SecQual

Earthquake Impaired Derived Grade Processes
S2011/050 - 25 Oct 2011

Earthquake Impaired Derived Grade Processes

NZQA has introduced an Earthquake Impaired Derived Grade process for students whose teaching and learning has been affected by the Christchurch earthquakes.

Eligibility

Candidates for external assessment who were enrolled at a school within the Earthquake Affected School zone before the last day of term 3 are eligible to be covered by the provisions of the Earthquake Impaired Derived Grade Process.

Candidates who are now enrolled at a school outside the Earthquake Affected School zone may, with their current school’s support, also apply. These schools are advised to consider personal hardship indicators published by the Ministry of Education in relation to Canterbury Earthquake Scholarships. These include changes in:

• personal well-being
• family/whanau or care circumstances
• home circumstances
• schooling arrangements.

In addition, to be considered for an Earthquake Impaired Derived Grade for a standard, a student must:

• be present at the examination session, and;
• make an attempt to answer the paper by presenting standard-specific evidence.

Only candidates directly affected by the earthquakes who attend the examinations and attempt all their papers will be considered for a derived grade for those standard(s). For example, if a student leaves the bulk of a paper unanswered, or writes nonsense or doodles, this would not constitute a genuine attempt. This is an important message for students.

Grades

The school must supply NZQA with grades derived from assessment of a student against the registered criteria of the standard(s).

• Schools outside of the Earthquake Affected School zone must make a Derived Grade application online and note that this is an EIDG.
• All schools within the Earthquake Affected School zone must send NZQA their completed EIDG spreadsheet prior to 9 November.

Standard-specific, valid and authentic evidence may be sourced from a range of formal and informal assessment types, including evidence from the learning process, prior learning, naturally occurring evidence and teacher professional judgement. These grades may be generated from:

• school practice examinations
• end of topic tests
• classwork.

The school must retain documentation in support of the grades it reports. This could be in the form of results in a course markbook or completed EIDG coversheets, templates of which were supplied to schools in term 1.

• Use of the template is optional.
• The collection and collation of student evidence supporting an EIDG is not required.

This information may need to be collected from the student’s previous school.

Derived grade process for Portfolios and Folders (including for students no longer in the Earthquake Affected School zone)

Students who attended schools in Earthquake Affected School Zone may, with their current school’s support, apply for a derived grade for

• Technology level 1
• Design and Visual Communication (DVC), level 1
• Education for Sustainability level 3
• Graphics levels 2 and 3
• Technology levels 2 and 3
• Visual Arts level 3

Level 1 Technology

As level 1 Technology is assessed by written reports, the derived grade process for written examination papers applies. However, candidates who are submitting reports for Technology Level 1 Achievement Standards 91048, 91049, 91050, 91053, 91070, 91074 who have been severely affected by the earthquake and aftermath may, with teacher assistance, select from their portfolio the material that best represents the standard. This evidence may be placed in the supplied folder without any further processing as the submission for the standard entered.

The application procedure for portfolios and folders is as follows:

1. Principal’s Nominee enters candidate details into the derived grade facility online or through the EIDG spreadsheet, as applicable (name, NSN, standard, grade provided by teacher).
2. Schools attach a pink label to each portfolio or folder where the candidate has made application. Schools within the Earthquake Affected Zone will be sent these directly. Schools outside Christchurch, or those who need to request additional labels should email NZQA at chcheq@nzqa.govt.nz.
3. Portfolios and folders are collected by the courier to meet these deadlines:
   Note: Examinations commence 10 November

Subject	Existing Deadline (to be met by schools outside the zone with Earthquake affected students)	New Deadline (for schools within the Earthquake affected School  zone only)
Education for Sustainability Level 3	Wednesday 2 November	None - Existing  deadline applies
Technology (including DVC) Levels 1 - 3 and Scholarship Graphics Levels 2 & 3 and Scholarship	Wednesday 2 November This is the date for collection by courier	Wednesday 16  November
Visual Arts Level 3 & Scholarship	Wednesday 9 November All level 3 portfolios must be collected by the the courier by Wednesday 9 November	None - Existing  deadline applies
Visual Arts Level 1	Thursday 27 October	Submission optional Existing deadline to be  met
Visual Arts Level 2	Wednesday 2 November	Submission optional Existing deadline to be  met

4. Standard-specific, authentic evidence is required for marking to proceed
5. Marking panels mark portfolios and folders as normal.
6. Derived grade portfolios and folders from affected candidates are re-assessed taking into account the body of evidence and the teacher's grade.
7. A final grade is decided.
8. Grades are reported as normal.

Enquiries

Please refer any enquiries relating to this circular to your School Relationship Manager:

School Relationship Manager
School Quality Assurance and Liaison
Telephone: 04 463 3000
Fax: 04 463 3113
Email: firstname.lastname@nzqa.govt.nz