Assessment and Examination Rules and Procedures for Secondary Schools - 2009

5.2.2 NZQA Managed Systems

1. Schools will have a submission date each year for sending material for moderation for standards selected from standards assessed in the previous year.
   
   

   Managing National Assessment

   Managing National Assessment (MNA) is the term used to describe the processes for achieving valid, fair, accurate and consistent internal assessment in schools. It is a partnership between schools and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority by which NZQA checks, evaluates and reports on schools' and wharekuras' processes and systems to ensure that internal assessment decisions and systems remain effective.
   
   
2. MNA provides a transparent reporting system to schools on the quality of systems to assure assessor decisions.
   
   
3. MNA for NQF qualifications has two components
   
   
   1. Annual external moderation of assessment materials and assessor decisions for an NZQA selected sample of internally assessed standards and randomly selected samples of student work across all curriculum areas selected according to the school’s documented random selection process.
   2. An external check of a school's assessment systems and MNA Report at least once every three years to ensure that assessment is valid, fair, consistent, reliable, accurate and to the national standard.
      
      
4. Where external moderation or the assessment systems check reveals problems, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority may as appropriate
   
   
   1. require further material to be submitted for moderation and/or
   2. conduct a further systems check
      
      and/or
      
      
   3. conduct an investigation
   4. begin non-compliance procedures.
      
      

   School Assessment Systems Check and MNA Report

5. The Managing National Assessment report provides a summary of the findings of the school assessment systems check.
   
   
6. Schools have a systems check at least every three years unless significant problems in a report or identified by external moderation override that timeline. Schools will normally be notified in February if there is to be a visit during that year.
   
   
7. the New Zealand Qualifications Authority will conduct a school visit to interview middle management staff about the assessment systems their departments use to ensure assessment is valid, fair, consistent, reliable and accurate, and to the national standard.
   
   
8. the New Zealand Qualifications Authority will provide verbal feedback to the Principal at the end of the visit. This will be followed up by a written report, which includes analysis that highlights good practice, identifies weaknesses and suggests strategies for amending poor practice.
   
   
9. The MNA report is in draft form for two weeks, to allow the school to clarify any issues of factual accuracy or misunderstanding. Once agreement has been reached, or after two weeks, the report will become final.
   
   
10. Copies of the final report will be sent to the Principal and Chair of the Board and published on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority website.
    
    
11. the New Zealand Qualifications Authority will work with senior staff to address internal systems problems identified in the MNA report.
    
    
12. Trained moderators selected for their assessment and curriculum expertise carry out the external moderation of assessor decisions. All moderators are peer reviewed for quality control purposes. Moderators ensure the confidentiality and security of all assessment materials and assessed work belonging to schools and students.
    
    
13. External moderation for the NQF is a mechanism by which NZQA can:
    
    
    1. check that the judgements teachers are making are at the national standard
       
       
    2. sample and evaluate the approaches teachers are taking to assessing student achievement.
       
       
14. Each school will have one submission date between February and December in each moderation round. The submission date is established at the conclusion of the previous year when schools are advised which standards have been selected for moderation.
    
    
15. Material for moderation must include a completed Secondary Moderation Cover Sheet Random Selection placed in the appropriately labelled bag supplied by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
    
    
16. For unit standards the school must send the relevant assessment activity, schedule and four samples of student work to arrive by the submission date. The selection of the four samples must comply with one of the two methods available to randomly select work from the Guidelines for the Selection of Student Work for Moderation.
    
    
17. For achievement standards the school must send the relevant assessment activity, schedule and eight samples of student work to arrive by the submission date. The selection of the eight samples must comply with one of the two methods available to randomly select work from the Guidelines for the Selection of Student Work for Moderation.
    
    
18. Samples of student work may take the form of portfolios, written tests, research assignments, audiotapes, videotapes, photographs, CDs, models, computer discs, zip files, videos, annotated checklists or teacher declarations. When a recording is of a group the individual whose work is being submitted for moderation should be clearly identified for the moderator on the form Student Identification on Visual Submission.
    
    
19. In the case of individual performances, recordings should include only the performance of students whose work is being submitted for moderation.
    
    
20. Copies of completed moderation reports will be made available to the school and the assessment materials will be returned.
    
    
21. the New Zealand Qualifications Authority provides feedback to the Principal summarising information gained from the external moderation process for identified standards. Quality assessment practices and areas of weakness are identified. Non-compliance is drawn to the school's attention.
    
    
22. If a teacher wishes to lodge an appeal regarding the external moderation report, the Principal's Nominee must complete the Moderation Appeal Cover Sheet and send the material requested on the cover sheet to the school's School Relationship Manager at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
    
    
23. Allegations of teachers providing undue assistance to candidates may result in an investigation being conducted.
    
    

    Non-compliance

24. A school will be regarded as failing to comply when:
    
    
    1. it has failed to establish rigorous internal moderation processes
       
       
    2. it has failed to submit materials for external moderation by the submission date
       
       
    3. it has failed to include all required material for external moderation
       
       
    4. invalid assessment materials are repeatedly submitted for external moderation
       
       
    5. it has not actioned any of the requirements set out in a Managing National Assessment report within a reasonable timeframe
       
       
    6. it has refused to submit to a Managing National Assessment systems check
       
       
    7. it has failed to meet the requirements of the Quality Assurance Standard for Accreditation of Secondary Schools 2004.
       
       
25. When a school is considered to be non-compliant, follow-up action will normally rest with the School Relationship Manager in the first instance.
    
    
26. Where non-compliance continues, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority has the following options available:
    
    
    1. further MNA systems checks
       
       
    2. imposition of conditions on accreditation to assess against standards on the NQF
       
       
    3. withdrawal of accreditation to assess against standards in specified domains on the NQF
       
       
    4. withdrawal of accreditation to assess against standards on the NQF.
       
       

Last updated: 27 January 2009