year because it did not meet the application criteria. Welcome Bay's decile 2 school TKKM o Te Kura Kokiri also did not have any students with SACs.
Other schools SAC proportions were Aquinas College (6 per cent), Katikati College (7 per cent), Mount Maunganui College (6 per cent), Tauranga Boys' College (5 per cent), Otumoetai College (3 per cent), Te Puke High School (3 per cent) and Tauranga Girls' College (2 per cent).
Bethlehem College principal Eoin Crosbie. Photo / File
Bethlehem College principal Eoin Crosbie said the system was unfair because parents who can afford to have their teenagers assessed to qualify for special assessment conditions have access to the extra help for their children.
"Other parents who cannot afford this must rely on teacher referral to a Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and this is not always done in time, or the students are not picked up at all," he said.
Crosbie said students at lower decile schools were missing out on extra help with exams because there were fewer parents who had access to private testing, therefore, more students required assistance.
"The schools also do not have resources to allow for a SENCO to be employed for enough time, to be able to identify all the students, or have access to the resources to be able to test students and apply for NCEA assistance," he said.
"For students who have understanding and knowledge to communicate, then SAC can help them firstly understand the questions, removing reading barriers, and then communicate answers by removing the writing barriers."
Crosbie said learning support was "massively" underfunded.
"Many students have not got extra funding and for those that do, the schools still have to contribute significant amounts to support their learning," he said.
Te Wharekura o Mauao principal Heywood Kuka. Photo / File
Te Wharekura o Mauao principal Heywood Kuka said no applications were made for special assessment conditions as his students did not meet the criteria.
Kuka believed the current system did not cater for the needs for Māori and the learning issues and barriers that his tauira [students] had.
"It is harder for kura Māori to access support and resources, and most if not all kura Māori are lower decile so it makes it even harder," he said.
"Students at kura Māori are constantly missing out."
Because students were learning predominately in te reo, translation of exam papers was not enough, he said.
Tauranga Boys' College SENCO Rachelle Stratton said the system was a lot fairer than it used to be.
Stratton said parents used to have to fork out between $450 to $700 to have their child tested, but the New Zealand Qualifications Authority now encouraged schools to test the students.
She said schools could now make recommendations for students who would benefit from special assessment conditions from their own data and observations.
"It puts students on an even playing field. It is based on the needs of the individual students," she said. "It is about the systems rather than decile rating."
Stratton said special assessment conditions allowed the average student who had a genuine difficulty with reading and writing to portray their knowledge and understanding of a subject in "a much better light".
NZQA deputy chief of assessment Kristine Kilkelly said ensuring students with sensory, physical, medical conditions, or learning disorders have access to SAC was a high priority.
"We work to support schools through the application process so students can access appropriate assessment conditions to meet their individual needs," she said.
Kilkelly said NZQA approved more than 95 per cent of applications and met the costs for external examination assistants including a reader or writer.
In 2017, all applications from low decile schools in the wider Tauranga region were approved.
"We are continuing to focus on low decile schools to see what further support we can provide and to identify opportunities to make it easier for students and schools to access SAC," she said.
Nearly 9000 Bay of Plenty students sat their end of year exams which ended on November 30.
Ministry of Education enablement and support deputy Katrina Casey said the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and associate education minister Tracey Martin recently announced a $217 million investment in a new Learning Support Coordinator (LSC) role.
The first tranche of about 600 LSCs will start in schools from the beginning of the 2020 school year.
Casey said LSCs will work alongside classroom teachers in schools and kura to ensure all students with needs – including disabilities, neurodiversity, behavioural issues and giftedness – get the support they need.
"Currently. some schools do employ a version of the role, called a special needs coordinator, but there is no central funding for them."
The SACs are used mainly to hire staff to read out exam questions to students with reading difficulties and/or to write answers dictated by the students. But the staff are a cost which many poorer schools can't afford.
