KEY POINTS:
Changed qualification under the microscope
Why is NCEA being changed at all?
Karen Sewell, secretary of education, says the changes will restore confidence and credibility in the system. Some criticisms of the current structure are: it does not motivate students to strive; information on student records is not clear enough; schools are not checked enough to make sure their marking of internal assessment is consistent with other schools.
What will students now get to show how well they have done each year?
At the moment, when students get the required 80 credits for each level of NCEA, they get a certificate saying they have achieved it, with no indication of the level of their achievement.
As of this year, the certificate will record when a student gets the higher "merit" and "excellence" grades.
From 2008, students will also get a grade of achieved, merit or excellence in broader subject areas, such as English and maths.
What if a student fails?
In the past, students have had "not achieved" put on their results notices only for external assessment, such as exams. From next year, it will also appear for internally assessed standards.
Do school leavers get anything showing all they have achieved over the years?
From next year, they will get a new "school results summary" which will list all their results in NCEA. There is also the "record of achievement" which follows students throughout their education from secondary to tertiary. It gives a broad record of qualifications a student has achieved, without noting failed standards.
So what's to stop students simply showing that to bosses and hiding their failures?
Nothing. But Steve Maharey says employers will be aware that the record of achievements is not the comprehensive record and can ask to see the record of results or certificates as well if they need a breakdown.
Why has it suddenly been decided to put "not achieved" on the results?
Maharey says it is important for students to get feedback on how they do, whether bad or good. It would also show bosses what weaknesses a job candidate had, as well as their strengths.
However, the PPTA and School Trustees Association oppose the move, saying it flies in the face of the philosophy of standards-based assessment.
What happened to the idea of giving more credits to students who get excellence or merit than those who get achieved, or making harder subjects worth more credits than easy ones?
Steve Maharey says making too many credits available in individual subjects could tempt students into focusing on fewer subjects, rather than giving them a broad-based education.
"It would mean if you were a brilliant student, you might say 'I want lots of credits for biology' and that might be pretty much all you do because you'd get a lot of credits for studying a narrow range of subjects."
Do the changes address concerns that schools were marking internal assessment too loosely?
Schools' marking will be monitored more closely to ensure it is as consistent as possible across the country. In the past, only 3 per cent of papers have been checked and schools have chosen which ones they put forward. From next year, 10 per cent of papers will be checked by a fulltime team of moderators, and there will be more random sampling.
Karen Sewell says reports on each school will also allow NZQA to easily spot where internal assessment marks are far better or worse than the school's external assessment marks and offer help to the school to tighten up its marking.
What about unit standards?
These will continue much as is for now, marked with simple pass/fail grades. A review will consider concerns that students can get the same number of credits from unit standards as those doing academic achievement standards in the same subject.
Steve Maharey says it will look at whether the use of unit standards has become available across too broad a range of subjects, rather than just the traditional vocational ones.
Ms Sewell has indicated the review will take at least until next year.
* Claire Trevett, parliamentary reporter, is the Herald's former education reporter
