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Curriculum and Standards Review
Sample Questions and Answers
| Question 1 | Are all standards linked to the NZ Curriculum now going to be achievement standards? | |
| Answer | Yes. Any standard that is derived directly from the NZC will be an achievement standard. | |
| Question 2 | Does this mean that there will be more than 24 credits available at each level in a subject? |
| Answer | This will depend on how many standards are seen as necessary to assess the achievement objectives or key learning outcomes of the subject. Subject associations are working on the basis that the credit value for a standard is based on ten notional hours of teaching, learning and assessment per credit. As such, the total credit value for each level of a subject will depend on the number of standards required to assess the achievement objectives or key learning outcomes in that subject. Subjects that are a whole learning area, eg English, may have a wider range of achievement objectives or key learning outcomes to cover, hence a greater range of standards and credits than some other subjects. |
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| Question 3 | Why is there a maximum limit of three externally assessed standards per subject per level? | |
| Answer | This applies to standards assessed in a three-hour written examination. Each achievement standard assessed externally through a written examination requires a task to provide opportunities for students to produce sufficient evidence to enable a fair and valid assessment of their achievement against 3 levels of performance - achievement, merit and excellence. The shorter the time available for an assessment, the less evidence that can be collected. More evidence improves the validity and reliability of the measurement. A limit of three externals means that students can have a minimum of one hour to produce evidence for each standard. |
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| Question 4 | Does this mean that each subject will have three externals at each level? | |
| Answer | No. There may be up to 3 externals at each level. In the majority of subjects there will be three externals. However, it may be entirely appropriate to have none or one or two standards externally assessed, depending on the most appropriate and valid assessment mode for each standard. However, a generalised swing towards a greater proportion of internal assessment across levels 1, 2 and 3 is not intended. | |
| Question 5 | Does this mean that there will be no more unit standards used in schools? |
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| Answer | No. Unit standards will still be available for use, but there will not be any directly linked to the NZ Curriculum. See also the response to the question above. All Non-NZ Curriculum derived unit standards will still be available (and may have M or E grades if appropriate). |
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| Question 6 | Will unit standards continue to contribute credits for the NCEA? | |
| Answer | Yes. Both ITO and NZQA unit standards will continue to be eligible for NCEA. NCEA will remain a multi-field qualification. | |
| Question 7 | What will happen to the unit standards we currently use? | |
| Answer | If the unit standard duplicates the outcomes of an achievement standard, it will expire. If it does not, and the outcome of the unit standard can be directly derived from the NZ Curriculum at level 6 (other than those one or two subjects, where there is already an agreed occasional link to level 5), then it will be converted to an achievement standard. If the unit standard no longer links to the NZ Curriculum or its links are below level 6 (other than those one or two subjects, where there is already an agreed occasional link to level 5) and does not duplicate another standard but is well used in the wider education sector, subject associations may make a recommendation to NZQA for it to be retained. Any such unit standards that NZQA determines warrant retention will be reviewed and the curriculum link removed. | |
| Question 8 | In that case, what will happen to the various National Certificates other than NCEA that schools currently offer? | |
| Answer | The various level 1 - 3 National Certificates for which NZQA is responsible will be reviewed concurrently to ensure that they are still achievable through the reviewed standards. Industry Training Organisations will also be notified of any impacts on their qualifications arising from the alignment process so they can undertake any necessary reviews in a timely manner. There are always transition arrangements put into place to ensure that learners are able to complete qualifications when changes to standards occur. | |
| Question 9 | What about the students who would normally be taking unit standard based programmes for their NCEA? |
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| Answer | Schools who have primarily been using NZ Curriculum-based unit standards to assess their students will need to look at the subject matrices to determine which achievement standards have replaced the unit standards. In some cases, there may not be a direct replacement. In other cases there may not be any replacement if the outcomes of those standards cannot be directly derived from the NZ Curriculum at level 6 (other than those one or two subjects, where there is already an agreed occasional link to level 5). For those unit standards that no longer link to the NZ Curriculum at level 6 (other than those one or two subjects, where there is already an agreed occasional link to level 5) and where the unit standard is well used in the wider education sector and NZQA determines retention is warranted, the unit standard will be reviewed by NZQA. Such unit standards may include merit and excellence criteria as appropriate. All the current NZQA non-curriculum-based and ITO unit standards will still be available to schools (as long as the school has the appropriate accreditation). |
Last updated: 12 May 2009