Cambridge High School catch-up credit scheme blasted

By STUART DYE

The hammer blow to Cambridge High School principal Alison Annan's career was not delivered by a disgruntled parent or an angry student.

It came from one of the school's senior managers. When asked about the educational benefits of an achievement recovery programme, he told investigators: "None really. It's a catch-up of credits."

The unnamed manager could have had little idea the impact his comment would have.

In its report into manipulation of NCEA assessment released yesterday, the NZ Qualifications Authority said the term "catch-up credits" was also used by other staff members.

It underscored the flawed philosophy of achievement recovery, said the report.

As soon as the report was completed, the authority threatened to remove the school's accreditation unless achievement recovery was halted, and Education Minister Trevor Mallard installed two statutory managers to take much of the trustees' power. Mrs Annan, the school's principal, resigned this month.

The full report was finally released yesterday, detailing the achievement recovery system.

Failing students were removed from class and supervised by ancillary staff while they completed a booklet to gain up to 38 credits.

The work was assessed and the results recorded on a "piece of blue paper" before being entered on to the school database. The work was then destroyed.

Staff told investigators that students' learning was interrupted by their removal from class, and that what they studied in achievement recovery often bore little resemblance to the curriculum.

Some students, meanwhile, questioned the value of learning because they could achieve the same standards in achievement recovery without having to complete the same quantities of work required in mainstream classes.

The report said: "There was no formal policy, rationale, or goals; there was no programme of learning; no trained teacher was available; there was no formal process for identifying students for achievement recovery; and quality assurance of the assessment was negligible."

The report concluded that the school had to change its fundamental philosophy from one of all students gaining NCEA, to one of students gaining a meaningful qualification.

The school's board and Mrs Annan are still waiting on two reports into staff bullying and financial mismanagement.

But the qualifications authority's manager for secondary education, Kate Colbert, said the aim now was to ensure students could focus on their studies.

The authority was confident the new management team would resolve the issues quickly, she said. Officials would visit the school every two weeks ahead of another full investigation in October.

Limited statutory manager Dennis Finn said work was already under way to correct the problems.

"It's very clear that the issues in the school are serious and there's a significant amount of work to be done."

The management team would meet today to discuss action.

NZQA FINDINGS

* The achievement recovery room failed to meet accreditation requirements.

* The philosophy that 'every student gain the number of credits needed' is flawed and should be rescinded.

* The emphasis should be on meaningful learning with assessment complementing, not dominating.

* Policy documents relating to assessment are inadequate and need rewriting.

* There are some sound and highly professional practices that have the potential to contribute favourably to the school.